Republicans Against Bush
Senator Chuck Hagel (Nebraska) didn’t hold back. When Rice said that she wouldn’t call the ‘surge’ an ‘escalation’, Hagel asked her, then “how would you call it, a decrease?” Some other Republicans who said that they cannot support the escalation augmentation: George Voinovich (Ohio) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Democratic Senator Nelson also said that he cannot support the escalation augmentation, same goes for Boxer.
To watch how both Republican and Democratic Senators “absolutely hammered Condoleezza Rice” at yesterday’s Armed Services Committee hearing, go to Crooks and Liars.
Joe already linked to this video at Think Progress in which Senator Chuck Hagel and Condi Rice have a heated debate about the word ‘escalation’. If you haven’t watched it yet, watch it and read Joe’s post about augmentation.
Chuck Hagel for President?
The main question is – of course – will these Republican Senators perservere (for instance if and when the Democrats will try to use the ‘power of the purse’ as Senator Russ Feingold calls it)? Doing so would, in my opinion, be a mistake unless Republicans support it as well. A kind of bipartisan view on Iraq will, then, finally be accomplished, albeit not the (bipartisan) consensus many expected.
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26 Responses to “Republicans Against Bush”
“Chuck Hagel for President?”
I guess he would like that job. But there are four other probable presidential candidates in that committee, I’ve read. Must be the horror having to answer their questions. Five wannabes, all struggling for getting the toughest quote into TV news…
Hagel won then.
“Hagel won then.”
Ok with me. Imho it’s better for Dems if a Republican is seen on TV asking the toughest questions. This shows this is not about liberals being mean, but that there is a bipartisan opposition against Bush and his gang now.
Btw, I always thought she’s an intelligent woman, though handicapped by her pathological admiration of Bush. But now, this:
“It’s bad policy to speculate on what you’ll do if a plan fails when you’re trying to make a plan work.”
Oh, the stupidity…
yes because we all know that plan A always works and that questioning oneself is horrible.
o, wait
“yes because we all know that plan A always works and that questioning oneself is horrible.”
Hehehe, indeedy!
Ok, some critics of the Bush administration may say that the Iraq plans have been constantly altered in the face of desastrous results and that Bush now finally arrived at Plan 9 from outer space…
but in his defense: he always thought that the other 8 plans would succeed. If he would have accepted the possibility that they would not succeed, things would have been even worse in Iraq right now.
Or something.
“Plan 9 from outer space”
Well, to be honest, I haven’t really counted all the slight corrections of course under Bush’s command, Michael. I just wanted to imply that imho Bush is an intellectual heavyweight when it comes to planning not unlike Ed Wood. But maybe this is unfair to the genius director…
Yes, not many people made as many plans as Bush has. He has experience in planning. That should count for something, shouldn’t it?
“He has experience in planning”
Sure. I you count ‘I wanna screw some Iranian diplomats today!’ as a plan…
The ‘plan’ worked, didn’t it?
See?
“The ‘plan’ worked, didn’t it?”
How do you know? Have you been peeping into Bush’s bedroom?
I agree with every word of your post, Michael.(there’s a first time for everything,lol) The Democrats do not want to be painted in ’08 as the party that pulled the plug on Iraq, causing our catastrophic defeat. They will talk big about the power of the purse, but the walk won’t match the talk, unless the GOP joins them for their stroll down defunding lane.
Though I am a registered Democrat, I could support Hagel over Hillary , because while Hillary is holding her cards, Hagel has laid them out on the table for all the world to see. McCain has the maverick rep, but it is Hagel who has emerged as a minority leader who is not afraid to buck this White House. Like McCain, he is tough, honest, experienced, and a Vietnam vet. Unlike McCain Hagel has not had his lips plastered to the presidential posterior. McCain has stood up to Bush when the cameras were rolling, Hagel just shoots from the hip. Hagel gives me hope that I will have cause to vote for a Republican again in my lifetime(sorry I am in a metaphorical mood- I know this comment has too many cliches in it.)
Personally I’m also very positive about Giuliani Kim. We’ll see how Hagel will behave in the near future, but if I were American, I would consider voting for Giuliani.
Yes exactly.
Why do you think they’re acting like they’re acting? It’s not all fake, I am sure, they are trying to create a mood in which Republicans will feel that they have no choice but to ‘pull the plug’ with the Democrats.
Well, that’s one of the reasons for it imo.
“they are trying to create a mood in which Republicans will feel that they have no choice but to ‘pull the plug’ with the Democrats.”
And, watching that bootlicker Lieberman’s recent actions, it sure is necessary for the Dems to get some Republicans on board to pull the plug.
Julie is siding with the president on the surge, Michael- so he would have to explain his stand before I would consider him. Also he has too many personal problems in his history to be a serious candidate. Hagel may have bucked the GOP base too often to be successful, but imo, he’s the anti-Bush, which would have a lot of popular appeal in ’08.
I agree with your assessment on the Dems. I think the Dems are trying to create political cover for the party by soliciting broad support for redeployment, or at least, killing the surge. This seems only fair to me, that since a bipartisan vote got us into this mess, a bipartisan vote should get us out. That way, no one party takes the hit in ’08. BTW, most of the GOP senators who have voiced concerns about the surge are from blue states and are up for re-election in ’08. So much for political courage.
Gray- Yes I agree. So much for the countless posts and comments about Lieberman’s integrity. He showed us in the first few days of the 110th Congress that he is all about personal ambition and the exercise of political power in the Senate, and no longer about the wishes of his constituency on Katrina. He should be exposed and reviled by all Americans for this cowardly move- totally corrupt in my view. Wonder what Connecticut’s Democratic voters (the 30% who voted for him) are thinking now?
“So much for the countless posts and comments about Lieberman’s integrity.”
Indeed, indeed. He envisioned withdrawal in 2007 before supporting the surge for 2007. I wonder what his Dem voters think about his campaign speeches now (the Republican ones seem to have been much smarter in this case, they got what they wanted).
The ghosts of JE Hoover and Ed Wood watch over this bad movie and laugh. In the 1950′s the aliens were the fictional enemy, today we have Mexicans and Ayrabs to hate.
Gray-
His position on Katrina is what bothers me, his position on the surge was totally predictable. Lieberman’s decision as chair of Homeland Security NOT to investigate the WH on no-bid contracts or their actions during the crisis, took my breath away like Ford’s pardon of Nixon. Brown claims he told the WH how badly everything could turn out without quick action on their part, and heard complete silence in response. Now we’ll never know without a subpoena from Lieberman. He has just given Bush a pass on the second biggest blunder of his administration- was it in exchange for Republican support of his re-election? What self-respecting Democrat would behave like that? He knows that he holds the Democrat’s frail majority in the palm of his hand, and knows they can’t complain about this.
Kim,
So in order to have heeded Brown’s warning about the extreme time sensitivity of the situation, Bush should have made sure to open contracts up to the bidding process? That makes no sense.
That was some good snark MvdG! See you got it in you to lower the boom here an there man LOL.
CS- I may have written my comment in a confusing way. Last year Lieberman was unable to get key WH records on Katrina showing early responses directly before and after the hurricane hit. The no-bid contracts are a separate issue which occurred much later. This is a direct quote from Michael Isikoff from Newsweek:
“Among the missing material: the record of a videoconference in the White House Situation Room in which former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown said he warned senior officials about the dire situation in New Orleans, but was greeted with “deafening silence.â€? Also missing: records believed to include messages and conversations involving the president, Vice President Dick Cheney and their top aides during the days in late August and early September 2005 when the Katrina disaster was unfolding and thousands of city residents were flocking to overcrowded shelters and hanging onto rooftops awaiting rescue.”
Lieberman not only is the only Democrat to back Bush’s surge, he simultaneously announced he was abandoning his Katrina probe of the missing records, which was a prominent campaign pledge in his re-election bid. These two in combination + Bush’s pick of him for a bipartisan congressional liason committee is annoying most Democrats.
OK, I see what you’re getting at. Thanks for filling in the missing piece.
Breasts and penises get augmented. Wars get escalated. Politicians backed into a corner get a thesaurus.
Hagel for President!
It’s hard to talk about Plan B when you spend most of your time getting hammered and telling your interns to write Plan A for ya’. It’s like college. I spent all this time paying someone else to write an essay for me, because I’ve got stuff to do, and you want me to give you another thesis because this is very likely going to turn out an unsatisfactory paper? Look, I’m sorry, but I’m probably not even too positive what the first essay was on, so I’ll suggest we roguht it out, you take a read of this one, and then you hand down the grade. Now, sure, it might not be passing, but who’s to say. When I fail, then I’ll write a new essay. But talking about a new thesis when you this paper hasn’t even failed yet. Well, I’m sorry, Missy, but I think you’re rushing it.
‘Don’t talk about Plan B?’
‘Why not?’
‘We don’t have a plan B.’
‘You don’t have a plan B?’
‘Interns haven’t gotten to it yet.’