Former Deputy Secretary of State Armitage Turns On Bush's Republicans and Predicts Dem Sweep

[bigtree]

Mark Tran and agencies
Monday November 6, 2006
Guardian Unlimited

A senior former White House official today predicted that the Republicans would suffer heavy losses in the midterm elections, despite polls showing a cut in the Democratic party's lead.

The former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage - a Republican who opposed the Iraq war - said his party would pay the price for presenting an "angry face" to the world after the September 11 attacks.

"We were showing a very snarly and angry face," Mr Armitage said. "I think it's understandable to a certain degree.

"But we're well past that now, and it's time to turn another face to the world, back to more traditional things such as the export of hope and opportunity."

Although the latest polls ahead of tomorrow's vote show the Republicans gaining on the Democrats, Mr Armitage predicted that the Democrats would retake the House of Representatives with a majority of between 20 and 25 seats.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/midterms2006/story/0,,1940880,00.html



http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[niceypoo]

1. Hope from the neocons, now thats laughable...

..I dont think the neocon agenda has very much room in it for hope. In fact the empathy-less GOP's whole philosophy is based on negatives. Next time you hear a republican ranting ask he or she "What are you actually FOR?", or "Name something that Limbaugh is FOR?" then watch as they mutedly puzzle over the question then attempt to change the subject; never fails. GO onto UTube sometime and watch the democratic keynote address of Barak Obama then watch the keynote meltdown of Zell Miller and it becomes perfectly clear which party rides on hope and which rides on hatred.

[bigtree]

3. It's more evidence of the establishment backlash against Bush

we all wondered when his benefactors would snap and work to undermine him for their own material interests. This is one of the major neo-cons, officially opening up a frontal attack. It's also a reflection of Bush's weakness.

[immoderate]

2. My impression of Armitage...

is that he's a fundamentally decent sort who fell in with bad company. But that's just an impression.

--IMM

[bigtree]

5. just your average warmonger

enriching himself behind the deaths and sacrifices of our soldiers in the Iraq occupation he helped engineer.

- Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State, was a Boeing consultant, a Raytheon consultant and an advisory board member. Armitage was also President Bush's special emissary to Jordan's King Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War. Armitage has also worked in the past for Halliburton. From March 1992 until 1993, Armitage as ambassador, funneled U.S. dollars into the new independent states of the former Soviet Union. In January 1992, the Bush Administration's desire to cozy up to the NIS (and their oil) resulted in Armitage's appointment as Coordinator for Emergency Humanitarian Assistance.
During this time Armitage took on the other international patronage projects that normally follow war, accommodating the assuagement of the European Community, Japan and other donor countries.
Armitage has owned (old info) Electronic Data Systems stock worth $250,001 to $500,000 (EDS is the 49th largest defense contractor, and lobbies the Defense Dept. over various appropriations issues), General Electric stock worth $500,001 to $1 million, Merck & Co. stock worth $100,001 to $250,000 (Merck lobbied the Defense Dept. over the Biological Weapons Convention implementation protocol), and Verizon Communications stock worth $250,001 to $500,000.

[immoderate]

6. That's the bad company part.

--IMM

[Blackhatjack]

4. He is trying to establish ground to stand on after the Dem onslaught...

.... by admitting big Dem gains before the election he is hoping to say afterward I am credible because I predicted it would happen. THerefore you should continue to believe me about other things I say(which are false BTW).

Kind of trying to create an alibi for his future credibility.

[bigtree]

7. Will Pitt gets it just right

The Rat Pack

"They talk tough about global domination while sending other people's children off to die, and then run like rabbits when the scab is ripped off their festering ideology."

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110606Z.shtml
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2590683