Rhymes with Witch
It never ceases to amaze me how low my own party can go at times. Look at these words from junior (in more ways than one) congresswoman Jean Schmidt, a Republican from Ohio addressed to Pennsylvania Congressman
John Murtha:
The fiery, emotional debate climaxed when Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, the most junior member of the House, told of a phone call she received from a Marine colonel.
``He asked me to send Congress a message - stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message - that cowards cut and run, Marines never do,'' Schmidt said.
Democrats booed and shouted her down - causing the House to come to a standstill.
Okay, so this newbie who has never been in conflict, had the gall to call a man who has severed in two wars has two Purple Hearts, and goes to visit wounded Iraq War veterans weekly, a coward?
There are words for women like her, but this is a family blog and I won't use those words.
You don't have to agree with an immediate withdrawl from Iraq-I don't. But you have to respect his words because he knows of what he speaks. Murtha is a Marine and knows war. If this guy who isn't a Michael Moore/MoveOn lefty, says that we should consider getting out of Iraq, maybe the Bushies should listen. Anyway, if the Bushies were paying attention, they would see Murtha wasn't saying we should totally cut and run:
Murtha offered a resolution that would force the president to withdraw the nearly 160,000 troops in Iraq ``at the earliest practicable date.'' It would establish a quick-reaction force and a nearby presence of Marines in the region. It also said the U.S. must pursue stability in Iraq through diplomacy.
Unlike a lot of leftists, Murtha isn't saying we should just leave Iraq to it's own fate. He seems to be saying we shouldn't be in the line of fire and stay close by just in case. Bush should have taken this up, even if he didn't agree with it. The current Bush Administration plan is not really a plan. What does it mean to stay the course? How long will we have to be there? What is the criteria that would tell us it is time to go? The Administration has no answer.
Instead, the President and his companions tar those who don't agree with them. It reminds me of some of the history I've heard about President Johnson who would go after those who disagreed with him on Vietnam.
The Administration should be creating a plan to gradually get us out over time. But to do that means "defeat" in their eyes, so the Bushies stay the course and keep handling the war badly and smear those who don't agree with them.
Monkeys could have handled this better.
posted by Dennis Sanders @ 9:57 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I understand the point you're making and agree with you. I heard Schmidt's comments too and found them loathsome. But it's only slightly less loathsome directed at Murtha than the same sort of vitriol by many elements directed at Moore, Move On lefties and other anti-war types. The whole "If you disagree with me, you're a coward (or with the terrorists)" line is bullcrap regardless of who it's directed at. Implicit in all this is a philosophy which I object to in the most vehement terms: that only veterans are allowed to have an opinion on issues of war and peace; more specifically, that anti-war opinions are only to be taken seriously if coming from veterans.
Here is a proposal for an exit strategy from William S. Lind. He is an expert on counter terrorism and a right-wing conservative. http://d-n-i.net/lind/lind_11_04_05.htm
It is practical and intelligent except for one thing.
His first point is that we agree to withdraw all of our troops at some point in the future.
Let me repeat, ALL of our troops.
That runs counter to the unstated (but obvious) reason for the invasion.
Here is a vulgar person's well written take on "Staying or Going".
http://www.kunstler.com/mags_diary15.html
One suspects that Rep. Schmidt was set up by her colleagues as the "one" to take the potshot at Murtha. It was disgraceful and tasteless. If you saw the footage, you noticed a Rep. behind her and he was making facial contortions that one rarely sees on the floor of the House.
I hope she hasn't bought a house in DC...she did not help her reelection one iota with that gaffe.
With Rove's admission that McCain's judgment was now completely lacking:
Beware....
Rove is an insidious bomb thrower, and for him to say anything, ANYTHING, ANY THING the LEAST detrimental about McCain must be examined with a magnifying glass, tweezers and latex gloves. Two pairs of latex gloves.
Please note that he cannot refrain from the traditional waffling dig about "both camps ought to be careful about..." crapola. Classic! "Yes, we're liars, but BOTH camps should refrain from being the kind of lying liars that we are."
Puzzle me this: confronted with the lies of McCain, and the (finally!) proof that McCain's judgment is, well, missing in action, how can anyone continue to beat the drum for this sad Republican train wreck?'
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