The Associated Press reports on the House Republicans…up to no good again. They can’t agree to re-authorize the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it is deemed unfair to single out Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia for special Justice Department scrutiny. Rather than cutting the old confederacy some slack in the voting repression category, I’d like to nominate Ohio and Florida for inclusion on the list. (I would have sworn Florida was already on it, but maybe I’m wrong).
Meanwhile, the Senate can’t agree to raise the minimum wage, but they can make reductions in the Estate Tax. Just doing the people’s business.
And the press is really doing all they can to help Bush out of the political jam he is in on Iraq. Take a look at The Note’s bizarre take on things. (I know, I said not to read The Note).
Democrats can deny it all they want (and not all do. . .), but they are on the precipice of self-immolating over the issue that has most crippled the Bush presidency and of making facts on the ground virtually meaningless. In other words, they are on the precipice of making Iraq a 2006 political winner for the Republican Party.
And, why, pray tell, are the Democrats on the verge of turning the clusterfuck of Iraq into a boon for Republicans? All you have to do is look at the headline from the New York Times: On Iraq, Kerry Again Leaves Democrats Fuming. And what is Kerry (and Feingold and Boxer) doing to make his fellow Democrats fume?
…the Democratic leadership wants its members to rally behind a proposal that calls for some troops to move out by the end of this year but does not set a fixed date for complete withdrawal. Mr. Kerry has insisted on setting a date, for American combat troops to pull out in 12 months, saying anything less is too cautious.
So, here is how it works in the mind of a Washington Insider reporter. Bush launches a war against the advice of most of the U.S. foreign policy establishment, uses evidence to support that war that isn’t backed up by the U.S. intelligence community, uses a force deployment that isn’t supported by most of the career professionals at the Pentagon, does not use the occupation strategy prepared by the State Department, and everything goes quite predictably to hell. Then he yells ‘cut-and-run’ over and over again at anyone that asks for our troops to be removed from harm’s way, and that magically turns Iraq from a liability into an asset.
Manufacturing common wisdom is easier than I thought. Kerry is right, but if he tries to make his point he is empowering the Republicans. The only extent to which this could be considered true is the extent to which Democrats will cower in fear of the cut-and-run mantra. Look at Murtha. Follow his lead. There is nothing to fear.
