In former president Bush’s memoir titled “Decision Points,” page 355, he records an exchange between himself and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), which frankly, blew me away. My jaw literally dropped. The meeting was on September 6th 2006.
In former president Bush’s memoir titled “Decision Points,” page 355, he records an exchange between himself and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), which frankly, blew me away. My jaw literally dropped. The meeting was on September 6th 2006.
“In 2006 with the midterm elections fast approaching, my friend, Mitch McConnell, came to the Oval Office. The senior Senator from Kentucky had asked to see me alone. Mitch has a sharp political nose and he smelled trouble.
“Mr. President,” he said, “your unpopularity is going to cost us control of Congress. Mitch had a point. Many Americans were tired of my presidency…
”Well, Mitch, I asked, “what do you want me to do about it?”
“Mr. President,” he said “bring some troops home from Iraq.”
”Mitch,” I said, “I believe our presence in Iraq is necessary to protect America and I will not withdraw troops unless military conditions warrant. I made it clear I would set troop levels to achieve victory in Iraq, not victory at the polls.”
Mitch McConnell was asking George Bush to withdraw some troops in the middle of a war so that the Republicans could do better in an election. Wow, just wow.
It should also be noted that Mitch McConnell isn’t denying it. From the Courier-Journal in Louisville KY: “Unless he is prepared to call a former president of his own party a liar, Mr. McConnell has a choice. He can admit that he did not actually believe the Iraq mission was vital to American security, regardless of what he said at the time. Or he can explain why the fortunes of the Republican Party are of greater importance than the safety of the United States.”
On September 5th 2006 Mitch McConnell said this about a letter sent by the Democrats to George Bush asking for cuts in troop levels: “…they (terrorists) will follow us. They’ll come back here. So, cutting and running is not a strategy for protecting the American people here in the United States. The Democrat leadership finally agrees on something...unfortunately it’s retreat…leaving Americans more vulnerable and Iraqis at the mercy of al Qaeda”
On September 6th, the very same day he had the meeting with GW, he said this about the Democrats: “They want to attack Rumsfeld because apparently they don’t have the courage to stand up and offer amendments to implement what they would really like to do, which is get out.” He was attacking the Democrats in public for saying the same thing he was in private. The difference between the two is that the Democrats wanted the troops out of Iraq for national security and fiscal concerns. McConnell was doing it for political concerns.
Playing around with national security to keep a few seats in Congress is as un-American as anything I have ever heard. He was willing to risk having Iraq descend into chaos so he and his party could retain some power. That is in direct conflict with the best interests of the United States.
Then two weeks ago McConnell said this about President Obama in an interview with the National Journal: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president," he said in the interview.
Not jobs, not the American people, not the young men and women serving in our military, not foreign policy nor any of the other problems America faces; making Obama a one-term president is the Republican’s top priority for the next two years.
Even when he was attacked for saying it, he doubled down in a speech on November 4th: "Some have said it was indelicate of me to suggest that our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny President Obama a second term in office," McConnell said, "But the fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things it is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things." Notice how he softened the statement by sticking “political” in there before priority. That is an attempt to walk back the statement just a little bit. I think that he realized that by speaking his true feelings, he had made a mistake.
He didn’t talk about the need to work with the president. He didn’t talk about compromising with the other party. He talked about getting rid of President Obama so the Republican Party would be able to get their agenda done. He is expecting, and promoting, gridlock for the next two years since apparently he thinks that is the only way his and the Republican’s agenda is going to get done.
Take what McConnell said and the statements by Darrell Issa, (R-CA), about wanting to hold 280 hearings in the next year to investigate the Obama administration and I think you can see what the new Republican Party is up to. Issa is investigating President Obama to find something, anything, he can use to impeach him, (Clinton redux anyone?). They are not interested in governing. They are not interested in helping the American people or this country. Nope. All they are interested in is getting rid of Barack Obama so they can get back into power. And what are they going to do if they do get back into power? The same thing they did for eight years. Use that power to further enrich the top 2% in this country by giving them tax cuts, incentives and subsidies while slashing social programs for the poor.
When you voted Republican on November 2nd, this is what you voted for: Endless investigations, total gridlock, extremely partisan actions by the Republicans for the next two years and a ballooning deficit. (Extending the Bush tax cuts for the upper 2% would add $700 billion to the deficit over the next ten years).
President Lincoln was correct when he said: ”America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” The new Republican Party is that force within our borders and they need to be stopped before they do anymore damage to our country.
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