yeah, and I wish there were a way to combat them more. I still can't figure out if Democrats are running scared, are too high-minded to fight back, are not getting airtime because they're not shouting epithets and dire warnings for the crappy cable news shows, or what. I mean, Palin's recent comment that Obama would take everyone's ammunition and guns if he could is not just stupid, it's a horrible, horrible lie and assassination of character. Yet I saw almost no news shows argue that point, very few Dems on TV challenging it, but lots of shots of Colter, beck, and the other racists all over the place repeating it. Every now and then a rare moment of clarity and stillness on CNN or something will allow some truth in, such as the fact that many of Obama's policies on health, warfare, and the economy are actually more in line with conservatives like Nixon and the sanctified Reagan. But even then, the logic and rebuttals just aren't making on the airwaves. "If it bleeds it leads" seems to now apply to whomever can shout the loudest, longest, and with the most hateful and hate-filled lies possible. Only on PBS and Charlie Rose am I getting really fair, balanced, level-head news coverage--and I wonder if I'm the only person under 50 who seeks out those sources nowadays.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kelwyn" <ravena...@yahoo.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, July 3, 2010 1:31:54 PM Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: OT: New Cries for Steele to Resign after Afghanistan Comments The Notorious GOP strikes again. ~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > You know the saddest thing is not just that Steele is increasingly seen by > all quarters as a clown and buffoon. It's not that he's not doing much to > improve the image of blacks in leadership positions in a party that's never > been a real friend to us. Nor is the saddest thing his ridiculous attempt to > lay the Afghanistan conflict solely at Obama's feet as a war of his choosing. > Perhaps one can argue he's chosen to continue it, but initiate it? Come on, > Steele. > > No, the idiotic, blustering foolishness of Steele isn't much of a surprise > anymore. What's really sad is that as many conservatives are angry at him for > *opposing* the conflict in Afghanistan as for his inaccurate statement. Note > from the article, Bill Kristol says that the chairman of the Republican Party > shouldn't be one of the people who opposes the conflict there? Why the hell > not? What is up with this lockstep belief in God, America, and Warfare all > going together? > > Idiot though he may be, embarrassment to blacks that he certainly is, the > saddest thing is that Steele in shooting off his mouth often espouses > positions that aren't that bad, but then has to back away from them because, > after all, to not support guns, war, rampant uncontrolled capitalism, and > racists like Rush Limbaugh is just not the American Way in the narrow-minded > circles in which he's chosen to travel. > > ****************************************************** > > > > Image: Michael SteeleGerald Herbert / AP > Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele has been criticized in > the past for gaffes and mismanagement of committee funds. > by PHILIP ELLIOTT > > updated 7/2/2010 9:42:33 PM > > > > > WASHINGTON â€" Republican chairman Michael Steele drew criticism from within > his own party Friday, including calls to resign, after saying the 9-year-old > commitment of U.S. troops to Afghanistan was a mistaken "war of Obama's > choosing." > > As criticism swelled, Steele issued a statement stressing his support for > U.S. troops, but he did not acknowledge his factual error about a war > launched by former President George W. Bush in response for the terror > attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A senior official in Bush's administration said it > would be impossible for the Republican National Committee to speak with > credibility on foreign policy if Steele remained chairman. > > For Democrats, looking at a difficult environment ahead of November's midterm > elections, the gaffe was an opportunity to test their strategy of attacking > the Republican Party with its members' own words. > > Conservative columnist Bill Kristol, writing for The Weekly Standard, was > among the first to say Steele should resign. > > "There are, of course, those who think we should pull out of Afghanistan, and > they're certainly entitled to make their case," wrote Kristol, a consistent > supporter of the Afghanistan war. "But one of them shouldn't be the chairman > of the Republican Party." > > In remarks captured Thursday on camera and posted online, Steele criticized > President Barack Obama and his handling of the Afghan war and suggested the > war cannot be won. > > "If he's such a student of history, has he not understood that, you know, > that's the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All > right? Because everyone who's tried, over a thousand years of history, has > failed," Steele said. "And there are reasons for that. There are other ways > to engage in Afghanistan." > > > > > > Republican officials confirmed Steele made the comments at a Connecticut > fundraiser, which was closed to the news media. The remarks, at odds with the > views of most members of the Republican Party, were caught on camera and > posted on the Internet. > > "This was a war of Obama's choosing," Steele said. "This is not something the > United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in." > > The United States and allies overthrew Afghanistan's Taliban government after > the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. The war lagged as the United > States shifted its focus to Iraq, but Obama shifted the focus to Afghanistan > and planned to send 30,000 more troops to the country. > > > Dan Senor, who was an adviser to Bush and the provisional governments in > Iraq, said that Steele was wrong to combine politics with foreign policy and > that he would no longer attend a scheduled foreign policy event with > Republican donors in coming weeks. > > "I think as far as Republican and conservative foreign policy experts and > advisers, I don't see how they can be associated with the RNC or with Steele > in any meaningful way after he says something like this," said Senor, who > weighed a U.S. Senate run from New York state. > > "There's no way I can." > > Looking to mitigate the political fallout, Steele issued a statement saying, > "There is no question that America must win the war on terror. ... And, for > the sake of the security of the free world, our country must give our troops > the support necessary to win this war." > > He said, "The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in > Afghanistan." > > Steele's comments came as Obama's new chief in Afghanistan, Gen. David > Petraeus, arrived in the country Friday to take over the war. Obama last week > dismissed his previous commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, because of > disparaging remarks he and his aides made about administration officials in > an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. > > Steele called the dismissal "very comical" but said it shows the frustration > members of the military have with Obama. > > Erick Erickson, the editor of the popular conservative website RedState.com > and an opinion leader among younger Republicans, also called for Steele's > ouster. > > "Michael Steele must resign. He has lost all moral authority to lead" the > Republican Party, Erickson said. >
