If Obama should give credit to Bush for the surge "working,"...

[jenmito]

he should also make it clear that if HE were president after 9/11, he wouldn't have invaded Iraq in the FIRST place, but he's now dealing with a war that he inherited. So many Repubs. are saying Obama should "acknowledge" that the withdrawal wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the surge (that Obama opposed).

[Pirate Smile]

1. Yeah, this crap is pissing me off. Mark Murray tweeted about this:

@mmurraypolitics Want another example how the GOP drives the political narrative in DC? We're debating the '07 surge, not the '02/'03 decision to go to war.

I did reply back to him that the reason it was being debated on the news channels was because the media was DOING IT. They are who is following the Republicans preferred focus.

Grrr.

[jenmito]

3. I know! THEY'RE the ones doing it...

"We're debating the '07 surge, not the '02/'03 decision to go to war." Well then, DON'T debate the surge and DO debate the decision to go to war.

[Pirate Smile]

4. I think (maybe) the problem is that Dems don't want to go out and just say over and over that it was

NOT worth it (even though they and most Americans believe it) because they think it will hurt the families who had loved ones killed in Iraq or the soldiers who were injured or who fought there. It feels like you are telling them all their work and suffering wasn't worth it, it actually hurt the US in Afghanistan by shifting our focus. They did what they were ordered to by Bush. They had no choice - but I think people back off saying some of the stuff about iraq because of the troops. :shrug:

[jenmito]

5. Yeah, I agree with you...

Obama is now the troops' CIC. He HAS to tell them that what they are doing is worth it. But now that the Repubs. are politicizing it (of course), Obama can't win no matter WHAT he says. One side or another won't be happy.

But I couldn't believe how this "argument" was just framed by Mike Viquiera on MSNBC. He said that the Repubs. are complaining that Obama was against the surge and should thank Bush for the surge, and Obama's spokesman Gibbs "admitted" that if OBAMA had been president after 9/11, he wouldn't have gone into Iraq in the FIRST place. ("Admitted" being used as if it was WRONG that Obama wouldn't have invaded Iraq.) It was such a weird framing of the situation.

[Pirate Smile]

7. And the MSNBC guy even admitted (in the Tweet) how everything gets framed (on MSNBC too) how the GOP

wants it framed.

It is infuriating.

The Republicans will say anything. They don't care how cruel it is to people who are unemployed, Muslim, Hispanic, etc.

I know it drives us crazy but Democrats are different and, in a way, that is why we are Democrats.

We are never going to be bigger assholes then the Republicans. We will never be in the minority and just say screw it regarding the well being of the economy for the American people. Republicans will do it. Democrats wont. I know everybody's says - the next time we are in the minority, we need to be just as bad as the Republicans are being now BUT I now that we never will be. If we even tried then half of the Democrats and a lot of the Dem blogosphere and Dem pundits would start attacking the Democrats in Congress doing it. It happens every.friggin.time.

[Ernesto]

2. Make that>>> give chimp credit for a super power wearing out a 3rd world country

by wasting money & lives in a war that was totally unnecessary.

[NC_Nurse]

6. Shouldn't we be waiting to see if the surge worked until all US troops are out?

You'd think they'd be tired of crowing "Mission accomplished" only to have things go to hell in a handbasket! Makes them look even stupider...