My, oh my!
Grilled Rumsfeld Anyone?
Rarely in recent years has Washington seen so dramatic a clash between the legislative and executive branches as was witnessed Thursday, when U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Masschusetts, went after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the question of whether the Pentagon chief should resign for mismanaging the war in Iraq.
It gets a little cranky below the fold.
"This war has been consistently and grossly mismanaged. And we are now in a seemingly intractable quagmire. Our troops are dying. And there really is no end in sight," Kennedy said, as the Secretary of Defense sat opposite him during an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Arguing that "the American people, I believe, deserve leadership worthy of the sacrifices that our fighting forces have made, and they deserve the real facts," Kennedy told Rumsfeld, "I regret to say that I don't believe that you have provided either."
Rumsfeld was clearly shocked by the aggressiveness of the senator's comments.
"Well, that is quite a statement," huffed the Secretary of Defense, who pointedly told Kennedy, "The suggestion by you that people -- me or others -- are painting a rosy picture is false."
But the Massachusetts senator, who has been one of the most ardent Congressional critics of the war, wasn't buying the secretary's line. Nor was Kennedy cutting Rumsfeld any more slack.
"In baseball, it's three strikes you're out," Kennedy told Rumsfeld. "Isn't it time for you to resign?"
Rumsfeld, who was evidently shaken by the question, paused briefly before saying, "Senator, I've offered my resignation to the president twice."
...
Alternatively, the Wisconsin Democratic Party, at its state's convention earlier this month, passed a resolution that would seem to cover all the bases.
The delegates called for immediate steps to be taken to impeach Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush.
This is certainly starting to get interesting. We're not talking snide off-hand comments about Rumsfeld resigning. We're talking about an official congressional appearance.
I was wondering why I was beginning to see some headlines floating around about attacks on Kennedy. And now I know why.
One word: quagmire.
Once that word gains legitimacy, this administration is in even more trouble then they already are.
How much trouble are they in?
When Karl Rove starts puking up his
laughable claims that liberals deliberately want our troops to come to harm, you know the Rethuglicans are anxiously looking to change the topic from their war-time bungling. Perhaps they are beginning to lay the ground work to blame this quagmire on all those sociopathic liberals. You know, those
nasty people asking why our government sent our soldiers into battle under-manned and under-armored (and, as we are all now painfully aware, based on known sketchy intelligence opportunistically fixed around pre-determined policy for political gain).
And when Democrats start growing a spine, you know it's because they are finally starting to smell blood in the water.
It's about fucking time.