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.

SIMPLY THE BEST

JOHN BOEHNER


In an effort to undermine any credibility he may or may not possess, John Boehner appeared on This Week this week and claimed that Don Rumsfeld is the best thing that happened to the Pentagon in 25 years.
Let's all take a look back in time 25 years ago. The year was 1981 and Reagan had been in office for under a year. Now, what has happened over the last 25 years that might have been a pretty good deal from the Pentagon? Off the top of my head a couple of things come to mind. They coordinated the whole first Gulf War thing which turned out okay. I bet they had something to do with the Panama/Noriega invasion/snatch business which turned out pretty good. I'd be willing to bet that at least some part of the Pentagon had something to do with the whole fall of communism thing, and that was definitely not too shabby.
Yet Boehner, in his infinite wisdom, feels that a failed and out of control war in Iraq, coupled with the de facto abandonment of the "war on terrah" in Afghanistan is actually a good thing. Or rather, the best thing that has happened to the Pentagon in 25 years.
I'm actually not sure that the America could survive another two years of GOP-controlled government what with imbiciles like this spouting off this kind of drivel.

DONNIE SAYS RELAX

DONALD RUMSFELD


Well, that's certainly one way to deal with what may just be the greatest foreign policy blunder in United States history. At a recent press briefing, Donald Rumsfeld responded to a question from a reporter who was looking for a little bit of clarification what with all this timetable/benchmark talk going on about Iraq. His response:

This is complicated stuff. It’s difficult. We’re looking out into the future. No one can predict the future with absolute certainty.
So you ought to just back off, take a look at it, relax, understand that it’s complicated, it’s difficult. Honorable people are working on these things together. There isn’t any daylight between them. They’ll be discussing this and discussing that. They may have a change there, a change here. But it’ll get worked out.

I would just have to assume that the families of all the armed forces stationed in Iraq will take this advice to heart. Just relax, people. I mean, we've got Rummy's word that "honorable people" will be talking about this and talking about that. After all, 'it'll get worked out' eventually. Probably not under his watch, but it'll get worked out. Just take a chill pill, folks.

Worst Administration Ever!

ON THE SAME PAGE?

DONALD RUMSFELD


Today, Don Rumsfeld basically confirmed what everyone with half a brain already pretty much figured - that Bush has no intention of changing his patented "stay the course" strategy. Appearing on Sean Hannity's loathsome radio program, Rumsfeld called media reports about Bush's reversal on 'stay the course' nonsense and said that Bush was of course not backing away from 'stay the course'".
What I find at least somewhat surprising is that Rummy is so steadfastly calling BS on the whole stay the course/change of course nonsense. Bush has come out intent on hoping to change the American's public mind and surrogates like Dan Bartlett have dutifully gone out and parroted the line.

Now Rummy goes out with Hannity and goes completely off script, calling any change from what they've been doing over the last three-plus years as nonsense. So, which is it? As I noted before, this is all semantics to the reality-based community since Bush would rather keel over a die than admit any kind of mistake, which a change on "stay the course" would certainly imply.

One thing that I wonder about is whatever happened to the vaunted message discipline coming out of this administration and all Republicans in general? A few short months ago, this sort of conflicting message would never have seeped out. Is the situation in Iraq, coupled with troublesome polling leading up to the midterms really knocking the Bushies off their game this much? Imagine how they'll be when the Dems take control of one or both houses of Congress. This could get really ugly.

WE'RE ON A MISSION FROM GOD

DONALD RUMSFELD


Here's something of an odd question. But first let me preface it by saying that I'm not a religious person really. I was raised Catholic but the scandals of the church really rattled my faith in the faith. Their views on homosexuality and a woman's right to choose and now with Ratzinger in charge, I feel even less secure in my beliefs. I have prayed in my life. I've often tried not to ask for things from God, instead spending my prayer thanking him for all that he has given me. Never once during these times have I ever felt that God has talked to back to me. So, here's the question - has God ever talked to you? Not in a "What Would Jesus Do" sort of way as you feel as though you're doing what God would want you to do, but a real sort of, "This is God, thank you for praying to me. I believe that you should do this and this. Thank you. God, out."

I ask this because apparently God, in addition to all the other things the Almighty has to do in a given day, is apparently also the diety who came up with this "Stay the Course" nonsense. At least, that's what I would assume since apparently God has been telling Don Rumsfeld what to do in Iraq. So says General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
From Yahoo:

The top US general defended the leadership of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying it is inspired by God.

"He leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country," said Marine General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Well, if this is the case, I think that when the Dems take control of one or both houses of Congress, God should get the first congressional subpoena since he apparently has a lot to answer for. I guess it was God who told Rumsfeld not to plan for the postwar reconstruction. And it was God who told Rumsfeld he only needed 140,000 troops instead of the several hundred thousand or so that General Eric Shinseki said we needed (I guess God wasn't talking to him). I guess it was God who told Rumsfeld to do a lot of really stupid things in regards to Iraq that have us in the horrendous situation we find ourselves in now.

CALL IN THE CAVALRY

DONALD H. RUMSFELD


Everyone can relax, Rummy's got the plan. With American troops stretched beyond breaking while serving in Iraq, Rummy knows that an influx of troops from a foreign country to supplement the old Coalition of the Willing could be just the ticket for solving that tricky Iraq insurgency/terrorism problem. So, when Rummy needs that injection of troops he know that he can turn to our longtime allies in ... Montenegro? Yes, that's right! A country that was formerly a part of the various incarnations of Yugoslavia and only recently achieved independene in June of this year is currently being courted by Rummy to join in the fight against terror.
So, let me see if I understand this - Rumsfeld is meeting with the leaders of a country the size of Connecticut in an effort to bolster troop numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan in the hopes that it will alleviate some of the strains on the U.S. military. Has the situation really grown so desperate that we're hoping that Montenegro will bail us out of our troubles? What next - perhaps Rummy could hit up a local boy scout troop in the northern Virginia area? Maybe a high school Key Club? If Rummy thinks that Montenegro can actually contribute to our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, then things are either going swimmingly over there, or he's even worse at this job than we all thought, and that's saying something.