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Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / Silliness On Iraq

Silliness On Iraq

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One: another day, another GOP delegation to the president.

NBC News reports tonight that 11 Republican members of Congress pleaded yesterday with President Bush and his senior aides to change course in Iraq.

The group of Republicans was led by Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Charlie Dent (R-PA), and the meeting included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and Tony Snow. One member of Congress called the discussion the “most unvarnished conversation they’ve ever had with the president…”

This trip inside the bubble has become something of a ritual pilgrimage among Republican legislators. Why is that? If the president cared about loyalty in the traditional sense they might have something to talk about, but these guys have worked with the president for long enough to know that he doesn’t work that way. Disagreement is disloyalty, you’re either with him or you’re against him, yadda yadda. These guys know they don’t have a veto-proof majority to wave around so the point of the trip has to be something other than changing the president’s mind. Talking will never change his position and these clowns lack the stones to change it by force.

To get a clue what the point might be, check out Timmeh:

NBC’s Tim Russert said it “may have been a defining pivotal moment” in the Iraq debate.

Three points! No net! Our very concerned delegation gets no compromise (the dog might not want to catch that truck) but the breathless press ought to earn them some desperately-needed breathing room with their home constituencies. This whole exercise could have happened just to keep the poor schmucks who answer these Congressmen’s phones from quitting en masse.

The Dems will surprise me if they don’t once again mistake kabuki for truth and let these oh-so-concerned GOP “mavericks” take point on the issue, just like the brave three Senators who valiantly spectered on the right of habeas corpus.

Two: Conservative Dems could cave to Bush and vote with the GOP on tomorrow’s Iraq funding bill:

I just heard from an impeccable source that there is serious concern on the Hill that conservative Democrats in the House will vote with the Republicans to strip any and all restrictions from the Iraq supplemental tomorrow, effectively giving Bush all the money he wants with no restrictions and no effort to hold either him or the Iraq government accountable for anything.

Sadly, you can always count on Democrats to utterly whiff on the basic laws of political advantage. Public opinion runs steeply against the Republicans and it’s trending away from them. The GOP caucus is equally terrified by the Iraq issue, their moron president and the appearance of capitulating when they finally give in to the Democratic position on Iraq. Pressure and a united front helps the Democrats, even the conservative ones, in every conceivable way. Some days I wonder whether the geniuses whispering in these guy’s ears, Markos’s DC consultant bogeymen, really do have a magical ability to give the wrong advice about everything.

Reader Interactions

20Comments

  1. 1.

    chopper

    i love it. people have been bitching for years about the lack of confidence in the president’s decision-making in iraq, but a few goopers say it and its “a defining pivotal moment” in the Iraq debate.

    god bless the media.

  2. 2.

    Ross

    maybe I’m a bit slow on the uptake tonight (long day in the lab), but why would Markos be pushing dems to vote with the GOP on tomorrow’s Iraq bill?

  3. 3.

    demkat620

    Some days I wonder whether the geniuses whispering in these guy’s ears, Markos’s DC consultant bogeymen, really do have a magical ability to give the wrong advice about everything.

    Marshall Whittman and Dangerstein are at it again.

  4. 4.

    Zombie Santa Claus

    What’s all the fuss about? I thought Iraq was going fine! Those guys have their freedom now, what more do they want? What’s the problem?

    Have they run out of flowers to throw at our troops, and are now forced to resort to military threats against neighboring nations wealthier in flower-resources? Surely we could resolve this peacefully by agreeing to export flowers from the United States to give to the Iraqis, who could then throw them to our troops. (If the Iraqis are too proud to accept free flowers as a gift when they only want the damn things to throw them back at our guys anyway, we could always negotiate some kind of payment in something Iraq has a lot of. Maybe some kind of Flowers-for-Oil program or something.)

  5. 5.

    Zombie Santa Claus

    It is easy to see where the Iraqis are coming from, though. After all, now that the moonbats are running America, Syria is unlikely to be liberated by American troops anytime soon. They won’t need their flowers for at least a couple more years; meanwhile, Iraqis know that literally thousands of Americans go un-beflowered daily, due to shortages. Syria’s flower markets and gardens must present a very tempting target for them. Honestly, if our military hadn’t destroyed the Iraqi military during the course of the liberation, if I were Assad I’d be pretty worried about all this.

  6. 6.

    Barry

    “This trip inside the bubble has become something of a ritual pilgrimage among Republican legislators. Why is that?”

    IIRC, the polls are currently showing 60-70% of Americans disliking the war, the handling of the war, and Bush. The trend has been for this to increase. Barring a magicaly victory in Iraq in the next 17 months, the GOP will be going into the ’08 elections with 70% disapproval ratings on the major issue, one that’s GOP-owned.

    Add the collapse in the housing market being a probable start of a recession, and there’s a lot for a GOP congressperson to worry about.

  7. 7.

    kritter

    Remember,almost the entire GOP in Congress originally opposed the surge- even made public statements. They had just had their butt whipped in the midterm, and were in no mood for more WH shenanigans. The Bush team met with them privately in small groups, and obviously they agreed to hang with the president. Now they have the prospect of losing more seats in ’08. It is pretty obvious that Bush doesn’t plan on withdrawing troops while he is in office, which won’t effect him as much as it will effect them. They may be afraid to lose Bush’s support and the help of Karl Rove and the RNC, who may actively support opponents in the primary if they hold back on supporting the war.

  8. 8.

    Zifnab

    They may be afraid to lose Bush’s support and the help of Karl Rove and the RNC, who may actively support opponents in the primary if they hold back on supporting the war.

    I bet the Republicans long for the day when the Rovian slime-launcher was pointed at the Dem side of the aisle.

  9. 9.

    ThymeZone

    I’m seeing progress in Iraq.

    Progress toward a 25-year Democratic majority in Congress, mainly.

    It’s time for the current Congress to nut up and just say no to the White House crazies.

  10. 10.

    Rome Again

    Der Rover told him he still had 28 points to go before absolutely nobody trusted him.

    Racing towards total defeat?

  11. 11.

    Tsulagi

    Sadly, you can always count on Democrats to utterly whiff on the basic laws of political advantage.

    Yep, with these guys it’s like herding cats on LSD. They have been getting a little better lately, though.

    You can see one scenario on the Pub side shaping up. Come September/October, some, especially those Pubs in vulnerable districts and states, are going to start peeling away.

    Their message is going to be that they were committed to winning in Iraq, but unfortunately the Maliki government and other Iraqi political leaders are not. Sadly, they’re just not ready to appreciate the precious gift of democracy we’ve given them. They suspected this to be true, but they supported The Surge as one more effort for the benefit of the Iraqi people. They aren’t quitters. They have been the responsible party.

    You can write this bullshit now, and likely they already are.

  12. 12.

    Scruffy McSnufflepuss

    Racing towards total defeat?

    The Republican Party is in its last throes, except for a few dead-enders.

    You can write this bullshit now, and likely they already are.

    I just hope (against hope) that there aren’t enough people stupid enough to believe it.

  13. 13.

    Tsulagi

    I just hope (against hope) that there aren’t enough people stupid enough to believe it.

    See 2004 presidential election.

  16. 16.

    Zombie Santa Claus

    I didn’t know zombies were eternal optimists.

    Oh, we’re full of upbeat sayings. Here’s a small sample:

    Today is the first day of the rest of your undeath.

    The early ghoul catches the wormy guy who passed out from fear and exhaustion as he tried to flee the infested area.

    A brain in hand is worth two in their skulls.

    For every corpse you didn’t get a chance to eat, there’s another zombie ally in the making.

    Hang in there! Even if your rotting limbs will no longer support your upright undead ambles, there’s always some prey too injured to move at all.

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Trackbacks

  1. […] Der Decider remained immobile as Republicans approached the bunker. The New Milennium’s Berlin was in ruins around him, but he would not give him. He said would not pass on his problem to another Decider, certainly not one of those Democrats, who might succeed him, who might be a success where he had not been. Der Rover told him he still had 28 points to go before absolutely nobody trusted him. These eleven Republicans who had visited the bunker to tell him the electoral battles were already lost should not be believed. Comparing this moment to Goldwater going to Nixon would be as fruitless as mentioning Canossa or the Magna Carta.  True history would be a glorious future, not a look to the past.  Gonzales still survived. Wasn’t Cheney even now in Baghdad declaring progress as the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there? Der Decider could still throw anyone he wanted in jail. So he felt free to spread the fire of freedom as the New Berlin burned down. Capitulation would be for other little people. […]

  3. […] Back in May I noted the growing list of elected Republicans growing publicly nervous about Iraq in a post that I think is worth quoting at length: […]

  4. […] Back in May I noted the growing list of elected Republicans growing publicly nervous about Iraq in a post that I think is worth quoting at length: […]