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The 'Exit Strategy' Democrats

onthebottom

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Interesting Op Ed from the WSJ:

OTB

The 'Exit Strategy' Democrats
The only thing they can't imagine is success in Iraq.

Thursday, February 3, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST

Every so often, an American politician takes an unpopular stand for the sake of what's right: Think of Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon. Frequently, he takes an unprincipled stand for the sake of what's popular: Take Richard Nixon's price controls. Sometimes, even, he does what's right, which also happens to be popular: Ronald Reagan's bombing of Libya.

Only in the rarest of instances, however, do politicians take positions that are both unpopular and unprincipled. That is where the Democratic Party leadership finds itself today on Iraq.

On Sunday, some eight million Iraqi citizens risked their lives to participate in parliamentary elections--as vivid and moving a demonstration of democratic ideals in action as we've seen in our lifetimes. Whereupon Senate Democrats Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry took to the airwaves to explain that it was no big deal and that it was time to start casting about for an "exit strategy."

Mr. Kerry: "No one in the United States should try to overhype this election.... It's hard to say that something is legitimate when a whole portion of the country can't and doesn't vote."

Mr. Kennedy: "While the elections are a step forward, they are not a cure for the growing violence and resentment of the perception of American occupation. . . . The best way to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that we have no long-term designs on their country is for the Administration to withdraw some troops now . . ."

Minority Leader Reid: "We need an exit strategy so that we know what victory is and how we can get there. . . . Iraq is clearly important, but there are so many bigger threats to our national security . . ."

So what is the Democratic Party's message on this inspiring exercise in Iraqi self-determination? First, that the election's legitimacy is questionable. Second, that its effects will be minor. Third, that America's presence in Iraq is doing more harm than good by generating terrorism and anti-Americanism where none previously existed. Fourth, that the U.S. has better things to do. Fifth, that American sacrifices in Iraq are best redeemed not by victory, but by the earliest feasible departure.

As a matter of policy, this is a manifesto for irresponsibility. Just as the postponement of elections would have been a gift to the insurgents, a timetable for withdrawal now would amount to a concession of defeat. The Iraqis certainly know this, with interim President (and Sunni Arab) Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar saying Tuesday that it is "complete nonsense to ask the troops to leave in this chaos and this vacuum of power." The claim that the U.S. has become a force for occupation only validates the Al-Jazeera hypothesis that the terrorists are engaging in a legitimate exercise in "resistance."

What is more astonishing, however, is the Democrats' political tone-deafness. In their indictment of Administration policy, the Senators always take care to add a few words of tribute to the American soldier. But what's the point of praising his courage when only a fool would want to be the last man to die for a mistake?

Today, the Democratic Party has put itself in the awkward position of hoping to gain political advantage in the 2006 elections as a result of American wartime reverses, just as some House Republicans did during the war in Kosovo (they were saved by their Senate betters). This is not a place any political party should wish to be.

We understand that it is in the nature of the party of opposition to oppose. But there's no law in politics that says opposition has to be blind. Following the Iraqi election, Senator Hillary Clinton offered that "we have to salute the courage and bravery of those who are risking their lives to vote and those brave Iraqi and American soldiers fighting to protect their right to vote. They are facing terrorists who have declared war on democracy itself and made voting a life-and-death process." Last we checked, nobody had accused Mrs. Clinton of being a Republican.

At the onset of the Cold War, and despite opposition from the isolationist wing of their party, Arthur Vandenberg and other Republican Senators worked with Democratic President Harry Truman to forge the containment strategy against Communism. Where is today's Democratic Vandenberg?
 

onthebottom

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yychobbyist said:
Iraq has always posed a huge problem for the Democrats. It doesn't help them at all that they are rudderless at the moment and lack vision in many areas. Something better change or Shrub III is just around the corner.
You're right, with (in 08) Republicans holding the White House for 20 of the last 28 years it's almost becoming a lock. If Dean gets the DNC job (and that's looking like a lock) the party will only become more marginal and angry - not where the US public is.

OTB
 

red

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the pardoning of nixon was the right thing to do?
 

Cinema Face

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The dems are defeatists. They all sound like a bunch of old women.

Ironically, the most sensible quote came from Hillbillary.
 

Peeping Tom

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I'm wondering where Billary stands on this. Dean will drag the party closer to the gutter, where his natural support base resides, i.e., street vermin and squeegy kids. This in contrast to Billary, they archetypal titular wannabee. Either way, the party will suffer. Personally, I'm hoping for Billary - she will be the first candidate arrested during a campaign.

onthebottom said:
If Dean gets the DNC job (and that's looking like a lock) the party will only become more marginal and angry - not where the US public is.

OTB
 

onthebottom

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Peeping Tom said:
I'm wondering where Billary stands on this. Dean will drag the party closer to the gutter, where his natural support base resides, i.e., street vermin and squeegy kids. This in contrast to Billary, they archetypal titular wannabee. Either way, the party will suffer. Personally, I'm hoping for Billary - she will be the first candidate arrested during a campaign.
Billary will run from the middle (like Bubba did) on mainly Republican issues - she's pro-war for instance. It is nearly impossible for a liberal democrat to get elected at the potus level. If Dean gets the job the party could rip itself apart between those who are electable and the radical supports that Dean would represent. thought gives OTB a warm feeling inside The only times Democrats win (over stated to make the point) is when they run as pseudo Republicans - too funny.

OTB
 

slowpoke

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onthebottom said:
....It is nearly impossible for a liberal democrat to get elected at the potus level. If Dean gets the job the party could rip itself apart between those who are electable and the radical supports that Dean would represent. thought gives OTB a warm feeling inside The only times Democrats win (over stated to make the point) is when they run as pseudo Republicans - too funny....
OTB
So, let me get this straight: You'd be ecstatic if the Democratic party self destructed and your Republicans could run virtually unopposed for untold decades into the future? You'd have no problem calling this democracy, even though it would be inferior even to the democracy that we both know your government will settle for in Iraq....?? Where are those alarm bells? Surely you're smarter than this?
 

onthebottom

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slowpoke said:
So, let me get this straight: You'd be ecstatic if the Democratic party self destructed and your Republicans could run virtually unopposed for untold decades into the future? You'd have no problem calling this democracy, even though it would be inferior even to the democracy that we both know your government will settle for in Iraq....?? Where are those alarm bells? Surely you're smarter than this?
Nature abhors a vacuum - a (or more likely multiple) political parties would rise in its place (see Canada for single party dormancy of fragmented opposition for example). I think the Republicans will have a long run regardless of Dean's ability to destroy the Democratic party. This is a VERY democratic process.

OTB
 
Y

yychobbyist

The other possibility is akin to what you have here in Alberta and in Japan where there is one dominant political party and there is actually a surprising amount of politics, political intrigue and democracy but it occurs within the confines of that one party. It's not an ideal situation but it is what happens when all other parties become marginalized or trivialized.
 

langeweile

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Democracy is about competing ideas. If there are no good ideas out there that are able to garner support, what can we do?
establish a quota system so we can support a party for the sake of diversity???
IMHO it will take some time for the D's to come up with a good alternative, but sooner or later they will.
Before the R's took over, there was a period for over 30 years when the D's were in charge.
It will all balance in the long run.
 
Y

yychobbyist

Yup, politics as with most things in life is about ebb and flow. Sooner or later the R's will be yesterday's news and the D's will rule. Until then, enjoy your time in the sun with the knowledge that "this too shall pass".
 

onthebottom

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yychobbyist said:
Yup, politics as with most things in life is about ebb and flow. Sooner or later the R's will be yesterday's news and the D's will rule. Until then, enjoy your time in the sun with the knowledge that "this too shall pass".
Yes, always does, the goal is to get as much done while you have the power.

OTB
 

Peeping Tom

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One might indeed see the rise of a respectable centrist party from the rubble left over of the DNC, should the rabble take control. It would quickly take its place, displacing the extremists to the Libertarian or Green marginal fringes.

onthebottom said:
Nature abhors a vacuum - a (or more likely multiple) political parties would rise in its place (see Canada for single party dormancy of fragmented opposition for example). I think the Republicans will have a long run regardless of Dean's ability to destroy the Democratic party. This is a VERY democratic process.
 

Peeping Tom

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That's what I like about Billary. Now, as a pink Republican (alternately, aqua Democrat), Bill managed a few wins, albeit without the popular vote. Billary on the other hand must carry the baggage of being the female bastion of the left, something that America or any other modern society holds with innate distrust.

onthebottom said:
The only times Democrats win (over stated to make the point) is when they run as pseudo Republicans - too funny.
 
Y

yychobbyist

And that some of you view with "innate fear, horror and trepidation" and will never allow. Why do I think you're one of those Tom?
 

onthebottom

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yychobbyist said:
And that some of you view with "innate fear, horror and trepidation" and will never allow. Why do I think you're one of those Tom?
Hey, a Margaret Thatcher type could get elected POTUS, just not a Nancy my eyebrows are permanently raised Pelosi type. Billary is indeed playing the role of a moderate (a wolf cloak over a sheep), the baggage she carries is of her own making (vast right wing conspiracy.....). Who knows, there are many who hate Billary - but then there are many who hate Bush and he's two for two....

OTB
 

Peeping Tom

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For one, your thinking is characteristically wrong. I fully understand the evils Billary represents, more importantly I understand the brick wall of constraints in place, the checks and balances that were designed to stifle such an onerous agenda. I know what she can't do, whereas the less virtuous voter will fear what she might want to do - a fear that is most healthy in a free Republic.

yychobbyist said:
And that some of you view with "innate fear, horror and trepidation" and will never allow. Why do I think you're one of those Tom?
 

onthebottom

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Peeping Tom said:
I'm hoping Condi makes a bid in the coming cycles.
She's nowhere near qualified. She's never won an election. Look to Governors if you want to find future presidents - like Florida's for instance ;)

OTB
 
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