He can't help it. Like a frightening, yet pathetic, clown out of Dr. Strangelove, the Undersecretary of Defense ripped Hillary Clinton FOR DOING HER JOB. In doing so, Mr. Edelman showed once again how Bush administration figures don't seem to realize they swear an oath of office to the country and Constitution, not Mr. Bush himself.
You know they are desperate when folks like Edelman use words such as he did Thursday. Here's part of what he said, from the Associate Press via Newsday):
"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.
He added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."
The Bush administration has opened this Pandora's Box about Iraq. It has found its scapegoats: Hillary Clinton and us.
The lies and terror tactics with which it deluded this country into war --they had nothing to do with the abomination that Iraq has become. It isn't Mr. Bush's fault.
Indeed. If he wants someone to blame, Edelman need only look in the mirror. A former advisor to Dick Cheney, he helped "craft" the whole nightmare this administration has unleashed in Iraq.
However lamentable, it was not surprising that administration figureheads revert to this kind of authoritarian mantra. In 2004, they tried it succesfully against Howard Dean (and back then, the Senatorial, would-be-presidential Dems were all to happy to jump into the chorus).
Fortunately, Hillary didn't back down. Nor should we. And, this time, lets not put up with this garbage. Whomever your candidate (and Hilary is definitely not mine), stick by him or her, no matter how much of this garbage is spewed. If you make a choice, or change your mind, let it be for important reasons, made upon serious reflection. Please don't reward the demonization of Democratic candidates. And above all, let em hear rebuttal (in strong terms)! As in the old movie classic, Network, "We are mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore."
There's more discussion on this subject over at Kos.
Having successfully ignored the 2006 election and pulled the teeth of the Democratic Senate by re-establishing that the President can do No Wrong, and nothing has changed, we have 1) the next step (Cheney as "temporary president" see other stories here on Raising Kaine). 2)We have hundreds of "signing statements" re-writing laws passed by Congress, in other words setting up rule by presidential decree. 3) We have the presidential order telling the Justice Department not to prosecute any contempt of Congree charges based on refusal to respond to subpoenas under the guise of protecting executive privilege. 4) We have the presidential "contingency" order for succession in the event of national emergency, effectively declaring martial low and bypassing Congress forevermore.