Letters to the Editor
-
notre druide...
"I just wish I felt more optimistic that this wouldn't put Fred Thompson in the White House."
I'm less pessimistic that the Democrats' taking a stand would have that effect, partly because Thompson's campaign is having problems of its own, in particular, figuring out how to define and communicate the role of his wife. Not very GOP of them.
Still, if that were to happen, I still think we'd have greater margins in both houses, and perhaps even those veto-proof majorities. Thompson wouldn't be able to do as much mischief under those circumstances as GWB was for the first six years of his time served.
-
Let's no forget concern troll Cokie Roberts
who, quite predictably, said on Sunday's This Week on ABC that the MoveOn.org ad targeting Petraeus as a biased administration lackey would "hurt Democrats"--something she has been predicting every time Dems and/or Dem-aligned groups and individuals have gone on the offensive against the administration's lies, failures and crimes.
Roberts' belongs to the innermost circle of DC beltway insiders who are committed to preserving the pro-right status quo and continually proclaim the grave mistake that lefties are making in going against the status quo or administration. Because, as only a DC beltway cocktail circuit insider weenie like her could know, Americans LOVE Bush, the GOP and war even though they overwhelmingly claim not to. Ronnie told her this once and she's never forgotten it. And Ronnie was NEVER wrong. He was a patriot and true American, after all--like Petreaus.
Having known a few in my life, I find few things more pathetic than grown people who need to persist in desperately believing in and eagerly promoting patently and demonstrably false myths because their fragile egos and vain pride require that they do, instead of facing reality and getting on with their lives. But it's one thing to do this on an individual basis. When an entire class of quite prominent and powerful people do this, very bad things tend to happen.
Anyone who's studied WWI and Vietnam knows this. And it's happening once again with Iraq. But of course it's a grave mistake to point this out, as it will only hurt Democrats.
Just like in '06.
-
Five o'clock Follies Redux
From the New York Times article,
Hints of Progress, and Questions, in Iraq Data
By MICHAEL R. GORDON, Published: September 8, 2007
"The most comprehensive and up-to-date military statistics show that American forces have made some headway toward a crucial goal of protecting the Iraqi population... the data, which was gathered by American military officials in Baghdad..."
Yeah. Right. Got it.
-
@Diana Power
Everyone, right and left, agrees that Iraq will be a disaster if we pull our forces out within any period less than years. It will be a disaster. However, it is a disaster for the Iraqi people RIGHT NOW.
snip
So, what do we do? We can't do anything until some kind of honesty prevails about our culpability. Then, we can talk about the specifics.
-- Diana Power
Everyone doesn't agree that Iraq will be a disaster if we leave. Certainly not necessarily any more so than it currently is. Some of us are honest enough to say that we just don't know.
There is no upside to staying since the current administration is running things. Because the disaster that is currently taking place will never stop while we're there, so long as the current administration is in office. That is why forcing this administration to withdraw our troops is the only improvement we can hope to make over the next year plus that the incompetent and totally dishonest administration is in power.
I've concluded that the biggest reason this administration (and others, including the MSM and sneaky or spineless Democratic Representatives and Senators), keeps this occupation going on is for war profiteering on many levels. I don't just mean oil. I mean every nook and cranny of war profiteering. There is so much of it going on, there is so damned much money involved that it absolutely boggles the mind.
-
propaganda for the "long term" too
Dems want to pretend that it will be OK if we just get out…The truth is, it won't be OK if we get out. -- Ben Bochner
I’m not sure who is pretending “that it will be OK if we just get out” – who is saying that? (It isn't OK now.) To the contrary, many who want to leave acknowledge that it will not be “OK” - here’s one example, Kevin Drum from yesterday:
I think it's worthwhile for proponents of withdrawal to be honest about the likely aftermath of pulling out: an intensified civil war that will take the lives of tens of thousands and end in the installation, at least in the short-term, of an Iran-friendly theocracy. This is obviously not a happy outcome, but neither is it the catastrophe the Chaos Hawks peddle. The alternative is to babysit the civil war with American troops, spilling blood and treasure along the way, without truly affecting the course of events in any substantial measure.
I think that the hawks are betting that it will be bad enough that can use it to get back into power by using a “stab in the back” campaign by calling the Democrats mass murderers for the intensified civil war, and pretending that everything was “okay” until we pulled out, and they’ll point to Petraeus’ propaganda of today to pound that point home, hoping that Americans will forget that the facts never did support this propaganda. These are the same people, after all, who insist that we were “this close” to winning in Vietnam until we pulled out.
Many Republicans have already conceded the next election and are already thinking about how to get back into power. This propaganda campaign is part of that effort.
One example is Hugh Hewitt who today actually seems to admit that the public (not just the “fringe” lefty blogs) no longer supports this war. When asked how Republicans are supposed to stand by this war effort and still prevail in 2008, he responds:
They aren’t. In all likelihood, 2008 will be a disaster for Republicans at the ballot box. But we, the rank and file of the Republican party, expect Republicans to risk their comfortable offices in order to see the war in Iraq through to a satisfactory conclusion and to continue the war against the forces of Jihad. Let the political chips fall where they may.
With all their scandals, the Republicans would be in serious trouble even if they didn’t support an unpopular war. They’ve painted themselves into a corner with their extremist rhetoric, and this is their only option left – hunker down, hope for the worst to happen when we leave, and blame it on those who wanted to leave. It’s Vietnam 2.0. That shtick worked for them once, and it could again – that’s what they're thinking anyway.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2007_09/012029.php
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/91382a76-bfbe-44ba-9d08-e0199142f9cc