Republicans still don't get it

Among my least favorite things in the world are troop-lovin' Republican hypocrites, and god knows we have more than a few of them representing North Carolina in Congress. But even I was surprised at their recent spate of mindless mumblings, as reported in today's Charlotte Observer.

While support for the war among Carolinas Republicans remains high, Myrick and two other lawmakers from the area voiced critical comments about Bush's ability to convey his message effectively. Though their criticism is mild, it echoes concerns among Republicans across the country about Bush.

U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick said Bush hasn't been able to effectively portray the enemy to the American people. "Iraq became the centerpiece," the Charlotte Republican said. "He has not, in my opinion, done a good job of talking about the big picture, the worldwide problem of the radicalization of the jihadists and what they intend to do."

Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, said the president should have characterized the challenge as a "war against Islamic extremists" instead of a war on terrorism. "Terrorism is merely a tactic. Islamic extremists are the ones actively targeting Americans because they loathe our culture, laws and freedoms," McHenry said.

Rep. Robin Hayes, R-Concord, said, "The administration's effort in communicating with the American people has not been very good."

How more out of touch with reality could these people possibly be? They think the problem with Bush's War is a communications failure instead of a strategic, tactical, ethical, moral and competence failure. But it gets even worse, as expected, from Delusional Hayes:

"I think the president has fundamentally allowed our military leaders to make and execute military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is the correct thing to do," Hayes said.

Is Hayes truly that insane? I guess that's what happens when you have chickensh*t frat boys playing Army with real lives and real bullets. And just to be clear, if the military leaders were making strategy in Iraq, we wouldn't be there. Period.

Not to be outdone, Howie jumps into the act with a breathtaking new awareness of the obvious:

Rep. Howard Coble, R-Greensboro, agrees that the military ought to be calling the shots on the war, but said he has reached a bit of a turning point. "I'm at a point where I think this is going to have to be done diplomatically and politically, rather than militarily," he said.

Duh.

And finally, we have pearls of wisdom from Dumber and Dumberer.

"I don't believe in arbitrary timelines that essentially announce our strategy to our enemies," said Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. "I'm monitoring the troop surge very closely because I don't support an indefinite commitment. It's time for the Iraqis to truly commit to stabilizing their country."

Is Dole breaking ranks with Bush's new "Iraq = Korea" doctrine? Or does 50 to 100 years not qualify as "indefinite" in her book? If the woman ever says one thing that's not entirely ridiculous, I'm sure I'll keel over dead.

"As Baghdad becomes more secure, it will allow Iraqis to take over more of their own security, which will allow U.S. forces to scale down their presence in Iraq," he said.

Blah, blah, support troops, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, bullsh*t. "As Baghdad becomes more secure?" What world is Burr living in? Doesn't he understand that there's a whole dang country, not just a city, and as soon as one area gets the illusion of "more secure," all hell breaks loose in another area?

I don't know about you, but whatever little respect I had for our Bushbots in Congress has plummeted off the cliff into never-land. And just so you know it actually IS possible for a Congress-critter to be intelligent and informed about reality, consider this quote from the sole Democrat the Charlotte Observer interviewed:

"I'm unapologetically saying now we've got to get out of there," the Charlotte Democrat said. "We've got to tell them what our timetable is. The (Iraqi) government will either pick up the responsibility or they won't be able to pick it up. That's all we can do at this point.

"When I voted against the war, I didn't struggle with that. It was plain as day that a bunch of us were running around making a political judgment about something that didn't make any sense."

Kudos to the Charlotte Observer for an excellent round-up story.