by DemFromCT
Little can be less valuable and sillier than the current media 'debate' about Iraq. "Let's make some controversy. Let's highlight Democratic diversity of opinion and ignore Republican control of the levers of power. Let's pull in Lieberman and make him a pariah. Let's make this winners and losers."
Guess what, folks? The only winner is Iran. Talking about Iraq in terms of winners, losers and 'victory' is a simpleton's game. Firstly, we are drawing down. Our allies know it. Our enemies already know it. Our President and the current majority party know it. Above all, the American people know it.
The only disagreement here is timing. Are we drawing down sooner within 6 months (as Murtha suggests - not immediately , he never suggested that) or within 18 months?
What Al From thinks about this is as immaterial as what Howard Dean thinks. What Dick Cheney thinks about this is relevant to the extent that it highlights how far Cheney is from both reality and the country's pulse, and only because he controls one of the levers of power.
Americans are a pragmatic group and the voters have rejected both the rationale and the trust behind the rationale for being there. The only question on the table is how to extricate ourselves and do the least harm. There are no good solutions, only least worst ones.
The sooner the media gets on the ball and starts reporting that, the better off the country will be.
So when Joementum goes to Defense. does that make him a winner or loser? CT wins. There'll be a temp R until 2006, but no matter.
Posted by: DemFromCT | December 10, 2005 at 11:00
On 'victory': pulling an anti-Aiken is stupid. Raising the bar makes it harder to 'win', not easier.
On insurgency: lots of chatter re the Administration's use of the word - it's been scrubbed 1984 style form official speech. That's because insurgencies take 9-10 years to beat. Not the message Bush wants to convey. Analysis on MSNBC by Dana Priest and other media types (Dana's one of the more intelligent reporters on the beat, but her editors are not).
Posted by: DemFromCT | December 10, 2005 at 11:12
As you said, just about everyone knows it. I'm still not sure about Commander Cuckoo Bananas and Lieutenant Big Dick, though.
Posted by: Tim | December 10, 2005 at 11:49
Since "draw down" is going to happen, sooner rather than later, the alternative plan I keep saying the Democrats ought to have NOW should challenge the entire Bush Doctrine, with Iraq as a showpiece for how that doctrine has weakened our military, imploded diplomacy, made us new enemies needlessly and undermined our national security.
In that way, the "white-flag Democrats" theme that has gotten a lot of play by the pundithugs won't become the conventional wisdom and give Dubyanocchio & Cronies the ability to hang "cut and run" on the Democrats come November.
Posted by: Meteor Blades | December 10, 2005 at 14:47
yep.you can see the future
Posted by: daninok | December 10, 2005 at 23:39
Typical Rove talking about making Lieberman Secretary of Defense. Divide and conquer. The Dems become divided into pro and anti Lieberman views and make a spectacle of themselves, looking unfit to govern. Bush will likely replace Rumsfeld with a wingnut but will keep this going long enough to embaress the Dems.
Interesting at Bull Moose how even the Republicans are trying to lecture the Dems on politics since they are so inept at it.
The Dems need a new slogan to beat Bush, how about "don't get made get even". The Republicans try and make the Dems angry all the time so they'll do something stupid politically and they always fall for it. Hillary is the only one with a clue.
Posted by: carot | December 11, 2005 at 01:00
They're not any more divided than the rest of the country and the R's. Liebs doesn't divide Dems. He's out there by himself.
demtom's previous analogy to the hostage crisis is correct. No solutions, just recognition the current plan sucks. And the public rejected the folks in charge.
Posted by: DemFromCT | December 11, 2005 at 09:17
Ahhhhhh ... that was like a blast of cool, clean oxygen, DemFromCT.
But dear God, it just boggles my mind what a free ride this has been for the Iranians. No wonder their hardliner president carries on like a Shia Pat Robertson, blathering about the return of the Madhi. Why wouldn't he, when the Great Satan shot itself in the foot, then drew a bead and shot itself in the other?
Somewhere in hell, Ayatollah Khomeini must be laughing his ass off.
-- Rick
Posted by: al-Fubar | December 11, 2005 at 09:49