Posted on 01/30/2007 7:52:54 AM PST by Valin
"What Does The Enemy Think?" Posted by Hugh Hewitt | 8:20 AM
My conversation with House Republican Leader John Boehner is posted here. The audio is here.
The interview triggered a flood of angry e-mail as the impression grows that Republican leaders are not only not supporting the war, but pretending to do so even as they offer resolutions in both chambers that can only be seen as votes of no confidence in President Bush, Secretary of Defense Gates, General Petraeus and the troops.
One exchange with Congressman Boehner:
HH: What do you think the enemy thinks about your benchmark proposal?
JB: Uh, I think it helps the administration. I think it puts pressure on the Iraqi government to step up. If you look at the Presidents proposal, its dependent upon the relatively new Iraqi government to step up and do what it has to do. And I think that having these benchmarks out there send a very clear signal to the Iraqis that were going to expect them to do what they have to do.
HH: But the question was what do you think the enemy thinks about your resolution?
JB: Were measuring progress. Were measuring success.
HH: But do you think the enemy thinks its a bad thing that youve put this into place?
JB: I dont think so.
__________________________________________________
Boehner Mania!!!
Posted by Dean Barnett | 7:20 PM
Minority House Leader John Boehner was just on Hughs show. It was obvious during the interview that smoke was pouring out of Hughs ears. Mine too. For the first time in my life, I actually called into a radio talk show. At least I got the chance to say to my friend Hugh, Long time listener, first time caller.
What did Boehner do to get us so riled up? Boehner, not wanting to be left in the dust of all this resolution hoo-ha, is proposing a benchmark measuring device that he will put forward in a congressional resolution of his very own. Boehner kept insisting that his only motive in cooking up yet another offering for the already-crowded Meaningless Resolution Buffet is to help the White House.
Sensing the implausibility of Boehners contention that he was from the Congress and was there to help, Hugh asked Boehner what effect he thought his resolution would have on the enemy. By way of an answer of sorts, Boehner spoke for a while but didnt address the question.
If Boehner thought Hugh wouldnt notice that he didnt answer the question, he had another thing coming. You dont get those degrees from Michigan Law School at the bottom of a Cracker Jack Box. Hugh asked his question a second time what effect will the resolution have on the enemy? Again, Boehner spoke for a while without answering the question. Hugh asked a third time. Yet again, Boehner declined to directly answer the question.
SO WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THIS? Two possible scenarios one is that Boehner knows damn well what this will do for the enemy and yet he still wants to pass the resolution for political reasons. The other scenario, and frankly I find this one both more likely and more chilling, is that Boehner has never even considered, not for one second, the effect his resolution will have on the enemy. Hughs question caught him off guard and without an answer because to him, it seemed like a non-sequitur.
Such is the nature of the political vacuum that our politicians dwell in. While Boehner may not have considered what effect his resolution will have in the enemy, I would bet he spent extensive time figuring out what effect it will have on the political landscape. That one he no doubt calculated within an inch of its life.
Hmmm...maybe we should have used "benchmarks" during our own reconstruction period. When ex-slaves failed to "step up" in the face of the Klan we should have punished the ex-slaves by withdrawing federal support. Yeah, that'll work. ;-)
I heard that interview twice....and it made me furious both times.
Boehner is a tool.
Over 30,000 people have signed the pledge that Hewitt started last week. That's pretty astonishing. When I signed it, it was in the 700's!!
Let's hope the republican leadership is listening.
Heck...if there were benchmarks for Congress....most of them wouldn't last after their first term.
I wouldn't hold my breath.
OTOH
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Rollcall Notes The Pledge
Posted by Hugh Hewitt | 8:44 AM
From RollCall's story on The Pledge (subscription required):
[ The Web site www.thenrscpledge.com boasted around 30,000 signers as of Monday, and thats a cause of concern for Senate Republicans.
NRSC spokeswoman Rebecca Fisher said Monday the committee is taking Hewitts effort seriously, indicating the NRSC is concerned about the practical implications it might have on fundraising and grass-roots support for GOP Senate candidates.
Of course we worry about the effect something like this has on online fundraising, Fisher said. As we explore different methods of fundraising, we have to be sure that we can effectively take advantage of every available avenue. And with a response like this blog has received, we take notice. ]
The Pledge has passed 30,000 signers, but that is only one measure of disgust with Congressional double-mindedness on the war among victory Republicans. Beltway earmuffs appear to have cut off many Republicans from hearing what many of their constituents and supporters are saying, and if the next few weeks and months become attempts to me-to Democratic obstructionism and defeatism on the war, the base that turned out and kept many other Republicans from defeat in November will turn exclusively to the presidential campaign as the only place in which to invest their political energy in support of a candidate who understands the stakes and has a clear grasp of the war and the significance of Iraq within it.
There is also an opportunity for any Republican with what passes for political courage these days to stand up and repeatedly defend the idea of victory. Denouncing the various resolutions is a great place to start, but spending some time stripping the "last chance" rhetoric of its very thin appeal would be wise as well.
What, exactly, do the last chancers mean? That if this Iraqi government --less than a year old-- can't somehow defeat the Iranian funded and organized fifth column (which Israel could not do this past summer) or eradicate al Qaeda (which the Karzai government, the U.S. and NATO haven't been able to do in Afghanistan after five years), that the U.S. will pull up stakes? That the eight million purple fingered Iraqis will be left to their own devices because a half dozen Congressmen and a couple of senators fear losing their seats?
We have watched for years as Congressman after Congressman rued the abandonment of Rawanda and implied that intervention ought to have been mounted there. We watched as the Congress sprang to its feet at the mention of Darfur a week ago. Congress, it appears, is always willing to ride to the rescue when no rescue is being mounted.
But here in Iraq in the heart of the most unstable region in the world, with an expansionist and reckless Iran --led by fanatics and closing in on nukes-- on the border and funding the killing, Congressmen from both parties are declaring "last chances" for Iraq and packing the wagons. How bitter Iraqis must be when they hear six figure a year men and women declare "last chances" as they hear the sound of car bombs or bullets, and especially when they read about the dilemmas facing Republicans who had "close calls" in November or who face "tough fights" in '08.
"Benchmarks" are either deadlines after which abandonment looms or poses struck for political cover. Both are the opposite of what is needed, which is resolve and the communication to the troops, our Iraqi allies, and the enemy that we intend to help the Iraqis get the stability and freedom they deserve.
The Republican Party isn't going to split over victory, but it is going to get a lesson in who deserves to lead it. And if that lesson is accompanied by diminution or even a collapse in small and medium donors disgusted with round-heeled Republicans, that will be a warning, not an end result, of an even greater abandonment of the effort to rebuild a majority in the Congress.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee can be e-mailed at webmaster@gopsenators.com.
The National Republican Congressional Committee can be e-mailed at website@nrcc.org.
And the downside is? :-)
Who cares what the enemy thinks and long as they die whenever we want them to.
Benchmarks for congress - great idea
Also, who is making the rules HClinton thinks we should all play by to get ahead?
NONE, actually.
I can't remember a time that I wanted so badly to be able to just kick ALL of the Congressweinies out and start over.
These resolutions clearly invite the enemy to continue the fight.
EASY:
Thanks to our elitist inside the betlway mentality politicians, the enemy KNOWS they are winning.
They know they have the support of the Democrat Party.
They KNOW they have the support of the RINOs
They KNOW the MSM does not want the USA to win.
They know the above will be shot first when they impose sharia.
ya know.......after listening to the spineless whining crap coming out of washington, there is only one solution...FIRE THEM ALL, THE SHORT, THE TALL, THE BIG AND THE SMALL....FIRE THEM ALL....
Thanks for the link. Good article!
Well put.
These resolutions and desertion of the RINO's certainly fulfill the terrorist's hopes.
Aljazeera reported a recording by Iraqi al-Qaeda leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajir expressing not only comfort, but also renewed vigor from Democratic congressional victories convincing him the strategy for a victorious Caliphate will be realized sooner than anticipated. For him the events offsets Iraqi achievements and sacrifices for an elected government, constitutional referendum, and physical reconstruction.
A-Mmuhajirs belief parallels that reported by Colonel Bui Tin of the NVA General Staff to the Wall Street Journal. The military disaster of Tet, largely inflicted by a South Vietnamese Army abandoning families during the supposed Chinese New Year truce, was offset by NVA political victories. The NVA were elated when Jane Fonda, wearing a red Vietnamese dress, proclaimed American actions shameful and pledged unity with the NVA. Her words accompanied Walter Cronkites quagmire sound bite effectively burying the Rand report verifying near NVA/VC annihilation.
As the NVA, terrorists see confirmation of a rich, irresolute people nurturing defeatist convictions with such treats as CNN video showing the killing of American soldiers. They count on a new generation of Hollywood, university, media, and political liberals to compromise the War on Terror the way a Democratic Congress sealed South Vietnams fate by refusing to rebuild or support its armed forces after they again destroyed General Giaps army in 1972.
A-Muhajirs and other terrorists beliefs are not misplaced, when liberals seek fulfillment in diminished U.S. status and belligerent national independence movements, notwithstanding totalitarian servitude of peoples under Wahhabi/Salafi, Communist, Bolivarian, or Islamic fundamentalist rule.
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