He is anothe Vietnam vet stuck in the (We Americans can never win) zone. Give him a cookie and tell him to STFU.

You're also not a Democrat.

I'm always stunned that even though Democrats level the most vicious and unfair charges against President Bush (i.e. he's a liar, warmonger, criminal, etc.), and they act in unprecedentedly poor ways (criticizing a wartime President overseas), that they and the media have the gall to act wounded when he doesn't "act in the spirit of compromise". That always means that he doesn't give them just what they want. They have proven themselves partisan and unserious, so why should Bush bend backwards to work with them? Fuck 'em, they were put into the minority for a reason.

After reading Kaus's "Murtha v. Murtha" I concluded the honorable congressman might have lined himself up to be Ross Perot's running mate in 2008. See:

http://www.slate.com/id/2131597/&#murthavmurtha

Why Bush does not communicate his outstanding success in Iraq and rounding up Al Qaida is one of the great mysteries of the 21st Century.

Failure to update the American people with these successes as they occur is the major failing of this administration.

I dunno, Jake. If a tree falls in the forest and the media refuse to cover it, does it make a sound?

Bush is batting 1.000 in Iraq, in execution to plan and any other way. Everything is on schedule.

Murtha impresses me as a once-great man, who truly is worn out, and possibly no longer in full command of his faculties.

Howard Dean, a study in contrast, is a man who never commanded his faculties, never was great, and now Murtha sounds just like him.

Weasel

You have a good point. But Reagan had the same problem with the MSM. He would demand TV time and give reports to the nation. They called it going over the heads of the media and speaking directly to the people.

Ace: Not that it's a big deal, but you might want to include the [/] tag.

Hey, that cleared up the comments.

Cool!

I know how he feels, I used to get so pissed when that arogant bastard Chuck Knoll would ignore my letters advising him on how to win Super Bowls. I mean, I was All-County back in the day!

But I still rooted for the Steelers, I mean I'm not fucking retarded.

You wouldn't have taken the drastic step of calling for immediate withdrawal

Murtha didn't call for an immediate withdrawal.

Bush is batting 1.000 in Iraq, in execution to plan and any other way. Everything is on schedule.

Really? What happened to "mission accomplished" in May 2003?

What happened to "mission accomplished" in May 2003?

The old canards are always the best. As you should well know, the 'mission accomplished' sign was referring to the end of 'major combat operations,' i.e., the defeat of Hussein's organized military. It was a stunning victory, and more than worthy of the little banner that's got your panties in a twist.

The "Mission Accomplished" banner was for the aircraft carrier group. Their mission was accomplished and they were headed home. Bush said that major combat operations were over. That is true. We won in Iraq by defeating Saddam. Now we are in the clean-up stages.

Steve J.

Iraq was liberated and the Iraqi army was defeated in May, 2003. That mission was accomplished. What we are doing now is police work. Work that the French, Danish and Dutch police have do in Muslim suburbs every night.

Murtha didn't call for an immediate withdrawal.

He called for an immediate 'redeployment' to points outside Iraq. Which would necessitate a withdrawal. Immediately.

There's something so schoolyard about this kind of thing, isn't there? Like, "Mom! George Bush said 'Mission Accomplished' when there was lots of stuff left to do! Mooooom!" Seriously, this is critique?

Let's see. "You are an arrogant, evil, lying, manipulated puppet of a chimperor, with less brains than a retarded jellyfish and, by the way, you are Hitleresque and guilty of treason. Why won't you listen to my advice? It's all for the best."

Yeah, and you wonder why he wants you at a distance, Rep. Murtha, and why he might just consider your party slightly perfidious? Why he wouldn't want another knife in the back?

And they call the Republicans stupid?

Its comming from NEWSREEK remember? FLUSH IT

You guys are joking, right? (I've heard that is a supposedly humorous blog.) Murtha is a proxy for the military. The military wants to be diplomatic being well aware of the child monarch's petulance. This is a revolt from within the military, tiring of the empty rhetoric of supporting the troops, etc. So along with the CIA, State, and everyone else outside the inner circle who is waging war against this president, you can add the military.

Wow, when did the military vote for Murtha as a proxy?
And did this super secret proxy ballot get watched by Diebold?

OF all the institutions you mentioned, the military is the one that best understand the principal that the elected POTUS gets to be CinC, not their favorite bueracrats.
Sure the old guard sometimes whines when their pet project gets the axe (witness the early war on Rummy a couple of years back), and their is plenty of politicing at higher levels, but in the end they either fall in line or get out of the way.

It might have something to do with the fact they actually swear an oath to defend the Constitution, not the UN charter or "international law". And many of them actually take it seriously.

Maybe you should spend some time crusing (NOT trolling) on a Milblog, or perhaps actually speak to a soldier other than Jenghis John Kerry, before anointing yourself their next proxy

I saw Murtha talking at a press conference where he compared GHWB to GWB; something to the effect of, 'the father listened to our suggestions, even if he didn't always take our advice...but the son completely disregards us. He just doesn't listen at all.'

(Of course, 16 years ago, the Dems hadn't yet fallen from sanity and political relevance. Reagan Democrats were still abundant)

The old canards are always the best. As you should well know

The "Mission Accomplished" banner was for the aircraft carrier group.

It was another photo-op for Bush. The WH had the sign made. Bush also said that "major combat operations" were over. That was 2,000 KIA ago.

The "Mission Accomplished" banner was for the aircraft carrier group.

This was already mentioned above, but I'm surprised that you agree. The 'aircraft carrier group' interpretation is the normal position of conservatives, while the 'major combat operations' interpretation was favored by leading lights of the left (Kos, Atrios, TPM). So are you now suggesting that the carrier group did not complete its mission?

As far as the being a photo-op: of course it was a photo-op. Virtually every presidential appearance is a photo-op. That doesn't mean there were no other motives for the event, and it does not mean that it is inherently wrong, wasteful, or opportunistic. And even if it was, it would be a trivial criticism. As well as being a 2 1/2 year old story.

There have been, by the way, only 1660 KIA in Iraq as of 12/3/05.

Steve, while knowing that you don't really care about the military casualties, I'll entertain you for a bit.

Since when does "major combat operations over" equal the end to the loss of life?

Steve, while knowing that you don't really care about the military casualties

You have confused me with Wolfowitz:

"It's approximately 500, of which - I can get the exact numbers - approximately 350 are combat deaths," Wolfowitz said. AP, 4/29/04 (Actual numbers: 722, 521)

No wonder nobody reads your blog, Steve. You don't make any sense, you simply shoot from the hip and parrot anything that comes down the pike that's anti-Bush.

Anyway, how 'bout that Murtha? This guy can't keep his mouth shut. Looks like somebody got bit by the fame bug. Murtha loves all the attention and the MSM is more than willing to put a mic in front of his face every time the man farts.

Every time Murtha speaks he sounds more like Sheehan and Dean. By next week, he'll be doing the PR work for Al Quaida.

Moonbat Detecting "Red Flag" Words or Phrases:

"mission accomplished"

"plastic turkey"

"Bush lied, people died"

"halliburton"

"enron"

Steve, so far you're at a pretty disappointing one out of five.

Let's see some effort, dammit!