The stink of desperation
By Michael J.W. Stickings
Ah, yes, the treason card. Played not by Dick Cheney, a common culprit, but by Tom DeLay, who told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are "getting very, very close to treason".
Such dastardly bullshit.
At The Carpetbagger Report, Steve Benen smashes DeLay's accusation to smithereens.
And at The Horse's Mouth, Greg Sargent puts it in context: "Has anybody else noticed that every day brings palpably more wild-eyed and unhinged attacks from the folks who either are in favor of the war or the folks who are for some reason instinctually opposed to the Dems' aggressive antiwar stance? You can see the attacks growing significantly more deranged by the day -- and sometimes by the hour."
A sure sign of desperation.
Ah, yes, the treason card. Played not by Dick Cheney, a common culprit, but by Tom DeLay, who told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are "getting very, very close to treason".
Such dastardly bullshit.
At The Carpetbagger Report, Steve Benen smashes DeLay's accusation to smithereens.
And at The Horse's Mouth, Greg Sargent puts it in context: "Has anybody else noticed that every day brings palpably more wild-eyed and unhinged attacks from the folks who either are in favor of the war or the folks who are for some reason instinctually opposed to the Dems' aggressive antiwar stance? You can see the attacks growing significantly more deranged by the day -- and sometimes by the hour."
A sure sign of desperation.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
6:21 AM
2 Comments:
I think you're neglecting the importance of this as the next Republican talking point. The are already working to set up the "Stab in the back" meme. And when the eventual withdrawal comes and Iraq is torn apart by civil war, they'll trot out a whole new list of "November Criminals".
By
Anonymous, at 4:11 PM
Oh, you're absolutely right, Kevin. This is what Republicans always do. Deep down -- or perhaps not so deep -- they know the war is lost, that now it's just a matter of playing out the "surge" so that it doesn't look like the war's critics "won". It's horrible to play this sort of game with the lives of American men and women in uniform, but Republicans (at least those who continue to support the war, which is most of them) are looking to score political points. It's a matter of when the U.S. will withdraw, not if, and clearly Republicans want to withdraw when it best suits their political interests, which is to say, when they can most effectively blame the Democrats.
This is one reason why in the past I have argued against a timetable. Democrats may be right to call for one -- and it may be the best policy -- but it's a dangerous course (politically speaking) for the Democrats to pursue. Because when things get even worse in Iraq, which they likely will, Republicans would be able to blame the Democrats. If, say, Iraq descends not just into chaos but into genocide, the Republican spin would be that it's all the Democrats' fault. And the media would play along, I suspect, given how receptive they usually are to Republican talking points.
Democrats would do better to block potential military action against Iran before it even begins, and to continue to pound Bush on the conduct of the Iraq War without necessarily setting a timetable (which Bush would never agree to anyway).
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 6:47 PM
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