Posted on 09/16/2007 4:46:43 AM PDT by Kaslin
The anger and frustration over Iraq that prompted voters to bounce many Republicans from Congress last November was supposed to give Democrats the momentum they needed to end the war. Instead, 10 months after Election Day, many are conflicted and confused about what to do next.
Last week's congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker went better than even their supporters could have expected. Blunders by the left clearly worked in their favor. In a somewhat surprising move, the highly decorated four-star general took the brunt of the fire, leaving the more susceptible Crocker, testifying about the slow political progress in Iraq, unscathed.
The left-wing MoveOn.org, usually known for rallying the Democratic base, instead divided it when it attacked Petraeus in a full-page New York Times ad. The debate in Washington instantly shifted from Petraeus' progress report to the personal smear launched against him.
Congressional Republicans headed into last week's hearings split on Iraq. But thanks to MoveOn's ad, they found something to rally around. By the time the week came to a close, even presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani got into the mix, placing his own ad in the New York Times that ridiculed MoveOn's attack on the four-star general.
The left's second mistake came during the Petraeus and Crocker hearings. Activists from Code Pink repeatedly interrupted their testimony, prompting the Democratic chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, to utter a profanity that was picked up by his microphone.
Aside from disrupting the hearing, Code Pink activists came adorned with signs featuring slogans such as "Generals Lie, Soldier Die." A protester dressed like the devil and wearing a mask of President Bush held another sign that said, "I've got Petraeus by the soul."
The Politico's Jonathan Martin remarked that "Karl Rove, Lee Atwater and Donald Segretti couldn't put their heads together and come up with such a dream scenario."
But these repeated attacks on Petraeus didn't come just from the left-wing fringe. Congressional Democrats were nearly as bad.
"He's made a number of statements over the years that have not proven to be factual," Reid said of Petraeus at a press conference. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) added: "He is presenting the same cherry-picked numbers that we've all heard before." Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) went a step further: "This testimony today is eerily similar to the testimony the American people heard on April 28, 1967 from General William Westmoreland."
But no one could top Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who spent 7 minutes, 39 seconds and 1,282 words to launch one barely coherent broadside after another against Petraeus. Boxer talked for so long that Petraeus didn't even have a chance to respond. He'll have to do so in writing.
There's just one problem with these personal attacks on Petraeus: He's the one person Americans trust on the issue of Iraq. A CBS News/New York Times poll last week asked who was "most likely to make the right decisions about the war in Iraq." The Democrat-controlled Congress got 21 percent; military commanders (Petraeus) got 68 percent.
Some of Petraeus' critics eventually caught on that the smears had backfired. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) began calling it the "Bush-Petraeus report." Unfortunately, it may have come too late. Democrats, who so forcefully demanded withdrawal earlier this year, now appear resigned to the fact that they'll have to strike a compromise with Bush.
No one likes the fighting that's taking place in Iraq, but the sad reality is that a precipitous withdrawal today would lead to even greater catastrophe in the future. Petraeus has shown his plan is working. Those members who voted unanimously for his confirmation in January -- and by extension a new strategy for Iraq -- owe it to him to see that the job is finished.
The Democraticans who were taking offense at the findings and beliefs of General Petraeus were showing the same lack of sympathy for viewpoints differing from there own, as those expressed twenty years ago when Lt. Col. Oliver North appeared before a similar committee meeting.
When Ollie replied to a charge that the committee was in possession of some very damaging documents, he was supposed to have said, “There were some documents we DIDN’T destroy?”
The committee members were supposedly so thunderstruck at this mock revelation, it nearly stopped the hearing.
Some people just deserve to get their chain yanked repeatedly.
God was smilin’ upon the General in that hearing. In the video they couldn’t fix the microphones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvj7WCfPNWQ
The only ones that worked were the Congresscritter’s mics. Ike Skelton’s mic is hot and picks up him calling the demonstrators a**holes! Duncan Hunter is doing a symptom analysis on the mic problem! (Speaking to Ike, “Probably one of those feauxtographers knocked the microphones jack out.”) That is sweet!
Forrest Gump said it best: "Stupid is as stupid does"...
The General is a DEMOCRAT also. These Traitor Democrats want AMerica BEATEN by the terrorists just so they can regain the Presidency!! And it will work...sadly.
Only by comparing the tactics of the anti-war media, politicians and activists to Al Quada can you see how closely they are aligned.
The left believes by constantly attacking our military and President during a time of war will eventually turn the majority of Americans to their side.
Al Quada believes the same.
The primary goal of the left is to regain power. The same for Al Quada.
If they are both successful, we will be praying 5 times. Because foreign policy under the left is Bribery and blackmail.
Petraeus is a brilliant General and great American.
What a bad week for the Left.
God help this country if they get the presidency back and the clear majority in the House and Senate. If that happens then this great country is cooked.
Don’t you think this country is already cooked? Think about it when 50% of this country is socialist leftists. Further for you to consier let’s say you get the President of your choice do you really think that one person can turn this whole mess around. I say that because “we” had a Republican President with a Republican Senate and Congress and what did we accomplish?
"...prompting the Democratic chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, to utter a profanity that was picked up by his microphone."
Unbelievable! Nothing defines and exposes the level of incompetence in congress better than this video.
Even with months to prepare and millions of dollars to spend These people can't even properly organize and conduct a hearing on the most important issue of the time.
Is there any question as to why they can't legislate intelligently?
The assumption there being that these gentlemen would be unfairly concocting scenarios to tie fringe extremists to otherwise gravitas-filled Democrat politicians in order to score political points, when actually Code Pink is right in the mainstream of Democrat thinking, these days.m ;)
...And its gonna get worse,I predict!
They are simple attention whores. The way that they marched out way ahead of the other marchers dancing around and asking for taunts...well, their signs should just say: LOOK AT ME!
This was run by the people that want to tell the military how to run the war. They can’t even get a hearing to run smoothly and that’s what the do every day.
I heard that months ago.
“The General is a DEMOCRAT also”
I have not heard that.
And if he was, I doubt he will be anymore after how they treated him.
ROTL. Who could ever forget the Adam Clymer incident or Hitlery’s National Anthem rendition. Microphones have their way of bringing it all out!
” Activists from Code Pink repeatedly interrupted their testimony, prompting the Democratic chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, to utter a profanity that was picked up by his microphone.”
Immediately after cursing the protesters, Skelton chats with Duncan Hunter on how to deal with any further disruptions.
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