Posted on 11/23/2005 5:09:37 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein November 23, 2005 - 07:27.
ESPN loves to run the clip of NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi stomping down the sideline, demanding to know "what the hell is going on around here?"
Watching the Today show the last two mornings, one is tempted to ask the same question.
As reported here http://newsbusters.org/node/2923, Matt Lauer yesterday criticized the Democrats for their lack of a plan for Iraq. This morning, Matt & Co. were, mirabile dictu, back at it again.
Lauer introduced the segment in this surprisingly W-friendly way: "President Bush has taken a beating on Capitol Hill from Democrats unhappy with the way the war is going, but do the president's critics have an exit strategy of their own?"
Norah O'Donnell, who's never been accused of pro-Republican bias, narrated the segment entitled "Do Democrats Have Plan for Iraq?"
She aired a clip of John Kerry, looking increasingly like a Saturday Night Live parody of himself, ponderously proclaiming: "We need to reduce the American presence. The president does not have a plan to do that."
Norah then asked the obvious question: "But where is the Democrats' plan? They've yet to agree on an exit strategy."
O'Donnell then brought in the suave John Dickerson of left-leaning Slate.com, who answered Norah's question in a manner that largely let the Dems off the hook: "the Democratic party doesn't have a good plan for how to get out of Iraq because there is no good plan to get out of Iraq."
As the segment ground to an inconclusive halt, Norah went on to cite Murtha, Hillary, Biden and Kerry to various effect regarding troop withdrawal. But while it was anything but a tough indictment of Democrat hypocrisy, the very fact that the issue of the Dems' lack of an Iraq plan had been put on the table at all was noteworthy.
Sea change at Today? Not likely. Refreshing blip, fleeting as a subliminal 'X'? Perhaps. To be continued . . .
Don't bet on it. The MSM realizes, even if the Democratic party doesn't, that the party has to be credible next year on Iraq if they hope to win elections. This is the way the MSM slaps the Dems upside the head to remind them to get their ducks in a row.
The Today Show concerns about no Democratic plan to get out of Iraq has nothing to do with reporting and everything to do with forcing the Dems to start offering a plan of their own instead of constantly criticizing.
They are just buttering us up for the big shaft.........don't know what the plan is yet, but a leopard NEVER changes it's spots......
I've noticed that too and now Barack Obama has joined the "let's do what Bush is going to do anyway" brigade. No timetable, just let's draw down the troop strength.
The Senator who has never, never had an original thought.
Maybe the Dem's hypocrisy is so obvious that even the MSM can't ignore it.
Is it April 1st already?!?
Okay, here's what interests me. This being the second day that the Today show focused not on Bush's incompetence/misleading/evilness, and actually broke ranks with the Dems (who must be livid at their friends), seems to be a quick turnaround. At the same time, my liberal/socialist/Democrat talking point newspaper the Albany Times Union has run two days of actually talking to returning troops in the area, who are not shy in telling reporters that there has been success in Iraq...and that the media is focussing on the wrong stories.
I don't think this is a coincidence, it is another coordination of the press doing a 180. Not out of an objective look at the truth, but out of fear. I think the MSM is starting to see that the Dems are dragging them down, and are doing a quick CYA since it looks like Iraq may actually turn out to be a good turning point in history.
My prediction: Iraq will start to become less of a focus for the media (except basic reporting), while the battle lines are changed to another front in the War on Bush/Republicans. Look for another "scandal" unrelated to the war, as they fish around for anything/everything they can to put themselves back on the Bush Is Evil track for their hopeful Dem wins in '06 and '08.
In the extreme case if the US were suđenly invaded by a foreign army the president can counterattack without waiting for Congress to Declare War on the invading army. Declaration of war means just what it says, nothing more. You do not want Congress to declare war except in conditions that at least approach the severity of WW II. A Declaration of War is, essentially a suspension of normal Constitutional protections and relationshipsthat that allows the executive to take over the economy to direct the entire output toward the prosecution of the war. We have not been involved in any such war since 1945.
The president has the power to go to war outside the US any which way he desires but he has to get Congress to pay for it. Congress is still in control. Congress can't stop the president from sending the troops somewhere but the action is limited to what can be accomplished before the money runs out. Congress ended the war in Viet Nam and got a few million extra people killed because Congress cut off the money to operate.
OK, you got me. In fact the segment was entitled "Dems Ride to Rescue of Bush's Iraq Disaster" ;-)
This is an attempt at avoiding the rats plan being defined as the Murtha cut and run plan. I't will work too.
Do you think they are angry that the dems. didn't vote the right way last week and now they are going to turn on them? Not for long but enough to let them know they are not happy with their alliance?
1) They have already been briefed as to the planned (classified) draw down for troops next year. (As it turns out, as many as three brigades may be home by the end of the year, per a segment on F&F this morning.)
2)Start making fools of themselves prior to the draw down, demanding a draw down or begin planning the removal of our troops because the war cannot be won.
3)When the previously planned draw down begins, they take credit for pressuring the President to remove our troops. The media (of course) jumps on the bandwagon and asks the President to apologize to the nation for misleading the country into war.
4)Hitlery positions herself as a Senator who supported the war, had misgivings about how it was fought but, now offers herself as the person who can best heal the nation and move the nation forward.
And that, I believe is their plan; no plan at all but, positioning themselves to take credit for when the trrops begin to come home next year.
Don't think so. I think even the MSM realize it would have been disastrous for the Dems to vote for an immediate withdrawal.
I've noted various theories on the thread seeking to explain Today's unusual foray into reasonableness. For the time being I'm withholding judgment and until there's more evidence am assuming it's simply an aberration, akin to a lunar eclipse.
NBC probably sees the bottom line and it doesn't look good.
I heard Lauer and wondered if, just perhaps, they've been bombarded with e-mails telling them to LAY OFF OUR PRESIDENT!
Could Matt be a lurker on my Today Show threads? ;-)
Isn't Norah O'Donnell the one who made the famous statement about kneepads?
That was Nina Burleigh, former Time Magazine writer.
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