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You are here: Home / Politics / Those Damned Moderates

Those Damned Moderates

by John Cole|  May 10, 200710:44 am| 21 Comments

This post is in: Politics, War

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This is cute:

Moderate Republicans gave President Bush a blunt warning on his Iraq policy at a private White House meeting this week, telling the president that conditions needed to improve markedly by fall or more Republicans would desert him on the war.

The White House session demonstrated the grave unease many Republicans are feeling about the war, even as they continue to stand with the president against Democratic efforts to force a withdrawal of forces through a spending measure that has been a flash point for weeks.

Participants in the Tuesday meeting between Mr. Bush, senior administration officials and 11 members of a moderate bloc of House Republicans said the lawmakers were unusually candid with the president, telling him that public support for the war was crumbling in their swing districts.

One told Mr. Bush that voters back home favored a withdrawal even if it meant the war was judged a loss. Representative Tom Davis told Mr. Bush that the president’s approval rating was at 5 percent in one section of his northern Virginia district.

“It was a tough meeting in terms of people being as frank as they possibly could about their districts and their feelings about where the American people are on the war,” said Representative Ray LaHood of Illinois, who took part in the session, which lasted more than an hour in the residential section of the White House. “It was a no-holds-barred meeting.”

Several of the Republican moderates who visited the White House have already come under political attack at home for their support of Mr. Bush and survived serious Democratic challenges in November.

While I am glad members of the GOP are finally beginning to come to terms with the fact that we are in a bloody version of Groundhog Day in Iraq, it is a little infuriating that it took political pressure in their home districts to drive home the point. Have they not been watching the news, reading the briefings, and, you know, paying attention?

Regardless, let me be the first second to tell the poor dears: BUSH DOES NOT CARE.

He doesn’t care about your plight. Loyalty, to this administration, is a one way street. You simply need to understand that we are going to be in Iraq until the Decider/Commander Guy and his folks can figure out a way to blame the Democrats prior to the 2008 election.

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Reader Interactions

21Comments

  1. 1.

    ThymeZone

    May 10, 2007 at 10:57 am

    it is a little infuriating that it took political pressure in their home districts to drive home the point.

    we are going to be in Iraq until the Decider/Commander Guy and his folks can figure out a way to blame the Democrats prior to the 2008 election

    Cheer up, John. There’s plenty to keep us preoccupied until then.

  2. 2.

    Tim F.

    May 10, 2007 at 11:04 am

    Regardless, let me be the first to tell the poor dears

    Cough.

  3. 3.

    Scruffy McSnufflepuss

    May 10, 2007 at 11:18 am

    You simply need to understand that we are going to be in Iraq until the Decider/Commander Guy and his folks can figure out a way to blame the Democrats prior to the 2008 election.

    It was all Tenet, a Clinton appointee. If the CIA hadn’t fucked up, the Shite House wouldn’t have thought there was a WMD threat. Also, if Daschle and Kerry and the other Dems hadn’t voted to give Bush authorization for it, it wouldn’t have happened.

    So the Republicans are really the victims of circumstances beyond their control, you see.

  4. 4.

    Andrew

    May 10, 2007 at 11:32 am

    You know, if it turns out that Bush and Cheney are actually Shia Islamists, everything they have done suddenly makes a whole lot of sense.

  5. 5.

    Tsulagi

    May 10, 2007 at 11:38 am

    You know, if it turns out that Bush and Cheney are actually Shia Islamists, everything they have done suddenly makes a whole lot of sense.

    True. They’re martyrs in their own country. They’ve prayed to Allah to put their virgins on layaway.

  6. 6.

    Zombie Santa Claus

    May 10, 2007 at 12:06 pm

    “Shite House” probably means “shit house.”

    It would be pretty funny if Bush were a Shiite, though. His Daddy was working with the Iranians in 1980 to keep the hostages kidnapped until Reagan’s inauguration, so it sorta makes sense.

  7. 7.

    ConservativelyLiberal

    May 10, 2007 at 12:07 pm

    Really sad that it takes the risk of losing reelection to get these creeps to try and slip the muzzle on Chimpy.

    …’Our soldiers dying in Iraq? Well, let me stick my finger in the wind and see which way it is blowing.’

    What ever happened to politicians who did what was right, not what was politically expedient? Once they get hold of the power of the position, and the perks that go along with it, all they want to do is get re-elected. In my opinion, term limits would solve this problem. It would give politicans in their last term a chance to do the right thing, not what they need to do to get elected. It can’t be any worse than the mess we have now.

    If the president has to operate under term limits (thank heavens!), then so should the House and Senate. Two terms in the Senate (12 years), and 4 to 6 terms (8 to 12 years) for the House. Sounds about right. Good luck trying to get it done now though. It would be akin to taking the bananna away from the gorilla (maybe the bottle away from the baby?).

    Political weasels, that is all I can think of them as. Belly to the ground, slinking and slithering along…

    …’Dead people as a result of our inaction?! Wrong, and let me say why in such a way that you will forget what the original question was as the answer I am going to give is in no way relevant to it.’

    I wish our government had a handle like my toilet does…

  8. 8.

    Jake

    May 10, 2007 at 12:21 pm

    You simply need to understand that we are going to be in Iraq until the Decider/Commander Guy and his folks can figure out a way to blame the Democrats prior to the 2008 election.

    That’s easy: Democrats tend to be pro-choice, therefore all of those aborted fetuses that might have grown up and enlisted in the military weren’t able to and that’s why we got bogged down in Iraq. Democrats + Reproductive Choice = No Cakewalk, FlowerznCandeez and a pony.

  9. 9.

    S.W. Anderson

    May 10, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    So, now these Republican moderates with one eye on the next election and the other on polls showing them in deep doo-doo suddenly perceive advantage in cutting and running.

    We can now say these Republican congress members were for staying the course until the second ice age in hell or The Decider said it was time to leave, whichever came first, before they were for trying to save their careers by doing a 180.

    Mr. bandleader, a little flip-flopper music, please!

  10. 10.

    jg

    May 10, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    You simply need to understand that we are going to be in Iraq until the Decider/Commander Guy and his folks can figure out a way to blame the Democrats prior to the 2008 election.

    We are going to be at war for as long as we are under republican control. We’ll leave Iraq only when its time to go to Iran. There’s still lots of money to be made so why stop warring? Privatised army logistics, privatized fighters, reconstruction contracts, weapons manufacturing to replace spent munitions and ordinance and vehicles, oil field maintenance contracts. The object of war is to be at war.

  11. 11.

    ThymeZone

    May 10, 2007 at 12:37 pm

    Bush is told that the war is “hurting the GOP.”

    Not the country, the GOP.

    Get it? That’s what motivated the lawmakers to trudge down to the White House and meet with Tony Snow, er, I mean, the President. The war is hurting the GOP.

  12. 12.

    jg

    May 10, 2007 at 12:38 pm

    ConservativelyLiberal Says:

    Really sad that it takes the risk of losing reelection to get these creeps to try and slip the muzzle on Chimpy.

    …’Our soldiers dying in Iraq? Well, let me stick my finger in the wind and see which way it is blowing.’

    What ever happened to politicians who did what was right, not what was politically expedient? Once they get hold of the power of the position, and the perks that go along with it, all they want to do is get re-elected.

    Power is not a means to an end it IS an end.

    In my opinion, term limits would solve this problem. It would give politicans in their last term a chance to do the right thing, not what they need to do to get elected. It can’t be any worse than the mess we have now.

    If you apply term limits the only people with knowledge and experience in washington wil be the lobbyists. Who coincidently are very much in favor of term limits.

  13. 13.

    jg

    May 10, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    ThymeZone Says:

    Bush is told that the war is “hurting the GOP.”

    Not the country, the GOP.

    Get it? That’s what motivated the lawmakers to trudge down to the White House and meet with Tony Snow, er, I mean, the President. The war is hurting the GOP.

    As was pointed out by a poster on Drums site yesterday, when Monica Goodling sat sobbing for a half hour about the attorney scandal she apparently said that all she had ever wanted to do was serve the president, the administration and the department. Not a word about the country or the people or the law.

  14. 14.

    ThymeZone

    May 10, 2007 at 1:01 pm

    Updated: 11 minutes ago (AP)
    WASHINGTON – President Bush, under growing political pressure, agreed Thursday to negotiate with Congress on a war-spending bill that sets benchmarks for progress in Iraq.

    Yawn.

  15. 15.

    ThymeZone

    May 10, 2007 at 1:05 pm

    DETROIT — President Bush plans to visit Michigan on Friday to speak about the global fight against terrorism and the war in Iraq, the White House said.

    Details of the visit, including the location, were expected to be announced later, White House spokesman Trey Bohn said Sunday.

    On Saturday, Bush said in his weekly radio address that a Democratic plan to set an end date for the war gives “our enemies the victory they desperately want.”

    Tell me again why anyone in Congress would bother for one second with what this insane motherfucker thinks?

    As for the Michigan visit ….. do we picture the presidential chopper flying around and looking for a gatthering of three or more people who have Support Our Troops stickers on their cars?

  16. 16.

    Tsulagi

    May 10, 2007 at 1:31 pm

    On Saturday, Bush said in his weekly radio address that a Democratic plan to set an end date for the war gives “our enemies the victory they desperately want.”

    Which apparently would be a majority of the lawmakers in the Iraqi parliament. Evildoers, the lot of them.

  17. 17.

    The Other Steve

    May 10, 2007 at 1:58 pm

    He doesn’t care about your plight. Loyalty, to this administration, is a one way street. You simply need to understand that we are going to be in Iraq until the Decider/Commander Guy and his folks can figure out a way to blame the Democrats prior to the 2008 election.

    Amen. Democrats need to repeat this point over and over and over. Every time they’re on TV, they need to point out the truth of what’s going on.

  18. 18.

    Andrew

    May 10, 2007 at 2:09 pm

    “Shite House” probably means “shit house.”

    As a long time Irvine Welsh fan and one time resident of Edinburgh, that’s how I read it too. But it got me to thinking…

  19. 19.

    Paul L.

    May 10, 2007 at 3:52 pm

    Seems that both sides have problems with Moderates

    BREAKING: Conservative Dems expected to vote with GOP to give Bush unfettered blank check on Iraq tomorrow

    It’s time to replace some conservative Democrats in Washington, DC. 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.

    It would be interesting to see how which these conservative Democrats were elected in 2006.

    If it turns out a great number of them were elected in 2006, will the anti-war progressives still use the talking point that the 2006 elections results proves that the American people want out of Iraq?

  20. 20.

    Mont D. Law

    May 10, 2007 at 9:29 pm

    I think we should start making bets on who Bush’s John Dean will be.

    My money is on Rice.

    mdl

  21. 21.

    ConservativelyLiberal

    May 10, 2007 at 10:01 pm

    jg Says:

    If you apply term limits the only people with knowledge and experience in washington wil be the lobbyists. Who coincidently are very much in favor of term limits.

    If there were term limits reforms, I would go the whole route. Neuter the lobbyists so they can’t even buy the pols breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinner. Sure they can meet with them, but take all of the candy away. Institute real campaign finance reform once and for all. There is nothing stopping the House or Senate from doing this except greed. They always leave loopholes for themselves.

    It is only a dream, and I know that it will never stand a snowballs chance in hell. But the dream is better than the nightmare of a government we now have (Dems & Repubs included). I would like to see a real, viable thrid party pop up about now. I bet the country would go for it if it had the right kind of people in it.

    Not all Dem or Repub pols are crooks, and it would be nive to see the moderates split off and form a third party. I know, another dream…

    Paul L, the Dems did not win the 2006 elections, the Repubs lost it. No matter what the far left moonbats have to say about it, it is the truth. The lesser of two evils was chosen, that is all. It is the pendulum of American politics in action. Slow, wide swinging and never resting in the middle where most are at.

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