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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 26, 2005 Commentary Murtha, not phony vote, shows leadership Rob Asghar That, then, must be the GOP’s nuclear option: to use the legislative process to twist critics’ concerns and mock true debate. It is an almost amusing ploy, but it is not leadership. House Republicans ramped bad faith up to orbit velocity last Friday, concocting an Iraq resolution that was a parody of a more thoughtful one put forth by Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha. Murtha wanted to begin solid planning on how to stabilize the region without an endless occupation. Instead, the GOP put forth a resolution, ostensibly on his behalf, calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from that nation. Democratic House members recognized the trap, one intended to put them on the record either as state-sponsored cowards or as consensual partners in the Iraq boondoggle. They voted the measure down, but not without expressing a sense of violation. Indeed, any dating handbook that reflected cynical GOP tactics would land its practitioners behind bars. The Republican leadership demonstrates little capacity for subtlety or complexity. Speaker Dennis Hastert proclaimed after the vote, “To cut and run would invite terrorism into our backyards, and no one wants to see troops fighting terrorism on American soil.” Who does Hastert believe has been taking such a position, anyway? Will the next GOP resolution require an up-or-down vote on whether we should invite terrorism into our backyards? Even Murtha voted against the Republican resolution, which collapsed 403 to 3 (Neville Chamberlain, Mohandas Gandhi and Benedict Arnold were rumored to be the three who voted in its favor). Murtha’s opposition to the quagmire is so disorienting to Republicans precisely because he is no dove. He has been the manner of hawkish war hero the GOP would be proud to call its own, one who volunteered for service in Vietnam, one who would not chuck his Bronze Star over a fence. But he knows the realities, alluding in a speech to a secret British Ministry of Defense survey that was leaked recently to the Telegraph of London. The survey found that 82 percent of Iraqis are strongly opposed to coalition troops’ presence; 45 percent approve of attacks on coalition troops; and two-thirds feel less secure due to the occupation. How many Iraqis believe the coalition has helped security in the country? Fewer than 1 percent. Remember that these were not survey findings by, say, those commies at NPR or The New York Times. They were private findings from one of the most invested partners in the coalition. Yet in response to such grim realities, the Republican House offers phony resolutions and posturing. And White House spokesman Scott McClellan reads the results as a positive. ‘’Congress in strong, bipartisan fashion rejected the call to cut and run,’’ he said after the vote. That is bipartisan? If so, we can expect to see more of such “consensus,” perhaps by way of courageous resolutions denouncing bird flu or supporting motherhood and apple pie. Last Friday’s vote was no act of leadership, but rather a confused power play by a party that is showing governance fatigue. This is an unexpected development, given how impotent Democrats had become in the post-Clinton years. By simply laying on the floor for the past five years while Republicans expended themselves, Democrats may be in a position for a phoenix moment. We are left to wonder what role Murtha may continue to play. He is no George McGovern, and he is no media whore. Yet there he was on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, saying, “I have never seen such an outpouring in the 32 years I’ve been in Congress of support and people with tears in their eyes, people walking along clapping when I’m walking through the halls of Congress, saying something needed to be said.” Murtha’s authenticity and boldness are a tonic for our times. That is leadership. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams