I hope a lot of Senate staffers were burning the midnight oil last night

[cali]

The Senators on the FR and AS committees know what Petraeus is going to say. They've had time to research refutations to some of his claims. I wonder if the question I've been longing to hear asked will, in fact, be asked:

"General Petraeus, How can a country of 26 million, with 4.2 million refugees, over 2 million of which, have left Iraq, possibly form a working government?

[Olney Blue]

1. And by the way, General, you are a great American.

x(

[rainy]

2. what time do the hearings begin today?

[cali]

4. I believe 9:30 for the Senate FR n/t

[Wiregrass Willie]

3. If any difficult questions are asked ...

...it will have to come from the staffers. It damn sure won't come from these Senators.

Yesterday was the first time I've seen Patraeus. Therefore, I honestly had nothing for him or against him. But he disturbed me with his constant use of the phrase "My professional opinion". Or "my professional belief". It makes you wonder how damn many opinions he has -- if he has to keep them sorted by type. It also makes me want to tell him -- "No, no. I'm not interested in your professional opinion. We brought you all the way to Washington get your amateur opinion".

[MiniMe]

5. I don't know about that, there are a lot of heavyweight dems on the Foreign Relations

committee. The questions could be interesting, and pointed. The answers will be total BS.

Chairman
Joseph R. Biden

Christopher J. Dodd
Connecticut

John F. Kerry
Massachusetts

Russell D. Feingold
Wisconsin

Barbara Boxer
California

Bill Nelson
Florida

Barack Obama
Illinois

Robert Menendez
New Jersey

Benjamin L. Cardin
Maryland

Robert P. Casey Jr.
Pennsylvania

Jim Webb
Virginia

[GR]

6. Yes, They Have TheTime To Ask Followup Questions, Too

Which the five minute time limit didn't leave the House members. His figures are hard to refute, in themselves, but the SOURCE he used to create them is the real key. He is a flim-flammer, extraordinaire and makes Colin Powell look like an amateur. The difference was Colin Powell really believed what he was saying. This guy is an egomaniac with a terribly flawed record of past predictions and failures not successes, from losing thousands of weapons to failing in training the Iraqis.

Someone needs to get tough with him, stop kissing his ass with the "you are such a great man" b.s. and challenge his credibility, by pointing out his past failures.