If we are not going to GÇ£stay the course,GÇ¥ what ideas does George Allen have for new tactics in Iraq?
WhatGÇÖs George AllenGÇÖs plan?
The Webb campaign points out, correctly, that George Allen has been changing his position along with the polls. I guess that's what "principled Jeffersonian conservatives" - or whatever the polls and foucs groups tell Allen he should be calling himself these days - do. Perhaps we might call it "poll and run" on Iraq? Just a thought...George Allen has been steadfast in support of the Bush AdministrationGÇÖs failed policy in Iraq. That is, of course, until George BushGÇÖs political fortunes began to turn. Months ago, as George Allen looked like a lock for re-election, and George Bush still had not turned into a drag on the popularity of Republicans across America, Allen was happy to thoughtlessly parrot White House talking points on Iraq. Now with Bush suffering and Allen floundering, Allen is trying to distance himself from his own position on Iraq because polls tell him if he doesnGÇÖt change he will lose.GÇ£All along Allen said GÇÿthere is no substitute for victory,GÇÖ now we know he was talking about winning an election not winning a war. When Bush can no longer provide Allen with political cover, Allen goes running toward any Iraq position that can help him win,GÇ¥ said Webb spokesperson Steve Jarding.
GÇ£This is all about politics for George Allen. He was with Bush when it was politically expedient, and now that its not, he flip-flopped. This is a character issue,GÇ¥ said Jarding.
If we are not going to GÇ£stay the course,GÇ¥ what ideas does George Allen have for new tactics in Iraq?
WhatGÇÖs George AllenGÇÖs plan?
Associated Press
Iraq Questions Follow Va.'s Allen
By BOB LEWIS , 10.20.2006, 07:13 PMRepublican Sen. George Allen called for "changes in tactics" in how the U.S. is fighting the Iraq war on Friday as he continued to face questions about his morphing position on the war.
"The situation there is one that needs adjustments, that needs changes in tactics. We need to adapt to the situation on the ground," Allen said at a campaign event Friday morning with GOP leaders of the state legislature.Even so, Allen, whom polls show to be in a tight governor's race with Democratic candidate Jim Webb, has yet to reject or criticize the hard line on Iraq that he had touted for months and that President Bush repeated Thursday at an Allen fundraiser.
More questions were likely later Friday, when Allen and Webb were to appear separately at a forum of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Hampton.
Webb has been a critic of the war since 2002, before the U.S.-led invasion, when he wrote that it would mire the United States in a bloody and protracted quagmire and destabilize the oil-rich region. He cited the war, in part, for his decision to leave the GOP.
Allen began shifting his public position on the unpopular war two weeks ago after fellow Virginia Sen. John Warner, a five-term moderate and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, returned from an Iraq visit saying the war was "drifting sideways," with Iraq's fledgling government unable to disarm its deadly sectarian militias. ***
This AP story will go all over Virginia.
Did you notice that Allen in his search for something to say uttered a duble redundancy?
Speaking of questionable English usage, this is from the Allen campaign site. Shouldn't it say "Racing Fans", if you know what I mean?
A Closer Look at the Word 'Cowboy'
Saturday, October 21, 2006; Page A18As Sen. George Allen endeavors to portray himself to Virginia voters as a cowboy ["Will Sen. Allen's Cowboy Boots Fit Virginia Voters?" Metro, Oct. 8], I am reminded of an insight by eminent psychologist Robert A. Johnson, who commented on those who take the cowboy as their most virile symbol of maleness: "Half of that word (cow) is feminine; the other half (boy) is immature. Why not bullman?"
ROBERT R. MEIER
Alexandria
As I said on an earlier "thread", Allen doesn't have to stick to the old and tired ("stay the course") line, as long as he has his "doppelgänger" Bush sitting right behind him, waiting to say it for him. He (Allen) gets to have his cake and eat it too, and the public "gets" whichever message is more acceptable to them.
PM (Mistakes were made):
An English teacher would say --"Georgie, your sentence doesn't say who made the mistakes."
Even a Polish teacher of English would say that the English language -- unlike Polish, for example
"Speaking of questionable English usage, this is from the Allen campaign site. Shouldn't it say "Racing Fans", if you know what I mean?"
PM, I adore you! This is a *fantastic* "catch"!!! *Especially* with the black'n'white (where's *brown*???
I wonder though, if it's *really* just an "inadvertent" rape of the English language and/or just another example of Allen's overall stupidity. It could -- just as easily -- be an example of "dog-whistle" doublespeak. With Allen assuming that his "base" will "hear" -- and be reassured by -- the "message" ("the world may be checkered, but you know I'm for the white squares only"), while the rest of us miss the point...
And that doesn't even allow for the *Brit* popular usage of the word "cow"... As in: "so, the stupid cow says to me..."
Here's a nice one from Bill Maher. It applies to Neocon think tanks, like Heritage, but also could apply to George Allen:
Maher: And finally, new rule in two parts: (A) You can't call yourself a think tank if all your ideas are stupid; and (B) If you're someone from one of these think tanks that dreamed up the Iraq War and who predicted that we'd be greeted as liberators, and that we wouldn't need a lot of troops, and that Iraqi oil would pay for the war, that the WMD's would be found, that the looting wasn't problematic, that the mission was accomplished, that the insurgency was in its last throes, that things would get better after the people voted, after the government was formed, after we got Saddam, after we got his kids, after we got Zarqawi, and that whole bloody mess wouldn't turn into a civil war, you have to stop making predictions.
I like that rule. I think we can enforce the rule on George Allen come Nov. 7.
Both "lose" and "loose" are legitimate words, so the spell check will accept both and discriminate against neither. It can't tell what your *intent* was... That's the main reason (other than that *all* text was red-underlined when I wrote in Polish
Leave them be, I say, and don't feed them. After a couple of months, use the (few) remainders in the travelling exhibit, called "Darwin and his theory of the survival of the fittest", which will tour all the primary schools of the US
I just found this while doing a blog search. I guess it was recently posted, but it's hilarious and nails Allen's posing dead on.