Doc Hastings, Stepford Republican
Doc Hastings is spouting the same old baloney when it comes a Democratic spending measure which would seek to bring the troops home by Fall of 2008. That would mean the war in Iraq would be over five years old at that point. From McClatchy via The Olympian:
The Bush administration and it lackeys in Congress, during the time they were in control, never developed a cogent military or geo-political plan for the Middle East. It was all based on American politics. Sound bites aren't a foreign policy.
The GOP has been willfully negligient about our security, not to mention the welfare of the troops, so they don't really have much credibility to talk about winning wars or supporting the troops. But it's all Republicans like Hastings have left.
House Democrats should pass the measure, then look around for the remote control used to control Bush's Stepford Congressman from the 4th District. We need leadership, not talking points put out by robots.
Hastings, who has supported the ongoing increase in U.S. troop levels in Iraq, will vote against the spending bill unless changes are made, said Jessica Gleason, a Hastings spokeswoman.Baird is a pretty sharp observer, and I certainly remember when Democrats were being assailed by the GOP over Bosnia. They didn't care about things like NATO or stability in Europe, they just saw a chance to attack the Clinton administration, so they did so.
"By placing conditions on funds and hamstringing our military leaders, the bill would jeopardize the ability of our troops to win in Iraq and defend America," Gleason said in an e-mail. "Conditions on funding take control away from military leaders and troops on the ground."
But Baird said House Republicans essentially tried the same thing Democrats now want to do when they sought in 1997 to set a timeline and a date certain for the withdrawal of U.S. peacekeeping forces in Bosnia.
"This is situational ethics," Baird said of the Republicans.
Baird said he expected that "most Americans if they look at this will conclude it makes sense. It would be irresponsible to pull out tomorrow. But there needs to be some check on the executive branch when it comes to war."
The Bush administration and it lackeys in Congress, during the time they were in control, never developed a cogent military or geo-political plan for the Middle East. It was all based on American politics. Sound bites aren't a foreign policy.
The GOP has been willfully negligient about our security, not to mention the welfare of the troops, so they don't really have much credibility to talk about winning wars or supporting the troops. But it's all Republicans like Hastings have left.
House Democrats should pass the measure, then look around for the remote control used to control Bush's Stepford Congressman from the 4th District. We need leadership, not talking points put out by robots.
