Posted on 12/13/2005 10:46:42 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
On Special Report with Brit Hume on Fox News, 13 December, 2005, Senator Joe Biden (D, Delaware) said the following in reply to President Bush’s third policy speech on Iraq in Philadelphia yesterday:
“Failure to get a consensus constitution spells doom for our policy in Iraq. So what is the plan, Mr. President? That is still lacking.”
After saying that means participation by the UN, NATO, and Iraq’s neighbors, Biden added:
“If this time next year nothing has changed concerning in terms of our success rate, we will be out of Iraq. The American people will not sustain this.”
The transcript of this is not up yet, but these quotes are TiVo’ed and accurate.
The full answer to these historically foolish statements by Senator Biden were given by President Bush in the first ten minutes of his speech in Philadelphia, on Monday. Bush began by recounting the history of America writing its own Constitution. He took time to note that our first attempt to draft an acceptable constitution was an abject failure. Under the Articles of Confederation, our government failed financially, and there were armed rebellions in the streets.
As the President carefully pointed out, it took us “eight years to write our Constitution.” The Battle of Yorktown effectively ended the American Revolution in 1781. It was not until 1789 that our Constitution was both written and ratified, to replace the Articles of Confederation, which had failed.
So the first historical nonsense stated by Senator Biden was that the American people will not “sustain” more than a one-year wait to obtain workable constitution.
But the worse error in Senator Biden’s remarks, as compared to America’s own constitutional history, was his claim that to be successful, Iraq had to write a “consensus constitution,” acceptable to its neighbors. Is the Senator totally ignorant of recent history? Money, fighters and weapons are leaking into Iraq across its borders with Iran and Syria. Just today, Americans captured a tanker truck that came in from Iran which concealed thousands of forged ballots for the current Iraq election.
What kind of constitution would Iraq have, if its neighbors who want it to fail, had any kind of approval rights over it? None.
The same answer comes from American history. What kind of Constitution would we have written and ratified if it had to be by “consensus” with our neighbors? Our neighbors were then Britain, which still controlled Canada, and France, which still controlled the Louisiana Territory. We, too, would have never achieved our Constitution, under conditions like those that Senator Biden said are essential.
But Americans in reading or watching the news would be totally unaware of the American history which demonstrates that Senator Biden’s remarks are foolish, from the MSM coverage of Bush’s speech. Only 6 of the 128 hits from “Articles of Confederation” on Google News are news stories. Most of the rest are the full text of the Bush speech. Most Americans don’t read the whole text of speeches, nor watch them live in full on TV.
The simple fact is that the MSM, because they are lazy, foolish or biased, buried the lede. The important comparison between American and Iraqi constitution writing, including initial and major failures, was edited out of almost all news stories about that speech. So, the comparison which demonstrated in advance that Senator Biden’s remarks are downright foolish, wasn’t presented.
Contrary to the way that history is (mis)taught in American schools today, history did not begin yesterday. The history of America’s constitution writing is directly relevant to the current history of Iraq’s similar efforts today. And these facts were presented by the President, but largely ignored by the MSM.
John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
I think y'all will find this interesting.
John / Billybob
PING
Good stuff, Congressman. Keep up the good work in conservatism. We always need you.
What a total ass.
Really good article.
if he said that then there is no hope for sanity.
Biden is 4 cents short of a dime, his elevator stops short of his top floor, he is a useless piece of lying crap.
That too.
Biden is the only real threat to Boxer for the dimmest bulb title.
bttt
Joe Biden really has to make one reconsider the practice of birthright citizenship.
Good God. I always knew that biden was both a blithering idiot and a traitor, but this has to be among his most idiotic yappings ever.
If he was consistent in his thoughts, then any bill that he or his cohorts propose MUST be approved by Canada, Mexico, Kofi and NATO too.
To the devil with him and all his kind.
Its an Orwellian Media Conspiracy apparently.
Biden claims we failed to get a "consensus Constitution" in Iraq, yet 78% of Iraqi voters voted FOR the constitution. In a country "on the verge of civil war" and that had "no hope" of ever coming to any accord on any issue, according to insufferable boobs like Biden and his lame-brained fawning buddies in the media, because of the 3 divided ethnic groups that make up Iraq, I'd say 78% is a pretty damned healthy bit of agreement in a country where it was said there would never be any. Our constitution certainly didn't have that kind of backing. And you'd be damned hard-pressed to get American voters to agree to anything by a 78% majority.
I'd even go so far as to bet that 78% is a higher percentage than voted for Joe Biden in his last senate run, even in a wacko useless leftist state like Delaware. I guess since he's not a "consensus" candidate he better resign.
Since when is democracy about consensus?? Consensus is what we had when 99.9% of the Iraqis "voted for" Saddam. Democracy is about the clash of ideas and then voters having the right by majority say to implement those ideas and to put those candidates in office. Everyone not agreeing to something does not indicate that an idea or candidate is invalid. It means in the healthy and democratic exchange of ideas opposing opinions were heard and were able to sway a minority of the electorate which is as it should be. Why is that bad Joe? Losen up the stitches on the toupee Joe...you friggin' putz.
Haha! Kerry didn't even take Marin County, California--the bastion of leftwing kook morons--by that margin.
Don't agree with the analysis, but I'll tell you what. Between the other dems DEMANDING a pullout, and Biden asserting that we WILL pull out if things are BAD, I suspect that Bush plans to begin the pull out any day, as soon as elections put a government in place.
Once we're out, he'll be on political Cloud Nine, with higher approval ratings, et al. Dems are trying to position themselves, some to take credit, others (like Biden here) to assert that it's a sign Bush failed.
there's a reason that the great one (mark levin) calls the plagiarist, the dumbest man in the senate.
The Left believes in "consensus" (otherwise defined as "minority rights") in all things, except when they're in charge (or in doctored opinion polling, when the "vox populi" must rule).
Obviously Senator Chia pet's hair plugs were place so deep that they disrupted the connection between his two brain cells.
"Biden is the only real threat to Boxer for the dimmest bulb title."
I will call with Cynthia McKinney and Sheila Jackson-Lee, and raise you 2 with Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters.
I think you should fold :-)
Senate vrs House...but that's a whole lot of dumb.
"MSM buries Biden spineless, stamina-less, stupidities"
is more like it.
So many names, so little time.
Eventually, evolution will catch up with these flounders and labels like left/right will become obsolete as they will be readily identified.
If memory serves, I think the Spanish controlled the Louisana territory at the time, but your point is well taken -- Biden is indeed an idiot.
And then many are foolish enough to try to make a comparison between the founding of this nation of states to Iraq's third 'founding' this century when in fact it is impossible.
yea...and other disparaging antidotes detailing Bidens uselessness. :)
John Murtha actually said that the 29% of Iraqis that think their country is going in the wrong direction was way too high, and was a recipe for disaster, suggesting that if that many americans had thought that during our revolution that we never would have been a country, or something like that.
I can't find the quote now, I heard him on the radio while I was driving.
And I don't mean to be racist, but why is it that all the really dumb house members are black?
I think it is because gerrymandering guarantees these seats to black people, and the appeal to that constituency doesn't seem to favor reasoned thinking. But I can't figure out why that would be the case.
I actually think that there are a lot of house members, and several other senators, who are as dumb as these people, they just know to keep their mouths shut.
Were they wrong to do that? Or, are you wrong to ignore George Santayana's caution, "Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it"?
If you want more recent history that even you could not decry as irrelevant, look at the "nation-building" which General MacArthur in Japan and General Eisenhower in Germany, after WW II. Germany is especially relevant, in light of the assassinations and sabotage that the werewolves carried out for years after being created by the Nazis to do exactly that, after the end of the war in Europe.
Congressman Billybob
Still can't find it. BTW, I hear that the story about the forged ballots was false.
An excellent post. I'm emailing it around the country right now.
John Murtha actually said that the 29% of Iraqis that think their country is going in the wrong direction was way too high, and was a recipe for disaster, suggesting that if that many americans had thought that during our revolution that we never would have been a country, or something like that.
How does that fat doughboy Murtha know that many Americans DID NOT think that during the revolution and its aftermath?? Things were incredibly rough during those times. The fat slob might try picking up a book on some history of the American revolution. 1776 by David McCollough would be a good start.
And far more Americans than 29% now think things are headed in the wrong direction, though god knows why. Our economy is as sound as it's ever been, we have more money in our pockets and more comforts in our home than ever before. But whiney, spoiled Americans just want everything perfect or it's not good enough. Wahhhh, get over it. You've never had it so good.
They do not call him Slow Joe Biden for nothing. The inside the Beltway thinking that Biden is the Democrat Senate's "intellectual powerhouse" demonstrates just how empty the Democrat Leadership currently is of anyone with any real political talent or intellectual ability. Must really suck to be a Democrat these days when THAT rapidly aging double digit IQ Dinosaur is the best your party can put up as a spokesperson.
The Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution. Seems we too are on our "third" founding as well BB.
Really sad how childish so many elderly Americans, such as billbears, are clinging so desperately to their delusions about Iraq. They seem despeate to avoid the reality that it is the same failed ideology of the "Realists", like billbears, which created this Islamic Fundamentalist mess to start with
Really sad that certain Freepers lack the emotional or intellectual ability to admit how grotesquely wrong their Neo-Isolationist dogma is in a post 9-11 world. Sorry but the bad men are not going to go way just cause YOU want to hide under your bed and wish them away BB.
Indeed they did. But they also had 500 years of democratization to build on. It was within their culture and had been growing for close to half a millenium. Care to tell us what the Muslim community was doing 500 years ago? Being that history is so relevant, I would look to their past to see if they are ready for a Republic. As there are few if any Muslim writers praising the aspects of democracy in the past 500 years, one may question whether or not it will work, or even if they want it to work. BTW, how many Muslim run nations are Republics, Democracies, or any form of Western government again? Out of how many?
Were they wrong to do that? Or, are you wrong to ignore George Santayana's caution, "Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it"?
Alas, I am not the one ignoring. Rather the past 100 years of history in Iraq could have taught us, westernization in several forms has been tried, and failed. But carry on. They will be a theocracy within a generation
If you want more recent history that even you could not decry as irrelevant, look at the "nation-building" which General MacArthur in Japan and General Eisenhower in Germany, after WW II. Germany is especially relevant, in light of the assassinations and sabotage that the werewolves carried out for years after being created by the Nazis to do exactly that, after the end of the war in Europe.
Simply sad. You paraphrased Santanyana's statement and yet you yourself forget both Japan and Germany had started, and had a working form of, republican government before intervention by these United States and prior to WWII. Also you are missing that aspect of religion controlling one's whole life in both nations.
You know I do believe you are an idiot. I'm sorry but at no point did I say that nor did I insinuate it. My point was that the culture of Western nations, England in particular, and political actions within said nations brought about a very slow move toward republican government. A move that began with the Magna Carta and peaked at the time of the American Revolution. Tell us, since you claim such a knowledge of history. What has been the culture of the Islamic nations for the past 500 years? The Iraqis may get it. However it won't be next week, next month, or next year. It won't be in the next decade either. If their form of government is still holding in a generation, I would hold out a small hope for it. Of course the last time popular government was introduced in Iraq, it took less than a generation for it to be overrun
And under your theory, there is no possible explanation of the students who demonstrated and died in Tienanmen Square in China. After all, those demonstrators were all raised from birth, aggressively, as communists. And yet, they put up a replica of the Statue of Liberty, and quoted liberally from Thomas Jefferson.
By that argument, if we're to believe your simplistic version of the world, the English monarchy should have come crashing down once Locke's writings were released in the 1690s. It takes decades, if not centuries of lone voices, sometimes small groups, not only quoting past dissidents, but living (and dying) towards an ideal of a Republic. Of course history shows us this. And since you have 'learned' from history, you should know this.
China will eventually fall. Not from outside influences but because of the people within the nation. Of course again they don't have to tell with the rigors of Islam, which will help.
You reject the idea that a new generation in any nation can choose a radically different political path than their parents. I'm sorry you have such a benighted view of the capacity of human beings to change.
In no fashion at all. I am just not as naive to believe the Iraqis, or any nation for that matter, will wake up overnight and understand the importance of having a Republic.
But do carry on Oliver. It only took the English 10 years to run back to a monarchy, the only question in the minds of the realists is how long will it take for Iraq to return to a theocracy. Of course I suppose if it's popularly elected you'll have no problem with it?
I also notice for some reason you chose not to address the historical references refuting your tired talking points. Perhaps in your next post you could do something about that, although I doubt it.
I do hope Iraq eventually becomes a Republic, not a democracy. I don't hold much hope for it, especially after speaking to several friends who have returned from Iraq in the past few weeks. If they do eventually morph into one, it will not be because of US involvement but because the Iraqis choose it. The best possible solution would be to split the region into three parts. One for the Kurds, one for the Sunnis, and one for the Shiites. And that very well may eventually happen on it's own. Everything else instituted in that nation by Western countries in the past century has fallen apart, why shouldn't that too?
On a different note, Congressman, all that time to dig into Judge Alito doesn't seem to have resulted in much fodder for the Borkers, has it? Tough to assassinate the character of a good man during the Christmas Season I think.
Nevertheless, we all need to bundle up, go outside every week or so and make sure the powder is still dry and the barrels well-greased. I don't like to get cocky, but I'm feeling like General Lee at Fredericksburg knowing that idiot Burnside is about to attack our well-entrenched lines. (Although, to be fair, I think Burnside was a better strategerist than Biden).
Better examples would be Germany and Japan. These were two countries with no real democratic heritage at the time we conquered them in 1945. (In Japan's case, it had been in the Middle Ages until 1854). Lots of people thought neither of those countries could develop free, democratic systems either; one swift boot to ass from the USA cured that nonsense.
" Just today, Americans captured a tanker truck that came in from Iran which concealed thousands of forged ballots for the current Iraq election."
This story, which appeared in the New York Times this morning, is apparently false. Reuters says that it could find no confirmation and statements from the Iraq Border Police said the border has been closed since Tuesday and no trucks have been allowed through. U.S. military represenative said there are safeguards against the use of forged ballots and use of a large number would be caught.
My info came from Rush's show this morning..
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