Cut and Run
Last week Sen. Bill Frist (R. Tenn.) broke the land-sea record for most uses of the term “cut and run” in describing Democratic attempts to pass non-binding legislation calling for the return of an unspecified number of troops from Iraq. Along with other leading Republicans they accused Democrats of national security weakness, failure to support the troops, and a few other abominations.
This weekend reports surfaced that Gen. George Casey, the US Commander in Iraq, is suggesting the same thing. I will be looking forward to seeing General Casey dragged before the Senate’s Armed Services Committee and castigated by these same Republicans for this weak-kneed policy that will signal to the terrorists that they we are running.
Of course we must remember that this is the same Senator Frist who diagnosed Terry Schiavo by looking at a 30 minute tape prepared by her family and found her not to be in a persistent vegetative state, despite the almost unanimous opposite conclusion by every doctor who actually examined her. It is no wonder he spends his spare time operating on National Zoo animals. Would any human voluntarily subject themselves to his ministrations?
What this troop contretemps does show is how the Republicans intend to proceed in this fall’s elections and the Democrats need to be able to articulate a counter response. Given the events of the past 5 ½ years, it should be easy to craft a message demonstrating how the Republican Presidency and Congress have substantially weakened the National Security of the US and its ability to survive.
We’ve entered into a disastrous war in Iraq for no valid reason at the cost of 2,500 American deaths and thousands of wounded, fighting it with insufficient troops and inadequate armor; we’ve expended billions of dollars in that war and have placed ourselves in debt that will impact the economic well-being of the US for years to come, we continue with excessive tax breaks for the richest part of the population exacerbating the debt problem; Afghanistan is moving toward the same instability as exists in Iraq because instead of staying there with aid and resources we chose to divert them to Iraq; the real threats emanating from Iran and North Korea cannot be responded to from a position of strength because we have squandered our assets in Iraq; the war on terrorism was turned into a war in Iraq, where it didn’t exist – just imagine if we had used some of the resources devoted to Iraq to deal with the root causes that lead people into seeing terrorism and anti-US behavior as the only option in their lives; our response to Katrina and our preparation for this year’s hurricane season imply that we are not much better prepared to handle a terrorist emergency than we were prior to September 11; we still have 45 million people without health insurance; our environmental posture in the face of increasing evidence of global warming is to ignore every warning for fear of alienating business’s desire for profit at any cost; and our standing in the world has been decreased substantially not only in the eyes of our enemies but from our friends as well.
The Democrats need to hammer the Republican, over and over, showing how precarious our national situation is and how it has been caused by the party in power. They need to do this while the Republican Congressional response is to do nothing substantial, other than bring to the floor bills they know in advance have absolutely no chance of being passed. This week we can all look forward to the return of the Flag Burning Amendment. I admit that during my two mile sojourn to the local grocery store, I am overwhelmed by the acrid smell of people burning flags, but I am willing to accept that discomfort if doing so allows Congress to concentrate on the major problems in front of us.
This weekend reports surfaced that Gen. George Casey, the US Commander in Iraq, is suggesting the same thing. I will be looking forward to seeing General Casey dragged before the Senate’s Armed Services Committee and castigated by these same Republicans for this weak-kneed policy that will signal to the terrorists that they we are running.
Of course we must remember that this is the same Senator Frist who diagnosed Terry Schiavo by looking at a 30 minute tape prepared by her family and found her not to be in a persistent vegetative state, despite the almost unanimous opposite conclusion by every doctor who actually examined her. It is no wonder he spends his spare time operating on National Zoo animals. Would any human voluntarily subject themselves to his ministrations?
What this troop contretemps does show is how the Republicans intend to proceed in this fall’s elections and the Democrats need to be able to articulate a counter response. Given the events of the past 5 ½ years, it should be easy to craft a message demonstrating how the Republican Presidency and Congress have substantially weakened the National Security of the US and its ability to survive.
We’ve entered into a disastrous war in Iraq for no valid reason at the cost of 2,500 American deaths and thousands of wounded, fighting it with insufficient troops and inadequate armor; we’ve expended billions of dollars in that war and have placed ourselves in debt that will impact the economic well-being of the US for years to come, we continue with excessive tax breaks for the richest part of the population exacerbating the debt problem; Afghanistan is moving toward the same instability as exists in Iraq because instead of staying there with aid and resources we chose to divert them to Iraq; the real threats emanating from Iran and North Korea cannot be responded to from a position of strength because we have squandered our assets in Iraq; the war on terrorism was turned into a war in Iraq, where it didn’t exist – just imagine if we had used some of the resources devoted to Iraq to deal with the root causes that lead people into seeing terrorism and anti-US behavior as the only option in their lives; our response to Katrina and our preparation for this year’s hurricane season imply that we are not much better prepared to handle a terrorist emergency than we were prior to September 11; we still have 45 million people without health insurance; our environmental posture in the face of increasing evidence of global warming is to ignore every warning for fear of alienating business’s desire for profit at any cost; and our standing in the world has been decreased substantially not only in the eyes of our enemies but from our friends as well.
The Democrats need to hammer the Republican, over and over, showing how precarious our national situation is and how it has been caused by the party in power. They need to do this while the Republican Congressional response is to do nothing substantial, other than bring to the floor bills they know in advance have absolutely no chance of being passed. This week we can all look forward to the return of the Flag Burning Amendment. I admit that during my two mile sojourn to the local grocery store, I am overwhelmed by the acrid smell of people burning flags, but I am willing to accept that discomfort if doing so allows Congress to concentrate on the major problems in front of us.
posted by John Weiss at 11:13 AM
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