Posted by
stevo on Monday, January 22, 2007 10:56:15 PM
How would you remedy the current situation in Iraq? That should be the question posed by the White House to those in Congress, particularly Republicans, who oppose the President's plan to increase the troop contingent in Iraq by 21,000. The "en vogue" position for Republicans right now is obviously to stand against the President on the War on Iraq, as more and more trickle toward their own fickle popularity.
Yet, many of these Republicans speak out of both sides of their mouth. They oppose this plan, but they vigorously deplore any plan that might smack of a "cut and run" mentality. There seems to be a middle ground of quicksand consistency that is being staked out by Sens. Hagel, Warner, Snowe, etc. that advocates a status quo in a time when the status quo is failing miserably.
To President Bush's credit, he has heeded the voices that advocate change amidst the dire circumstances in Iraq, and has totally changed his philosophical approach to military engagement. After several years of following the "lightfoot" strategy of Rumsfeld and several top generals, Bush is switching to the approach of "everything en masse."
For incoherent independents like Sen. Hagel--pick a philosophy and stick to your guns! Principled independence loses its admirable character when your philosophy is "keep the guns ablazin'." It takes a strong man to stand against the leader of his party; it takes a stronger man to stand alongside the leader when the leader changes his approach.
*(An added note on my last entry: I mentioned one drawback of the current Republican presidential field being found in the continued prominence of crusty old white guys who lack style. They will surely have a hard time against Clinton, Obama, and Edwards when competing for an electorate that tires of the status quo. Since that entry, a crusty old white guy (albeit conservative)--Brownback--has joined the Republican field, while the popular Hispanic governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, has joined the Democratic field. And the dispiriting trend continues...)