Obviously, the quote is from a Republican. I thought it might help focus the attentions of those that have been so entagled and dismayed by the whole Moveon ad controversy to keep in mind what is really at stake here.
The entry on Digby's blog is here: http://digbysblog.bl...
[I'll just say, quickly, that I actually disagree with Digby's take on the politics of this, but it's a well written piece by her, as usual.]
The quote in the title of this diary is from Tom Davis, naturally. The quote is actually an excerpt from a Reuters article and the now-defunct spinsanity website from 2002, and it is an amazing reminder of all that went wrong in this country in 2001-2007, and why we are at where we are at. The full quote from Rep. Davis in the article is: "[These] divisive comments have the effect of giving aid and comfort to our enemies by allowing them to exploit divisions in our country," referring to some milquetoast "criticisms" of Glorious Leader Bush made by then-Majority Leader Tom Daschle back in the days when such comments were strictly verboten in our national discourse. The comments were about priorities in a defense spending bill that Sen. Byrd mildly objected to.
People like Tom Davis and John Cornyn are the prime exemplars and beneficiaries of our accountability-free politics. These scumbags do and say anything to get elected, to avoid responsibility for their votes and actions, and to muddy the waters and smear those that disagree with them. They are the ones that helped lead us into this misbegotten war without even briefly stopping to consider the consequences, and helped to destroy or question the patriotism of those that wanted to do so. And they now, so desperately, want to distract attention from their votes with this latest bullshit. We should not let them.
[Cornyn's audacity, especially, is breath-taking -- he proposes a worthless Sense-of-the-Senate resolution the day after he decides to carry more water for Bush rather than stand up to his own Constitutional obligations and provide the regulations necessary to prevent our soldiers and volunteer army from being destroyed by this fruitless quasi-war. Unbelievable.]
John Cornyn and Tom Davis will stand in front of the voters in Texas and Virginia (my two home states) next year and ask for six years of employment. They need to have their public lives ended in the most emphatic and definitive ways possible, and that can only happen with all hands on deck.
For those that are disheartened and feeling sold out, I can understand your disappointment and dismay. Politics can feel so personal sometimes, but only if you are invested. Don't let the cynics smoke you out with their games.
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I think the Moveon leadership made a tactical mistake, not with the ad per se, but with the title, and distracted from a message that would have been just as effective without the invective. Moreover, before you decide that the Senators were repudiating you specifically, this is what the Sense of the Senate resolution specifically says:
Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate--
(1) to reaffirm its support for all the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, including General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq;
(2) to strongly condemn any effort to attack the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces; and
(3) to specifically repudiate the unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus by the liberal activist group Moveon.org
This Senate Democrats that voted for this stupid amendment DID NOT repudiate all of the members of Moveon or their speech in general -- they only called out the insult to Petraeus by the play on his name. This was narrowly crafted nonsense, so I honestly don't think it was an insult the way many are taking it. The Dems that voted for this crap just want the issue, rightly, to go away. It's up to us to remind everyone that John Cornyn decided to spend half a day debating this bullshit while our troops die in Iraq.
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It's going to take some time to get all these clowns and criminals out of Congress, but that's our task if we want a functional America back. 34 of them in the Senate are up next year -- and that's where I'm going to try and focus my efforts. John Cornyn is beatable, but Rick Noriega will need alot of help down in Texas, and we need to take care of the trash (Davis) here in VA as well.
I hope, once the raw feelings go away, all the patriots here that feel they were personally smeared can take a breath and get back in the fight and help get rid of the people that bring us this kind of politics. We have a real opportunity next year to radically reshape the Senate.