Senator Mark Dayton, and Powerline had the gruesome details.
Archives for 2005
A Richly Deserved Smackdown
Hitchens delivers a vicious beating to the idiots on the left comparing Iraq to Vietnam:
I suppose it’s obvious that I was not a supporter of the Vietnam War. Indeed, the principles of the antiwar movement of that epoch still mean a good deal to me. That’s why I retch every time I hear these principles recycled, by narrow minds or in a shallow manner, in order to pass off third-rate excuses for Baathism or jihadism. But one must also be capable of being offended objectively. The Vietnam/Iraq babble is, from any point of view, a busted flush. It’s no good. It’s a stiff. It’s passed on. It has ceased to be. It’s joined the choir invisible. It’s turned up its toes. It’s gone. It’s an ex-analogy.
Heretofore, the advocates of the Vietnam analogy will be known as the Dead Parrot society.
I also suggest that ever time a Democrat tries to raise the specter of Vietnam, you quickly retort:
“Vietnam? You mean the Democrat conceived, Democrat initiated, and Democrat run war that is widely regarded as the only war the modern United States has ever lost? That Vietnam?”
Maybe that will slow the idiots down. Doubt it. But maybe.
The ‘Pre-buttal’
I guess they called it a ‘Pre-buttal’ because it provided noth Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi with opportunities to makes asses of themselves several days prior to the SOTU. At any rate, they were out in rare form:
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, hailed as “a milestone” Sunday’s Iraqi elections, when millions defied threats and went to the polls.
“But on Wednesday night,” Reid said, “the president needs to spell out a real and understandable plan for the unfinished work ahead: defeat the growing insurgency, rebuild Iraq, increase political participation by all parties … and increase international involvement.”
Without offering a timetable, Reid added, “Most of all, we need an exit strategy so that we know what victory is and how we can get there.”
Reid was far more restrained than Pelosi, who seems to exist to make Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray look Senatorial. At any rate, these new catcalls for an ‘exit strategy’ are simply idiotic, and all it really is is more of the same from Democrats- vacant statements that sound like something but mean nothing.
Folks- holding the elections yesterday, devising a constitution for Iraq, holding elections in the fall, training Iraqi policemen and soldiers, and battling the insurgency IS AN EXIT STRATEGY, and prematurely setting an artificial timeline is idiotic. If you don’t believe me, ask Norman Schwarzkopf (who was just on Hardball) what he thinks about these calls for troop withdrawal and a timetable for troop withdrawal:
It’s dumb.
When pressed to elaborate, the good General stated:
It’s just dumb.
Hillary
Here is to wishing Hillary Clinton a speedy recovery. Never did I think the Democrats would so lose their way that Bill and Hillary Clinton would be beacons of sanity and hope.
*** Update ***
You can stop the prayers- just saw her on MSNBC joking about the incident. Back to our regularly scheduled demonization of all Democrats.
Friedman
Tom Friedman was on Imus this morning, and based on his comments, I can guess that his column this week is going to draw the ire of lefties all over the place. You see, Friedman recognizes the elections in Iraq as precisely what they are- “a positive first step that no one should minimize.”
This runs counter to the new Democratic orthodoxy, so I expect he will be flamed accordingly.
Idiot of the Week
This week’s idiot of the week is none other than Lynn Woolsey. Check out the staggering incoherence.
The Meme Spreads
I see the lefty memes I warned about yesterday are beginning to spread.l Remember, the two memes are:
1.) “Just because ballots were cast it doesn’t mean it is going to lead to a democracy.”
2.) “What about the WMD? We went in after the WMD.”
From the consistently dyspeptic Eric Alterman, today:
What