A newly cited statistic says that more American's believe in ghosts (34%) than support Mr. IQ of 43 and his handling of the War (29%).
There is a category of ghosts no one should believe in : the so- called Republican moderates, who talk one way in election years, but oddly enough, disappear in odd numbered years, and go back to supporting the Cult of 43.
This overlooked WaPo article from yesterday spells this out in the case of Mr. Bi Partisan, Chris Shays.
It is no secret that the second biggest cause (next to the needing a spinal fusion whenever IQ 43, The Dick or their acolytes scream 'the terrorists are coming'); of the low approval ratings for the Democratic Congress stem from failure to deal with the War.
While my view is that the message needs to be recast in terms of freeing assests to deal with the real Al Quida and Afghanistan, there is an instutional problem in that a simple majority isn;t enough to get action on contentious issues in Congress - you need a working majority.
On many issues, efforts have been made to reach out to 'GOP Moderates'. Regrettably, many of these types talk the talk, but don't walk the wlak as this story illustrates:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Democrats, the War and Shays's Rebellion
By Dana Milbank
Friday, October 26, 2007; A02
A poll released yesterday by the Associated Press made it official: Americans are more likely to believe in ghosts (34 percent) than to believe that President Bush is doing a good job with the war in Iraq (29 percent).
So here's a spooky question: Why have Democrats, who now control both houses of Congress, failed in their efforts to end the war? Ask Rep. Christopher Shays.
Fourteen months ago, the Connecticut Republican, in a pitched battle to keep his seat in the House, announced that most U.S. troops should be removed from Iraq in 2007, saying that "the only way we are able to encourage some political will on the part of the Iraqis is to have a timeline for troop withdrawal." That position helped Shays squeeze out a 51 percent victory in his antiwar home state.
Those of you in the Nutmeg state have to set a timetable for withdrawal of Shays from Congress as the following illustrates:
But yesterday, Shays sat opposite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building -- while ferociously defending the war and condemning Democrats for supporting a troop withdrawal. "It seems to me the basic contention of the Democratic majority is 'Because Iraq is corrupt, we need to withdraw,' " he said, "which has come down from 'Well, we weren't winning, we needed to withdraw,' 'It was immoral, we needed to withdraw.' So that's basically what's on the table, which is patently absurd."
Shays's vigorous defense of the administration in odd-numbered years is emblematic of the solid Republican support Bush has relied on to thwart the efforts of Democrats to limit the war -- even though for Shays and others from liberal districts, this amounts to political hara-kiri.
"I can't think of hardly anything . . . my Democratic colleagues have done to help our soldiers win Iraq," he told Rice in his opening statement. "Everything this committee has done," he added, "has been to try to point out everything bad that is going on."
Support the troops eh Chris ? By keeping them bogged down in meatgrinder of a civil war ? ....
Shays blames Democrats for his increased patience with the war. Though willing to support a pullout by December 2008 (he opposed a pullout by early 2008) he said after the hearing: "They have not reached out to me."
You mean like the R's reached out when they were in Charge of the Hill ? Sopunds like OJ complaining about domestic violence to me.
Shays was Rice's most visible defender yesterday, but other Republicans on the panel competed for her affections....
Maybe what she needs is some affection from the Mid east countries that don't take her seriously, other tahn as an emblem of cowboy diplomacy.
The presence of such friends must have emboldened Rice, for she saw little need to respond to Democrats' queries....
Rice even made sure to tweak Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform -- twice -- for his infrequent travel to Iraq. "I don't know when you were last in Iraq," she noted.
"I was there a couple of years ago, and I'll be happy to go again," Waxman replied.
Perhaps Shays will escort Waxman. "I've been to Iraq 18 times," he announced early in his questioning of Rice.
Good -maybe you and some of your collegues can fill the gap in staffing the Embassy now that the career Foreign Service officers have refused to step into 'a deathtrap'....oops forgot, the surge isworking and Baghdad is safe, not just the Green Zone <snark>
While other lawmakers each got five minutes to question Rice, Shays managed to grab three turns. When he wasn't speaking or raising his hand to speak, he was coaching four GOP colleagues before their questioning time.
Shays lobbed the softest of questions at the secretary.... "
Shays even defended the maligned Blackwater security firm when Democrats questioned Rice about a drunken Blackwater employee who killed a security guard for an Iraqi vice president inside the Green Zone.
"I'd like to point out that there appears to have been no witnesses," he argued.
Shays got more time. And when the hearing finally ended, he hurried to intercept Rice and gave her a hug. The secretary clasped his hand tenderly as she departed.
Anyone think that hugging.. and reelecting these types might be like hugging a porcupine ?