TALK TALK
by Jules Crittenden, Special to PJM
Congress has decided to make itself useful. Congress has started talking. Congress doesn't intend to stop talking for three days. All 435 members. Let's listen in:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “The American people have lost faith in President Bush’s course of action in Iraq and they are demanding a new direction … I’m thinking, ‘Out!’ ”
Rep. John Hall, D-NY: “As a new member of the House I feel it is my responsibility to ask serious questions of the president, who refuses to take this institution seriously. Three days of yada yada and a non-binding resolution will show him we’re not to be trifled with!”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer: “This debate is about making sure our country is successful in the war on terror. I suggest … quitting!”
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash: “The American people are watching our debate. They will judge us by our actions. … Doing nothing seems safe!”
OK, that’s not exactly what they said. I’m sorry, it was necessary to take some liberties to help them say what they wanted to say.
On Friday, Congress will vote on the following non-binding resolution. This is really what it says:
(1) Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq; and
(2) Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on Jan. 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.
It’s a curious document. Support the troops, protect them, but disapprove of what they are doing … honorably. A sort of Escher resolution, inscribed on embossed Moebius stock. If it represented real, binding action, it would be entirely self-negating. In far Waziristan, where until a few short years ago Congress was a thing unheard of, even al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri is disgusted with these dithering do-nothings. They started out with such promise!
“The people chose you due to your opposition to Bush’s policy in Iraq, but it appears that you are marching with him to the same abyss,” al-Zawahiri admonishes in his latest tape. “The bills to cut funding and start immediate withdrawals from Iraq just aren’t moving fast enough. All this blah blah blah! This yada yada yada!”
OK, he didn’t say the second part. But even a cave-dwelling terrorist 10,000 miles away can see that the Democrats are skittish about taking real action. When you take action, things happen, there are consequences.
For example: George Bush announced he was going after the insurgents and the militias in Iraq. Because he has a history of doing what he said he will, just saying that made some of them scurry. Things are happening.
Moqtada al-Sadr cast his own vote on the surge issue. With his feet. He bolted for Teheran with the wife and kids. Meanwhile, the Mahdi Army was stripping out of its uniforms and hiding its weapons. And that was before the deputy health minister, among other Mahdi Army leaders, was thrown in the clink. Sunni insurgents, hightailing it for Diyala.
Now Iran is on notice that it needs to back off, with several its agents locked up, evidence of its weapons smuggling on display, and the Iranian and Syrian borders about to be shut down. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, of wipe-Israel-off-the-map fame, is sounding like a flower child:
“We have spring weather in Iran. I hope it will be spring all over the world … We shy away from any kind of conflict and any kind of bloodshed, and we will be sad by such … There is no need for the use of force.”
Yes, that is what he really said, even though he was lying.
Congress wants very much to appear to be doing something. But if they do what they say they want to do, there will be consequences, as a number of other speakers noted in their own speeches:
House Minority Leader John Boehner: “We will embolden terrorists in every corner in the world. We will give Iran free access to the Middle East … And who doesn’t believe the terrorists will just follow our troops home?”
House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo: “While there is no silver bullet to make our mission in Iraq easier, it is clear that eliminating or cutting funding for our men and women who wear the uniform of the United States of America is not a plan for ensuring stability in the Middle East. It is, rather, a recipe for empowering our enemies and endangering our troops.”
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga: “Some people from the other side seem to believe that if we pull out of Iraq, that the Iraqi people are going to go back to tending sheep and herding goats. That’s not what’s going to happen … what’s going to happen is you are going to see more bloodshed than we have seen in a long time in this world.”
That is what they really said. Modification wasn’t necessary. Here’s another good one:
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC: “Madam Speaker, where’s your plan for victory in Iraq?”
If Congress wants to do something useful, this might be a good time to shut up, watch and learn. George Bush, who isn’t saying much, is doing something. Things are happening that will continue to happen after this week’s blah blah blah is over and a worse than worthless, non-binding resolution has been passed.
Anyway, when Ayman al-Zawahiri is urging you to quit messing around and just do what you really want to do, you probably aren’t doing anything useful at all.
Jules Crittenden is an editor and columnist for the Boston Herald.
Crittenden’s web page is at Forward Movement.
Letter to the Troops
To all Service Members and Veterans of the Iraq war.
A majority of us have decided that you are losing the war in Iraq and it cannot be won. The honorable sacrifices you have made have been in vain. Please understand that we support you while you continue to put your lives on the line for this mistake. We ask that you continue to sacrifice yourselves while we try to figure out what to do next. We are here to provide whatever materials you may need to continue this lost cause. While your Commander in Chief still believes that you can attain victory, we think he is wrong. To show our support for you, we are in the process drafting legislation to tell the President we think he is wrong. While this legislation will not have any practical effect on you or your hopeless mission, it will let the President know that we think he is wrong. Please remember that we will continue to support you while you throw your lives away on this hopeless endeavor.
Sincerely,
Congress
Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged. – President Abraham Lincoln
There they stand , congressional Democrats, revealed clearly and visibly in their shame and cowardice.
Not one of them has a shred of humility or gratitude for the freedom and blessings they enjoy. Their disgrace is shared in the great states that sent these men to represent them.
A small political advantage paid for with the betrayal of our armed forces.
If there is justice somewhere these maggots will be publicly punished and forced into ruin.
In truth they will be hailed as “heros” in the MSM further degrading the meaning of that honorable word. May they all perish in hell.
What a joke…. I watched it for an hour and what a waste of tax payers money..the funny thing is the whole chamber is empty, so their own colleague don’t have the patient to sit and listen,,.I called my representative and I said what I had to say. Can they use the same energy for a “biding” resolution…
Congress
Especially for you rhinos in congress….you are showing your true allegience . You are posturing for the sake of politics. Thank you for showing us who you really are . Next election cycle the electorate can vomit you out of office . I may forgive , but hell no, I don’t forget . I vote with my dollars . I’am with Sarge . Abe knew what to do.
yeah, lets sit down and talk about condemning the war for three days, instead of condemning it and doing something about it. It’s time we pull out NOW!
BASIC MORALITY 101
I remember vividly decades ago sitting in the tiny Lake Theater in our village and seeing HIGH NOON for the first time.
I was caught up in the old western setting and the simple moral problem facing Sheriff Will Kane . Leave now before the noon train and you won’t be killed by Frank Miller and his gang.He tried desperately to recruit decent people to stand up and fight with him against the deadly Miller gang. The towns people abandon him and his Quaker wife refuses to compromise her Christain principles and in the end he is left alone as the clock ticks down.
I was aghast with outrage. How could these people not see the imperative of standing with their lawman and defending their own lives and property? How could they be so blind? Of course they all had their own excuses and no one could find a reason to help defend this worthy man. Cowards !
I squirmed in my seat as the drama drew to its conclusion and Amy is seized by Miller and struggles against him; and finally Miller is shot dead by the Sheriff.
But , I was not prepared for the final scene as he embraces his sobbing wife and slowly removes the Star from his vest and drops it into the dust at his feet. Every person in the theater knew in their hearts the simple moral truth, Courage can defeat Evil if a man finds strength and purpose.
I doubt a young adolescent could have put it into words but in his heart he recognized that truth.
As individuals we know and can understand the principles of virtue. We admire people who persevere by action, courage and sacrifice. Who is not moved emotionally by a story of triumph ,especially against staggering odds ? We all are deeply moved and thrilled by a demonstration of these principles, and a tiny voice inside whispers “this is truth”. Our most noble impulses are a genuine testimony to the existence of a moral code embedded inside each one of us.
And so as it is for individuals so it is with nations. If our leaders behave as cowards then we will be perceived as cowards. If they act with courage and resolve we will be judged as strong and determined. Does anyone deny these truths?
Well yes ,quite a few people in our government have lost their basic compass and forgotten why they are elected or the principles they are sworn to uphold. Put aside partisan advantage for a moment and put your nations interests ahead of your baser instincts.
Help us so we can defeat our evil enemies and set a higher plane of morality.
For once in your life listen to that tiny inner voice and heed its truth. Be like Will Kane !