is the reality that Democrats can end the Debacle by not funding it. The power of doing nothing is lost on them. Instead, we see the Republican Party responding to its base (h/t Josh Marshall):
Despite months of pressure, no more than eight Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have backed any measure that mandates a troop withdrawal. And GOP strategists predict that is unlikely to change.
“Republicans have to be cognizant of where their base is,” said pollster Bob Wickers, whose company has worked with Republican candidates in a dozen states in recent years.
Here's my question, why don't Democrats have to be cognizant of where THE COUNTRY is? Josh's post is really missing this point – that Democrats won in 2006 on Iraq. That THEIR base and the country want out of Iraq. And that they have the power to stop the war. By doing nothing. It is the central insight and is missing from much of the Iraq coverage, Media and blogs alike.
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of where THE COUNTRY is?”
Because they are taking their base for granted (unless they want $ or it’s election time).
They’ve gotten a free pass for too long, and they are no longer worthy of any benefit of the doubt.
No more. Never again.
Author
just snow jobs. No focus, just playing the clock out until the ‘election’ and then we get a new face on the same agenda. Trouble is all involved are loosing cover, as the people loose their fear of ‘other’ and even the most non political, see this for what it is.
It’s not just for breakfast anymore.
The BooMan has a good post up now reminding us of the Phase II Intelligence report that appears to have been shelved now that the Dems in charge.
He suggest the capitulation is tied to complicity in the crime. Perhaps we are witnessing some of that here as well.
Since so many Dems were involved in starting the war, this may partially explain why there aren’t nearly enough of them out there willing to do what it takes to stop it.
I dunno. I almost give up trying to figure out why these fools don’t stand up for the country.
At some point (soon) the GP will stop giving the Dems the benefit of the doubt, and then it’s anyone’s ballgame predicting what will happen.
blamed for “losing” Iraq if they force withdrawal.
When are they ever going to figure out that the RePugs will smear them no matter what they do or don’t do about ANYTHING.
Are they willing to risk their seats to do the right thing…..or is their personal welfare more important than peace.
of where THE COUNTRY is?
They are.
They don’t want to end it. They only want to sound like they want to end it.
They are dead certain that they will win Congress and the Presidency next year without ending it.
Dead certain that even the antiwar movement is more scared of republicans than democrats, and will for the most part vote for democrats anyway.
They are laughing off the antiwar movement as powerless.
They don’t care what people think. They are laughing at what they consider to be the suckers. They are laughing at the whole country.
They will not change until they are in cold sweating terror of losing Congress and the Presidency next year.
It’s the only thing that will move them…
It is really a matter of which base is stronger. The Republican base, for all its faults and sheer insanity is or has been cohesive and is used to thinking in terms of “us” and “them”, i.e., they see themselves as a viable community with a common culture, way of life, shared myths etc. Members of that base have made the efforts to blur some distinctions and possible conflicts by focusing on what they have in common and, particularly, the people who directly threaten them. Of course this “threat” is an illusion but the truth is that this “base” is made up largely of the sort of Americans Mark Twain loved to write about.
Pelosi and Reed don’t feel they have a reliable and fanatical base they can count on and that is why they do what they do. I don’t get the sense (as I do with Bush) that they are malevolent in any way. As I’ve said on this site before–they are responding to *real* political forces.
Progressives need to form tight alliances or they won’t be heard, it’s just that simple!