FIRE! Senator Harry Reid as Dem. Senate "leader"! Sen. Reid already playing DEFERENTIAL and NON-CONFRONTATIONAL....
We hate to rain on the victory parade of Democrats these 15 or so hours since the close of polls yesterday, but we just heard Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Fox 'news,' when asked about the RESIGNATION of Don Rumsfeld from Secretary of Defense, Senator Reid said (paraprhasing, we don't have Fox on permanent Tivo)
"IF Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation was THE_ONLY_RESULT of our campaign and election 2006, it would be worth it in itself."
Senator Reid, we hate to say it... but MALARKY!
IF you think that millions of us Democratic voters, activists, supporters, and donors are "satisfied" simply that the Bush White House has been FORCED, by the public opinion expressed in election results, to notice how ABJECTLY INCOMPETENT, corrupt, unprepared, and dismal Secretary of Rumsfeld has been to this date..... Senator Reid, IF you think that us Democratic voters are SATISFIED that the White House has been pushed to that simple recognition, then, you, sir, are every bit as aloof and OUT OF TOUCH as Secretary Rumsfeld has been.
Indeed, that the Bush White House has been able to PUSH OFF this simple recognition (of Rumsfeld's abject dismal incompetence) is simply a testament to THE WEAKNESS OF YOUR Senate leadership to this date.
Make no mistake: Iraq IS currently a nightmare, AND IS NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER ANY TIME SOON. Here's a money paragraph from Ambassador Peter Galbraith's seminal book on "How American Incompetence Created a War Without End" (the subtitle of the book):
<< FROM the 2003 killing of Shiite cleric Bakr-al-Hakim to the destruction of the Askiriya shrine in 2006, FOREIGN TERRORISTS HAVE HELPED SPARK CIVIL WAR. BY creating a climate of fear, they have cost the United States BILLIONS in additional security costs beyond what was budgeted for reconstruction, and greatly diminished the effectiveness of those expenditures. IF the Americans WITHDRAW_WHILE_IRAQ_IS_STILL_UNSTABLE, al-Qaeda can not only CLAIM VICTORY but will have, in Iraq's Sunni heartland, A SECURE TERRITORIAL BASE to REPLACE the one lost in Afghanistan in 2001. >>
LESSON #1: Iraq is NOT GOING TO BE A PARADISE by November 2008, and Rethuglicans WILL, absolutely, postively WILL try to TAR_DEMOCRATS as being RESPONSIBLE for the nightmare that will exist in 2008.
Clearly, Galbraith's sub-title in and of itself illustrates that, far and away, this was a REPUBLICAN_CREATED_WAR_WITHOUT_END. And, just as clearly, the Republicans and their PRESS WHORES will try, in 2008, to PAINT the DEMOCRATS as being responsible for this nightmare mess.
Our first impression of Senator Reid on Fox this afternoon was "He looks like a polite and tired senior," the kind of person we might respectfully see enjoying a secure and prosperous retirement at a premium private golf club.
But right now the Democrats do NOT need "POLITE," respectful, and deferential LEADERS. We need AGRESSIVE leadership to FORESTALL the SMEAR JOB that we know, WE KNOW! is coming in 2008.
Already today, the media whores and Righties are out talking up the "CONSERVATIVE NATURE" of the Democrat's win yesterday... the "Right to Life" candidates (eg Casey in Penn.) and big-biz money-raising (Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emmanuel, Joe Lieberman's Republican-financed win in Connecticut; Jeb Bush's handpicked successor Charlie Crist winning in Florida with his THREE-to-ONE campaign fundraising advantage over Democratic gov. candidate Jim Davis. (Not, of course, that ATTORNEY GENERAL Charlie Crist would be in a position to take advantage of Florida's corporate fundraiser and lawyer lobbyists in this election cycle...!)
But playing "Republican-lite" is NOT how Democrats won this election! (Given, of course, that in conservative districts even Democratic candidates will tend to be more conservative than Dem. candidates in "liberal" districts.)
ALREADY, at this very moment, the Republican spin machine and their media allies ARE SPINNING the news and issues as "THE DEMOCRAT'S FAULT."
IF the Democrats do not respond FORCEFULLY, to COUNTER and PUSH-BACK the Rethuglican MEDIA MESSAGE, then last night's victory will not only be short-lived, but only the prelude for even worse.
Peter W. Galbraith's book "The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End" has just been published. (August 2006) http://www.nybooks.com/authors/10454
"IF Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation was THE_ONLY_RESULT of our campaign and election 2006, it would be worth it in itself."
Senator Reid, we hate to say it... but MALARKY!
IF you think that millions of us Democratic voters, activists, supporters, and donors are "satisfied" simply that the Bush White House has been FORCED, by the public opinion expressed in election results, to notice how ABJECTLY INCOMPETENT, corrupt, unprepared, and dismal Secretary of Rumsfeld has been to this date..... Senator Reid, IF you think that us Democratic voters are SATISFIED that the White House has been pushed to that simple recognition, then, you, sir, are every bit as aloof and OUT OF TOUCH as Secretary Rumsfeld has been.
Indeed, that the Bush White House has been able to PUSH OFF this simple recognition (of Rumsfeld's abject dismal incompetence) is simply a testament to THE WEAKNESS OF YOUR Senate leadership to this date.
Make no mistake: Iraq IS currently a nightmare, AND IS NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER ANY TIME SOON. Here's a money paragraph from Ambassador Peter Galbraith's seminal book on "How American Incompetence Created a War Without End" (the subtitle of the book):
<< FROM the 2003 killing of Shiite cleric Bakr-al-Hakim to the destruction of the Askiriya shrine in 2006, FOREIGN TERRORISTS HAVE HELPED SPARK CIVIL WAR. BY creating a climate of fear, they have cost the United States BILLIONS in additional security costs beyond what was budgeted for reconstruction, and greatly diminished the effectiveness of those expenditures. IF the Americans WITHDRAW_WHILE_IRAQ_IS_STILL_UNSTABLE, al-Qaeda can not only CLAIM VICTORY but will have, in Iraq's Sunni heartland, A SECURE TERRITORIAL BASE to REPLACE the one lost in Afghanistan in 2001. >>
LESSON #1: Iraq is NOT GOING TO BE A PARADISE by November 2008, and Rethuglicans WILL, absolutely, postively WILL try to TAR_DEMOCRATS as being RESPONSIBLE for the nightmare that will exist in 2008.
Clearly, Galbraith's sub-title in and of itself illustrates that, far and away, this was a REPUBLICAN_CREATED_WAR_WITHOUT_END. And, just as clearly, the Republicans and their PRESS WHORES will try, in 2008, to PAINT the DEMOCRATS as being responsible for this nightmare mess.
Our first impression of Senator Reid on Fox this afternoon was "He looks like a polite and tired senior," the kind of person we might respectfully see enjoying a secure and prosperous retirement at a premium private golf club.
But right now the Democrats do NOT need "POLITE," respectful, and deferential LEADERS. We need AGRESSIVE leadership to FORESTALL the SMEAR JOB that we know, WE KNOW! is coming in 2008.
Already today, the media whores and Righties are out talking up the "CONSERVATIVE NATURE" of the Democrat's win yesterday... the "Right to Life" candidates (eg Casey in Penn.) and big-biz money-raising (Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emmanuel, Joe Lieberman's Republican-financed win in Connecticut; Jeb Bush's handpicked successor Charlie Crist winning in Florida with his THREE-to-ONE campaign fundraising advantage over Democratic gov. candidate Jim Davis. (Not, of course, that ATTORNEY GENERAL Charlie Crist would be in a position to take advantage of Florida's corporate fundraiser and lawyer lobbyists in this election cycle...!)
But playing "Republican-lite" is NOT how Democrats won this election! (Given, of course, that in conservative districts even Democratic candidates will tend to be more conservative than Dem. candidates in "liberal" districts.)
ALREADY, at this very moment, the Republican spin machine and their media allies ARE SPINNING the news and issues as "THE DEMOCRAT'S FAULT."
IF the Democrats do not respond FORCEFULLY, to COUNTER and PUSH-BACK the Rethuglican MEDIA MESSAGE, then last night's victory will not only be short-lived, but only the prelude for even worse.
Peter W. Galbraith's book "The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End" has just been published. (August 2006) http://www.nybooks.com/authors/10454
posted by verifi at 3:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home