Goldilocks Disagrees with Big Bear
Big Bear:
This poorly timed and stupid foray into the mined field of Democratic territory gave the opposition the opening to make relentless charges that Bush and the Republican Party had misled us into the war in Iraq using trumped up intelligence; thereby purposely linking it to the War on Terror, and doing so, solely for political advantage during the 2004 campaign.
Well, the Democrats hamhandedly, by their obsessive concentration on pre-war matters, culminating in Murtha's proposal to end it all and withdraw before victory, have inadvertantly focused the public's attention back on their weakest characteristic, Defense..Winning, finishing a fight..NOT cutting and running and leaving thousands of Iraqis to die. Sooo.. the balls are back in R-court.
President Bush should embrace the Senate proposal to detail the progress and failures in Iraq..do it every month at a televised Joint Session of Congress..speak proudly about our successes and explain our maneuvers to correct failures. Engage the American people, anxious for truth and optimistic determination by our Commander in Chief. Force Democrats to help win the war, or be cast as the incompetent, weak-kneed wusses that they are..don't veto the chance to use the megaphone; climb above the pile of Congressional debris and tell the American people that the greatest Military in the World is close to achieving victory. Despite the fearful whines and doubts oozing from the Democratic Party..."We hear you!!" The Republican Party will never give up..defeat is not an option for any Republican. (or this Goldilocks, that eats her porridge HOT.)
JAS adds: I would only make two modest observations:
1) Reforming Social Security was one of the centerpieces of the President's re-election campaign, so his pursuing that last spring was hardly "inexplicable." Nor was the GWOT the only big issue on which he ran - I seem to remember the judiciary also being on that front burner.
2) The President does not need this Senate GOP trial balloon to dig his bully pulpit out of mothballs. He's never needed it. And while I can laud Senate 'Pubbies for trying to encourage him to do so, I can't countenance this "defend the war or we'll pull the plug on it" means of communicating those sentiments.
Remember, a higher proportion of Democrats (38-6, 86.4%) voted for the Warner amendment than Republicans (41-13, 75.9%). Clearly they saw it as the majority's downpayment on another Vietnamesque bug-out. And Fristy and his lieutenants don't sound very convincing arguing otherwise.
Kay adds:
JAS>>Reforming Social Security was one of the centerpieces of the President's re-election campaign, so his pursuing that last spring was hardly "inexplicable." Nor was the GWOT the only big issue on which he ran - I seem to remember the judiciary also being on that front burner.
Really? I don't recall the formulation of a detailed SS plan during or after the campaign...Did I miss the solution?..all Bush did was say there's a looming problem. As a matter of fact I was stupified by the futility of the debacle. As far as the judiciary, it's a given that a Republican President should choose nominees that would satisfy the decades old Conservative longing to Right the Court...sadly, the nomination of Harriet Miers made many wonder(including you) if Bush grasped the profound implications of a crony nomination.
Bush was re-elected with the help of the Swift Boaters who served with Kerry in Viet Nam. Vets of That lost War, today's Military and millions of civilians, supported Bush and Republicans to assure that an anti-war quitter like Kerry would never be CIC. For many Americans, the centerpiece of the 2004 campaign was NOT SS, but rather, which candidate would best Defend this Nation and respect and support the men and women in uniform who had been ordered to risk their lives for our safety, the freedom of people in a foreign land and the Bush Administration's complex vision to reform the Middle East...not SS.
Off the high of this moral victory, Bush curbed R-enthusiasm and focused on SS for months and barely mentioned the War in Iraq..not so for Democrats..they realized that Iraq could be GW Bush's Viet Nam, TET Re-loaded with the help of the partisan Press and PR savvy Al Qaeda...Old Liberal hippies could re-run the peace-nik demonstrations of the 60s of which they had misty, water-color memories. Flash back Winter Soldier Kerry testifying about his buddies still in Nam..calling them "baby killers." Unpacked the tie-dyes.
Bush was AWOL answering the charges: Bush Lied, No WMDs, Plame Gate, AbuGhraib, torture, oil, Halliburton, no plan, no exit strategy, unwinnable, 2000 deaths, on and on...It took poll numbers in the toilet for HIM to understand that the Democrats did make Iraq the centerpiece of his second term...even if he didn't.
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Happy Thanksgiving to Jim, Jen, all the contributors and readers of HardStarboard.:)
The Senate Republicans' desperate maneuver to distance themselves from the Iraq war leaves them in the position to do more next year if the Iraq situation isn't as perfect as they'd like it to be, or if they see losses in the coming election (or both). The President needs to veto this legislation.After the re-election of President Bush and R-increased majorities in both Houses of Congress, it should have been clear that the only thing that mattered to voters was winning the war in Iraq AND defeating the Islamic terrorists that threatened our way of life. How did Bush and the GOP reward our constituents? By inexplicably launching a campaign to reform Social Security and ignoring the mandate given to the Republican Party by the American people.
This poorly timed and stupid foray into the mined field of Democratic territory gave the opposition the opening to make relentless charges that Bush and the Republican Party had misled us into the war in Iraq using trumped up intelligence; thereby purposely linking it to the War on Terror, and doing so, solely for political advantage during the 2004 campaign.
Well, the Democrats hamhandedly, by their obsessive concentration on pre-war matters, culminating in Murtha's proposal to end it all and withdraw before victory, have inadvertantly focused the public's attention back on their weakest characteristic, Defense..Winning, finishing a fight..NOT cutting and running and leaving thousands of Iraqis to die. Sooo.. the balls are back in R-court.
President Bush should embrace the Senate proposal to detail the progress and failures in Iraq..do it every month at a televised Joint Session of Congress..speak proudly about our successes and explain our maneuvers to correct failures. Engage the American people, anxious for truth and optimistic determination by our Commander in Chief. Force Democrats to help win the war, or be cast as the incompetent, weak-kneed wusses that they are..don't veto the chance to use the megaphone; climb above the pile of Congressional debris and tell the American people that the greatest Military in the World is close to achieving victory. Despite the fearful whines and doubts oozing from the Democratic Party..."We hear you!!" The Republican Party will never give up..defeat is not an option for any Republican. (or this Goldilocks, that eats her porridge HOT.)
JAS adds: I would only make two modest observations:
1) Reforming Social Security was one of the centerpieces of the President's re-election campaign, so his pursuing that last spring was hardly "inexplicable." Nor was the GWOT the only big issue on which he ran - I seem to remember the judiciary also being on that front burner.
2) The President does not need this Senate GOP trial balloon to dig his bully pulpit out of mothballs. He's never needed it. And while I can laud Senate 'Pubbies for trying to encourage him to do so, I can't countenance this "defend the war or we'll pull the plug on it" means of communicating those sentiments.
Remember, a higher proportion of Democrats (38-6, 86.4%) voted for the Warner amendment than Republicans (41-13, 75.9%). Clearly they saw it as the majority's downpayment on another Vietnamesque bug-out. And Fristy and his lieutenants don't sound very convincing arguing otherwise.
Kay adds:
JAS>>Reforming Social Security was one of the centerpieces of the President's re-election campaign, so his pursuing that last spring was hardly "inexplicable." Nor was the GWOT the only big issue on which he ran - I seem to remember the judiciary also being on that front burner.
Really? I don't recall the formulation of a detailed SS plan during or after the campaign...Did I miss the solution?..all Bush did was say there's a looming problem. As a matter of fact I was stupified by the futility of the debacle. As far as the judiciary, it's a given that a Republican President should choose nominees that would satisfy the decades old Conservative longing to Right the Court...sadly, the nomination of Harriet Miers made many wonder(including you) if Bush grasped the profound implications of a crony nomination.
Bush was re-elected with the help of the Swift Boaters who served with Kerry in Viet Nam. Vets of That lost War, today's Military and millions of civilians, supported Bush and Republicans to assure that an anti-war quitter like Kerry would never be CIC. For many Americans, the centerpiece of the 2004 campaign was NOT SS, but rather, which candidate would best Defend this Nation and respect and support the men and women in uniform who had been ordered to risk their lives for our safety, the freedom of people in a foreign land and the Bush Administration's complex vision to reform the Middle East...not SS.
Off the high of this moral victory, Bush curbed R-enthusiasm and focused on SS for months and barely mentioned the War in Iraq..not so for Democrats..they realized that Iraq could be GW Bush's Viet Nam, TET Re-loaded with the help of the partisan Press and PR savvy Al Qaeda...Old Liberal hippies could re-run the peace-nik demonstrations of the 60s of which they had misty, water-color memories. Flash back Winter Soldier Kerry testifying about his buddies still in Nam..calling them "baby killers." Unpacked the tie-dyes.
Bush was AWOL answering the charges: Bush Lied, No WMDs, Plame Gate, AbuGhraib, torture, oil, Halliburton, no plan, no exit strategy, unwinnable, 2000 deaths, on and on...It took poll numbers in the toilet for HIM to understand that the Democrats did make Iraq the centerpiece of his second term...even if he didn't.
------------
Happy Thanksgiving to Jim, Jen, all the contributors and readers of HardStarboard.:)
posted by K.P.Ryan at 1:53 PM
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