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| Home Front: Politix | |
| The Millenium Soldiers head into politics | |
| 2007-07-28 | |
| A few of them, anyway. But there will be more, and as it accelerates the issues argued will change. A Washington Times staff editorial. One of this week's more notable Washington events flew under the media radar save for "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and a few conservative Web sites. Vets for Freedom, a "pro-mission" band of Iraq and Afghanistan military veterans, took to Capitol Hill to try to convince senators that the mission in Iraq is worth the effort. Most of the 25 or so who came to Washington are combat veterans, some of them wounded. Alongside them were the father of a Marine killed in action in Iraq and supportive veterans of all ages. They knocked at the office doors of Sens. John Warner, James Webb, Carl Levin, Barbara Boxer and dozens of others on the opposite side of this war debate. Most weren't available. They also were met in person by two Iraq stalwarts, Sens. Lindsey Graham and John McCain. Nine senators showed up at an afternoon press conference, including Joe Lieberman and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Mr. Warner met the Vets in person. The meeting was reportedly icy, but the Virginia Republican deserves plaudits for granting the unscheduled group a hearing. Two of the group's messages cannot be highlighted enough. The first is that Washington's penchant for re-arguing the decision to enter Iraq is utterly irrelevant to the most important Iraq question right now. It is not enough to argue that al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq before the invasion. It's surely there now, and people who turn their backs on Iraq could not also be serious about combating al Qaeda. The terrorists consider that country the prime current battleground. We cede it at our peril. The second message is that the surge is a serious improvement over previous efforts in Iraq. It deserves a chance, and it is beyond hypocritical for Congress to undercut it. This Congress confirmed Gen. David Petraeus by an 81-0 margin to be commander in Iraq with a mandate to keep fighting. That they have gone wobbly before the surge is fully in effect says everything one needs to know about this Congress and nothing much about the general. "You can't create D.C. timelines for what's going on Baghdad," the head of Vets for Freedom, Army National Guard First Lt. Pete Hegseth, told "Hardball" on Wednesday. "As a soldier who has been there and seen what this strategy can do, [the surge] has the opportunity to bring about real change, finally," he also said. Let's keep an eye out for this bold first lieutenant, in the hope that his future matches up to this first endeavor.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 We shoulda been doing this after the first unit returned from Afstan. The Democrats have been doing nearly all of the outreach, and even a lot of the "compassionate" things, like bitching loudly about care at the VA system. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-07-28 23:53 |
| #3 The Republicans are nto doing a damn thing. I can tell you that first hand. We are rattlign doors, and calling and so on, but they are so oparalyzed with fear of losing thier power that they are almost inactive. It explains a lot about why they are such piss-poor representatives and why they are so weak against awar opponents, immigration proponents adn all that. They have been "Country Club" Repubs for so long they;ve forgotton about us "Sam's Club" types that put them there - and the Reagan Democrats who woul dvote thier way if they'd just have the guts to stand up and say the right things followed by doing the right things. Guys, people leading the Repub party in many places are quivering like a damn chihuahua, I half expected them to piss themselves. And the other bunch acts like you owe THEM a favor for listening to a plebe like yourself (think Warner, or Trent Lott). The former are gigantic disgraces, the latter are more in line with Ted Kennedy and his elitism than they are with you and me. The Republican party has gotten fat and lazy and has lost its way. We need to rip out the drywall and rebuild it ourselves. Get involved, push hard and challenge ANYONE thats leading your local party to do things right or get the hell out of your way. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-07-28 23:14 |
| #2 Excellent. Better to hear about the "military's feelings" from those actually impacted rather than Pelosi, Chollie Rangel, Edwards, Hillary, Schumer, Frank (!), et al. I haven't served, yet supported Duncan Hunter, my congressman, because I felt he supported the military and our national security first and foremost (lucky I didn't live in Duke's district). Once his kid (Duncan Duane Hunter) returns from deployment - I'll support him. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-07-28 21:55 |
| #1 The republican party should be on this like a duck on a junebug. That is, since 90%+ of the military is republican, that is where they should look for upcoming political talent. Even the democrats had some success recruiting anti-war military for the last election. One of the biggest problems that Washington has is a lack of prior service military personnel in elective office. Instead, most politicians are first lawyers, second, tied in with local politics and business, and with burning ambition but lacking leadership skills. Pretty faces with empty heads. If they have any doubts, they could run a few hundred for State offices, in what would probably become a big sweep of wins. Then take the best of that bunch for federal offices. In four to eight years they would have an incredible team in the batting box. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-07-28 17:05 |