Thursday, September 20, 2007

With friends like the Democrats, who needs enemies?!

House Republicans are introducing a resolution to condemn an ad that MoveOn.org ran in The New York Times, referring to General David Petraeus as "General Betray Us" and accusing him of playing politics with his statistics regarding the surge. The ad was frequently referred to by Republican members at yesterday's committee hearing with the general.
"The despicable attack MoveOn.org launched against General Petraeus today should be condemned by all Members of Congress, including the Democratic leadership," said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). "I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to join in support of this resolution so the House speaks with one voice rejecting the character assassination tactics employed by this extremist group."

House Democrats are introducing a resolution to condemn an ad that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ran on television, falsely accusing John Kerry of lying about his service in Vietnam. The ad was frequently referred to by Democratic members at yesterday’s campaign rally in support of Kerry.

“The despicable attack the Swift Boat veterans launched against Senator Kerry should be condemned by all Members of Congress, including the Democratic leadership, and President Bush,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). “I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to join in support of this resolution so the House speaks with one voice rejecting the character assassination tactics employed by this extremist group.”

Democrats successfully pushed through, by a 72-25 vote, a resolution condemning an advertisement by the 527 group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Oh wait, that never happened. Shows you the difference between the Democrats and the Republicans, doesn’t it?

So you know what would have REALLY peeved the Republicans? Resorting to their own tactics. I know there will be some of y’all who say we shouldn’t stoop to their level, but you know what? We have to fight back and we can’t continue playing this higher ground bullshit that encourages the Republicans to hit us below the belt and kick us while we’re down. So there is a Republican senator who is placing a hold on giving the public access to presidential records while Senator Tom Coburn shows his love for the troops by placing a hold on a Veterans’ Suicide Prevention Bill. Why? Because Coburn can’t resist pandering to the NRA at the expense of the lives of veterans. You see if they were to be screened for risk of committing suicide, they might be denied a handgun. (Wow! It really seems like Coburn WANTS psychologically damaged veterans to purchase guns. Ignore the straw man argument, it’s what Republicans do.)

So the Democrats could have placed a hold on it, but not revealed who did so. That would have really pissed off the Republicans who would have sanctimoniously pontificated about having openness in government, something they have conveniently forgotten when they were in power. But the Democrats are weak, and as so, the Republicans can’t help but to rub their hands in glee while they continue to fuck over the troops with the acquiescence at best or at worst the compliance of Democrats who fall into the trap of those infuriating words, “Support the troops,” which has been framed as Support President Bush or else you want the TROOPS DEAD and you want Osama Bin Laden and SADDAM Hussein to have won. Support the troops means you support General Petraeus’ partisan hackery while supporting the GOP’s attempts to FILIBUSTER a bill that would have given troops equal time at home as in the front. Supporting the troops is now supporting Coburn’s attempts to kill legislation that would help suicidal veterans in favor of the NRA. Supporting the troops means not doing anything about the terrible conditions at Walter Reed because it might embarrass Resident Bush who is more of a troop than our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. (when’s the last time you heard a Democrat or the media talk about it? Yeah, I thought you couldn’t answer.)

How much media attention has Coburn’s hold on this really crucial bill gotten? Zero, I bet. The media doesn’t want to dispel the notion that the Republicans are the only ones who support the troops. Do they ever report on stories such as this? Probably not.

BTW, WHAT HAPPENED to the Democrats' refusal to bring this resolution to a vote? Oh, that's right, the Democrats caved in, as usual...

Comments:
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totally new perspective in our outlook. I honestly believe yours is one of
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