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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Change in the weather? |
| 2007-02-20 |
| by the Indepundit (The Milblogger Formerly Known As Lt. Smash) DID YOU FEEL IT? At some point in the past few weeks, a shift occured. Maybe it started back in November, when Congressman Jack Murtha lost his bid to be House Majority Leader. Or perhaps it was on January 27, when Jane Fonda staged a defeatist demonstration on the hallowed grounds of the U.S. Navy Memorial. On that same day, some of her fellow defeatists vandalized the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol, while others spit at the foot of Iraq veteran Joshua Sparling (that's not a typo, Sparling lost his right leg in Iraq). Maybe it all came to a head last Friday, when the House of Representatives expressed their institutional preference for defeat over victory in Iraq. Whenever the shift began, it was evident by Saturday afternoon that something had changed. That was when a motion in the Senate to take up the House's anti-war resolution failed to win enough votes to move forward. And that was for the mildest, most watered-down rebuke that could possibly satisfy the defeatists. On that same day, the Washington Post slammed Congressman Murtha for advocating a "slow bleed" strategy to end the war in Iraq. . . . an increasingly vocal number of Americans are indeed "finding fault" with Jack Murtha and his friends in the defeatist movement. . . . Last week, a Navy officer in Baghdad and a retired soldier began circulating a petition amongst the troops, "The Appeal For Courage," urging Congress to "fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat." Such petitions are rare, but are allowed under DoD directives designed to protect military whistleblowers. For the first few days, their petition garnered little interest. Over the weekend, the number of signatures doubled. At the same time, blogger NZ Bear established a new advocacy group, "The Victory Caucus." By week's end, his new website had recieved over 100,000 visits, and 3,400 had registered to join the group. If you think this is small potatoes, consider that this is exactly how the left-wing advocacy group MoveOn.org got started in 1998, at the height of President Clinton's impeachment crisis. . . . Meanwhile in Iraq, the "surge" moves forward. . . . Moqtada al-Sadr is in hiding, and al Qaeda in Iraq is dying. The momentum has shifted. Did you feel it? I hope he's right. Please take note in particular of the link to the Victory Caucus. I respectfully ask Mayor Fred and the Mods to consider adding a permanent link to the Victory Caucus on the 'Burg's homepage. It's linked. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #22 ARMYGUY - your message was understood - there's ways to say it with a little more subtlety :-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-02-20 22:34 |
| #21 As a senior reserve officer with 27+ years active and reserve, mobilized once, ready to go again...with a son to deploy to Iraq in the Fall... Go To H*ll, pelosimurthakennedyhagel. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-02-20 22:22 |
| #20 "Had somebody stood up as a group to support what the soldiers were doing, it might have changed the outcome." Anonymoose, I don't think so. If we had an all volunteer army in Vietnam I would agree with you but relying on draftees who don't want to be there and are just doing the bare minimum to get by fueled a lot of outright hatred of the Government and the Military. There was too much distrust of Nixon, although he inherited a mess from Johnson that Johnson accelerated through lying about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the micro-managing the war to the extent he had to approve of every bombing mission. The Nation wanted out of Vietnam. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-02-20 19:27 |
| #19 This is extremely encouraging. I agree with NS that it is the change in ROE's that will generate the bulk of the change. The dems are betting a whole bunch on defeat. If they are wrong and there is significant progress, then they are going to look like idiots. Murtha is the lead dog in this group, but I too tend to see him as someone who has had a screw go loose. There is a weird look in his eye that implies all is not well inside his head. Of course the bile coming out of his pie hole could also be a good indicator of same. Our comments need to stay on the more thoughtful and adult side of things. I am consistently impressed by the caliber of posters at this site. It is a waste of bandwidth to just throw out the "kill em all" comments as it doesn't add anything to the analysis. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2007-02-20 17:37 |
| #18 BA: If you're gonna go that route, keep Borat and Vichy Chicks off the schedule 'cause that'll just make 'em wistful and nostalgic. For sheer infliction-of-pain, it's hard to beat the deadly one-two-three-four combo of Gigli, Ishtar, Hudson Hawk, and Leonard Part 6. TW: Right you are. All of us together are smarter than any one of us, and while some (e.g., Fred, Old Spook) are undoubtedly better trained and informed than others (e.g., Mike) on certain key subjects, we all have our part to contribute. Don't sell yourself short. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-02-20 17:34 |
| #17 Actually, it's more important than just not giving the other side bad ideas. Some of our lurkers, supposedly, are members of certain multi-letter organizations and other organizations. They ought to see what we come up with, both the articles and the analysis... and also the evolution of the general attitude over time. But they won't if they think we're just a right wing version of the Kos Kiddies. *shrug* Most of you do important and meaningful things every day. But adding my mite to Rantburg is the only way I can contribute to the effort, so perhaps I over value that aspect. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-02-20 16:21 |
| #16 More importantly, this is a democratic republic, and in a democratic republic we don't shoot our political opponents. For the time being. When it becomes clear to even the blind that they've crossed the line and are outright enemies...then all bets are off. |
| Posted by: Chiper Threreger8956 2007-02-20 14:56 |
| #15 I am definitely on board with the idea new media allows what used to be called "the silent majority" an opportunity to stand up to the narcissists and apologists... I always loved how we were referred to as the silent majority. I now know that we should have been called the silenced majority. Perfidious bastards in the media have a judgment day coming their way. I don't think they are going to like it either. Same for the Donks. |
| Posted by: Chiper Threreger8956 2007-02-20 14:52 |
| #14 RWV The sentence "like a dog who needs to be put down" WILL be exploited by the leftists if one of them happens to read it. Aois that kind of staements. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-02-20 12:17 |
| #13 Murtha has changed over the past 5 years. He used to be a standard issue pork barrel politician interested only in keeping Johnstown green. If you look at pictures of him then and now and you will see that he now looks confused, as if he had had a stroke or is in the early stages of Alzheimers. Although he was never a war hero and it is hard to consider a Congressman as honorable, but now I think Murtha has become a senile old man being exploited by the antiwar folks. He is to be pitied, like a faithful hunting dog that has become rabid and must be put down. |
| Posted by: RWV 2007-02-20 11:52 |
| #12 You're much too nice, Mike. I'd have 'em watch (un-interrupted) Snakes on a Plane, the Dixie Twits "documentary", and Borat. But, that's just me. |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-20 11:36 |
| #11 ARMYGUY: I share your sentiments, as do most people here. Fred and the mods (Mod Squad?) give us all a generous allotment of bandwidth and considerable freedom of expression, but the one hard-and-fast rule is that no death threats or death wishes against fellow citizens will be tolerated. There's a good reason for that: if some misguided fool or random street thug were to harm Mr. Murtha, would you want the moonbats or the plaintiff's lawyer--but I repeat myself--to be able to claim that Rantburg "incited" the violence? More importantly, this is a democratic republic, and in a democratic republic we don't shoot our political opponents. That said, let us all raise a glass and toast the eventual political and electoral defeat of the Murthas of the world. May they spend their twilight years in bitter retirement, as the nursing home TV plays endless reruns of the History Channel Shootout episodes on Iraq and Afghanistan, interspersed with uncut showings of United 93. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-02-20 11:14 |
| #10 No apology needed ARMYGUY. I've already been sent to the |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-02-20 11:13 |
| #9 I am definitely on board with the idea new media allows what used to be called "the silent majority" an opportunity to stand up to the narcissists and apologists who fueled the "anti-war" "movement" over Vietnam. I support any effort by the West to encourage military action against our enemies and for the President's noble vision for an Iraq that may one day resemble Japan or Germany decades after fascism. That said, I no longer share his optimism. I think the death cult ruling so much of the world is an order of magnitude more pernicious than the twisted vision of the Nazis or Japanese imperialism. I do not believe "extremism" is the problem; I believe islam is the problem. I do not believe it can be redeemed, only aggressively treated as the lethal infectious and endemic meme it is. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-02-20 11:01 |
| #8 Smash missed it. It was when Petraeus implemented the new ROE. Without that, nothing else will make a difference. With it, everything is changed. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-02-20 10:57 |
| #7 Armyguy: to echo the others, you're alright with me. I didn't even read your rant, but don't have to with Murtha. Like the billboards up here in suburban Atlanta state (w/ flag and camo on the background): "Rep. Murtha, you may cut and run, but TRUE Marines never do!" |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-20 10:50 |
| #6 Whiskey Mike, on this you can speak for me too. Armyguy, POS is the nicest thing I can think of for Motha Murtha. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2007-02-20 10:42 |
| #5 Army Guy, no apology needed here. Murtha IS a POS. Can't speak for others, though. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2007-02-20 10:37 |
| #4 This is treading new ground. The defeatism that happened during the Vietnam war never had any significant organized opposition. And yet it was terribly weak-kneed. Had somebody stood up as a group to support what the soldiers were doing, it might have changed the outcome. It can also be said that much of the Watergate scandal was an effort by the democrats to attack Nixon, out of the dread fear he was going to initiate an investigation of "Who lost Vietnam?" But Nixon never did start such an investigation, so the democrats just continued with the momentum of Watergate. If 100,000 military signatures can be gathered in support of the mission, it may be the kick in the crotch the anti-war movement needs. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-02-20 10:36 |
| #3 Register at Victory Caucus |
| Posted by: danking_70 2007-02-20 10:06 |
| #2 I guess this would be a good place to post an apology for my outburst yesterday about mr. murtha.If I have offended anyone with my wacking comment I sincerly apologize. It's just that this POS really PISSES ME OFF |
| Posted by: ARMYGUY 2007-02-20 09:57 |
| #1 I hope so, but I doubt it. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-02-20 09:50 |