When the facts change, I change my mind - what do you do, sir?
— John Maynard Keynes
When the facts change, I change my mind - what do you do, sir?
— John Maynard Keynes
smarties — Monday, 2 April 2007
by Donald W. Taylor II
Back in November I wrote a pretty heated post ("Politics and Lives," 27 November 2006) about how disgusting I find all the politicking around the Iraq issue. At that time all that I based my rant on was some "informed speculation" on the part of Robert Reich. Well, on Sunday Andrea Mitchell got the scoop of the week with some inside information on what is being said by Republicans behind closed doors (ThinkProgress has the video and the transcript: "Mitchell: Petraeus Held Closed-Door Strategy Meeting With Republican Caucus," 1 April 2007). There is now a little more information to indicate the true state of mind of the Republicans:
I think the Republicans are going to crack. What I've been told from inside the moderate center of the Republican caucus is that the vote in favor of the president this week — it was against the president but the Republicans holding for the president — was misleading. That they really are not in favor of the surge. They don't believe it's going to work. But they basically said the president has until August, until Labor Day. After that, if it doesn't work, they're running.
...
The Republicans were against the surge but they felt it was fait accompli, and that they were willing to give Petraeus until August. He told them there will be real progress by August. They have told him at a caucus meeting as very, very recently, that if there isn't progress by August — and real progress means not a day of violence and a day of sanity — that they will pull the plug.
Memo to all Iraq war supporters: you are currently out on a limb that is being sawed off.
The stupid thing about all of this is that it is a fait accompli. The situation in Iraq will continue to deteriorate (the statistics are starting to come in and March was worse than the preceding months), the U.S. will withdraw and horrible consequences will follow. But until then we all have to go through the motions. William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer have to continue writing their editorials denouncing Democrats, Republicans have to keep up appearances and blather on about how the media isn't telling us the whole story. The charade will continue until the day that it crumbles. But that's what this is: a charade. And those whose job it is to prop it up have already given up on it. They just don't have the courage to say so publicly yet.
On a side note, look at what a silly little shit Joe Klein looks like next to Andrea Mitchell. When he starts bloviating and Ms. Mitchell shakes her head, you can almost read her thoughts like they were close captioned. She knows her sources are solid and Klein is just making shit up. Some people deal in the big theories and cleaver analogies and some in the day-to-day of things. It's amazing to watch Mr. Klein dismiss Ms. Mitchell's really though report because it doesn't fit the theory.
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Donald W. Taylor II Washington, D.C. United States of America taylordw@goodleaf.net |