Right Wing Lunatic

Well it appears that Democrats LIKED the ad that was taken out against General Petraeus.  The infamous "General Betray Us" ad.  They aren't speaking out against it, only giving token statements.  Let's take a peek:

Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the California Democrat "wished [MoveOn.org] wouldn't have done that ad," but declined to comment further.

A spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, also declined to comment on the ad.

Even Presidential candidate John Edwards won't denounce the obviously below the belt tactic done by his political masters:

A spokesman for former Sen. John Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate who has benefited from full-page ads MoveOn.org ran on his behalf, said Mr. Edwards "honors General Petraeus' service and patriotism," but he did not disavow the MoveOn.org ad.

"The general is wrong to believe that the American people or Congress should give President Bush's failed Iraq strategy more time," said Edwards spokesman Eric Schultz.

In July, MoveOn.org ran newspaper ads for Mr. Edwards in Iowa and New Hampshire after their members chose him as the winner of an online forum about global warming.

Is Barack Obama any different?  Nope.

Sen. Barack Obama's spokeswoman Jen Psaki noted that the candidate is not questioning the general's patriotism but rather his "logic," because the Illinois Democrat sees "no evidence that this surge is producing the political progress needed to resolve the civil war in Iraq, or that it will be accomplished through more of the same."

After Mr. Obama won an online MoveOn.org forum about Iraq, the group set up a page directing its members to make direct financial contributions to whichever candidate they felt gave the strongest performance.

Of course, even Hillary won't denounce it.

Phil Singer, a spokesman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said his boss would "keep her focus where it should be, on ending the war."

So she can't be bothered to make a two sentence statement?

But do you know who actually denounced the ad on the Democratic side of things?  John Kerry.  Stop laughing, I'm not kidding:

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, who on Monday called the ad "over the top."

But they are all saying that it's being used as a distraction.  This coming from the party of distractions.  Republicans aren't asking for this to be the main topic, they are asking for a bit of humanity from Democrats and they aren't getting it.

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Labels: Democrats, General Petraeus, iraq, Politics, Republicans

# posted by Travis @ 10:16 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Here's a transcript of his latest rant, but there's a few problems of course:

Finally tonight, a Special Comment about Mr. Bush’s trip, and his startling admission of the true motive for this war, which was revealed in his absence.

And so he is back from his annual surprise gratuitous photo-op in Iraq, and what a sorry spectacle it was.

But it was nothing compared to the spectacle of one unfiltered, unguarded, horrifying quotation in the new biography to which Mr. Bush has consented.

As he deceived the troops at Al-Asad Air Base yesterday with the tantalizing prospect that some of them might not have to risk being killed and might get to go home, Mr. Bush probably did not know that, with his own words, he had already proved that he had been lying — is lying… will be lying — about Iraq.

He presumably did not know, that there had already appeared those damning excerpts from Robert Draper’s book “Dead Certain.”

“I’m playing for October-November,” Mr. Bush said to Draper.

That, evidently, is the time during which, he thinks he can sell us the real plan.

Really Keith!  Do tell!

Which is, to quote him: “To get us in a position where the presidential candidates, will be comfortable about sustaining a presence.”

Comfortable, that is, with saying about Iraq, again quoting the President, “stay longer.”

And there it is, sir. We’ve caught you.

I'm confused, how do you catch someone when they say something out loud?

Your goal is not to bring some troops home — maybe — if we let you have your way now;

How do you know that?  You're grasping at straws Keith.  "I'm playing for October-November" could very well mean "I'm trying to get Iraqi violence levels down to acceptable levels around October or November.  I want the American people more comfortable to keep US troops in Iraq until the Iraqi's are more able to stand on their feet, presumably within the next few months."  Keith, you're assuming things.  We all know that the President isn't exactly the best at public speaking.

Your goal is not to set the stage for eventual withdrawal;

How do you know that?  You're assuming.

You are, to use your own disrespectful, tone-deaf word, playing at getting the next Republican nominee to agree to jump into this bottomless pit with you, and take us with him, as we stay in Iraq for another year, and another, and another, and anon.

So he's trying to get other Republican Presidential nominees to see the progress in Iraq and be ok with keeping them there if the need does arrive?

Everything you said about Iraq yesterday, and everything you will say, is a deception, for the purpose of this one cynical, unacceptable, brutal goal — perpetuating this war indefinitely.

We simply can't afford to be at war forever.  No one has even suggested it.  Well except you.

War today, war tomorrow, war forever!

And you are playing at it!

Playing!

A man with any self-respect, having inadvertently revealed such an evil secret, would have already resigned and fled the country!

You have no remaining credibility about Iraq, sir.

You had none to start with Keith.

And yet, yesterday at Al-Asad, Mr. Bush kept playing — and this time, using the second of his two faces.
The President told reporters, “They, (General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker) “tell me if the kind of success we are now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.”

And so, Mr. Bush got his fraudulent headlines today: “Bush May Bring Some Troops Home.”

What makes it fraudulent?  If General Petraeus says "we should bring down troop levels", how can you possibly argue with that?  He's the guy on the ground, he's the one with the experience and he's the one who's actually making a difference.  Oh wait, that's right, he's also the one that Democrats are already calling a "Political Hack" and other nasty names because they know he's going to show positive results and it'll completely take the wind out of Democrats argument of complete and immediate withdrawal.

While the reality is, we know from what he told Draper, that the President’s true hope is that they will not come home; but that they will stay there, because he is keeping them there now, in hope that those from his political party fighting to succeed him, will prolong this unendurable disaster into the next decade.

You're assuming again Keith, it seems to be a pattern with you.

But, to a country dying of thirst, the President seemed to vaguely promise a drink from a full canteen — a promise predicated on the assumption that he is not lying.

Yet you are lying, Mr. Bush. Again. But now, we know why.

You gave away more of yourself than you knew in the Draper book

And you gave away more still, on the arduous trip back out of Iraq — hours in the air, without so much as a single vacation.

“If you look at my comments over the past eight months,” you told reporters, “it’s gone from a security situation — in the sense that we’re either going to get out and there will be chaos, or, more troops. Now, the situation has changed, where I’m able to speculate on the hypothetical.”

Mr. Bush, the only “hypothetical” here is that you are not now holding our troops hostage.

Hardly.  Now the "hypothetical" is when can we bring troops home and how are the Iraqi security forces doing?

You have no intention of withdrawing them.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t pretend you’re thinking about it, does it?

That is your genius, sir — as you see it, anyway.

So, I'm confused, is Bush a genius or an idiot.  Liberals flip flop on this so many times.  But then again, they flip flop like a fish out of water, so it's not surprising.

You can deduce what we want — we, the people, remember us? — and then use it against us.

You can hold that canteen up and promise it to the parched nation.

Ooooh a metaphor!  I'm impressed!

And the untold number of Americans whose lives have not been directly blighted by Iraq — or who do not realize that their safety has been reduced and not increased by Iraq — they will get the bullet points: ‘Bush is thinking about bringing some troops home. Bush even went to Iraq.’

Yes, because after Generals on the ground have said we've captured or killed almost 4,000 Al-Qaeda members, we certainly are much less safe aren't we?  Al-Zahirwi has said that Iraq is Al-Qaeda's main focus point now, we've seen evidence of that statement to be true, so we must indeed be less safe!  It all makes sense now!

You can fool some of the people all of the time, can’t you, Mr. Bush?

You are playing us!

And as for the most immediate victims of the President’s perfidy and shameless manipulation — those troops, yesterday sweating literally as he spoke at Al-Asad Air Base…

Tonight, again sweating figuratively in The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death…

The President saved, for them, the most egregious “playing” in the entire trip.

“I want to tell you this about the decision, about my decision about troop levels. Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground — not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media.”

One must compliment Mr. Bush’s writer.

That, perhaps, was the mostly perfectly crafted phrase of his Presidency.

But well crafted or not, is it true?  I believe it is.  I believe it's the right thing to do.  Politicians, especially Democrats, will say or do anything to keep themselves in power and they see positive results coming from Iraq and with their constituency saying "get out of Iraq now!", they are stuck either looking like a pandering bunch of idiots, or a dangerously short sighted bunch of idiots.

For depraved indifference to Democracy, for the craven projection of political motives onto those trying to save lives and save a nation, for a dismissal of the value of the polls and the importance of the media… for a summary of all he does not hold dear about this nation or its people — nothing… could top that.

As if, sir, you listened to all the “calm assessments” of our military commanders –rather than firing the ones who dared say The Emperor Has No Clothes, and The President, No Judgment;

Pretty hard to dismiss General Petraeus isn't it?  I mean he can do it, but it would be political suicide to do so.

As if, sir, your entire presidency was not a “nervous reaction”, and you yourself, nothing but a Washington politician;

As if, sir, “the media” does not largely divide into those parts your minions are playing, and those others who unthinkingly and uncritically serve as your echo chamber, at a time when the nation’s future may depend on the airing of dissent.

And as if, sir, those polls were not so overwhelming, and not so clearly reflective of the nation’s agony and the nation’s insistence.

But this President has ceased to listen.

Why?  Because there are vast consequences to withdrawal that Democrats simply don't see?  They don't know about the 1991 slaughter of Iraqi citizens that rose up against Saddam that we encouraged?  They don't think that we'd have a nation of pissed off people if we pulled out and they were summarily slaughtered as well?

This President has decided that night is day, and death is life, and enraging the world against us, is safety.

To tell you the truth, I could give a shit what the world thinks of us.  I only care about the safety and security of America.

And this laziest of Presidents, actually interrupted his precious time off to fly to Iraq to play at a photo opportunity with soldiers, some of whom will — on his orders — be killed before the year, maybe the month, is out.

Just over 500 days remain in this Presidency.

Consider the dead who have piled up on the battlefield in these last 500 days.

Consider the singular fraudulence of this President’s trip to Iraq yesterday, and the singular fraudulence of the selling of the Petraeus Report in these last 500 days.

Consider how this President has torn away at the fabric of this nation in a manner of which terrorists can only dream in these last 500 days.

And consider again how this President has spoken to that biographer: that he is “playing for October-November.” The goal in Iraq is “To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence” and consider how this revelation contradicts every other rationale he has offered in these last 500 days.

In the context of all that… now, consider… these next 500 days.

Mr. Bush, our presence in Iraq must end.

Even if it means your resignation.

Won't happen.

Even if it means your impeachment.

REALLY won't happen.  Democrats simply don't have the backbone to do it.  So whine all you want, we all know you're full of hot air.  They also don't have the votes, or the criminal charges.

Even if it means a different Republican to serve out your term.

President Cheney?  Yeah, I'm sure that Democrats would go for that.

Even if it means a Democratic Congress — and those true Patriots among the Republicans — standing up and denying you another penny for Iraq, other than for the safety and the safe conduct home of our troops.

Go for it.  Hell, I double dare you to do it.  You'll end up getting the reputation that you so richly deserve just like the one you got after Democrats defunded the Vietnam war.  Ones of cowardice and undermining troops with no money to pay for proper equipment and supplies.

But alas, Democrats don't have the backbone to do it.  They are too worried about doing what's popular instead of what's "right" in their minds.  They lack the courage, the conviction, and the moral radar to actually do anything about the Iraq war, which they are so enraged about.

This country cannot run the risk of what you can still do to this country in the next 500 days…

Not while you, sir… are playing.

And you sir, are assuming, grasping at straws, and trying to rile up people who aren't going to have the intestinal fortitude to stand by their principles.

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Labels: Democrats, idiocy, iraq, Keith Olbermann, Politics, Republicans

# posted by Travis @ 4:48 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Ha ha! I was only kidding!  That seems to be what Senator Larry Craig is saying now that he's come out and is trying to withdraw his resignation from the Senate.  He's actually trying to get his guilty plea withdrawn as well.

I've spoken with several people in the criminal justice field and they have all agreed that his chances of getting his guilty plea withdrawn are almost zero.  They have all said that a judge would look at it and say "why should I allow this.  You understood it, you signed it, and you moved on with your life."

Senator Craig is only doing this because he wants to keep his job.  Personally, I think even if he does manage to keep his job by some miracle, the voters of Idaho, a VERY conservative state, would vote him out anyways.

Sorry Larry, but you broke the law, you plead guilty, now you want to avoid the heat from committing that crime.  It's simply not going to happen.

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Labels: crime, Politics, Republicans, resignation, Senator Larry Craig

# posted by Travis @ 12:25 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

You all know the only reason why Reid is willing to "negotiate" now is because he knows that his previous statements of "the war is lost" has pissed off a LOT of people and now he has to do something to make it appear like he's on top of the issue.

"I don't think we have to think that our way is the only way," Reid said of specific dates during an interview in his office here. "I'm not saying, 'Republicans, do what we want to do.' Just give me something that you think you would like to do, that accomplishes some or all of what I want to do."

Bullshit.  He was thinking that his way was the only way until he got smacked back by the votes and vetoes of the President.  Now that his constituents are pissed, he's rethinking his way around things to try to appease them.

Good job Reid, appeasement always works. :)

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Labels: iraq, Politics, Republicans, Senator Harry Reid

# posted by Travis @ 1:11 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

This is what I really would like to see.  A reasonable effort to find a compromise about universal health care.  However, you're going to see efforts by Clinton, Obama, and Edwards in them trying to push for a more expensive way to get people on board for health insurance.

Now I've got an idea, but there may be some downsides to it.  I haven't thought it through or debated about it or even ran the numbers, but it came to me just now.  So here we go:

A private, government healthcare system.  However, there's a twist.  You're not going to get a doctor with tons of training and schooling to come work at a government run hospital, so offer them this deal.  The government will cover all costs of your medical education in return for a term of service at a government run hospital for X amount of years.  Say 5 or 10.  I'd lean more towards 10 because educating a doctor is quite expensive.

So, if you want to be a doctor, you can be for free (or significantly reduced costs since I haven't run the numbers) and you work for the government for a few years, then you can move on to being a regular, private practice or different hospital.  You pay the doctors a bit less then they would normally get (say 1/2 pay) because the government took care of the education bills and everyone wins.

Poor medical students get a good, free, or cheap education, therefore putting America back in the saddle in terms of science and medicine.  American citizens can come to these hospitals at a significantly reduced cost because you're not paying for high doctor's salaries.  You could even put a medical malpractice cap on lawsuits to keep costs down.  Say $5 million cap.

That will keep malpractice insurance costs down.  Couple that with other cost saving measures, I think some kind of mutant part of that plan might work.

Now, like I said, I haven't thought it all the way through or even ran numbers (I don't know where to begin on the numbers), so if any of you have a counter argument for it, please feel free to speak up.

Travis

travis@rightwinglunatic.com

Labels: health care, Republicans

# posted by Travis @ 2:05 PM 0 Comments Links to this post