Republicans: "Win big in the 2008 elections by having “won” a “war”.

[LaPera]

The republicans will do anything & everything to hold power of the executive branch...Bush just signed a document making him dictator... "Bush Declares Self 'Mega Decider, New documents ensure Dubya will rule America, should calamity strike. Free balloons!" http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford /

Not to mention the republicans are just as hard at work as ever to ensure they can continue to manipulate the 2008 vote. http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4576
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/159

The Republican Plan For 2008 Begins Today
by Thom Hartmann

The political calculus being pursued by Karl Rove and the Republican Party with regard to Iraq and the 2008 elections is a simple four-step process:

1. Shift “ownership” of the downside of the “war” and occupation of Iraq to the Democrats.

2. Begin to wind down American involvement in the occupation of Iraq no later than mid-2008.

3. “Claim victory and get out” of direct combat in Iraq by the early fall of 2008.

4. Win big in the 2008 elections by having “won” a “war.”

Step one was accomplished last week, when Republicans - particularly those most visible in our corporate “mainstream” media - played up hugely how “Democrats” in the House and Senate had “caved in” to George W. Bush’s demand for a “free hand” in Iraq. Bush, of course, is not up for re-election, so it’s no problem for him to take the short-term heat for the ongoing death and destruction in Iraq. With $500 million budgeted to re-write history after he leaves office (the so-called “Bush Library” and “think tank” associated with it), Bush has plenty of time to rehabilitate his legacy, much as Reagan’s handlers have so deftly done.

With the Democrats “giving the President what he wanted” on Iraq, the average person in our nation now thinks Democrats and Bush are jointly responsible for the current “mess” in Iraq.

Step two was initiated a few weeks ago with diplomatic initiatives by Condoleezza Rice to Iran and Syria. At Bush’s news conference about the passage of the Iraq funding bill, he all but laid out this strategy, in citing the Baker/Hamilton Commission, which recommended pulling Iran and Syria (and other nations in the region) into the process of stabilizing Iraq, and redeploying American forces to “safe” places like the Green Zone, the huge military cities (”bases”) we’re building there, and to nearby countries like Kuwait. A day later, the Bush Administration quietly announced that they were dropping funding for covert destabilization programs against Iran and Syria, and initiating talks with Iran “about Iraq.”

Bush will now follow nearly exactly the script the Democrats wrote in the bill Bush vetoed, reducing and redeploying out troops over the next 15 months, all in anticipation of the 2008 elections. Except that the Democrats, having failed to override his veto and having “caved in” to him, can no longer claim any ownership whatever to the successes that will come from it - Republicans in Congress and Bush will claim all of that.

This is the end-game of a political equation that was begun the day after Bush was sworn into office.

We know that Bush wanted to massively cut taxes on his corporate sponsors and people, like himself, with substantial inherited fortunes. He wanted to weaken government protections of the environment, children, the poor, the elderly, the ozone layer, and our nation’s forests. He wanted his oil-rig and mining-interest friends to have more access to public lands.

We know he wanted to undo Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal by stripping the American workplace (particularly government and schools) of unions, rolling back “socialist” unemployment and Social Security programs, and eliminating SEC and tort restraints on predatory corporate behavior. He’d even campaigned on this platform - particularly Social Security privatization - back in 1978 when he unsuccessfully ran for Congress from Texas.

We know he wanted to increase the police power of the federal government, gut the First and Fourth Amendments, and thus create a “safe and orderly nation” of people under constant surveillance, who never question those in power.

We know he wanted to give billions of our tax dollars to churches he approved of, and bring their leaders into the halls of government. He wanted to pass laws incorporating religious dogma about when human life begins, what is appropriate sexuality, and free churches to use tax-exempt dollars to influence politics.

It was an ambitious agenda. In order to bring about this neoconservative paradise, Bush knew he’d need considerable political capital. And that kind of capital didn’t come from his being selected as President by the Supreme Court.

Such political capital - such raw political power - would only come, he believed, by his becoming a “war president.”

(More)
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/29/1500/

[Selatius]

1. I think Step 1 is almost complete. How many are now saying Dems own the war?

If they aren't, they're going to be saying it soon. Whenever Dems come out and try to criticize the war, the Repubs have a ready-made answer: You gave into Bush and wrote his check.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. The money they gave him will run out before the end of the year.

All they have to do is say right now that there will be no more money, this was the last check. Start planing now to bring the troops home. But they won't and next October the Republicans will run the same scam on them again.

[gatorboy]

5. They're already saying it. Heard on NPR at lunch.

The question for the day was, "Is the Iraq War now the Democrats responsibility?"

Thanks alot jag offs!

[IChing]

2. Something is wrong with the link

Thom knows his stuff.

[endarkenment]

4. Step 2 has an underwear gnome problem.

They cannot wind down involvement without the collapse of the official government of the green zone, which event will toss globs of stink all over their plan. The planned withdrawal talk is bullshit. The real step 2 is already in progress: leak nonsense about a troop withdrawal before the 2008 elections. The actual plan is closer to dumbfuck's south korea analogy: permanent occupation enforcing our authority.

[bluestateguy]

6. Wasn't the plan to do this in 2006?

Declare "victory" and draw down significant;y througout the year and then hold the Congress in November? It never materialized.

[GreenTea]

14. They never withdrew troops and declared victory...As Hartmann

is suggesting & many others are convinced of, and the corporate media is much louder and more powerful than us, those of us trying desperately to get out the truth before it's too late, such as liberal blogs, forums, the small amount of liberal radio with almost no mainstream progressive print (save, The Nation, Rolling Stone & Mother Jones).

Hopefully they won't succeed, but what if they do...that's Hartmann's point...the republicans are still getting everything they want....Like most, you believe because of the 2006 election, and the huge lopsided democratic turnout, that everything is just fine...No need to worry about Diebold electronic voting machines, republican suppressing the vote...everything is just fine because of the mid-term elections and the Dems outpour for change...

Do some research and you'll find how many congressional & local elections the republican did effect in their favor in 2006 - the republican losses should of been much worst than it was...perhaps even enough for the Dems to have a better chance at 2/3 of overturning the morons veto's...

http://www.bradblog.com

[Johonny]

7. I don't even see them getting passed step one

Since Congress caved into BUSH last week. It would appear that Bush still owns the war. It's also worth noting that 9/10 republican candidates have embraced the war and the surge. So I don't see how the GOP is going to pass the war on to Democrats.

[TheWraith]

8. Good to know the anti-war crowd is so helpful to the Republicans.

After all, to listen to much of DU lately, you'd think that the Democrats alone were responsible for the war and there wasn't even a single Republican in power.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. The democrats in congress collaborated with bush by funding his war.

In case you missed that display of "helpfulness".

[GreenTea]

11. Think you missed the point so completely? The point is NOT to

blame democrats...it's to expose the republicans and not to let the spineless of democrats slip on through...they certainly are not helpful to anyone but the republicans.

We ALL know there are some very fine, excellent Dems fighting...but we are fighting republican corporate fascism...it's a long and hard difficult fight, especially when the corporate media is slanted so obviously and owned by the same republican CEO, editors & corporate fascist and the never ending money supply, and their lust for more...

To bury ones head in the sand and simply see it as jumping on the poor Dems, it is not helping in the slightest...when the Dems said they would stand firm on the Iraq funding...no one here (or anywhere) was happier than the hardcore liberals and progressives....Even if we knew what the inevitable usual spineless outcome would ultimately become.

There is nothing wrong with continuing to point this out as the fascist republicans neocons move right on along as if the republicans were still in complete power...(perhaps they are)!

[endarkenment]

12. Wow, way to take that right through the looking glass.

But as you are clearly not part of the anti-war crowd, not much of a surprise.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. They don't make enough lipstick to make a sale on that dead porker.

[emanymton]

13. So Put A Stop to Their Plan By Being Active With Your Plan

GOP plan is only as good as its implementation. The Democratic Party under H. Dean have been good at keeping the pressure on GOP.

Now actively play the Democratic Party's plan and go on the offense. The Iraq occupation is shrub's mess. Keep the focus on the failures of GOP in everything they have done over the years. The people will join the Democratic Party's efforts when the Democratic Party leads.

So lead!

[porphyrian]

15. Look out, Granada! - n/t

[Dawgs]

16. Too late to claim victory.

If the war doesn't getting better, and the pop doesn't buy the propoganda, claiming a "win" won't work.

[mdmc]

17. The war on the middle class

destruction accomplished!

[onenote]

18. This strikes me as a lot of nonsense

First, I doubt very much that the "average" person now thinks that chimpy and the Democrats are jointly responsible for the mess in iraq, especially after the Democrats voted for a timetable to get out and chimpy vetoed it. If there is any polling out there that supports this claim, I sure haven't seen it and I don't expect to.

Second, come September, the Democrats will, in all likelihood, push for a timetable again. And either chimpy vetoes it again or he doesn't. If he doesn't, the message is that the Democrats won and are responsible for changing our course. If chimpy goes along, he can try to claim credit for changing course himself, but its highly unlikely that he'll want to go as fast as the Democrats so he'll still be in the position of reacting if/when a compromise is struck that sets a more drawn out timetable than the one the Democrats probably propose.

From what I've been hearing from hill contacts here in DC, members returning to their districts for Memorial Day recess have been hearing a lot from constituents about how something needs to be done to get us out of Iraq. They are going to be in a very awkward position come September and they will be putting pressure on chimpy to give in to some degree. They'll try to spin it, but if the level at which Americans are dying in iraq and/or car bombings etc remain at the levels we've been seeing over the past several months, no one is going to by the claim that the surge worked. And no one is going to care, because they just want us to start getting out.

[LaPera]

21. Things can change in a heartbeat...in 14 month's is like eons...

You obviously have no concept how the media can change the perception of reality...for a short time, by the time everyone screams and points out the bullshit, it's too late...just look at every single crime Bush has committed and the media complicity and help...we eventually find out some of it, but too late...bush is still president, still doing shit we'll find out long after he's gone, the corporate republican owned media will distort & cloud debate and then we'll finally find out...Bush isn't going anywhere, he'll be breaking laws into January 2009...with no repercussions...

I mean just look how BushCo and the corporate media sold the American people their version of the conspiracy of 9/11...which you may even believe as fact...Bush is still laughing and because of this charade got and is still getting everything he wants...huge money makers for all the republican corporations, war for profit!!!Bush doesn't care one shit about what his poll numbers are, he laughs and does as he pleases...He wants Gonzales to stay and find ways to break the laws...Bush says fuck you Gonzales stays...NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! Bush is still laughing.

[paparush]

19. BUT, what about what CHENEY wants????? It aint necessarily the same as what Bush** wants..

Cheney wants all war all the time.

Cheney wants Isreal to attack Iran.

Cheney wants....what...mushroom clouds for dinner?

[opihimoimoi]

20. There is not enough Perfume in the World to hide the GOP Stench

coming from Bush and his Administration..

Spin all they want...they have fucked it up beyond repair...

The Dems got too much ammo and all them Pubs got is BS