Grumble, Mumble, and Grouse…

11/20/2005

Paul Munnis

As the Civil War in Iraq deepens it is creating deep pressure in Washington as politician’s watch developments unfold. These events are effecting their positions on the war and hence their re-election prospects are at risk. The news from home is not good as the man in the street continues to feel that Mr. Bush has not done well in managing the Iraq War or the Afghanistan War either. Congress too is getting poor grades. We doubt that last nights outbursts have changed that viewpoint and likely has solidified positions for some people.

According to the political playbook, we Democrats are supposed to be foaming at the mouth after the outbreak in the House last night as it reflects bringing home our troops.

We are not because actually it was a good outbreak, a healthy one, and it did three things: it gave people a chance to vent, it created a record of speakers who spoke for and against the resolution, and it showed the GOP leadership off. Candidates who are running against the GOP now have a full playbook of their own as a result of the public statements that were made last night. Those statements combined with speeches given as they affected the U.S. budget, and many of the pork barrel bills passed this session, mean that we now have a full performance rating on incumbents and a bill of particulars to present to voters.

One other good thing seems to have come from yesterday’s outburst: the buzz is that the Pentagon has produced a plan for managing the ending of the war in Iraq with a withdrawal plan and a conditional timetable for pull out. If memory serves me right, that is exactly what Democrats asked for and we hope it will soon surface publicly when Bush returns from China. That could set the pot back to simmering instead of boiling over.

To me, it is amazing that three years after the invasion of Iraq we still do not know why our government invaded Iraq, what the real underlying reasons were for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and whether or not our intelligence community was complicit or manipulated. Not knowing these things creates even more of the framework for the upcoming election for it is clear that the GOP representatives are not coming clean with their constituents and not seeking to clear the air. It is unconscionable that our government is not setting the record straight. When that happens it is natural that many will think that there is something to hide.

In time the truth will have out and will be known and as a result some will have egg on their face. In the meantime we can only go by what we see and hear and we are getting a real earful these days from Congress.

Bush has been away in China during this spat. Chaney has been fueling the fires of divisiveness, and the Congress is speaking out freely and in ways they would never had done if Bush possessed a strong public mandate to carry on.

When Bush gets home he faces a new mess, his National Security Advisor, Mr. Hadley, has been accused of being the source who leaked Valerie Plume’s name to Bob Woodward. More indictments may then follow in the affair. Bush will have to spend political capital on yet another staff member who has run amok.

In the meantime the House and Senate are trying to jam home the neo-con legislative agenda as best they can amid fresh evidence of a waning moon for their programs. All in Washington seem to now feel that Bush is a lame duck president and that the jig is up. Now the elders in the GOP have to decide what to do with Bush/Chaney. Keep them and suffer their slings and arrows or dump them for a fresh start good for three more years and possibly an opportunity to run in 2008? Our money is on a dump Bush/Chaney agenda emerging from the swamps of Washington with the dastardly deed over and done with by Easter 2006.

We will see what happens; after all, it could happen sooner.