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Sunday, November 16, 2008
It was NOT McCain’s fault….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina believes that John McCain was a big part of the problem for the Republicans:
“McCain, who is a proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver’s seat. His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn’t fit the label, but he was our package.”
So if I understand DeMint’s thinking — and I’m not claiming I do — he believes that McCain’s position on those issues drove millions of Americans to vote for Obama instead? I don’t think so.
Conservative Republicans have to understand that the policies and rhetoric that make them all giddy and weak in the knees just don’t have the same effect on the rest of America. Even in the Republican primaries, a battlespace dominated by conservatives, the least conservative candidate won, which ought to tell them something but apparently doesn’t.
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Iraqis make progress on troop deal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How about a bit of good news to start a Sunday?
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Cabinet on Sunday approved a security pact with the United States that will allow American forces to stay in Iraq for three years after their U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year, the government said.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said all but one of the 28 Cabinet ministers present in Sunday’s meeting, in addition to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, voted in favor of the pact by a show of hands.
The Cabinet has 37 members and it was not immediately clear why some ministers stayed away. Several of them were believed to be traveling abroad.
Al-Dabbagh said the agreement will be submitted to parliament later Sunday, but did not say when the 275-member legislature will vote on the document.
The Cabinet vote came a day after the country’s most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, indicated that he would not object to the pact if it is passed by a comfortable majority in parliament. That cleared a major hurdle to the agreement.
It provides for the departure of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2011 and gives Iraq the right to try U.S. soldiers and defense contractors in the case of serious crimes committed off-duty and off-base. It also prohibits the U.S. from using Iraqi territory to attack Iraq’s neighbors, like Syria and Iran.
They want us gone. We want us gone. And that timetable gives everybody enough time to do it right, or as right as it can be done. It also doesn’t mean that we have to stay until 2011. That’s the deadline for departure, meaning it can be accelerated if conditions allow or require.
