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George Bush to American Public: Drop Dead
There has been an inordinate amount of flak in the blogosphere today, so let’s be charitable and call the president a slow learner.
A slow learner is someone who, among other things, refuses to learn from his mistakes and blames others for them.
In this instance his mistake is the Mess in Mesopotamia and the subject of his blame is Al Qaeda, which had zero presence there until the war came a cropper.
A slow learner also refuses to acknowledge the admonitions of others to try to learn from his mistakes.
In this instance the drubbing voters gave him a mere three weeks ago when they sent him the message that they weren’t buying his Al Qaeda BS and wanted him to get the U.S. the heck out of Iraq as soon as reasonably possible.
More here.
17 Responses to “George Bush to American Public: Drop Dead”
I notice Bush taking a stand not to remove troops until the war is resolved.
I read between the lines that, like Korea, Germany and others, the US will not entirely remove troops from the Middle East. We will maintain some presence there to protect shipping lanes, oil and borders.
That would make sense if you are right, Paul in Austin.
I think al-queda has fomented sectarian violence, but many of the attacks on our soldiers are from the insurgency, not al-queda. The Sunnis and Shia seem prepared to fight to the last man, as they know the fight is about more than political power or oil revenue-sharing. It is about ethnic cleansing and revenge.
The drubbing we took last election was a referendum on Iraq? That’s impressive : Lamont got his backside beaten by an independent known for his support of Iraq.
Pull the other one – it’s got bells on.
gattsuru–
That’s one.
Any war supporters lose their elections?
“Lamont got his backside beaten by an independent known for his support of Iraq.”
And that’s your proof that this election was NOT a referendum on Iraq? Then what, praytell, do you attribute to the across the board backside beaten that the Republican Party took on election day?
I wouldn’t argue that the election in part was a referendum in Iraq, but I don’t think the message was necessarily that we should get out as quickly as possible. If that was what the majority of voters had wanted, then the Dems would have run on that platform (by saying that they’d cut the pursestrings). Instead they ran on the platform of “changing course”, which can be taken to mean anything voters want it to mean.
Besides Iraq, there was also corruption and scandal, inept leadership, burgeoning deficit, excessive pandering to the religious right, pork barrel spending and earmarks, inability to address social security reform or immigration reform, and on and on and on. Iraq was a big issue but it certainly wasn’t the only issue.
I agree with C Stanley. Iraq was a part – a HUGE part – but just a part of why the Dems win.
Sure. In Ohio, DeWine got his can kicked like he should of for not clearing house after the CoinGate scandal. He was also a war supporter, but this strangely was a fact his opponent tried to hide.
I don’t agree with all the laundry list of complaints : for example, the ‘pandering to religious right’ aspect hasn’t been very significant, since the big one (no gay marriage/late-term abortion) has been met with popular support. But there are many complaints that were much more closer to home and played a much closer case.
gattsuru–
George Allen? Rick Santorum? Jim Tallent? Conrad Burns?
How about the House, gattsuru? Any war supporters lose in the House?
It’s just a coincidence that I saw where 52% of the people voting Dem were concerned that there may be an abrupt pullout of Iraq? I will say that the Repubs are “blamed” certainly, but that doesn’t mean people are unified in thinking that abandoning Iraq is the answer and shame on you for distorting facts to fit your desires or worldview.
C Stanley, I never said it was the only issue, I’m just disputing the assertion that ONE election result was proof positive that the election had nothing to do with Iraq. It’s a silly argument constantly spewed on the right…
No, it’s just the one that comes to mind with ten seconds. My apologies for thinking that one example can allow another individual to draw conclusions. [snark]Aren’t you the side claiming Abu Garihb was evidence of a vast system?[/snark]
Look at the polls. Iraq wasn’t even a clear leader in concerning voters. Do your own research, since I’m doubtful you’d believe mine. Even in highly democratic precints it wasn’t politically valid to move forward the idea of retreat from Iraq. Pelosi -Pelosi- almost smacked Rangel for moving too far against Iraq.
Serious, Santorum? The anti-gay Pennslyvanian with a notable issue with corruption?
gattsuru,
Actually, the State and National GOP beat Lamont. The Republican Party didn’t support their candidate… they supported Lieberman.
Lieberman and the Connecticut GOP seem to share a common trait. Neither feel the need to respect the wishes of their members / constituents. It was a sad day and one I predict will cause the fine folks of Connecticut much shame and embarrassment.
Check out the polls (http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm)
A recent CNN poll said that 27% of people want us to withdraw some troops and another 33% want us to withdraw all.
Other polls show similar numbers… that’s pretty broad support for withdrawal.
why should bush care?
his legacy is ruined in any case
this war was a royal screwup from the get go
go watch frontline’s “the lost year”
we pull out, iran and syria come in to fill the whole
we stay, the civil war continues, and our men amd women continue to die trying to keep iraqi from killing iraqi
there is no way out
Chris, maybe listing some other numbers from that site might be good, like 46% keep troops there, 48% bring troops home. 65% think the democrates don’t have a clear plan. When asked who would do a better job in Iraq 44% said dems and 39% repubs, not a sweeping mandate by all the voters as the post seemed to claim.