Thursday, November 02, 2006


WELL, HE'S SORTA RIGHT

JOHN BOEHNER


So, the majority leader in the House of Representatives shared an interesting insight on CNN yesterday. During a discussion on the Situation Room, John Boehner revealed that Donald Rumsfeld shouldn't be blamed for what's happening in Iraq. That would be the same Donald Rumsefeld who is the Secretary of Defense of the United States. He sort of runs the Pentagon. And the Pentagon sort of runs of the military. The military that's currently bogged down in Iraq. Here's the actual exchange, courtesy of Americablog:

GOP HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER: Let's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.

WOLF BLITZER: But he's in charge of the military.

BOEHNER: But the fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge, and he works closely with them and the president.

So, is Boehner actually saying that the buck stops somewhere well short of the boss? I know, I know, it's nothing short of shocking that a Republican would seek to place blame somewhere other than where it firmly belongs, but alas another case has arisen.
Disregarding for a moment that Boehner is apparently seeking to impugn the "generals on the ground" and, by extension, the very troops who have shed their blood defending this nation, what I actually find curious is that Boehner may actually have a point, at least as far as his first remark goes. While a sizable majority of the blame should fall squarely on the shoulders of Rumsfeld, the ultimate culpability should lie with his boss, one George Bush. Of course, Bush threw out Harry Truman's truism of accountability the second he moved into the Oval Office, but that will never absolve the decider of his accountability in this egregious debacle.

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