Bottom line: Bush's political rhetoric won't work
President Bush has gone on the offensive against Congress's war-spending bill, which includes -- for the first time -- a concrete timetable for withdrawal. At various times, he's accused Congress of "failing to fund" the troops, and I keep hearing this line over and over:
The bottom line is this,” Mr. Bush said. “Congress’s failure to fund our troops will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. Others could see their loved ones headed back to war sooner than anticipated. This is unacceptable.”
Here's what I don't get: if you are going to try to fool the American people into thinking that Congress won't support the war with the necessary funds, does it make sense to claim that soldiers will be heading "back to war sooner than anticipated?" Or that soldiers will be stuck on the front lines? There's a logical disconnect here: if Congress isn't funding the war, then eventually, the war will have to stop and the soldiers will have to come home. My guess is Joe American will be completely confused by this line of pseudo-reasoning -- I know I am -- and I think Congress is going to win this showdown.
The bottom line is this,” Mr. Bush said. “Congress’s failure to fund our troops will mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines. Others could see their loved ones headed back to war sooner than anticipated. This is unacceptable.”
Here's what I don't get: if you are going to try to fool the American people into thinking that Congress won't support the war with the necessary funds, does it make sense to claim that soldiers will be heading "back to war sooner than anticipated?" Or that soldiers will be stuck on the front lines? There's a logical disconnect here: if Congress isn't funding the war, then eventually, the war will have to stop and the soldiers will have to come home. My guess is Joe American will be completely confused by this line of pseudo-reasoning -- I know I am -- and I think Congress is going to win this showdown.
posted by Ben at 11:23 AM
1 Comments:
At first I was almost amused at this nonsensical line of “reasoning” – as you stated, Ben, it’s so bad that it will perplex everyone except the hardest of hard-core.
The amusement didn’t last long when it hit me what Bush is really saying: he will follow his policies no matter what. No money? Well, that just means he’ll send troops without what they need. It’s clear: he’s not going to change the policy no matter what.
This is tragic. There is a need for everyone working together to minimize the hell that’s coming. It will be horrific if we act rashly; it will also be horrific if we continue this specific policy. The only hope I can see on the horizon is that if, after six months (1) there’s a miracle and the surge works and the government of Iraq gets its act together or (2) the surge doesn’t do it and enough Republicans abandon Bush that Congress can set a new course that is veto-proof. And, getting giddy with optimism, Democrats and Republicans would have to work together and come up with a realistic policy for gradual withdrawal but doing what can be done to help Iraq.
-- Big Daddy
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