Stay the Course
Yesterday in response to critics' description of the Bush Iraq strategy, White House press secretary Tony Snow declared "That [it] is not a stay-the-course policy." Bush and Republican candidates are now going to great lengths to demonstrate how flexible they are and how willing to change policies if something is not working.
The amnesia that engulfs their current statements, the ignoring of what they were saying that was completely different just a short time ago, is the way they have operated for the duration of the Bush Presidency.
A few quotes from our President:
Tony Snow claimed he could only find eight such quotes uttered by Bush. (I guess unless he says something more than fill in the blank times it doesn't count). But even that statement was wrong, or misleading. The liberal Center for American Progress then quickly posted a list of 30 instances when Bush argued to "stay the course."
But that was then, this is now. And now Republican Congressional safe seats are in jeopardy. But they are caught in a trap of their own making. So they lie and hope the American Public is suffering from extreme short-term memory loss. Having never previously admitted that they were wrong, a change now can only be interpreted as the failure of what they have done since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Maureen Dowd today referred to this change, at least in slogans, since they are sending mixed messages about what they intend to do as "The president is cutting and running from the president".
The Republican campaign strategy is in turmoil with Republicans racing to distance themselves from the President after providing lock-step support for 5 ½ years. Does anyone think that if they save their seats they will continue to embrace this newly discovered independence after November 7? One of their more egregious candidates, Kathryn Harris, in Florida, had to resort in her most recent debate with the tired charge that Democrats are in favor of cutting and running in Iraq and by so doing will debase the sacrifice of the 2,700 Americans who have died in Iraq. This tortured justification is wrong on both counts. If we leave Iraq it should be to concentrate our efforts where they should have been following 9/11: destroying Al Qaeda, removing the Taliban, rebuilding Afghanistan, and eliminating Islamic terrorists and the root causes for anti-Americanism. Continuing in Iraq for the purpose of honoring American deaths by killing 2,700 more Americans, and countless Iraqis, in an unending war with no end in sight, is a bankrupt concept.
The Washington Post/ABC poll released yesterday shows increasing support for Democrats by the American people but also contained one revealing statistic: 39% of Republicans believe that Iraq has not damaged the United States’ image in the rest of the world. You can believe everything Bush and Cheney say, even taking into account how they have changed their positions over the past five years, and manufacture a rationale in support. But how can anybody with an iota of intelligence not recognize our diminished posture in the world (which is fact not open to interpretation) and that it has exploded because of this Administration’s policies? There is only one explanation and I will turn to John Stuart Mill who figured it out sometime ago:
The amnesia that engulfs their current statements, the ignoring of what they were saying that was completely different just a short time ago, is the way they have operated for the duration of the Bush Presidency.
A few quotes from our President:
I saw people wondering whether the United States would have the nerve to stay the course and help them succeed. ----- June 2006
We will win in Iraq so long as we stay the course. ----- July 2006
We will stay the course. We will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed. ----- August 2006
Tony Snow claimed he could only find eight such quotes uttered by Bush. (I guess unless he says something more than fill in the blank times it doesn't count). But even that statement was wrong, or misleading. The liberal Center for American Progress then quickly posted a list of 30 instances when Bush argued to "stay the course."
But that was then, this is now. And now Republican Congressional safe seats are in jeopardy. But they are caught in a trap of their own making. So they lie and hope the American Public is suffering from extreme short-term memory loss. Having never previously admitted that they were wrong, a change now can only be interpreted as the failure of what they have done since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Maureen Dowd today referred to this change, at least in slogans, since they are sending mixed messages about what they intend to do as "The president is cutting and running from the president".
The Republican campaign strategy is in turmoil with Republicans racing to distance themselves from the President after providing lock-step support for 5 ½ years. Does anyone think that if they save their seats they will continue to embrace this newly discovered independence after November 7? One of their more egregious candidates, Kathryn Harris, in Florida, had to resort in her most recent debate with the tired charge that Democrats are in favor of cutting and running in Iraq and by so doing will debase the sacrifice of the 2,700 Americans who have died in Iraq. This tortured justification is wrong on both counts. If we leave Iraq it should be to concentrate our efforts where they should have been following 9/11: destroying Al Qaeda, removing the Taliban, rebuilding Afghanistan, and eliminating Islamic terrorists and the root causes for anti-Americanism. Continuing in Iraq for the purpose of honoring American deaths by killing 2,700 more Americans, and countless Iraqis, in an unending war with no end in sight, is a bankrupt concept.
The Washington Post/ABC poll released yesterday shows increasing support for Democrats by the American people but also contained one revealing statistic: 39% of Republicans believe that Iraq has not damaged the United States’ image in the rest of the world. You can believe everything Bush and Cheney say, even taking into account how they have changed their positions over the past five years, and manufacture a rationale in support. But how can anybody with an iota of intelligence not recognize our diminished posture in the world (which is fact not open to interpretation) and that it has exploded because of this Administration’s policies? There is only one explanation and I will turn to John Stuart Mill who figured it out sometime ago:
I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it.
posted by John Weiss at 3:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home