WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading Republicans in Congress on Thursday declared that troop withdrawal legislation should be scrapped because the United States has made significant progress in the Iraq war, just as Democrats were resuming efforts to bring soldiers home.”
It should be off the table,” House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said…
But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters of “significant progress in Iraq,” and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the 4-1/2-year war effort was “finally paying dividends.”“We’re at a crossroads. Pour it on. Seize the moment … take withdrawal off the table,” said Graham.
Got that, everyone? Those our the directions. When you get to the crossroads, seize the moment, pour it on, and take the other thing off the table.
There’s clearly a lot more being mixed up and trod upon here than just metaphors (though the metaphor thing is an impressive feat). For one, it’s nice to see that our Senators don’t feel they have to wait for their interview with General Petraeus. You know, the one that they’ve been talking about for months. Clearly, whoever gives out the talking points let them unwrap this one early, the little scamps.
For two… do they believe that we’ve reached a crossroads? Either answer to that is chilling.
And for three, just how many crossroads does Iraq have? The road maps don’t seem to feature nearly the number of rhetorical ones we’ve come across. Odd.
Fanny Roborat
31 comments
David
September 7, 2007 at 9:11 am
1Gotta love those star-crossed roadies.
nick
September 7, 2007 at 9:47 am
2I am personally excited that we will soon be at a crossroads. Because I think that if we are at a crossroads, we might be able to”turn the corner” in Iraq. It has been MONTHS since we have “turned the corner” in Iraq. Turning the corner is my favorite thing we do in Iraq. So, coming to a crossroads means that maybe we will get to turn the corner again - and we have only done that like 5-10 times.
dee
September 7, 2007 at 10:15 am
3I think every time we’ve “turned the corner” we’ve also captured the “#3 Leader of Al Qaeda in Iran.” You’d think he’d move to another corner by now.
Robert Johnson
September 7, 2007 at 10:18 am
4I don’t know about you, but last time I was at a crossroads I made a real bad deal. I got a few months of playing guitar like a badass, then I got poisoned by a jealous woman, the Devil got my soul, and that schmuck Eric Clapton stole my song.
Sounds like a metaphor for Iraq to me.
tim
September 7, 2007 at 11:24 am
5“Iraq has WMD’s, so we must topple Saddam!”
“Ok, they don’t have WMD’s, but Saddam was in league with Al-Qaeda, and we have to fight ‘em there so we don’t fight ‘em here!”
“Ok, Saddam wasn’t in league with Al-Qaeda, but the real reason for the war was to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq!”
“Ok, so we’re having a hard time establishing freedom and democracy, so we need a surge of 30,000 troops to give the government a chance to work!”
“Ok, so the government still isn’t working, but the surge, that’s working! Just give us more time!”
SOON
“Ok, so we had more time, and the government still isn’t working. It’s all al-Maliki’s fault! We need to topple al-Maliki!”
THEN
“Well, hell, that didn’t work either. Ok, we’re pulling them out just in time for the election. See, I told you we’d win. Vote Republican!”
nato
September 7, 2007 at 3:29 pm
6We have to take the crossroads off the table there so we don’t have to take them off the table here. Wait, why are we still paying attention to the war . . . aren’t we all supposed to be focused on Larry Craig’s wide stance and ignoring the war for a while?
Zee Man
September 7, 2007 at 3:45 pm
7Since we’re at a crossroad again, why don’t we turn to some fitting verbal images from the Vietnam War:
“Will the last soldier leaving Iraq, please turn off the light at the end of the tunnel?”
“What if the light at the end of the tunnel is a fucking out of control freight train?”
And the ever popular cliched variations ending with …”the cave at the end of the tunnel.”
Jim (OJNTNJ)
September 7, 2007 at 4:40 pm
8Who knew that “turning the corner” would be analogous to “spinning in circles?”
And when you mix the metaphors, it still works:
“spinning in corners”
“turning the circles”
Which reminds us of Adam’s opinion of the Boston roundabouts in his book, “Schrodinger’s Ball.”
Apparently the Iraq quagmire is actually analogous to the Boston traffic roundabouts.
Brilliant Adam! Vague, but brilliant.
Fran
September 7, 2007 at 6:59 pm
9Tim, that’s just spooky. Stop it. No, really!
I think the crossroads they keep seeing are crosses on soldier’s graves and they’re too dumb to know the difference.
Wait, was that out loud? Ooops!
Boomer
September 7, 2007 at 7:35 pm
10I guess most of you have seen this by now, but if not, scroll down to “OddBall” and “Fake Bin Laden”. Enjoy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/
SeattleDan
September 7, 2007 at 10:09 pm
11“spinning in corners”
“turning the circles”
Jim, that’s exactly what the spiders in my bathroom do, with about as many brains as the Bush Administraton can muster. In fact, better. My spiders are smarter than any think tank, brain trust, or W’s gut feelings, so there!
David
September 8, 2007 at 4:57 am
12Speaking of crossroads, this from the Financial Times regarding climate change (it’s not very long):
http://www.precaution.org/lib/07/prn_climate_change_demands_revolution .070905.htm
Dale
September 8, 2007 at 6:01 am
13How can anyone still say ¨leading Republicans in Congress¨ with a straight face?
cooper
September 8, 2007 at 6:54 am
14Dale, I guess I can still say “leading Republicans in Congress”, because the Democrats aren’t. Sad, yes?
Zee Man
September 8, 2007 at 7:51 am
159/07/07: Bush on bin Laden: “I truly am not that concerned about him.”
Well, duh…. He wasn’t that concerned about him before 911 either.
gillian
September 8, 2007 at 1:20 pm
16W…. ever the optimist.
Increase Mather
September 8, 2007 at 3:18 pm
17In truth, the crossroads matcheth not the map. Where prithe doth Amerigo Vespucci secrete himself when we needeth him most?
Vinnie
September 8, 2007 at 6:17 pm
18Yo, Rev, he’s bin feedin’ da worms fa a coupla centuries now. An’ speakin’ of centuries, ain’t dat new $100 bill a beaut? I’m gonna have Mr. DeLay pay me wit’ t’ose frum now on.
Dale
September 9, 2007 at 6:25 am
19How about a compromise: ¨top misleading Republicans in Congress¨ ?
Cotton Mather
September 9, 2007 at 1:27 pm
20Thou art truly a knucklehead, pops.
Pope Benny 16
September 9, 2007 at 3:30 pm
21Praise be to Gott im Himmel, my three day trip to Austria is over and we’re back safely in the Willkommen arms of des Vatikan. And I thought Deutschland was the Land of Fanatical Lunatics. These Österreiche schmoes - thousands of them - stood out in the driving rain for hours just to catch a glimpse of me as I rode by in my armor plated Mercedes stretch.
I gave my sermon about using Sunday as a day of reflection on our Christian duties, but Cardinal Bernie says I gassed on for so long that I lost the back sixteen rows, who were, by the way, already dressed for the beach. That is indeed the crossroads The Church is facing - whether the flock will move straight ahead, advancing the causes of the Church or turn left, right or “bust a u-ie”, and carry on in their godless ways. Cardinal Bernie said he’d organize an office pool, with the proceeds going to our severely depleted legal fund. Bernie’s betting 200 euros on a turn to the right. (I’ve got to get rid of this guy!) We’re down to 10% attendance for Sunday Mass in Austria, so we can’t count on tithing to fill our coffers. Maybe Wednesday and Friday Night Bingo. Ja, Ja, ein groß Begriff!
Zee Man
September 9, 2007 at 4:57 pm
22Hello, Dear Friends.
“General David Petraeus, the commander of United States forces in Iraq, admitted on Friday that sending 30,000 more troops into the war zone in January had failed to yield the desired results. “It has not worked out as we had hoped,” the general said.
Maybe you could send this along to your congressional representative and Senators for their consideration.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news __international_news/&articleid=318677
Reverand Billy, C of SS
September 9, 2007 at 5:34 pm
23We at the Church of Stop Shopping, support the troops, but not the war. Write your representatives and tell them you want the troops brought home. Now would be a good time.
Save the environment - Stop Shopping!
David
September 9, 2007 at 6:13 pm
24Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the 4-1/2-year war effort was “finally paying dividends.”
I just re-read this comment. It is one of the most disgusting comments yet. Dividends on half-a-trillion dollars, nearly 4,000 dead American troops, many more seriously wounded, probably a million Iraqi dead at this point and 4 million displaced, along with a country in ruins, and this bastard is talking about this madness “finally paying dividends”? Lindsey, you might have just set a new standard for how far someone can shove his head up his ass.
cooper
September 9, 2007 at 6:56 pm
25David, as I’ve been saying, although North Carolina is the more pure and righteous of the two Carolinas, our Senators are also stay-the-course Republicans wingnuts that will keep voting to support the war.
Cynicism-Leaning David
September 10, 2007 at 7:23 am
26With Jesse gone (Lobster was about 30 years late calling Senator I-Love-Pinochet Helms home) and Edwards having retired from his senate seat, the sometimes enlightened State of North Carolina (oh, but there were some champion Democratic senators from North Carolina in the past) has seen fit to send two helium-head rubber stampers to Foggy Bottom. Fascinating that the party which loves that phrase has the greater number of senators who justify that descriptor, and by a wide margin. Good old Jesse had the foggiest actively bottom-feeding cerebrum of all.
Confessional time: I once said that I thought Britney Spears would come to her senses and be a good mother. But then I also thought Americans would come to their senses and stop supporting neo-imperialist militarism. Shit, she just hates not being adulated, and Americans just hate losing.
I guess it has to do with a combination of an ego like Bush’s, which says to itself we can never be anything but righteous, and an incredible ability to ignore larger realities, or to deny them altogether. It might also have something to do with protracted adolescence, for Britney personally and for Americans geopolitically, what with Britney having no idea what adulthood entails and the majority of Americans not having a clue about either our own international machinations or general realities for the rest of the world, leaving them just as vulnerable to the current barrage of Bush/Cheney/neocon propaganda as they were pre-invasion of Iraq.
Damn, I wish I could think of something funny, but the success of this neocon full frontal and the apparent routing of frightened Democrats, leaving the gutsy Democrats like the out-of-Iraq caucus in the House and folks like Senator Webb twisting in the wind, just isn’t funny, and the pending military assault on Iran is so much stupider and more craven than the criminal destruction of Iraq that my sense of humor is failing me at the moment.
Hope-Springs-Eternal David
September 10, 2007 at 8:07 am
2760 percent: Americans who say we “should set a timetable to withdraw forces ‘and stick to that timetable regardless of what is going on in Iraq.’”
dee
September 10, 2007 at 10:29 am
28Umm.. far be it from me to defend a Republican, but Richard Burr has not voted in lockstep with the party, and in another time I would be quite comfortable with him as my Senator.
Liddy, however, is another thing entirely…
cooper
September 10, 2007 at 1:12 pm
29dee, I’m sorry if I unjustifiably cast aspersions upon the good Senator Burr. He has voted against the administrations positions on Iraq? I must have been incommunicado at the beach when that happened and missed it.
But now Liddy Dole…..psshh!
Murray
September 10, 2007 at 6:30 pm
30Everything else aside, we are spending $2 billion a day in Iraq. For this amount of money Iraq should be Heaven on Earth! How many years at this rate will it take ‘til it is? All I know is that if our school systems got $2 billion a day it COULD be Heaven on Earth and our future would be much more secure with a well educated population instead of half of the world filled with pissed off Moslems ready to commit Jihad on our ass.
Corner? You mean the one we have painted ourselves into?
David
September 11, 2007 at 6:09 am
31I have no problem standing corrected, dee. Anything specific Burr has done that separates him from Rubberstamplicans, some of whom now appear poised to become Stampedelicans. I really do believe in giving credit where credit is due, anytime, anywhere, and to anyone. It is finally not who politicians are personally but what they do as public servants that matters most, even though character can be a factor in their actions. Thus I don’t care why LBJ was such a champion of civil rights, remembering the accusations that he just wanted the black vote. In so doing, he did, of course, ironically turn the South over to the Republicans. And I thank Bob Barr for his alliance with the ACLU.
One of the reasons I refuse to vote for any Republicans at this point, although I twice supported Republican candidates for sheriff of Lake County, Florida - one of whom proved a worthy change from the McCall family, and the other of whom proved to be just a venal right wing hack - is that we cannot afford to empower the Republican machine in any way, shape, or form at this juncture.
I should also add my great respect and admiration for Walter Jones and for Chuck Hagel regarding Bush’s clusterfuck in Iraq.
Murray, what are you doing over in the reality-based world? Just buy “defense” stocks and let the good times roll. Who the hell needs good schools? They are just potential hotbeads of actual intellectual growth, which is the last thing in the world our current establishment and its beneficiaries want any part of.