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...
I hope it was positive for all involved.
I think I have just become an Independent.
There is not much to say. Dubya has been flunking lunch for few years now. Even when he is right, he either can’t or won’t make a convincing case to the American people. He has morphed into our Jimmy Carter.
The US Generals have said all along it requires political solution, which the Iraqis have NOT done. And which the whitehouse has not forced the Iraqis to do.
The oil revenue sharing is the prime example. Rather than deal with it, they go on vacation.
I could see good reason for Gen. Petreaus to cal Pres. Bush and say he ordered the troops into secure garrison, to prepare to leave Iraq.
Russert has been talking about a tipping point for 3 years.
Its tough to wage war when half the senate favors defeat, and the other half is afraid of the half that favors defeat.
WOW, I wonder if this is true. The dino media has a habit of making up things they wish Republicans would say and doing their best to make them come true.
Kirk and Dent,, just Two of the many proud members of the RMSP
http://www.republicanmainstreet.org/members.htm
Regardless of how good or bad things in Iraq are going, if by this September the public perception (driven mostly by the mainstream media) is that things are going bad and the surge has not worked, GOP congressmen and senators will be deserting the President in droves to try to save their own skins. We at FR may not like it, but this is political reality. This is why the President’s inability to articulate his case is so critical. This administration sucks more at PR than any administration in recent memory.
Dent = RINO; In that district as well as when Arlen Spector was running for re-election ... the question in November was not which party you are voting for ... it is which democrat are you voting for
Your point is exactly correct. Theirs is a fledgling Democracy whose failure will have repercussions that no politician would want to put his name on and so the point if it is going to fail then let it. On the Political side I would make sure that America knows it was a great experiment that went terribly wrong thanks to the politics not in Iraq... but in America. and when we do leave then the real fireworks will start.
Have to consider the source. NBC News does not have a good reputation in my bood.
Politicians have no choice to follow polls and to make sure they polls they follow are accurate. Their job security depends on it. Rove was full of hot air when he told the media that he had his own numbers about how the midterms would turn out. Rasmussen is a joke and no one here at FR should pay any attention to them.
upsetting but true
“Mark Kirk of Illinois and Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania”
I guess we’ll know the names of the other nine by morning.
—This delegation was headed by Mark Kirk of Illinois and Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania.—
BFD. Kirk is the RINO of all RINOs, the Supreme RINO, ultra-RINO, uber-RINO.
Didn't mention the name, which means it's not to be trusted.
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