The Next Intervention

The Washington Post ^ | August 6, 2007 | Ivo Daalder and Robert Kagan

[Convert from ECUSA]

" instead we should have plowed on, full speed ahead, and simply communicated the need for it direct to the American people as often as necessary. With documentaries and footage on all the good that is occurring and progress being made that the left, the Dems, and the MSM will not report."

Exactly right!

[MNJohnnie]

instead we should have plowed on, full speed ahead, and simply communicated the need for it direct to the American people as often as necessary. With documentaries and footage on all the good that is occurring and progress being made that the left, the Dems, and the MSM will not report."

And who is going to carry this message to the American people for you? Not the Politically Corrupted media. They made VERY sure to either not cover, minimally cover or cover hostilly anything the President did to get his message out on Iraq. It not the message people, it the medium. The Politically Corrupt media in the late 1990s gave up even the illusion of objectivity. Take for example the month of June. Bush did 3 hours a week on Iraq. What did the "News" media report about these Iraq presenations? A Reporter's stupid question about Libby! They simply tuned out all the facts on Iraq to fixate on their own fantasy political axe. The solution here is NOT to mindlessly squeal the "Bully Pulpit" dogmas of the 1970s ers Political Sience Major but to grasp the reality that the Politically Corrupted "News Media" cannot be saved but must be replaced. The next Republican President should simply limit access of the Junk Media to responding to the nonsense spewed by his foes (which I agree this President should of done more forcemably) and develop talk radio, the blogs etc as a counter wieght to their partisan extermism. This ALSO means Republican Congressional Leaders have to get off their dead butts and HELP him. The Republican Congress spent the last 7 years hiding from the media and letting Bush twist in the wind. The ONLY time you ever saw a Republican out there was when they were attacking the President. The President has GOT to have a team. Conservatives cannot sit on their butts whining for someone to come fix everything for them. They have to get off their butts and HELP get the message out.

[MNJohnnie]

Another Joke is that Congress issue a Formal Declaration of War

Against whom? The Northern Alliance was the legitimate Govt of Afganistan. Cannot declare war either on Al Qeda or the Taliban? Had no need to against Saddam. He was in violation of the 1991 cease fire. The Senate was being run by the Democrats at the time remember? THEY demanding the Authorization of Force resolution so they could show "we are fighting the war too".

[Jeff Head]

It can be carried to the people effectively by our leaders themselves. Reagan did the job exceptionally well. We need a conservative, traditionally all-American leader like him to do so now. That's who.

I believe the president had the chance to do this...sadly, it is one of his major failings IMHO that he was not able to do so.

[MNJohnnie]

Reagan did not have a media that censored or ignored what he said.

Reagan had a Congressional Republican Caucus that left him to carry the message on his own to the People.

Bush has both.

[Jeff Head]

Reagan did have an MSM that tried to ignore and scoff at him...but the strength of his conviction, his personality, and his communications skills carried the message through to the hearts of American people anyway.

Reagan DID NOT have a majority in both houses of congress at anytime, and yet he still carried the day and the majorities arrayed against him dared not try and derail him presicely because he was so effective at communicating to the voting public.

The fact is, it was Reagan's ability and willingness to communicate that carried the day. I am simply saying we could use such communication now.

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The MSM hated Reagan just as much as they hate Bush. The difference was, Reagan had the ability to communicate right over their heads - and the public believed him instead of the MSM. He could reduce complicated issues to clear soundbites that the public understood - while the Democrat/MSM alliance was still stuck in Mondale/Dukakis-style policy wonkery and long-winded position statements. But the Democrats eventually learned from Reagan's example better than the Republicans did, and turned the game around with Bill Clinton. They are still doing it better.

Also, Reagan had a Republican Senate for the first six years, but never had a Republican House.