Posted on 05/09/2007 5:55:32 PM PDT by kellynla
TIM RUSSERT, NBC NIGHTLY NEWS: Brian, all eyes on the Republican party. How long will they support the president's position on the Iraq War? Yesterday may have been a defining, pivotal moment.
At two-thirty in the afternoon, in the private quarters of the White House, the Solarium Room, eleven Republican congressmen had a private meeting with the president, the secretary of defense, the secretary of state, the chief political advisor Karl Rove, and the White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, and others.
This delegation was headed by Mark Kirk of Illinois and Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania. It was, in the words of one of the participants, the most unvarnished conversation they've ever had with the president.
Another member has said he has met with three presidents and never been so candid. They told the president, and one said, quote, "My district is prepared for defeat. We need candor, we need honesty, Mr. President."
The president responded, "I don't want to pass this off to another president. I don't want to pass this off, particularly, to a democratic president," underscoring he understood how serious the situation was.
Brian, the Republican congressmen went on to say, "The word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There's no longer any credibility. It has to come from General Petraeus.
The meeting lasted an hour and fifteen minutes, and was, in the words of one, " remarkable for the bluntness, and no holds barred honesty and the message delivered by all these Republican congressmen.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: And Tim...how did the president react and how did this then affect the instructions for VP Cheney heading off to Iraq?
RUSSERT: One congressman said, "How can our daughters and sons spill their blood while the Iraqi parliament goes on vacation? The president responded, "The Vice President is over there to tell them, 'Do not go on vacation.'"
Developing...
Silly question. We have fully staffed the number of positions authorised, so if he enlisted, it would just mean we would reject someone else.
If we were 100,000 behind in enlistment, then the argument that we need to find 100,000 more people to enlist would have merit.
We have plenty of troops to put another 100,000 into Iraq. THe problem is that we can’t keep doing this forever, we don’t have enough troops to put 250,000 people into a war indefinitely.
That and we’d like those other 200,000 troops to be available if we need to fight another war.
Santorum was crushed, like someone who had been found in bed with a live boy, to paraphrase Edwin Edwards. Santorum was out of the mainstream of public opinion in Pennsylvania in a grand way. He didn’t “govern” according to the way the voters in Pennsylvania wanted him to and they fired him in a big way.
Okay, I will try naming five senators. How about Sessions, Coburn, Inhofe, Kyl and DeMint? The senators, as a body at least, deserve credit for stopping a great many of the bills the House is ramming through don't you think? As far as 10 house members.... thinking, thinking.
This is complete nonsense. As you noted, Russert has been talking about ‘tipping points’ for three years now, eagerly.
Almost???
They need to show some "huevos" and LEAD. So gutless.
HANG IN THEIR DEAR PRESIDENT. YOU HAVE MORE LEADERSHIP IN YOUR PINKY FINGER THAN THEY DO IN THEIR WHOLE BODIES. ....They are not FIT to be in their positions. I just hope they realize it, before it's too late.
Exactly. How many “refugees” will we be taking with us when we leave? How will these “refugees” be vetted to make sure AQ is not among them?
The answers are: a lot, and not at all.
You need to call his office and remind him he works for YOU!
That is political crap. We are all buying into whatever is being fed us by those who want defeat.
It "looks bad" that they go on vacation. But we have no idea if them sitting together all summer would make it easier or harder for them to do what they need to do.
Maybe they all need to go home and hear from THEIR consitutients.
Of course, I fall into the trap, I hope they decide to "cancel their vacation", but I doubt vacation or not makes any difference in what they accomplish, and they know it.
There is also little evidence they want to divide up their country. Only Joe Biden wants to divide up their country. Turkey won't let Kurdistan exist, the Sunnis are scared to death because if there are 3 countries, there will be 2 in short order as Iranian-backed Shia overrun the Sunnis.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait would fear a shia south looking to expand further as well.
If you want to believe that Election Night 2006 was some vote of confidence in Bush, I just don't know what else to say to you.
People sitting the last election out is what CREATED this!!!
Then call your Congressperson!!!!
YOU ARE ABANDONING THE 97% OF THE PARTY THAT CAN FIX THIS.... sheeesh
Learn from this...don't enable it.
No, it wasn’t a silly question. Besides, the keyboard warrior answered it later on.
The reason we haven’t vastly increased the end-strength is because the numbers couldn’t be met with just enlistments.
David Dreier is a Rino? His ACU rating is about the same as Duncan Hunter and much higher than Fred Thompson.
You are no better than the RINOs you protest against. You are letting a few bad apples rule the day. If President Bush took YOUR lead....uggrh$%%^%$#%# Your words peque my frustration.
That’s impossible. All the FR board polls suggest that everything is super! You’re not suggesting that this is a fishbowl are you?
:-)
I want the names of these yellow-bellied RINOS!
Almost?
The problem with playing nice in a representative republic is that it's not leadership. Like it or not, our country, and the war efforts we undertake, are what the people want them to be. Most people realize that we are winning. They just don't care. They don't care about fighting for a free and democratic Iraq. They do care about supporting a conflict they don't feel a stake in. Sure, we could keep fighting, they feel, but why? It's not worth the effort.
Absent any motivating force from our leaders guiding us towards a clearly defined victory and goals that benefit the people, the people will generally avoid war. Absent any reason to fear defeat, they people will happily pull their troops out of harms way. Distrust of their leaders' abilities or honesty will make the decision to favor withdrawl that much easier.
Too nice? Too nice is one way of putting it. Incomptent is another. President Bush simply wasn't up to the task of leading the American people into a long war. He listened to the wrong folks at the Pentagon and State, and lacks the rhetorical skill to keep the average American rallied behind a poorly managed war. Sure, the military and a few Republicans get it, but this ain't ancient Rome. Without the support of the citizens, you have no war.
Now the vultures of public opinion are circling, and picking apart the Republicans that can't keep up with the pack. You can decry vultures for being what they are, but vultures' gotta eat too. And they will feast for a long time on Iraq.
“The insurgency in Iraq is in the last throes.” Vice President Dick Cheney —May 2005
“I think I have just become an Independent”
Good choice. The republicans had control for years......and blew it!
The Republicans have become so moderate, it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish the difference between the two parties.
Compassionate conservatism = Liberalism in disguise.
I hope the conservative Republicans are listening.
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