If The Surge Worked It’s Time To Leave
That’s the box McCain is in. The current right-wing rant is that Obama is trapped because the surge he opposed worked. Surge supporters forget that the whole purpose was to create space for political reconciliation. There was no doubt that if you keep adding troops you’d have greater military success. But what is the price of “success”? Monday’s Washington Post has a story, “Pride Mingles With Doubt“, which casts events in greater context.
The “family values” folks who tout their morality should give some thought to the comments of soldiers who participated in the surge:
“It’s worth it, and it’s not worth it,” said (Derek) Taylor, (a) specialist from West Virginia. “I have a wife and a kid. I go home, and my daughter is 2. She probably doesn’t remember who I am.”
(Spec. Matthew)Leisz, who survived (a) suicide bombing, nodded.Leisz, who survived the suicide bombing, nodded.
“It’s not worth me not being there with my wife, or the friends we’ve lost over here,” he said. “Now that the strength is going to go down, this could all be for naught.”
Of course the obama camp didn’t think the surge was going to work. That’s why it was scrubbed from his website.
Don’t take my word for it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPP8tEv2HHM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcIeoSHTyCI
Change you can count on. Say one thing to one group, something else to another group. The audacity of pandering.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Alan come on. The republicans are anything but hypocritical. Just because Maliki agrees with Obama doesn’t mean anything, because Maliki apparently cannot express his opinion without the White House telling him he is wrong. We know what is better for the Iraqis. They need to quit thinking for themselves and become like a real democracy. Which is do what one party says blindly, and attack the other side. U-S-A U-S-A!
July 21st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Who wants to bet that kiss-ass Alan Colmes will have less than 3 guests who agree with him tonight and the lineup will once again be dominated by Republicans?
I’ll take that bet. 4-1 at least, in terms of Republican and conservative guests versus liberals and Democrats. And the only “liberals” that will be brought on will probably be former Democrat Pat Caddell and brown nose Lanny Davis.
I would also warn anyone watching the show that Alan Colmes is, in fact, lying about the political affiliation of Pat Caddell. He is not a Democratic strategist. Caddell despises the Democratic Party and left the party in the 1980’s after getting into a lawsuit with a Democratic consulting firm which left him nearly bankrupt. Fox uses Caddell to attack the Democrats and try to pretend that they’re being non-partisan about it because “Oh well, he’s a Democrat!”
No, he’s not. Alan is simply a liar.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Discussing Alan Colmes:
Charlie Reina, a Fox News producer from 1997 to 2003, says Fox is “not going to put somebody on there who’s very strong or very articulate in terms of advocating Democratic values or positions … It’s not to say that they’re not truly Democrats or articulate in their own way, but they have to get with the program so to speak.”
Reina was once witness, along with “Fox News Watch” host Eric Burns, to an explanation from a Fox News vice president of why Alan Colmes was the right man to appear across from Sean Hannity. Reina paraphrases the Fox executive as saying, ” You know who the perfect anchor is here? Alan Colmes. Because he knows what his role is — he knows that he’s there to set Hannity up, and that Hannity’s the star of the show.” (The working title inside Fox for “Hannity & Colmes” was, after all, reportedly “Hannity & LTBD,” or Liberal to Be Determined.)
Pretty pathetic.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:00 pm
The only reason that “pride has [mingled] with doubt” is that everyone now knows that the premise for the war was utter bullshit. We thought that we were fighting a valiant fight, and many courageous men and women signed up for the military just to seek justice for the victims of 9/11. THAT’S HEROISM. Knowing what we know now, knowing how we’ve demolished a country that had nothing to do with our terrorist attack, has frustrated the majority of Americans.
If I had the choice between fighting a bullshit war and staying home with my family, I’d sit my ass at home surrounded by my loved ones. If I had to choose between fighting for our freedom against actual American enemies and staying home with my family, I’d drive down to the local recruiting office and join the military to protect my loved ones at home.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
John…obviously Pat Caddell is a disillusioned former Democrat. I don’t think anyone thinks or says otherwise.
I don’t know the internal dynamics of H&C, but I think Hannity tends to make a point and Colmes tends to make the counterpoint. So what? Is that the “setup”? I hate to criticize Hannity, since I agree with him on most things, but Colmes is more intellectual than Hannity is. Hannity is a really smart guy but he usually hammers out points over and over again, while Colmes usually takes a more intellectual, nuanced view. How is that a “setup”?
Have you seen or do you remember the Capital Gang on CNN? Mark Shields, Al Hunt, Margaret Carlson vs. Novak and O’Beirne. 3 vs. 2, and 4 vs. 2 with a lib guest. So what? CNN tilts liberal. I understood that. I didn’t think that they were a wing of the DNC like ALL you Fox News haters think the RNC is for Fox. I saw it for what it was. Liberal leaning bias. That’s it. Fox has conservative leaning bias. Get over it.
Unless you’re C-Span, which is good but sometimes boring as hell, it’s hard to be PERFECTLY unbiased. It’s infotainment and you fill a viewership need. Alan himself says that the ratings game is important. It’s not pathetic at all. Alan can say whatever the hell he wants, and probably do whatever the hell he wants to get his message out. Would he get the same exposure on other networks? Other than the hatemail wrath from ignorant right-wingers, sounds like a good gig to me.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:30 pm
And about the surge, if it’s time to leave we SHOULD leave, not based on a Pelosi or Reid timetable but if the military says we should. Or, if the Iraqis force us out somehow, obviously.
Family values includes “not letting my family get blown up someday due to some radical Islamist and/or Islamic state.” But wanting homeland safety is right-wing “fearmongering” I guess. I wish war didn’t exist. I wish we could all join hands and sing Kum-ba-yah.
Why can’t we just make Christianity the worldwide religion? Mwahahahahaha!
July 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
We have to surge, withdraw, surge, withdraw, surge, withdraw, until both parties are satisfied!
July 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
We shouldn’t leave until there is a time horizon. It’s always lovely to see the sun set on a time horizon. Just don’t say timetable and noone will ever figure it out…
July 21st, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Flap said
“I hate to criticize Hannity, since I agree with him on most things, but Colmes is more intellectual than Hannity is. Hannity is a really smart guy but he usually hammers out points over and over again, while Colmes usually takes a more intellectual, nuanced view. How is that a “setup”?”
Personally I can’t stand to listen to Hannity. I don’t know what it is about him, but he irritates me. I wouldn’t call Colmes intellectual cuz i never hear him say anything profound .. he just seems to snipe at the guests
July 21st, 2008 at 4:15 pm
“Alan can say whatever the hell he wants, and probably do whatever the hell he wants to get his message out.”
No, he can’t. If Alan could “Do whatever he wants” then the subject of every single night of H&C wouldn’t be “OBAMA CONTROVERSY OBAMA CONTROVERSY OBAMA CONTROVERSY”.
It’s pathetic. Capital Gang had real Republicans on their panels. Fox does not. The “All-Star Panel” for example, on the Special Report, is exclusively conservative and Republican.
Barnes, Kondracke, Krauthammer, Sammon, Liasson. Liasson is a real laugh. Fox trotted her out originally and lied to its viewers, telling them she was a “liberal”, and then they had to retract that after a media watch dog group found out she was a registered Republican.
And no, by the way, no one on Fox makes the point that Caddell is a “disillusioned Democrat”.
Caddell is no longer a member of the Democratic Party. He works for Republican politicians now. So it’s a flat out lie to claim that he’s a Democratic strategist. He works for REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS. It’s a blatant lie. He’s not a dissillusioned Democrat. He’s an ex-Democrat.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:33 pm
“John…obviously Pat Caddell is a disillusioned former Democrat. I don’t think anyone thinks or says otherwise.”
Colmes says otherwise. Hence Alan is a liar. Caddell is a Republican campaign consultant now.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Hannity is an automaton…
July 21st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
The surge worked, but the work isn’t done yet. Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot, the democrats don’t have the patients or the guts to stick with anything. Even their favorite child hasn’t been around long enough to do anything useful. If it’s not a quick fix you don’t want to do it. News flash….there is NO quick fix for terrorism. So grab some popcorn and settle down for the long haul…unless you prefer another 9/11.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Let me start by saying I do not respect every person who wears a uniform in the US military, in fact some people are undiscovered traitors, felons, criminals.
Next, any Service member who mocks the United States and the sitting President should be discharged; Any member who has become a coward and no longer believes in the USA should be discharged.
Some Service persons who joined only wanted benefits hoping there wouldnt be any war; now that there is a war? they want to abandon their post, become a coward and run from their duty and put others into harms way from their cowardice. Oh! I dont want to be in the military if it means hard work! I signed up for the military with the jacuzzi and the town homes and the recreation. Not this combat stuff.
I say let such people out of the military, but also terminate their bonuses.
The liberal left simply wants the Irak war to fail, just because it will earn points. When the Clintons sent troops to fight and die in Europe? the liberals said NOTHING! So its not about the troops safety, its not about duty.
When there is good news? the liberals are sad, saying why not surrender to the terrorists and bring all the troops home? Then, lets disban the military altogether so this cannot happen ever again, better the US be overthrown than to engage in what some say could be an unfair war.
The liberal mentality is to be a submissive communist unit. To have independent thinking is simply intolerable, anyone who thinks for themself is dangerous to the control of the masses.
The liberal wants the entire earth to be dominated and controlled by uber liberals who will micro manage the personal lives of the masses, dictating what people will do, say, think. When the uber liberals are in absolute power, then there cant be any wars.
So the liberals wants a communistic society and therefore cannot comprehend why we had a troop surge, or why victory in Irak is even important. To the liberal, surrender is the only way. Regardless of the facts, the liberal wants to just discuss the enemies’ difference of opinion.
NObama is just a Jimmy Carter uber liberal
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:04 am
Bradley: Have you seen this about Barack and Jimmy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiurw9T5p_s
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:18 am
What I would like to know has Alan Colmes ever been to Iraq? I have never heard him comment to say if he has or not. However, I know Geraldo & Ollie North have been so that have first hand knowledge how well the surge has helped. Unfortunately Obama will only meet in safety zones (wussy areas). The other “real men” Oliver & Geraldo go into the dangerous areas to get the real truth. Obama went on this trip due to a challenge from Mccain – it’s a photo opt basically with all his “puppets” along for the ride in Couric, Gibson & Williams. What a lovefest that must be! Alan should have gone along for the ride! He could have reported “live”. This Obama media circus is turned hilarious it’s such so one sided it’s a joke. They should do a skit on Saturday Night Live – it would be great.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:24 am
If you join the military you know that you will be giving the time up from your family, I served eight years and spent much of my time away from my family. This is a choice I made and would not of ever complained to the press about it. This soldier needs to shut his mouth and do his duty
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:34 am
Personally I can’t stand to listen to Sean Hannity. And it’s not just because I disagree with almost everything he says; he just repeats the same thing over and over again. I mean, fine have your views but stop beating a dead horse.
During the Rev. Wright “scandal” I actually had to hit mute when he spoke; I got tired of repeatedly hearing the same thing.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
hey Vince thats classic. Jimmy Carter won partly because of Watergate and Richard Nixon.
For those who dont remember, Nixon was a brilliant and strong leader who happened to love the USA and oppose communism. Because Nixon had exposed Alger Hiss to the embarassment of democrats? the democrats made it their life’s pursuit to ruin Nixon.
What was Watergate about, you ask?
Nixon found out that the democrats were engaged in selling or arranging for US govt secrets to be sold/traded to the communist Soviet Union and other national security threats.
Trying to get evidence there were break ins and wire taps. But instead of this being reported to authorities? it was reported to the Washington Post, Bernstein and that other guy, both of whom were pathological liars whose lifetime goal was the ruin of Nixon.
So they began a campaign of trying to first of all cover up the DNC leaks of national security info to the Soviets and they tried to make Nixon look bad. At first they didnt believe it would go very far because they were lying, they didnt know what alibi’s Nixon/staffers had.
the gamble of the democrats lying about Nixon became a success when it was reported as fact by the then liberal controlled media.
Back in those days there were lots of game shows on tv, the Watergate hearings interferred and people were furious. Just convict him and finish it so we can have regular tv back on the air.
bottom line, Nixon was an American hero. But the liberal left’s lies made Jimmy Carter, who was/is a more important human being because he was a nukelear engineer (thats what he claimed) the best choice for change. Change away from core American values.
Is Jimmy Carter even a Christian? I do not know. I have not seen anything to suggest he is.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:00 pm
1. a good SNL bit these days is virtually impossible.
2. As far as Liasson is typically weak, no matter what her political affiliation. I’m not sure what the point of her being on is. She’s not even interesting.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:47 am
*as far as Liasion is concerned, she’s usually weak.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:47 am
Dave from Kentucky: LMAO!
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:48 pm