July 23, 2007
Jul 23 01:32 AQI Turns On Itself Jul 23 02:57 Undoing Earmark Reform Jul 23 08:10 Another Misguided Soul Spouting Democratic Talking Points Jul 23 10:14 John Murtha, Darryl Sharratt Talk Jul 23 17:41 Martin Frost Writes Fiction
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006
AQI Turns On Itself
Yesterday, I complained that the traditional media wasn't covering the positive news from Iraq. I can now gleefully report that this Time UK article makes up for the prior dearth of good news articles. Here's what's got me smiling, both from a media standpoint and from a good news standpoint:
Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a person's face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of al-Qaeda in Iraq are daring to become informants for the US military in a hostile Baghdad neighbourhood.This is great news that Democrats can't deny. It's also the type of news that gets the average citizen's attention. When Democrats start whining about "our soldiers are caught in the middle of a civil war", they'll remember this story and question the Democrat who's making the statement. When a Democrat says that "The surge isn't working", Joe Citizen will respond by saying that that doesn't fit with this story.
The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement.
"They are turning. We are talking to people who we believe have worked for al-Qaeda in Iraq and want to reconcile and have peace," said Colonel Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which oversees the area.
While I'm thinking of it, let's talk about the Democrats' mantra of "The surge isn't working." Democrats are attempting to lump the lack of political progress in with the military surge's successes. That's their way of downplaying the military sea change while still whining about the political changes happening.
The problem with that thinking is that it doesn't give the military credit for holding up its end of the bargain. Democrats' logic on this is to never admit to anything positive happening. They don't want the American people to think that security in Iraq is improving because that gets in the way of their unilaterally declaring defeat, which is what their MoveOn.org puppeteers demand.
If Democrats were to admit that security is improving, their puppeteers would get angry and stop writing checks for their campaigns. In other words, campaign checks mean more to Democrats than does winning the war.
Before anyone asks, yes, I am questioning their patriotism. Placing politics over national security is deplorable. That type of behavior should be mocked every time we see it. But I digress.
"Al-Qaeda's days are numbered and right now he is scrambling," said Lt. Col. Stephen Michael, who commands a battalion of 700 troops in Doura.It's pretty much over when terrorists "have become sickened by the violence." It's noteworthy to recognize this happening in a Sunni stronghold in Baghdad. It'll be interesting to see how much more improvement will happen in the next month. It'll be especially interesting to see how much improvement happens before Gen. Petraeus' testimony to Congress.
A key factor is that local people and members of al-Qaeda itself have become sickened by the violence and are starting to rebel , Lt. Col. Michael said. "The people have got to deny them sanctuary and that is exactly what is happening."
If Gen. Petraeus reports that (a) sectarian violence has dropped dramatically, (b) that our military is playing an active role in encouraging Sunnis in Anbar and Diyala provinces to start the reconciliation process and (c) if he can say that Sunnis have turned against AQI en masse, public opinion will change.
The vast majority of people who hate the war hate it because they don't think it's winnable or because President Bush has bungled the prosecution of the war. Once that dynamic changes, the Democrats' opportunity for forcing
The risk sometimes pays off. A recent tip-off led to the fatal shooting of Abu Kaldoun, one of three senior al-Qaeda leaders in Doura, during a US raid last week. "He was turned in by one of his own," Colonel Michael said.This part of the war isn't over by a long shot but it's yielding results that were unimaginable a year ago. The progress won't be quick, which is why Gen. Odierno and Gen. Lynch argue that the surge needs more time.
It's a request we should grant them because the cost of failure is too steep a price for this and future generations to pay.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 1:33 AM
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Undoing Earmark Reform
According to this Robert Novak article in today's Washington Post, Harry Reid is planning on eviscerating the ethics/earmark reforms passed just six months ago. It appears as though Sen. Reid is intent on driving his JA rating so low as to rival the most despicable villains in history.
That Reid's action had this effect was mere coincidence. He knew that Sen. Carl Levin's amendment to the defense bill mandating a troop withdrawal from Iraq would fall short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate, and Reid planned from the start to pull the bill after the all-night session, designed to satisfy antiwar zealots, was completed. But Reid is also working behind the scenes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to undermine earmark transparency and prevent open debate on spending proposals such as Nelson's.If ever there was a writer who knew what was happening on Capitol Hill, it's Robert Novak. When he says that Sen. Reid is planning on eviscerating the bill, I'd bet the ranch that that's Reid's goal.
This is just more proof that Sen. Reid's political instincts are pathetic at best. Last fall, Democrats ran promising reforming Washington while eliminating the Republican's 'Culture of Corruption'. Now they're the ones legislating against transparency. They're the ones making the status quo proposals. They're the ones who will have to defend their actions when voters demand to know why they broke almost every campaign promise they made during the 2006 campaign.
We're looking at another change election in 2008. This puts Democrats in bad position because their presidential candidate is as stale as month old bread. Their legislative leaders wouldn't enact meaningful reforms if their lives depended on it.
If Republicans want to take advantage of this, they need to speak out more for real, comprehensive earmark and ethics reforms. They need to highlight the extensive list of Democratic broken promises. If they make that the central theme of their campaign and if they recruit well, they'll retake the House and Senate. It isn't like it's difficult to cast in a villain's role a Democratic leadership whose approval ratings is in single digits.
Reid, the soft-spoken trial lawyer from Searchlight, Nev., has tended to suppress free expression in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body in his tumultuous 6 1/2 months as majority leader. Last week, he cut off an attempt by Sen. Arlen Specter, the veteran moderate Republican, to respond to him with an abruptness that I had not witnessed in a half-century of Senate watching. When Specter finally got the floor, he declared: "Nothing is done here until the majority leader decides to exercise his power to keep the Senate in all night on a meaningless, insulting session...Last night's performance made us the laughingstock of the world." It may get worse if plans to eviscerate ethics legislation are pursued.It takes alot to get Arlen Specter that animated. This is one of the people that Reid should be trying to bring on board; instead, he's driving him away. Make no mistake: Reid's inability to get things done is proof of his ineptitude and his utter lack of political skill. Normally, a Senate Majority Leader isn't given alot of ink in history books. The exception to that is Lyndon Johnson. If Reid keeps making mistakes at this rate, he'd have a shot at being known as the most inept Senate Majority leader in history. He'll also have a shot at being known, along with Ms. Pelosi, as being the architects of the shortest time in the majority in history.
That's a legacy fitting their abilities.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 2:59 AM
Comment 1 by DFAL at 23-Jul-07 06:08 PM
Maybe if these Democrats quit spending so much time trying to concoct Bush administration scandals they would be able to get more done?
I still don't understand why they are investigating Bush over the US attorney firings. As far as I know, no illegal activity has been alleged. However, that doesn't stop the DFL from devoting countless hours to it.
Another Misguided Soul Spouting Democratic Talking Points
That's the first thing I thought when I read this Philadelphia Inquirer editorial. In fact, I should check to see if it wasn't written by the DSCC or DCCC. Here's how misguided the editorial is:
In particular, a proposal by Sens. Ken Salazar (D., Colo.) and Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) had a chance to attract enough support from lawmakers of both parties. It would adopt the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, calling for redeploying U.S. troops, training Iraqi soldiers, and focusing on counterterrorism.Rush has said for years that journalists are lazy, something that I've agreed with. With bloggers, like myself, taking advantage of Al Gore's inventing the internet, this is becoming more apparent. Yesterday, I wrote a trio of articles talking about the dramatic changes happening as a direct result of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
Such a gradual redeployment offers the best hope of preserving something short of sectarian apocalypse in Iraq.
This editorialist is either willfully ignoring the news from Iraq or they simply believe the Democrats' talking points without question. Either way, they aren't dealing with the facts.
Let's simply ask this: Why should Republicans accept a compromise when the military is dramatically changing conditions in Iraq? Let's ask another question: Why should Republicans allow defeatist Democrats to say that "the surge isn't working" when the most accurate statement is that Operation Arrowhead Ripper is working brilliantly but that political progress is proceeding slowly.
Democrats are trying to minimize stories about the military's effectiveness by lumping their brilliant performance in with the lack of progress politically. That isn't acceptable. It isn't accurate. It's a bald-faced like masquerading as spin aimed at scoring political points and campaign contributions instead of making America safer.
Reid's hard-line position Wednesday may please antiwar Democrats, who are insisting on an immediate troop withdrawal. But it gets Congress no closer to pushing President Bush toward another solution to the four-year-long quagmire. Instead, Reid's headstrong stance has given the president an opportunity to stall for more time as he waits for his troop "surge" to produce tangible results.NOTE TO THE EDITORIALIST: The surge already is producing "tangible results."
Bush must submit a progress report on Iraq in mid-September, but top military commanders say it will take at least until November to judge whether the surge strategy is working. Senate Democratic leaders are hoping their Republican colleagues will feel antiwar pressure from constituents during the August congressional recess. Then, when Congress returns in September, more GOP senators are likely to side with the Democratic proposal for immediate troop withdrawals.There is zero chance that Republicans will vote for immediate troop withdrawals, whether it's this September or whether it's the day after hell freezes over. In fact, the main reason Sen. Reid tried pushing the Levin-Reed Amendment is because he didn't want reports of the military success influencing the vote for unilateral defeat. There might well be public pressure to stop the war but there will also be pressure brought to bear by pro-victory supporters, too. This isn't a one-way street.
The bad news for anti-war Democrats is that more military successes will make it into the public discussion between now and Gen. Petraeus' and Amb. Crocker's reports in mid-September. The worse news for anti-war Democrats is that Gen. Petraeus' report will talk about the multitude of successes Operation Arrowhead Ripper has had. When the American people hear that the military campaign is making significant progress in killing AQI terrorists and that sectarian casualties have dropped significantly, then their opinions will change.
Don't be surprised if, after Gen. Petraeus' testimony, people like this editorialist will be utterly frustrated. That's what happens when you put your eggs in the Democrats' basket.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 8:11 AM
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John Murtha, Darryl Sharratt Talk
Tim Harrington, a friend close to the Sharratt family, sent me an email about Darryl Sharratt's recent conversation with John Murtha. Here's the content of that email:
Haditha Marine Dad speaks to John MurthaI've had the honor of having several conversations with Darryl Sharratt. I can say nothing but glowing things about him and his family. In our conversations, the pain he and his family have been needlessly put through is apparent and painful to listen to. Justin Sharratt didn't deserve to be put through this political meatgrinder and Darryl and Theresa Sharratt certainly didn't deserve to be put through the pain that they've suffered at the hands of a grandstanding politician.
Darryl Sharratt
Throughout this Haditha investigation our family has believed in the innocence of our son LCpl Justin Sharratt; we knew he was innocent. There are things I do not understand and I would like to find the answers. We do not seek revenge, but we
would like to see justice. In a conversation with Congressman John Murtha, my questions still remain unanswered. With the help of the American people, I hope to find justice.
On Wednesday morning, July 17th I spoke with Congressman John Murtha via telephone from his Washington, DC office. We had a courteous conversation. I knew what to expect from a career politician and Congressman Murtha did not disappoint. Mr. Murtha avoided answering the hard questions and I was unable to press him for the answers. I wanted the conversation to remain amicable and decided to let him speak and avoid a heated confrontation.
At no time during the dialogue would Mr. Murtha acknowledge the impending exoneration of my son. I pressed him to use the word exoneration but the best I could get was "things seem to have gone well in your son's Article 32. The General is a fair man and I believe he will do the right thing." I replied, "Lt. Col Paul Ware presented a strong recommendation for exoneration and we are anticipating Lt. Gen James Mattis following this recommendation."
Mr. Murtha asked me if I had served in the military. He recalled his visits with injured Marines, soldiers and sailors. He said he supports our troops and it is the war he does not condone. Mr Murtha believes combat operations in Iraq have put an
enormous strain on our Armed Forces. The stress of combat situations has led our troops to kill innocent civilians. I pointed out to Mr. Murtha, "Our Haditha Marines are innocent until proven guilty." It seems he is again denying our Marines their
Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Mr. Murtha replied that we have a Marine(Mendoza) testifying that innocent women and children were killed in Haditha. I retorted that he is again believing the reports of the
media and Mendoza was granted immunity for his lies. Mendoza has changed his testimony at least two times. NCIS may have threatened him with deportation and denial of US citizenship. This time I scolded him, "I witnessed their (NCIS) conduct
first hand in my son's Article 32."
I questioned Congressman Murtha as to his statements of 17 May 2006. On national television, in front of millions of Americans, he stated "Marines killed innocent civilians in cold blood." I asked him why he denied these Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Again the Congressman used his experience to side step the answer. Mr. Murtha stated his intentions were to point out the stress our military was under in Iraq. He replied we would not win the hearts of the Iraqi people by killing women and children. I again snapped, "Our Haditha Marines have not been convicted of killing innocents and are innocent until proven guilty."
I believe this conversation was the first step in obtaining justice for Our Haditha Marines. I did not expect Mr. Murtha to admit to or apologize for any wrongdoing in his role to railroad my son and his Marine comrades. The American people now know
that his unfounded and untruthful allegations were used to further his political agenda. It is my intention to ask the Congress of the United States to censure Representative John Murtha and hold hearings to explain his conduct in respect to the
Haditha incident. I will ask the American people to question his blatant disregard for the Constitutional rights of Our Haditha Marines. I will campaign to the voters of Pa Congressional District 12 to oust Representative Murtha from his elected office. The American people deserve better, we must demand better representation from our elected officials.
Darryl Sharratt
Proud American, Proud father of LCpl Justin L. Sharratt
Suffice it to say that Darryl is right in challenging Rep. Murtha for his throwing Justin's constitutional rights of the presumption of innocence and his due process rights under the bus. Furthermore, Darryl's right in challenging Rep. Murtha for his statement about Lance Cpl. Humberto Mendoza's shifting testimony.
In addition to being a concerned parent, Darryl Sharratt knows ever in and out in each of the Haditha Marines' cases. It isn't wise to argue facts with him because he's got the facts memorized frontward and backwards.
One thing that I liked from Rep. Murtha's replies was his saying this:
"Things seem to have gone well in your son's Article 32. The General is a fair man and I believe he will do the right thing."Whether I adopt the position that "Gen. Mattis is a good man" depends entirely on his ruling on Justin Sharratt. If he calls to order a court martial, then I won't believe he's a good man. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to hear him do the right thing, especially now that Rep. Murtha said that "things seem to have gone well in your son's Article 32."
It's obvious that we've gotten Rep. Murtha's attention on this. He isn't making the same type of irresponsible statements that have become his trademark the past 15 months.
Let me just say two things in closing. We need to hold House Democrats' feet to the fire with this. Ms. Pelosi said that she'd run " the most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history." She can prove that statement true by holding Rep. Murtha accountable for his anti-Constitutional and anti-military statements. Based on the amount of mounting attention given this case, she'd best know that the blogosphere will be watching.
I want to tell Darryl Sharratt that I'll proudly stand with him in defeating Rep. Murtha in November, 2008. While I'm thankful that Rep. Murtha had a courteous conversation with Darryl Sharratt, that doesn't absolve his 'sins' against Justin Sharratt, Frank Wuterich and against the Marine Corps.
Because of his slandering the Haditha Marines and his kingdom of corruption, it's time that we sent Rep. Murtha into involuntary retirement.
FYI- This email is now posted at Free Republic.
UPDATE: Welcome Gateway Pundit readers. Make sure you check out this post so you can find out how you can make a difference in the cases of the Haditha Marines.
Originally posted Monday, July 23, 2007, revised 24-Jul 3:40 AM
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Martin Frost Writes Fiction
Former Rep. Martin Frost, (D-TX), has finally found a new retirement niche: that of being a fiction writer. Here's the link to the Politico.com article I'm basing that off of. The fiction starts in the first paragraph:
The first six months of the new Congress are now history. Let's step back and take a long look at how the new Democratic leaders (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) have fared. The answer is that they have done remarkably well under difficult circumstances. The first thought that crossed my mind was "You've got to be kidding me." As I read along, it soon became apparent that Mr. Frost's delusions run exceptionally deep. Here's another dose of Frost's delusions:It's true that Sen. Reid is working with a slim majority but hinting that Ms. Pelosi doesn't have a big margin for defections is pure fiction. Tom DeLay's House usually had this sized margin and got lots accomplished. Nancy Pelosi's ineptitude has been so bad that she couldn't even get the minimum wage bill right the first time. Harry Reid's ineptitude has been so overwhelming that moderate Sen. Arlen Specter, (R-PA), chastised him for the all night session:
First, Sen. Reid has a very narrow one-vote margin (51-49) to work with in a body that requires 60 votes to conduct most business. Speaker Pelosi enjoys a slightly larger margin but far from the large majorities enjoyed by previous Democratic speakers like Tip O'Neill, Jim Wright and Tom Foley.
"Nothing is done here until the majority leader decides to exercise his power to keep the Senate in all night on a meaningless, insulting session,Last night's performance made us the laughingstock of the world."I'd love to have the chance to question Mr. Frost what objective measures he used in reaching the opinion that Sen. Reid and Ms. Pelosi have done a great job thus far. Would he cite the fact that Reid has alienated even the Republican moderates in the Senate? Or would he cite the fact that Reid's chairmen have launched investigation after investigation while not working on any legislation except for immigration? Would he cite Ms. Pelosi's disastrous handling of the minimum wage bill? Or the fact that the only reason it passed was by attaching it to the Iraq supplemental?
Congressional Democrats have made real progress in facing down a recalcitrant and isolated president on the top issue that voters really care about: bringing an end to our involvement in Iraq. Pelosi and Reid have skillfully handled this issue so that it is now clear to the public that the only thing standing in the way of an orderly change in policy is an incredibly blind and wrong-headed president.At best, they've maintained the status quo. Congress continued to fund the war despite the protests of the Nutroots crowd to shut it down. In other words, they broke their biggest promise to the people most responsible for their majorities. If that's Mr. Frost's idea of making real progress, then he's got awfully low standards.
The other point I'll make about that paragraph is that it repeats the typical Democratic talking point that President Bush doesn't see the disaster of his policies in Iraq. While it's true that President Bush has been criticized for not putting enough troops in Iraq and for not pursuing the war aggressively enough, the fact is that Operation Arrowhead Ripper is working extremely well.
Democrats like Frost, Reid and Pelosi talking the military down will undermine their credibility when Gen. Petraeus testifies before Congress in mid-September. When he tells the world that great progress has been made in shrinking the amount of civilian casualties and that AQI terrorists have essentially been driven from Anbar and Diyala provinces, Congress's JA rating will plummet even further.
And it's not like House and Senate Democrats don't have other accomplishments. They kept the heat on until the president finally accepted a significant increase in the minimum wage, which will be phased in over the next two years. This will be the first such increase in 10 years.As I explained earlier, their minimum wage bill only passed because they attached it to the Iraq supplemental. That's the only thing that they've accomplished other than renaming some federal office buildings. I'd ask Rep. Frost if he thought that that's a great set of accomplishments to run on in 2008. He'd likely say yes because he's a natural born spinmeister but that wouldn't be reality.
Finally, I'd ask Rep. Frost why Congress's JA rating is at an all-time low if they're doing such a great job. I suspect he'd argue that it's all the Republicans' fault.
That might work in years past but it won't this time because we can check who did what. We can all check on where the real blame lies.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 5:42 PM
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July 23, 2007
Jul 23 01:32 AQI Turns On Itself Jul 23 02:57 Undoing Earmark Reform Jul 23 08:10 Another Misguided Soul Spouting Democratic Talking Points Jul 23 10:14 John Murtha, Darryl Sharratt Talk Jul 23 17:41 Martin Frost Writes Fiction
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006
AQI Turns On Itself
Yesterday, I complained that the traditional media wasn't covering the positive news from Iraq. I can now gleefully report that this Time UK article makes up for the prior dearth of good news articles. Here's what's got me smiling, both from a media standpoint and from a good news standpoint:
Fed up with being part of a group that cuts off a person's face with piano wire to teach others a lesson, dozens of low-level members of al-Qaeda in Iraq are daring to become informants for the US military in a hostile Baghdad neighbourhood.This is great news that Democrats can't deny. It's also the type of news that gets the average citizen's attention. When Democrats start whining about "our soldiers are caught in the middle of a civil war", they'll remember this story and question the Democrat who's making the statement. When a Democrat says that "The surge isn't working", Joe Citizen will respond by saying that that doesn't fit with this story.
The ground-breaking move in Doura is part of a wider trend that has started in other al-Qaeda hotspots across the country and in which Sunni insurgent groups and tribal sheikhs have stood together with the coalition against the extremist movement.
"They are turning. We are talking to people who we believe have worked for al-Qaeda in Iraq and want to reconcile and have peace," said Colonel Ricky Gibbs, commander of the 4th Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, which oversees the area.
While I'm thinking of it, let's talk about the Democrats' mantra of "The surge isn't working." Democrats are attempting to lump the lack of political progress in with the military surge's successes. That's their way of downplaying the military sea change while still whining about the political changes happening.
The problem with that thinking is that it doesn't give the military credit for holding up its end of the bargain. Democrats' logic on this is to never admit to anything positive happening. They don't want the American people to think that security in Iraq is improving because that gets in the way of their unilaterally declaring defeat, which is what their MoveOn.org puppeteers demand.
If Democrats were to admit that security is improving, their puppeteers would get angry and stop writing checks for their campaigns. In other words, campaign checks mean more to Democrats than does winning the war.
Before anyone asks, yes, I am questioning their patriotism. Placing politics over national security is deplorable. That type of behavior should be mocked every time we see it. But I digress.
"Al-Qaeda's days are numbered and right now he is scrambling," said Lt. Col. Stephen Michael, who commands a battalion of 700 troops in Doura.It's pretty much over when terrorists "have become sickened by the violence." It's noteworthy to recognize this happening in a Sunni stronghold in Baghdad. It'll be interesting to see how much more improvement will happen in the next month. It'll be especially interesting to see how much improvement happens before Gen. Petraeus' testimony to Congress.
A key factor is that local people and members of al-Qaeda itself have become sickened by the violence and are starting to rebel , Lt. Col. Michael said. "The people have got to deny them sanctuary and that is exactly what is happening."
If Gen. Petraeus reports that (a) sectarian violence has dropped dramatically, (b) that our military is playing an active role in encouraging Sunnis in Anbar and Diyala provinces to start the reconciliation process and (c) if he can say that Sunnis have turned against AQI en masse, public opinion will change.
The vast majority of people who hate the war hate it because they don't think it's winnable or because President Bush has bungled the prosecution of the war. Once that dynamic changes, the Democrats' opportunity for forcing
The risk sometimes pays off. A recent tip-off led to the fatal shooting of Abu Kaldoun, one of three senior al-Qaeda leaders in Doura, during a US raid last week. "He was turned in by one of his own," Colonel Michael said.This part of the war isn't over by a long shot but it's yielding results that were unimaginable a year ago. The progress won't be quick, which is why Gen. Odierno and Gen. Lynch argue that the surge needs more time.
It's a request we should grant them because the cost of failure is too steep a price for this and future generations to pay.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 1:33 AM
No comments.
Undoing Earmark Reform
According to this Robert Novak article in today's Washington Post, Harry Reid is planning on eviscerating the ethics/earmark reforms passed just six months ago. It appears as though Sen. Reid is intent on driving his JA rating so low as to rival the most despicable villains in history.
That Reid's action had this effect was mere coincidence. He knew that Sen. Carl Levin's amendment to the defense bill mandating a troop withdrawal from Iraq would fall short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate, and Reid planned from the start to pull the bill after the all-night session, designed to satisfy antiwar zealots, was completed. But Reid is also working behind the scenes with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to undermine earmark transparency and prevent open debate on spending proposals such as Nelson's.If ever there was a writer who knew what was happening on Capitol Hill, it's Robert Novak. When he says that Sen. Reid is planning on eviscerating the bill, I'd bet the ranch that that's Reid's goal.
This is just more proof that Sen. Reid's political instincts are pathetic at best. Last fall, Democrats ran promising reforming Washington while eliminating the Republican's 'Culture of Corruption'. Now they're the ones legislating against transparency. They're the ones making the status quo proposals. They're the ones who will have to defend their actions when voters demand to know why they broke almost every campaign promise they made during the 2006 campaign.
We're looking at another change election in 2008. This puts Democrats in bad position because their presidential candidate is as stale as month old bread. Their legislative leaders wouldn't enact meaningful reforms if their lives depended on it.
If Republicans want to take advantage of this, they need to speak out more for real, comprehensive earmark and ethics reforms. They need to highlight the extensive list of Democratic broken promises. If they make that the central theme of their campaign and if they recruit well, they'll retake the House and Senate. It isn't like it's difficult to cast in a villain's role a Democratic leadership whose approval ratings is in single digits.
Reid, the soft-spoken trial lawyer from Searchlight, Nev., has tended to suppress free expression in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body in his tumultuous 6 1/2 months as majority leader. Last week, he cut off an attempt by Sen. Arlen Specter, the veteran moderate Republican, to respond to him with an abruptness that I had not witnessed in a half-century of Senate watching. When Specter finally got the floor, he declared: "Nothing is done here until the majority leader decides to exercise his power to keep the Senate in all night on a meaningless, insulting session...Last night's performance made us the laughingstock of the world." It may get worse if plans to eviscerate ethics legislation are pursued.It takes alot to get Arlen Specter that animated. This is one of the people that Reid should be trying to bring on board; instead, he's driving him away. Make no mistake: Reid's inability to get things done is proof of his ineptitude and his utter lack of political skill. Normally, a Senate Majority Leader isn't given alot of ink in history books. The exception to that is Lyndon Johnson. If Reid keeps making mistakes at this rate, he'd have a shot at being known as the most inept Senate Majority leader in history. He'll also have a shot at being known, along with Ms. Pelosi, as being the architects of the shortest time in the majority in history.
That's a legacy fitting their abilities.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 2:59 AM
Comment 1 by DFAL at 23-Jul-07 06:08 PM
Maybe if these Democrats quit spending so much time trying to concoct Bush administration scandals they would be able to get more done?
I still don't understand why they are investigating Bush over the US attorney firings. As far as I know, no illegal activity has been alleged. However, that doesn't stop the DFL from devoting countless hours to it.
Another Misguided Soul Spouting Democratic Talking Points
That's the first thing I thought when I read this Philadelphia Inquirer editorial. In fact, I should check to see if it wasn't written by the DSCC or DCCC. Here's how misguided the editorial is:
In particular, a proposal by Sens. Ken Salazar (D., Colo.) and Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) had a chance to attract enough support from lawmakers of both parties. It would adopt the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, calling for redeploying U.S. troops, training Iraqi soldiers, and focusing on counterterrorism.Rush has said for years that journalists are lazy, something that I've agreed with. With bloggers, like myself, taking advantage of Al Gore's inventing the internet, this is becoming more apparent. Yesterday, I wrote a trio of articles talking about the dramatic changes happening as a direct result of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
Such a gradual redeployment offers the best hope of preserving something short of sectarian apocalypse in Iraq.
This editorialist is either willfully ignoring the news from Iraq or they simply believe the Democrats' talking points without question. Either way, they aren't dealing with the facts.
Let's simply ask this: Why should Republicans accept a compromise when the military is dramatically changing conditions in Iraq? Let's ask another question: Why should Republicans allow defeatist Democrats to say that "the surge isn't working" when the most accurate statement is that Operation Arrowhead Ripper is working brilliantly but that political progress is proceeding slowly.
Democrats are trying to minimize stories about the military's effectiveness by lumping their brilliant performance in with the lack of progress politically. That isn't acceptable. It isn't accurate. It's a bald-faced like masquerading as spin aimed at scoring political points and campaign contributions instead of making America safer.
Reid's hard-line position Wednesday may please antiwar Democrats, who are insisting on an immediate troop withdrawal. But it gets Congress no closer to pushing President Bush toward another solution to the four-year-long quagmire. Instead, Reid's headstrong stance has given the president an opportunity to stall for more time as he waits for his troop "surge" to produce tangible results.NOTE TO THE EDITORIALIST: The surge already is producing "tangible results."
Bush must submit a progress report on Iraq in mid-September, but top military commanders say it will take at least until November to judge whether the surge strategy is working. Senate Democratic leaders are hoping their Republican colleagues will feel antiwar pressure from constituents during the August congressional recess. Then, when Congress returns in September, more GOP senators are likely to side with the Democratic proposal for immediate troop withdrawals.There is zero chance that Republicans will vote for immediate troop withdrawals, whether it's this September or whether it's the day after hell freezes over. In fact, the main reason Sen. Reid tried pushing the Levin-Reed Amendment is because he didn't want reports of the military success influencing the vote for unilateral defeat. There might well be public pressure to stop the war but there will also be pressure brought to bear by pro-victory supporters, too. This isn't a one-way street.
The bad news for anti-war Democrats is that more military successes will make it into the public discussion between now and Gen. Petraeus' and Amb. Crocker's reports in mid-September. The worse news for anti-war Democrats is that Gen. Petraeus' report will talk about the multitude of successes Operation Arrowhead Ripper has had. When the American people hear that the military campaign is making significant progress in killing AQI terrorists and that sectarian casualties have dropped significantly, then their opinions will change.
Don't be surprised if, after Gen. Petraeus' testimony, people like this editorialist will be utterly frustrated. That's what happens when you put your eggs in the Democrats' basket.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 8:11 AM
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John Murtha, Darryl Sharratt Talk
Tim Harrington, a friend close to the Sharratt family, sent me an email about Darryl Sharratt's recent conversation with John Murtha. Here's the content of that email:
Haditha Marine Dad speaks to John MurthaI've had the honor of having several conversations with Darryl Sharratt. I can say nothing but glowing things about him and his family. In our conversations, the pain he and his family have been needlessly put through is apparent and painful to listen to. Justin Sharratt didn't deserve to be put through this political meatgrinder and Darryl and Theresa Sharratt certainly didn't deserve to be put through the pain that they've suffered at the hands of a grandstanding politician.
Darryl Sharratt
Throughout this Haditha investigation our family has believed in the innocence of our son LCpl Justin Sharratt; we knew he was innocent. There are things I do not understand and I would like to find the answers. We do not seek revenge, but we
would like to see justice. In a conversation with Congressman John Murtha, my questions still remain unanswered. With the help of the American people, I hope to find justice.
On Wednesday morning, July 17th I spoke with Congressman John Murtha via telephone from his Washington, DC office. We had a courteous conversation. I knew what to expect from a career politician and Congressman Murtha did not disappoint. Mr. Murtha avoided answering the hard questions and I was unable to press him for the answers. I wanted the conversation to remain amicable and decided to let him speak and avoid a heated confrontation.
At no time during the dialogue would Mr. Murtha acknowledge the impending exoneration of my son. I pressed him to use the word exoneration but the best I could get was "things seem to have gone well in your son's Article 32. The General is a fair man and I believe he will do the right thing." I replied, "Lt. Col Paul Ware presented a strong recommendation for exoneration and we are anticipating Lt. Gen James Mattis following this recommendation."
Mr. Murtha asked me if I had served in the military. He recalled his visits with injured Marines, soldiers and sailors. He said he supports our troops and it is the war he does not condone. Mr Murtha believes combat operations in Iraq have put an
enormous strain on our Armed Forces. The stress of combat situations has led our troops to kill innocent civilians. I pointed out to Mr. Murtha, "Our Haditha Marines are innocent until proven guilty." It seems he is again denying our Marines their
Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Mr. Murtha replied that we have a Marine(Mendoza) testifying that innocent women and children were killed in Haditha. I retorted that he is again believing the reports of the
media and Mendoza was granted immunity for his lies. Mendoza has changed his testimony at least two times. NCIS may have threatened him with deportation and denial of US citizenship. This time I scolded him, "I witnessed their (NCIS) conduct
first hand in my son's Article 32."
I questioned Congressman Murtha as to his statements of 17 May 2006. On national television, in front of millions of Americans, he stated "Marines killed innocent civilians in cold blood." I asked him why he denied these Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Again the Congressman used his experience to side step the answer. Mr. Murtha stated his intentions were to point out the stress our military was under in Iraq. He replied we would not win the hearts of the Iraqi people by killing women and children. I again snapped, "Our Haditha Marines have not been convicted of killing innocents and are innocent until proven guilty."
I believe this conversation was the first step in obtaining justice for Our Haditha Marines. I did not expect Mr. Murtha to admit to or apologize for any wrongdoing in his role to railroad my son and his Marine comrades. The American people now know
that his unfounded and untruthful allegations were used to further his political agenda. It is my intention to ask the Congress of the United States to censure Representative John Murtha and hold hearings to explain his conduct in respect to the
Haditha incident. I will ask the American people to question his blatant disregard for the Constitutional rights of Our Haditha Marines. I will campaign to the voters of Pa Congressional District 12 to oust Representative Murtha from his elected office. The American people deserve better, we must demand better representation from our elected officials.
Darryl Sharratt
Proud American, Proud father of LCpl Justin L. Sharratt
Suffice it to say that Darryl is right in challenging Rep. Murtha for his throwing Justin's constitutional rights of the presumption of innocence and his due process rights under the bus. Furthermore, Darryl's right in challenging Rep. Murtha for his statement about Lance Cpl. Humberto Mendoza's shifting testimony.
In addition to being a concerned parent, Darryl Sharratt knows ever in and out in each of the Haditha Marines' cases. It isn't wise to argue facts with him because he's got the facts memorized frontward and backwards.
One thing that I liked from Rep. Murtha's replies was his saying this:
"Things seem to have gone well in your son's Article 32. The General is a fair man and I believe he will do the right thing."Whether I adopt the position that "Gen. Mattis is a good man" depends entirely on his ruling on Justin Sharratt. If he calls to order a court martial, then I won't believe he's a good man. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to hear him do the right thing, especially now that Rep. Murtha said that "things seem to have gone well in your son's Article 32."
It's obvious that we've gotten Rep. Murtha's attention on this. He isn't making the same type of irresponsible statements that have become his trademark the past 15 months.
Let me just say two things in closing. We need to hold House Democrats' feet to the fire with this. Ms. Pelosi said that she'd run " the most honest, ethical, and open Congress in history." She can prove that statement true by holding Rep. Murtha accountable for his anti-Constitutional and anti-military statements. Based on the amount of mounting attention given this case, she'd best know that the blogosphere will be watching.
I want to tell Darryl Sharratt that I'll proudly stand with him in defeating Rep. Murtha in November, 2008. While I'm thankful that Rep. Murtha had a courteous conversation with Darryl Sharratt, that doesn't absolve his 'sins' against Justin Sharratt, Frank Wuterich and against the Marine Corps.
Because of his slandering the Haditha Marines and his kingdom of corruption, it's time that we sent Rep. Murtha into involuntary retirement.
FYI- This email is now posted at Free Republic.
UPDATE: Welcome Gateway Pundit readers. Make sure you check out this post so you can find out how you can make a difference in the cases of the Haditha Marines.
Originally posted Monday, July 23, 2007, revised 24-Jul 3:40 AM
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Martin Frost Writes Fiction
Former Rep. Martin Frost, (D-TX), has finally found a new retirement niche: that of being a fiction writer. Here's the link to the Politico.com article I'm basing that off of. The fiction starts in the first paragraph:
The first six months of the new Congress are now history. Let's step back and take a long look at how the new Democratic leaders (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid) have fared. The answer is that they have done remarkably well under difficult circumstances. The first thought that crossed my mind was "You've got to be kidding me." As I read along, it soon became apparent that Mr. Frost's delusions run exceptionally deep. Here's another dose of Frost's delusions:It's true that Sen. Reid is working with a slim majority but hinting that Ms. Pelosi doesn't have a big margin for defections is pure fiction. Tom DeLay's House usually had this sized margin and got lots accomplished. Nancy Pelosi's ineptitude has been so bad that she couldn't even get the minimum wage bill right the first time. Harry Reid's ineptitude has been so overwhelming that moderate Sen. Arlen Specter, (R-PA), chastised him for the all night session:
First, Sen. Reid has a very narrow one-vote margin (51-49) to work with in a body that requires 60 votes to conduct most business. Speaker Pelosi enjoys a slightly larger margin but far from the large majorities enjoyed by previous Democratic speakers like Tip O'Neill, Jim Wright and Tom Foley.
"Nothing is done here until the majority leader decides to exercise his power to keep the Senate in all night on a meaningless, insulting session,Last night's performance made us the laughingstock of the world."I'd love to have the chance to question Mr. Frost what objective measures he used in reaching the opinion that Sen. Reid and Ms. Pelosi have done a great job thus far. Would he cite the fact that Reid has alienated even the Republican moderates in the Senate? Or would he cite the fact that Reid's chairmen have launched investigation after investigation while not working on any legislation except for immigration? Would he cite Ms. Pelosi's disastrous handling of the minimum wage bill? Or the fact that the only reason it passed was by attaching it to the Iraq supplemental?
Congressional Democrats have made real progress in facing down a recalcitrant and isolated president on the top issue that voters really care about: bringing an end to our involvement in Iraq. Pelosi and Reid have skillfully handled this issue so that it is now clear to the public that the only thing standing in the way of an orderly change in policy is an incredibly blind and wrong-headed president.At best, they've maintained the status quo. Congress continued to fund the war despite the protests of the Nutroots crowd to shut it down. In other words, they broke their biggest promise to the people most responsible for their majorities. If that's Mr. Frost's idea of making real progress, then he's got awfully low standards.
The other point I'll make about that paragraph is that it repeats the typical Democratic talking point that President Bush doesn't see the disaster of his policies in Iraq. While it's true that President Bush has been criticized for not putting enough troops in Iraq and for not pursuing the war aggressively enough, the fact is that Operation Arrowhead Ripper is working extremely well.
Democrats like Frost, Reid and Pelosi talking the military down will undermine their credibility when Gen. Petraeus testifies before Congress in mid-September. When he tells the world that great progress has been made in shrinking the amount of civilian casualties and that AQI terrorists have essentially been driven from Anbar and Diyala provinces, Congress's JA rating will plummet even further.
And it's not like House and Senate Democrats don't have other accomplishments. They kept the heat on until the president finally accepted a significant increase in the minimum wage, which will be phased in over the next two years. This will be the first such increase in 10 years.As I explained earlier, their minimum wage bill only passed because they attached it to the Iraq supplemental. That's the only thing that they've accomplished other than renaming some federal office buildings. I'd ask Rep. Frost if he thought that that's a great set of accomplishments to run on in 2008. He'd likely say yes because he's a natural born spinmeister but that wouldn't be reality.
Finally, I'd ask Rep. Frost why Congress's JA rating is at an all-time low if they're doing such a great job. I suspect he'd argue that it's all the Republicans' fault.
That might work in years past but it won't this time because we can check who did what. We can all check on where the real blame lies.
Posted Monday, July 23, 2007 5:42 PM
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