Harry Reid’s Bitter Partisan Hackery
Gee, that post title looks positively Greenwaldian. But it certainly fits for a post that addresses the Washington Post's issuing an editorial that positively hammers Harry Reid for his bitter and irresponsible partisan posturing. And boy, this editorial lays Reid out.
The decision of Democrats led by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) to deny rather than nourish a bipartisan agreement is, of course, irresponsible. But so was Mr. Reid's answer when he was asked by the Los Angeles Times how the United States should manage the explosion of violence that the U.S. intelligence community agrees would follow a rapid pullout. "That's a hypothetical. I'm not going to get into it," the paper quoted the Democratic leader as saying.
For now Mr. Reid's cynical politicking and willful blindness to the stakes in Iraq don't matter so much. The result of his maneuvering was to postpone congressional debate until September, when Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will report on results of the surge — in other words, just the outcome the White House was hoping for. But then, as now, the country will desperately need a strategy for Iraq that can count on broad bipartisan support, one aimed at carrying the U.S. mission through the end of the Bush administration and beyond. There are serious issues still to resolve, such as whether a drawdown should begin this fall or next year, how closely it should be tied to Iraqi progress, how fast it can proceed and how the remaining forces should be deployed.
The editorial points out that Reid's pandering to the anti-war left is making compromise almost impossible - and endangering the interests of the United States for a long time to come. They also, to their credit, admit that Iraq and Iraqis will be in serious trouble if Reid continues his antics.
Other Links to this Post
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Blue Collar Heresy — Saturday, 21 July , 2007 @ 10:52 am
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Wake up America-Dems, the terrorists best friends — Saturday, 21 July , 2007 @ 1:53 pm
By rlpete2, Saturday, 21 July , 2007 @ 4:22 pm
After the GOP giddily ran roughshod over the minority, they are starting to get payback.
So sad…. I’d shed a tear for them if I weren’t giggling.
By Chris, Sunday, 22 July , 2007 @ 11:37 am
Yes, it certainly looks like payback, all right. Payback in stupidity, that is. Reid apparently wants to prove that he can do a worse job than the late Republican majority.
I guess ducking answers to difficult questions is also part of the payback, or pretending that there will be no consequences to policy changes.