Juan Cole is great as usual this morning re. the fake GOP resolution. Or the Straw Man Resolution as it will now be called.

Republicans in Congress responded to Murtha's considered plan by introducing a phony resolution the bore little resemblance to Murtha's, and then helping defeat it overwhelmingly. The intent was apparently to force the Democrats either to look as though they were in favor of "cutting and running" or to vote against immediately withdrawing US troops and so associating themselves with Bush's 'stay the course' policy. The Republican straw man resolution was:

'Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the deployment of United States forces in Iraq be terminated immediately.'

Well, this stupid resolution is not what Murtha was saying, and the vote on it is meaningless. It is worse than meaningless. It is political clowning.

Indeed, given the GIs being blown up on a daily basis, the Republican phony resolution was the equivalent of trying to do a stand-up comedy routine at the funeral of someone's beloved son who had died at age 20.

I don't think the American people will find it amusing. We'll see in 2006 whether they did.

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Hunter at dKos sheds light on the haps in Washington. He goes to Newsweek's Howard Fineman who's mood couldn't be called anything less than disturbingly odd these days; he is very serious, Hunter called it "somber and simmering". Talking about the campaign style attack that is being waged by the WH against Democrates and now focused on retired Marine Colonel John Murtha Hunter describes a Fineman appearance on Countdown

Fineman was remarkably blunt in his assertions that the "ethics" and other attacks on Murtha are being orchestrated by Karl Rove -- by name -- and the White House, which intends to hit Murtha with everything "necessary". He stated directly that the White House sees everything as a political operation. He was blunt in Murtha's record and leadership position in the war, and in attributing to Murtha the behind-the-scenes voices of many top Pentagon voices who are unhappy with both the state of the war effort and with Rumsfeld's planning in the specific.

In short, he made it perfectly, bitterly clear that the White House itself sees Murtha as a tremendous threat, considers itself at war with Murtha, and that Rove -- again, by name -- intends to hit him with everything at the administration's disposal.
...
Whether or not Karl Rove survives the excesses of being Karl Rove, I have to wonder if the same crass, one-note song will play, or if the audience has changed. When the only weapon the White House is capable of using is to impugn the very patriotism and Americanness of their opponents, what happens if the reactions to that attack change?

What happens if the press decides that dissent is, after all, patriotic? And is it happening, just the twinges, because of the utter collapse of the poll numbers, because of the Plame indictment(s?), because of the continuing quagmire of the war, because of the 2,000 deaths mark, because of the other Republican investigations and indictments, seemingly raining down like hailstones anywhere Abramoff has brushed up against the woodwork of power, and/or simply because of the continuing Republican political schtick that works so well for dismissing a minority, but considerably less well when you are calling sixty percent of the country traitors for not dancing to the tune?

Included in the further attacks are Jean Schmidt (the Freshman GOP Congress-critter from Ohio) who read a letter from an ex-Marine on her campaign team and then called Murtha a coward and a GOP floated ethics probe that surfaced yesterday.

[UPDATE] To show you the level of ignorance we're dealing with on the right, Malkin posts this poorly done photoshop claiming the Dem plan is to cut and run. These people either can't read or are just so caught up with the Repubs hate machine they can't get of it; it's like a drug I guess. But seriously, shouldn't this bitch be rounding up Arabs, Muslims, and Asians for the CIA or for Cheney to torture in his undisclosed location. Some people call her blog a News source, something is wrong with that.

I never I though I'd be talking about this now. The House GOP are scum, pure scum, the green slimy kind. What a waste of time! A whole evening and what? The GOP shelved a serious and thought out plan and put forth a sham and for what? I'm not writing this in support of Murtha's plan but it is a start and apparently influenced by Generals in Iraq. I believe if we pull out from a stay the course process then Iraq will be a thorn in our side for years. But if we make a wide ranging policy shift (some fairness and honesty) along with a tactical shift in Iraq; start helping not killing, then drawdown as Iraqis take control, keeping air power in the region and Marines stationed out of the way but close enough to fight the irregulars and other fighters in Iraq that surface. Then I think we can become disengaged in a timely manor, not 6 months or even a year but soon.


The GOP has never thought ahead, and that is why this war has gone so poorly.

Posted by Geoff