Posted on 12/24/2006 6:53:58 AM PST by KCRW
There's something much worse than being accused of "flip-flopping": refusing to flip when it's obvious that your course of action is a flop.
I say this to President Bush as someone who learned the hard way how embracing the world's complexity can be twisted into a crude political shorthand. Barbed words can make for great politics. But with U.S. troops in Iraq in the middle of an escalating civil war, this is no time for politics. Refusing to change course for fear of the political fallout is not only dangerous -- it is immoral.
I'd rather explain a change of position any day than look a parent in the eye and tell them that their son or daughter had to die so that a broken policy could live.
No one should be looking for vindication in what is happening in Iraq today. The lesson here is not that some of us were right about Iraq or that some of us were wrong. The lesson is simply that we need to change course rapidly rather than perversely use mistakes already made and lives already given as an excuse to make more mistakes and lose even more lives
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
And he was a signatory to that letter sent to X42 in October of 1998 by both houses of Congress, urging Bubba to do something about Saddam's WMD (I have a copy of the Congressional record with those names and their letter in my never-before nicotine stained fingers.)
Ahem...When Churchill urged, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in," he added: "except to convictions of honour and good sense."
This is a time for such convictions.
And, dear friends, his denouement is supposed to let us see the glorious shining path that (his euphemisms for) cutting and running makes good, Churchillian, sense.
Senator Kerry's surrender scheme is something up with which Sir Winston would never have put!
Mister Kerry's pretentiously "streaks" his ignorance with typical hubris.
Consider... The barrel of a gun can't answer the question of how you force Iraqi nationalism to trump sectarian loyalty. The only hope for stability lies in pushing Iraqis to forge a sustainable political agreement on federalism, distributing oil revenues and neutralizing sectarian militias. And that will happen only if we set a deadline to redeploy our troops.
So, in Mister Kerry's odd little mind, setting a deadline to (and there is no other word for this) surrender will somehow magically "push" the Iraqis to get along and share their oil wealth?
John Kerry, what if the bad guys said they told you they would do these things, but didn't mean it, hoping to take advantage of you because you trusted them?
Actually, Mister Kerry, I can give you a good example of how I suspect that this is really a con game that you are playing.
What if YOU told me and some of my fellow voters that you would sign a form 180 to release all of your military records (including the shadowy info on your Naval discharge circa 1972), and what if we believed you and voted for you, and then what if you didn't sign the form?
We would have taken an irrevocable action based on trust, and you would have really pulled on over on us, huh?
So, you provide an excellent bad example here, Senator Kerry. And, your candy-land proposal is beyond simple ignorance.
As an aside, why is it that malignant blamers such as John Kerry seem to think that they have ANY talent for diplomacy? Malignant blamers put counterparts on the defensive, and are the polar opposite of successful negotiators. Malignant blamers in official capacities are among the biggest liabilities that can afflict nation diplomatically.
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Sooo, tell us how you really feel about Kerry?
LOL, he sets me off too; not as much as Carter though, but then I'm 59 and Carter makes my blood pressure rise. Merry Christmas and a Bonne Anne!!
'Course not! He only talks to people with whom he has clout. Namely, any and every enemy of these United States.
No blog-- Don't have the time or the blood pressure to support it. Thanks for the compliments, though!
There truly is something very sad about any person who doesn't realize that he or she is irrelevant and has become yesterday's news. I guess it may have to wait until the democrat party primaries in 2008 before Kerry the loser admits what he is and always will be which is Kerry the loser.
I forgot to mention that when referring to John Kerry the word loser she be spelled LOSER.
Why???....because Carter is a tottering OLD POS with no real power.
Kerry Otoh, is a lot younger and nastier POS with some financial backing(if Teresa gives him some money) wielding considerable power due to his seat in the Senate.
Carter will croak soon, therefore doesn't have enough time, energy nor power to do us any harm at all. Carter has already done the most damage to the U.S. as he can. Fortunately for us, Pres Reagan undid a lot of it, but failed to deal with islam. Too bad for us.
F'n has 15 or 20 years in which he can do irrepairable damage to the U.S.
And.... he WILL damage us if he gets what he wants.....
Thus, the only peaceful way that we can get rid of him is that a richer, younger woman(or man) whisks him off to paradise, and out of our lives.
'"The only hope for stability lies in pushing Iraqis to forge a sustainable political agreement on federalism, distributing oil revenues and neutralizing sectarian militias."
Fixed it.
"Iran and Syria are counting the days until we leave the area. No amount of "conversation" with Syria is going to change their underlying goal of reshaping Iraq into an Islamic totalitarian state."
This is the difference between us and the rest of the world. The MSM created a "NOW" mentality where we live by the 24 hour news cycle. The rest of the world think in terms of decades.
If the US said that we are pulling troops out in 2015, the Iranians and Syrians would be patiently waiting for us to leave.
"Look Theresa! The dolphins are playing!!"
That's just wrong on all levels.. ROFLMAO
He did. Problem being the geeky weasel signed three separate forms, each authorizing release to a single, friendly, "reporter". AFAIK, we've heard zip from any of them. None of them would probably recognize a bad conduct discharge if it bit them in the buttocks.
Bite your tongue, or slap yourself on the fingers. Darn few of them, if any, would claim him as a "fellow" anything.
He's good at parsing his statements, just like Billy Jeff, the serial rapist. He did sign the form, releasing all the records. He never said, AFAIN, that he would release them to the general public. He released the records to three of his pet "reporters"/publicists. I don't recall hearing anything specific from any of them about the contents.
"No one should be looking for vindication in what is happening in Iraq today. The lesson here is not that some of us were right about Iraq or that some of us were wrong."
Has Kerry even looked at a left wing blog? This is all they care about.
I'm sure that you have your facts in better order than I.
I was under the impression that Mister Kerry had signed only a very selective form (180?) and specifically did not authorize disclosure of ~'72 discharge conditions.
Unfortunately, Mister Kerry is, politically speaking, le canard mort, as it would have been so much fun demanding info on his discharge from the Navy on a daily basis.
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