Harry Reid is earning respect in mass quantities these past two weeks. I’ve been critical – Is Harry Reid a Gamer? – but he’s shaking things up in DC right now. Some quotes:
In his remarks, Reid criticized Bush and called Vice President Dick Cheney the president’s “chief attack dog,” lacking in credibility. He likened the president to Lyndon Johnson, saying the former president ordered troop escalations in Vietnam in an attempt “to save his political legacy,” only to watch U.S. casualties climb steadily. (Source)
“I believe … that this war is lost, and this surge is not accomplishing anything, as is shown by the extreme violence in Iraq this week,” Reid told journalists. (Source)
“This is a view Reid shares with Henry Kissinger and any number of generals, doubtless including some of the four who have turned down the albatross of being the White House’s “war czar.” It’s also the view of a clear majority of the American public according to recent polls (51% in a poll published on April 16 in a newspaper that Broder evidently doesn’t read, the Washington Post.)” Harpers
VIDEO – Courtesy of AMERICAblog (Reid speaking to the press)
Coverage:
David Broder: Wrong Again
Reid To Bush: If You Come After Us, We’ll Hit Back Every Bit As Aggressively
Did Harry Reid Intend to Create a Firestorm?
I heard him on NPR All Things Considered. He stidestepped the “war is Los” BS…sounded pretty good. Reid’s bark is just fine, now lets see about his bite…
Indeed – – – the follow through is key at this point. He and Pelosi are carrying this. If they win out…that’d be something…I’d stop burning flags for that.
Geez, sorry about the typos in my first comment. I feel the same way about Pelosi…
I’d like to find an original hippie from the late 60’s to tell me how much of the current Iraq situation parallels Vietnam.
Reid’s been saying a lot of good things. I keep thinking about Bill Frist diagnosing Terri Shiavo. Not only is Reid doing a fine job on Iraq so far, but it could be so much worse.
I think this is going to backfire on the Bushies (big time).
http://richmonddemocrat.blogspot.com/2007/04/republican-endgame.html
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What I’m counting on is the fact that he’s cemented the votes needed for subsequent Iraq bills…meaning, when Bush vetoes this one and is presented a second one with less along the lines of deadlines and requirements, though still language to that effect, it will become even harder for Bush to pull his ‘poor troops’ nonsense. By the second bill, the writing will be on the wall and if he vetoes that, and the funding runs out…
It’ll be awfully difficult for him to get around it, because you’ll have (my educated guess) Republicans making it happen: Chuck Hagel, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, John Warner (possible), Gordon Smith (possible)…not going to get much more than that…in fact, Reid may simply have the top three (Hagel-Snowe-Collins), but that would be enough to secure 51 every time without Lieberman’s vote and Tim Johnson still recovering from heart surgery following his stroke.
As long as he’s got his Democratic ducks in a row and 3 GOP votes secured (and if they haven’t buckled under the pressure from RNC and the WH thus far, they aren’t going to w/out some new unacceptable language being added…as long as the language is less binding each time around, they’ll be there), he can run his mouth all day and night, take Bush’s veto and send up another bill…
I originally posted his middle finger picture in hopes that he’d find that side of himself at this crucial juncture, and he clearly has.
The beltway is throbbing with predictions of him being beaten up by allies, but if you match up his words with Hagel’s…Hagel’s might actually be harsher.
That’s what he’s got going for him right now…the RIGHT allies on the other side. Maine is NOT equivalent to a midwestern state, and Hagel is a rock…he’s got this in his heart and knows he’s right.
Reid did not take back a single word, and as long as he doesn’t do that (even though right-wing pundits have been saying he did), as long as he doesn’t provide the GOP with a backtracking sound-bite…this is going to swing our way more and more with each passing day.
This is a professional move right here, unlike any I’ve seen from this party in a LONG time!
In the best of all worlds, we’d be looking at a future of a diminished GoP, and a fractured Democratic party leading to a viable coalition government and active alternative parties.
In my dreams, the GoP implodes in the wake of this debased executive and majority rule. They have to shrive themselves of religious and moral ideologues and re-embrace principled conservatism. The Dems, OTOH, quickly fracture over middle-road do-nothings (the Clintons) and true progressives. Three major parties, at least 3 minor parties (super-right militant isolationists, super-right fundies, and communists), instant-runoff voting and a progressive trend.
In the meantime, Reid has finally managed to call a spade a spade. I won’t hurt myself patting him on the back for doing something that should have been done long before. And his comments still bow to the Republican framing: this hasn’t been a war for a long time now. It’s a violent baby-sitting gig in the middle of a civil war — we’re just “targets of opportunity” for all other parties.
At this point I’m taking any use of the political strength that was secured in November as a sign of good things to come. Having Cheney running point on this one vs. Reid is a blessing!
Knowing they’ll make things up about Reid and his points, it’s good for him to be careful leading up to that first veto. At that point, Reid can flip the argument on them and use something like:
“The President denied the troops in harms way the funds they need to remain operational. He has put his own desires in front of their needs with this veto, and it is unacceptable.”
Stealing “unacceptable” and other words or phrases directly from the President’s rhetoric clip will erode the WH’s grip on this from the inside out.
I firmly believe that all the President has at this point is words. To break him – is not something that facts alone will manage to accomplish. This is psychological warfare, and to truly weaken him in THIS fight, Reid will have to steal his rhetoric right out from under him.
Several years now (and this may seem silly, but I’m 100% convinced that it is the key to prevailing) he has worn out the same words over and over, so when those words are then co-opted by his opposition, it puts the pressure on him to change up.
I don’t think he and his staff are capable of that on a large scale at this point. What he and Congressional GOP will be reduced to then will be straight-up smear. Cheney still puts a little milk in the coffee in that regard. Steal the words, and it’ll be black from here on out!