The Grand Old Party’s third presidential debate last night in Manchester, NH, finally saw the presidential hopefuls abandoning all hope that President Bush will ever pull out of the death spiral into which his Iraq war strategy has thrown him. Leaping off Bush’s sinking ship of state, they no longer bobbed around their criticism of Bush – but began swimming vigorously to distant themselves from his Iraq war policies.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney declared that the U.S. was “underprepared and underplanned” to win the war after toppling Saddam Hussein.
Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo said he’d tell Bush to never again “darken the door of the White House.”
Arizona Sen. John McCain and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback implied that, had they known better, they would not have given Bush the go-ahead for war. They admitted they voted to authorize the U.S. military invasion but they did not read the national intelligence estimate in advance. Somewhat like saying they put the marijuana cigarette in their mouths but never inhaled.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee identified the government's mishandling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as the beginning of the end of Bush’s credibility.
Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson, commenting on Bush’s bungling of foreign policies, said, “I would certainly not send him” to the United Nations.
But perhaps the best response on Iraq came from McCain, who found a novel way of sidestepping responsibility for the Republican party's once-staunch and unwavering support of Bush’s Iraq war policy: “Presidents don’t lose wars. Political parties don’t lose wars. Nations lose wars,” he said.
It was a new twist on the blame game for the global disaster that has become the Iraq war – blaming the American people instead of their incompetent and obstinate leaders.
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Mario’s column, Point of Convergence, published to Gather Essentials: Politics, looks at the American political landscape and the people and events that make the news. Mario is nationally recognized as a culture trend expert and frequently speaks on cultural, political and social issues that impact modern life.
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Comments: 43
http://www.prisonplanet.com/911.html.
"They admitted they voted to authorize the U.S. military invasion but they did not read the national intelligence estimate in advance. Somewhat like saying they put the marijuana cigarette in their mouths but never inhaled. "
Thanks McCain and Brownback. REAL leadership. Commiting our boys to war, death, mayhem and destruction (and our Nation to a WAR!!!!) but couldn't be bothered with reading the freekin' intelligence?? You guys ARE probably the best that filthy, corrupt party can find! Amazing . . . this is the BEST the GOP has???
. . . and SHAME on you, Mario! Comparing a War to smoking a joint?? You wonder how many died from a reputed lie about whether or not someone smoked a doobie? I don't. This isn't even 'apples and oranges'!
Spartan: Well said!
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
McCain must have a death-wish. In hitching his wagon to Bush's plummeting star his political career is well on its way to terminal status.
And as all the rest of the Republican rats hit the water, the carnage in Iraq goes on. It's a bit late for them to be claiming to be "born again". They (all) broke it. They (all) own it.
The kids over there dying are paying for it and the kids over here 'not dying' will be paying for it both emotionally and financially for a VERY long time. I'm SO disappointed in McCain . . . who SHOULD have known better!
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
My girlfriend is flirting with every other guy in the office, but otherwise, things have been good!
Doyle, the point of the joint reference is simply to show the absurdity of their statement. No other intention beyond that.
Clark, I'm hitting on your girl at the Planet, too.
I know, but I've seen through your clothing, and I'm not worried.
;-)
" I'm OK with the war in Iraq. "
Welcome to the nutcake fringe. Thank God, there are very few of you.
Of course you are . . . it only affects people with compassion and some degree of intelligence.
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Vietnam war furor fizzled soon after we pulled out.
I expect the same when we eventually pull out of Iraq.
To say that it will affect us for a generation is being a drama queen.
Remember, the House vote for the Iraq war was 296-133, and the Senate vote was 77-23. Chances are good that one or more of your representatives voted for it. Based on what was known at the time, everyone wanted to invade Iraq.
I have to chuckle at all these muttonheads that look back in time with crystal clarity and say "if only I had known what I know now, I never would have done what I did". A truly laughable premise, by any reckoning. Our Congressmen/women voted their consciences, and now they have to live with it.
For Christianity, 'civilization' has taken over. These days, all we can point to as examples of Christian religious fervor are the hated abortion clinic bombers. I have to ask, how often does that happen?
Compare and contrast how often you see Muslims killing Hindus, Muslims killing Buddhists, and one Muslim sect killing another. These guys are only just starting the bloodshed. We should step back and let them kill each other.
Hey, even when we foot the bill (Iraq) they take the money and immediately go out to kill a rival faction. How do you stop that?
We Christians have moved on. For Muslims, it's still the time of the Crusades.
"Presidents don't lose wars. Political parties don't lose wars. Nations lose wars," he said.
You are right about the blame shift but there is another more troubling interpretation behind that comment. In 19 months Bush/Cheney will be gone but the war and it's residue will remain on the nations plate. He may be responsible for getting us in but, as unpleasant as it is to contemplate, he did it in our name. The nation has become responsible for cleaning up his messes.
There's no way the Bush administration will let the Iraq war linger on past his Presidency. He knows that this war would cost the Republicans the 2008 election, if it goes on. He'll end it by Spring. That will give the Democratic candidates no more ammunition.
Mr. Bush is the President of the United States, not the President of Outer Mongolia. He has tons of power, and he can use it - as is on display in the Middle East right now. He will end this Iraq mess by the end of the year or early next Spring, at the latest. He wants a Republican President to follow him, and he wants that President to have a clean slate. I'm sure Mr. Cheney will counsel him to do just what I've described also.
First of all, I don't bring religion into any Gather.com commentary. Its just too specious and inflammatory. But you already know this.
Second, I don't care what you call dead people. They're dead people. I no longer use military euphemisms unless I'm talking to people currently serving. In civilian conversations, I use ordinary English.
Third, Muslims still talk about the Crusades like they were last Tuesday. Christians don't. I don't know if you speak to many Muslims, but I do...........on a daily basis. My company's Middle Eastern operations are in Kuwait, so I go there (and to other Middle Eastern countries) a few times a year. "The Caliphate" is a popular discussion in coffee houses there. Its the rare person in America who even knows what that is.
If you really care about the dead and dying 650,000 Iraqis you purport to care for, then why would you want the U.S. troops to leave? Of course you know that the day after we leave is the day the civil war begins. Then millions will be in danger of dying.
Sorry, you're wrong. I've never espoused a theory of one religion being better than another. I just said one is living in the past, while the other has moved along. If you've been anywhere in the Middle East, and spoken to a few Muslim Moderates, you know I speak the truth. Extremists in the Middle East would probably be more to your liking, Tony.......