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| Trashing Petraeus: MoveOn.org, and the new standards of Democratic debate |
| 2007-09-11 |
| Wall Street Journal Important as was yesterday's appearance before Congress by General David Petraeus, the events leading up to his testimony may have been more significant. Members of the Democratic leadership and their supporters have now normalized the practice of accusing their opponents of lying. If other members of the Democratic Party don't move quickly to repudiate this turn, the ability of the U.S. political system to function will be impaired in a way no one would wish for. Well, with one exception. MoveOn.org, the Democratic activist group, bought space in the New York Times yesterday to accuse General Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House." The ad transmutes the general's name into "General Betray Us." "Betrayal," as every military officer knows, is a word that through the history of their profession bears the stain of acts that are both dishonorable and unforgivable. That is to say, MoveOn.org didn't stumble upon this word; it was chosen with specific intent, to convey the most serious accusation possible against General Petraeus, that his word is false, that he is a liar and that he is willing to betray his country. The next and obvious word to which this equation with betrayal leads is treason. That it is merely insinuated makes it worse. . . . So far, only two Democrats that we are aware of have repudiated this political turn. Joe Lieberman, already ostracized from the party for dissent, (and for being a Jew) called the MoveOn ad an "act of slander that every member of the Congress--Democrat and Republican--has a solemn responsibility to condemn." And Joe Biden, after the MoveOn ad was read to him on "Meet the Press" Sunday, replied: "I don't buy into that. This is an honorable guy. He's telling the truth." These are the exceptions. Another of the party's activist groups, Democracy for America, released a statement about the time General Petraeus began to speak: "It is offensive that our commander-in-chief has ordered a four-star general to mislead Congress." As General Petraeus finished his statement yesterday, Senator Chris Dodd's Presidential campaign spammed an email about "the accuracy" of the report: "The fact that there are questions about General Petraeus's report is not surprising given that it was brought to you by this White House." Thus in Mr. Dodd's view, General Petraeus, returned from the Iraq battlefield, is a complicit ventriloquist's dummy. Can this really be the new standard of political rhetoric across the Democratic Party? There was a time when the party's institutional elites, such as the Times, would have pulled it back from reducing politics to all or nothing. They would have blown the whistle on such accusations. Now they are leading the charge. Under these new terms, public policy is no longer subject to debate, discussion and disagreement over competing views and interpretations. Instead, the opposition is reduced to the status of liar. Now the opposition is not merely wrong, but lacks legitimacy and political standing. The goal here is not to debate, but to destroy. Today General Petraeus testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Its Democratic Members include Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Barack Obama, John Kerry, Barbara Boxer and Jim Webb. This would be the appropriate setting to apologize to General Petraeus for the MoveOn.org ad. Or let it stand. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #25 newc, you are channeling my brain today. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-09-11 19:38 |
| #24 You treat me like an imbecile. This is not a job position I take lightly. There are lies both way but that does not prevent the necessity of being serious about our aspirations, nor does it grant you forgiveness for your screw ups to preach to the only man in Washington I wanted to hear from. Your Stalinist purges are not forgivable, what you have done to these men is not forgivable, and you asking a full bull from the hilton of intense these BS questions that are five minutes long are also unforgivable. What you cannot see is I AM not the only to see through my eyes, and Americans may watch this also. I prayed that you would understand the importance of this and found naught. You wasted two days of my time. If you want to be romans, go for it, I predict not 30 years for your time. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-09-11 19:10 |
| #23 Many who get off the plane have a positive view of their accomplishments. I wanted General Petareus off that plane fresh and new to testify on what he has learned. You turned it into a circus. I will not forgive you for this. I wanted really good questions and you Damned foold made me sit through hours of shit to get to anything that YOU SHOULD ASK. I have had it. I told you I already hear what you say on your soap box every day. So much so, that you are a depressing part of my day, always. Not always as in always this year, but always as in all of the time this body has seen you. You are the worst military and intel people of all time Democrats"". your communist take over got in the way of protecting people. I AM writing lists right now, and I told you to chose sides far long ago. Somebody is fired. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-09-11 18:52 |
| #22 "Why do I keep having the recurring thought that it's time for another revolution?" Probably because it is. But I don't think it has a snowball's chance in Hell of happening. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2007-09-11 18:18 |
| #21 The problem with the military staying apolitical is that the Democrats hate the Military and have hated the military since the 1960's. It is very hard to be apolitical when one side is actively trying to get you killed. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2007-09-11 18:04 |
| #20 Let US get something straight right now. Their 40 years of governance has produced the conditions that they now "Run Against" I told Saddam "like" 9 times to stop firing at our choppers - of the numerous engagements we had just had. I knew that MF was crazy. The reasons were in Babylon are very VERY numerous. We protected two sides then, and the third now - in the latter, you have three significant tribes that believe that you do not take sides. This significance resonates throughout the middle east. They watch with great eyeballs as you defame the whole mission. And you do not understand the whole mission because Washington and that damned media is all about giving up secrets. I would have sent Petraeus back home yesterday. After all, he actually has a job to do. All of those AFU "representatives wanted to test speech writing skills or read news reports from the BBC. I heard a few good questions but that was only if I could sort through the BS politics to get one. In either case, this democratica"" congress has corrupted the argument because what I want to see here testifying before you is a WAR GENERAL testifying before the American people without CORRUPT THOUGHT. When you lecture him, it is very hard to hear from him. I think you, congress, are in default, and the senate also. If I call a leader to the step of that building, I expect a representative view with respect. Democrats do not respect anything American, and so shall I view them. Foreign law by foreign interest as well as unconstitutional. Yeah, there IS a plan. A very big one in fact. If lawmakers "" do not recognize evidence, they have in NO WAY my confidence to run a law firm. And if Soldiers are by no way allowed to have an even investment on the field you invest in, It is time to find a new investment America, because when you drop this ball that was so firmly handed to you, to run to the opposite goal line is not only "un-American" but plain stupid. If you forgot what quarter this is, you need to understand that time already ran out and I expect honesty over politics every day. You Bare false witness, Democrats. It would have better for you to have asked one of your employees productive questions. Especially you "Presidential hopefuls". I would imagine an honest A&Q session would be much appreciated from the public. Your politics rot the entire earth. If you ever waste one of my Military Commanders time like that again, I will smite you with all my might. You are whores, you have no business dictating to the military your corruption. I told you more than 10 years ago you needed a standing army. I told you I did not like clinton. I told you that the Moslems were on the move even before we went to Bosnia. Now I tell you this, Congress. It is a good idea to win this war. I held a stopwatch to FDR also. He was not dinner conversation, moreover fistfight conversation and rude testaments. Precepts for failure. This is like IKE you are fooling with. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-09-11 17:18 |
| #19 Projection or desperation? |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-09-11 16:26 |
| #18 Which is why they imagine the White House interfering with Petraeus' report - they'd do so in a heartbeat. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-11 15:29 |
| #17 Remember folks, this is the same left-wing media and enablers who just a few weeks ago on HuffPo was asking the military to overthrow Bush and declare martial law ala Mushie in Pak land. They can't seem to make their minds up about the military which is scarier than if they were just point-blank anti-military. They would actually use the military for a super-poliltical reason. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-09-11 14:48 |
| #16 Why do I keep having the recurring thought that it's time for another revolution? If we allow people to live among us who essentially want our destruction, the day will come when as a simple matter of self preservation, we must decide to do something about it. Either that or we fall as surely as the towers did. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2007-09-11 14:17 |
| #15 Remember its: "all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC" |
| Posted by: jds 2007-09-11 13:07 |
| #14 #2-5 Sign me up. |
| Posted by: jds 2007-09-11 13:05 |
| #13 I know, procopius, I know. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-11 12:31 |
| #12 #9 It's a lesson well understood by the US military, for whom staying apolitical is a key doctrine. Until you teach the military that anything they achieve at the price of blood and body on any battlefield or any campaign is for nothing other than to give two bit losers a posturing position to get "a couple more Senate seats". What's the purpose of fighting if you're only sold out in the end? That's why the pols are playing a very very dangerous game. Human behavior is consistent through the centuries. The results are there for anyone with an awareness greater than the length of their nose. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-09-11 12:15 |
| #11 I haven't had any respect for the demonrats in a long time. I firmly believe they are the party of racists, murderers, rapists, criminals and traitors. More and more they prove that they have given up their humanity as well. When the day comes that they spark the end of tolerance for them and their lies, they should remember that it was they who removed any chance for mercy and compassion for themselves. I do not hate them, they are not worthy of such emotion. Instead I seem them as I would a rabid animal, but without the pity. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2007-09-11 12:06 |
| #10 |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-11 11:54 |
| #9 It's a lesson well understood by the US military, for whom staying apolitical is a key doctrine. If anything, many Army leaders disagreed with the approach to the war for several years. The suggestion that a man like David Petraeus is the stoodge of the White House is contemptible. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-11 11:52 |
| #8 Re #2-#5: I just finished reading Imperium by Robert Harris. It's a fictionalized biography of Cicero and (therefore) is set in the late Roman Republic. At one point Cicero is counseling Gnaeus Pompey, the 'great' general, who is planning some slick manuever that will bring him more power at the expense of his rivals. It isn't working very well, and Cicero needs to save Pompey's bacon. I'm quoting from memory here, but Cicero makes note of the fact that great generals are revered precisely because they remain above politics, and the instant they involve themselves in political intrigue, they're no longer great. There's a lesson for us. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-09-11 11:42 |
| #7 Petraues said in his statement, his fact were put together WITHOUT anyone from the White House, Pentagon, or Congress. Dodd is an ass. |
| Posted by: Boss Craising2882 2007-09-11 11:27 |
| #6 I thought they wanted us to listen to the generals a few months back? This is sooooo confusing! |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2007-09-11 10:55 |
| #5 Never politicize the military. Hammer anyone who tries. Because you never want to give the people a choice between their military and their pandering corrupt pols. Nope. Never. Nada. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-09-11 10:37 |
| #4 Copperheads. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-09-11 10:18 |
| #3 If the dhimocrats don't shape up, that day will come much sooner than you think. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-09-11 10:08 |
| #2 You know, if they keep pushing, one of these days the guns are going to come out, and people will kill them for the traitors they are. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-09-11 09:36 |
| #1 Why do they act so surprised? Does it take an act this overt for them to finally realize that the Dem party is bought and paid for by those who do not have America's interests at heart. Good Grief. HEELLLOOOOO! Where have you been WSJ? Clearly not paying attention for the last 15 years. |
| Posted by: Unutle McGurque8861 2007-09-11 09:22 |