Word Salad

I heard that term on the radio this morning and I think it fits perfectly with what all has been going on in the world of politics the past 24 hours. Word salad.

Words have meaning, we are told. Words encourage, anger, comfort, insult, praise, scold, all sorts of reactions to them. A little bit of reason goes a long way in a debate.

This morning on C-SPAN I watched a few minutes of Rep. Mel Watts, D-N.C. speak of his reprimand from the Parliamentarian of the House of Reps for calling the President of the United States a liar, on the floor of the House during a speech he delivered. He was enlightened to the fact that such language, especially against the President, is inappropriate. It is against the protocol of the House. By his own admission, the speech was not one given out of emotional distress, but in a calm, measured tone. He removed the remark from the record in a later sub-committee meeting. So, he doesn't offer up runaway emotions as justification. Just more Bush Derangement Syndrome run amok.

Chuckie Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor just an hour or so ago, during the debate spectacle of the Levin-Reed Amendment to wave the white flag in Iraq, that the term 'cut and run' is a nasty slogan used in debates for or against the war effort in Iraq. Interesting. Last night as the debatathon was under full swing, I watched as the Dems put up a bright yellow sign stating "Let us vote". Slogan? You decide. How about the origins of the term 'disenfranchisement' in today's political debates? Pot calling the kettle black, just maybe?

Schumer is the one who has hijacked foreign policy and judicial nominations from the American voter to move it to the farthest fringes on the left, all in the name of good polling numbers, for future seats he claims the Dems will pick up in the Senate in 2008. Time will tell if it all works out for him or not. America loses in the meantime. He declares 'war' on Republicans ( his term overheard, not mine) during policy discussions, but not on terrorists.

There was never any question as to the vote on the Levin-Reed Amendment taking place in the Senate. The only question was on if it could be passed with a simple majority of 51 yes votes or if 60 were required. The answer? 60 are required. Majority Leader Harry Reid feigns distress that the very rules he put into place as the minority are now being used by the Republican minority. Boo-hoo. The Dems, while in the minority, even held up all judicial nominations for a full 60 yes votes on the floor. That was a first for the rules. But, that was then, this is now.

Reid claims the Republicans are 'protecting the President instead of the troops'. That's quite a slap at the troops, isn't it? The troops are protecting us, not the other way around. They are trained as a combat fighting force and they make this nation proud each and every day, despite the efforts of Reid and his ilk to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. An all voluntary force, too.

I don't know what victory looks like now in Iraq. So many mistakes have been made that I think, though, that the very least we should do is allow General Petraeus the opportunity to pursue his strategy of counter-terrorism until his report is delivered in September, as he was given permission to do on a unanimous vote by the Senate in the Spring. I urge the defeatists to read Michael Yon's blog and read his latest dispatches from the battlefields in Iraq. He is one of the last remaining journalists embedded and reporting outside of the green zone. He doesn't sugar coat his writing and his photography is exceptional.

What's the plan after withdrawal? Then what?

Why would Iraqis rush to stand up on their own and aid the coalition forces when they are told daily by those vested in defeat, the politicians and the journalists doing their bidding using the war on terror as a fundraising effort for the Dems for 2008? Iraqis know as soon as the U.S. troops leave that they will be slaughtered if they are believed to have been helpful to us.

Those crying out about Darfur? Wait till they see the aftermath of a premature withdrawal from Iraq.

The Levin-Reed Amendment failed to move forward, by a 52-47 vote.

Angry that the debatathon was aptly labeled as a stunt, I offer a suggestion to Senator Reid. Call for an up or down vote on the war in Iraq funding. Do it today. Do it tomorrow. Do it.

War funding is the only tool available to the Senate. They know that. Being so skilled at reading polls, though, they also know the American people aren't there yet. Yes, the majority of the public wants the war over. I don't know anyone who doesn't. But most people, 52% in the last polling, don't want immediate withdrawal. Iraq is still our best locale to try to bring some form of democracy to the middle east, hoping for more democracy movements to latch on.

We have to remain a hopeful people. Unity in the mission would be a pleasant change of pace.

The Iraqi government is very slow, by our standards, at getting their act together. They are a democracy in its infancy stage. They have no blueprint for a democratic government. They are scared witless. Maybe they won't ultimately be up to the challenge. But they have the opportunity. And, Iraq is one scared country at this point. Do they put all their faith into America to stand with them? Most provinces are up and running. Anbar is working again, just a year after it was thought to be forever lost to the terrorist element. Baghdad will tell the tale. It is the most densely populated and the center of power.

The terrorists think we are cowards. They think we will run and they think we are spineless, gutless people. They continue to say so. President Bush and his administration have completely failed on communicating the importance of this battle against the Islamofacists.

One encouraging note is that the administration is sending out Fran Townsend on the media rounds to talk about the findings of the National Intelligence Estimate released to the public yesterday, after being leaked for days. She is a strong voice, faring well against the defeatists. She's a Democrat and she gets it. She also takes no guff from the foolish questioning of journalists wanting to rehash every misstep from the beginning of the war in Iraq. The defeatists have no plans for the future, only rehashing the past.

Why do you think the approval ratings of the Congress are lower than the President's?

So, Creepy voiced Harry Reid has pulled the entire Defense Policy Bill from the floor of the Senate. Maybe he can come up with something better than the vague, withdrawing some troops within 160 days, and only fighting al-Qaeda, and training security forces. What do they want the troops to do? Ask for id cards as the bullets and bombs are flying?

The Defense Policy Bill contained a 3% raise in pay for the military. That's gone with the bill now. Is that supporting the troops, Senator Reid? Or is your pride more important?

The defeatists on the Republican side? They were Gordon Smith of Oregon, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. Time to primary all of them. The two Independents split their vote: Lieberman voted no and Sanders of Vt (the Socialist, self-proclaimed) voted yes. Creepy voiced Harry Reid voted no as a procedural move.

Word salad. Great phrase.