Now they want to de-politicize national security?

September 6, 2006

The Senate Majority Project noted that congressional Republicans seem to have settled on a new rhetoric theme of late: they want to “rise above” petty politics.

“It’s election time, and the tendency is to make everything political. For the American people, we need to rise above this. We need to come together, we need to work together on these important issues that so dramatically impact the security of the American people, the security of our homeland.” – Bill Frist, Senate Floor, 9/5/06

“We ought to talk about issues, and not just talk about the politics of it and all that sort of thing. I hope that we can address those things in a more direct way and not simply be critical in order to talk about the future in terms of the Congress.” – Craig Thomas, Senate Floor, 9/5/06

I’ve only seen these comments in print, so I’m unable to say for sure whether Frist and Thomas were able to make the remarks with a straight face. I kind of doubt it.

Look, just a few days ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice equated critics of the war with supporters of slavery. Just a couple of weeks ago, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Democratic gains in the elections could result in terrorist attacks on America. Last week, Donald Rumsfeld equated us with Nazi appeasers.

For that matter, both the Bush White House and its allies in Congress have gone out of their way to exploit literally everything for as much partisan gain as humanly possible. Bill Frist, who now preaches the need to “rise above” politics, is the same guy who decided to spend a month of the Senate’s time debating flag-burning, gay marriage, and the estate tax, despite not having enough votes to pass any of them.

Are now supposed to be impressed? Are Dems supposed to believe that Senate Republicans sincerely believe, for the first time in recent memory, that it’s time for bi-partisan lawmaking on national security?

Please. The joke would be offensive if it weren’t so laughable.

Harry Reid should tell them to “go Cheny themselves.”

  • The only reason why is that the Repubs absolutely fucked up National Security so bad and need a second set of finger prints on the smoking gun.

    As it has been said before, the “War” on Terrah requires thoughtful and insightful leadership not behaving like a bunch of reactionary yahoos waving their peni, uh, guns around and shooting up shit without thinking. Apparently, the yahoos finally figured out (4 years too late) that Iraq was a mess.

  • The Joke is still offensive.

    A) Their internal polling is telling them they need to stop trashing the Democrats for their own mistakes?

    B) They want to disarm the Democrats now that their message has sunk into the Base and the campaigning season starts in earnest?

    C) They are a bunch of Freaking Morons who don’t know how to keep their spin straight?

    D) All of the above?

  • Did any Dem call them on this crap? If and until folks like Frist are called on their own actions, no progress will be made.

  • Let me get this straight. The pettiest of politicians — e.g., the physician who delivered a Bush-approved diagnosis of Schiavo from an old videotape so that the Congress of the United States could bow to the wishes of religious crackpots — wants to rise above petty politics? Petty politics (of fear and hate) is all the Republicans have to offer, isn’t it?

  • Have you ever noticed when someone has been caught doing something wrong – from murder to rape to robbing a bank to beating their spouse – they always want to “discuss that event” in some neutral way? They say things like “she was asking for it” to make themselves “less guilty.”

    This is the same thing. Republicans are the little boy caught by mommy with his hand in the cookie jar who tries to tell her she should have put it up higher where he couldn’t get at it because it was such a temptation, in hopes of distracting her enough to avoid that switch in her hand.

    It’s nothing more than proof of their increasing desperation.

  • By calling for non-partisanship, Republicans are not only calling for a mulligan, but accusing the opposition of past partisanship. It’s another tool in their slimy bag of tricks and distortions. The only way to achieve non-partisanship is to cower to the rightwing lunacy of the day.

  • And, in this, one finds yet another among myriad signs of History repeating itself, in that the stalwart political defenders of a failed militarist regime begin scrambling for ways to cover their mountain of excrement with enough honey to mask the stench. I’m looking forward to “Herr Doktor Frist” changing his tune just once more—on the day that a Dem-majority Senate is seated. They should be well-versed in the invocation of their Fifth Amendment Rights by then, since there’s 8 weeks between the midterms and the seating of that “new” Senate. That’s 8 weeks to stand in front of a mirror and practice.

    Repeat after me, Willie. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall….”

  • Were any of the literate enough, CB, they surely would retort that “an electorally-problematic consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.”

  • This is funny: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Democratic gains in the elections could result in terrorist attacks on America.

    This is the same Orrin Hatch who in July 1996 had problems with Clinton’s anti-terror ideas:

    Republican leaders earlier met with White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta for about an hour in response to the president’s call for “the very best ideas” for fighting terrorism.

    Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emerged from the meeting and said, “These are very controversial provisions that the White House wants. Some they’re not going to get.”

    Hatch called Clinton’s proposed study of taggants — chemical markers in explosives that could help track terrorists — “a phony issue.”

    “If they want to, they can study the thing” already, Hatch asserted. He also said he had some problems with the president’s proposals to expand wiretapping.

    I guess he was for terrorism attacks before he was against them.

  • Oh yeah, forgot to ask Sen. Hatch…Didn’t the Republican’t party gains in the elections in the late 90’s ultimately lead to an ACTUAL terrorist attack in 2001?

    We should remind the electorate that GOP gains in this year’s elections will most likely result in MORE ACTUAL terrorist attacks.

  • The personm being beat up always wants to call a truce. When was the last time you saw two kids having a water fight and the one who was drenching the other while they were cornered and out of water calls time out? Um, that would be never. The GOP is out of ideas (we knew that)and now they are down to begging for us to play nice. Cheney them!

  • Hell, in the same speech where Rumsfeld was attacking administration opponents as appeasers, he said, “It seems that in some quarters there’s more of a focus on dividing our country than acting with unity against the gathering threats.” If he could keep a straight face, why shouldn’t other Republicans?

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