One of these days I suppose we’ll read something negative in the national media about the Responsible Plan to end the war in Iraq, but this piece in The New Republic sure ain’t it:
What–a thoughtful plan for Iraq? Written by aspiring Democratic House members? Campaigning in highly competitive districts? Believe it.
Led by Darcy Burner, who’s gunning to represent Washington’s eighth district, ten Congressional challengers recently released a 36-page proposal called, simply, “A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq.” More than 40 candidates have now signed on to the document, which is a cross between a think tank report and a political platform.
On the face of it, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. For the past two years, Democrats have been offering plan after plan to end the war in Iraq. But this one is different.
[…] Beyond just being good policy, though, the plan exhibits a unique understanding of the legislative branch’s role in foreign policy. Too often, candidates running for Congress make very specific proposals about foreign policy that are far outside of their purview. […] “A Responsible Plan” would instead serve as the congressional corollary to a Democratic presidency. It doesn’t include elements over which Congress has little control, but it does push for 15 pieces of existing legislation, which focus on issues such as improving healthcare for a new generation of veterans and phasing out our reliance on military contractors such as Blackwater. Only the president can end the war in Iraq, but Congress can do its share by focusing on institutional repair and funding the right programs.
[…] In the end, the “Responsible Plan” is just a plan. It isn’t going to solve the slew of problems the United States will face over the next few years, as it begins to dig itself out of Iraq. But it is a good first step. And the fact that 48 Democratic challengers are willing to sign on to something this detailed, without the DCCC jumping up and down and telling them to stop, is a good sign that a consensus seems to be building in the Democratic party around a set of specific national security ideas.
I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but something special is happening here. “Consensus seems to be building,” and around a plan created by Darcy Burner. That’s the kind of creativity and leadership 8th CD voters deserve, and that’s the kind of creativity and leadership they’ll get by electing Darcy to Congress.
Goldy: “I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but something special is happening here.”
Son, that is what one calls an erection. We all know you have had one for Mrs. Burner for a couple of years, but she is married.
Then again, this is your blog, so it is your right to scribble hearts and “Mr. Darcy Burner” on your digital Pee-Chee to your heart’s content.
Funny how much national press that “erection” is receiving.
Mark has penis envy
Mark has a penis?
Sheriff Davie has a plan too – he’s going to get a haircut at 10 AM, then he’s going to pander to some special interests in the GOP and ask for money for – you guessed it – more haircuts.
At 4 PM Big Hair will hold a press conference to remind us that he was Sheriff of King County. That is all.
@4
Mark has a penis?
If he did, do you think he’d be developing a complex over a powerful, smart woman?
Interesting, someone is working hard at PR for the plan. TNR piece is written by a person with commitment to peace activism, not bad theng, but ‘tmakes me wnoder is this s very impressive effort to launch an alternative to the Scaife network?
Whether it is or is not, the idea is intriguing,
“Pee-Chee”
Are pee-chee folders still around? If not, that is really dating someone!
more haircuts.
You left out the workout. One day its the legs, the next arms, the next core strength, etc.
He should breathe more deeply during the reps, more oxygenated blood might get to the brain. Not that he’d know what to do with a healthier brain.
@8
That reference totally flew over my head. I had to consult Google…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee_Chee_folder
10 – Those photos really took me back!
A PrayerPlan
(Seattle April1 2008 SJNews)
A coalition of republican religious leader have announced their sponsorship of God for Congress as part of their Prayer Plan to resolve the hilemma. The plan proposes intense nationwide prayer, televised, to seek God’s answer t this dilemna. Moneys solicited by the telecast of the Prayer Plan, as some are calling it, will got to support those candidates who commit to God’s plan.
One goal of the plan is to unseat Jim McDermitt, The Deity has announced that He wants McDermitt to retire. In that spirit, there will be an apparition at the down town Whole Foods sushi bar next Friday night. Patrons are advised to collect the fresh futomaki roles and look for Jesus face in the wrapper.
Vote Dave Reichert 2008. Darcy Burner Just does not have it.
My, George, that sure is a compelling argument. But how about this for a change… could somebody please come into this comment thread and DEFEND DAVE REICHERT?!
Really… I keep asking, and I don’t get any answers. What exactly recommends him to the job of representing the 8th CD in Congress? What has he accomplished in Congress that suggests he deserves to be sent back for a third term?
@8 & 10 – Actually “pee chee” folders are still around and you can find them everywhere from Staples to Walgreens to Safeway.
14 Goldy
Dave has a movie. Does Darcy have a movie? Well, does she?
Personally, I thought the recent P-I article a couple of days ago outlining Dave’s real “soul-searching,” regarding whether he would sell the rights to make a film about his book that would present him as the hero of the GRK investigation and run (twice!) in an election year, was thoroughly disgusting.
@14
Goldy, this race might be one of those rare instances where the incumbent has less clout in Washington DC than the challenger.
The righties CANNOT defend Big Hair. He’s one of the lowest – ranking Congressional members. He’s done nothing for his district. He’s just like George Bush – all hat and no cattle. And not one of the inbred, right wing idiots on this board has even TRIED to defend Davie. How can they?
George: You have been challenged to come up with something good about Dave Reichert – but all you can do is come on here and cheer like a third grader. Where are all the republican trolls when you need them – Darcy has a plan and Reichert has….nothing. The same plan as Bush – stay in Iraq as long as possible and beg for help in Afghanistan.
It is working soooo well – al Maliki is really solidifying Iraq so that they can ahndle things on their own -ooops, I mean so Iran can take over Iraq.
Goldy,
I’ll stand up for Sheriff Reichert! He had the courage to take a stance against murderobilia.
…and the balls to take a “six figure royalty” for the movie rights to his book about the deaths of forty-some women.
Lee @ 17
Excellent point. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine such a scenario, but it appears to be true. In DC, not even the maintenance man for the congressional water closet listens to Davey, yet Darcy is driving public discussion on the most pressing problem this country currently faces. Wow. Kudos Darcy.
@21
Your comment just sparked an image of Dave Reichert standing outside a men’s room in the Capitol Building telling the maintenance guy about how he caught the Green River killer while the maintenance guy fixes the sink. “Dude, you’ve told me this story like 3 times! Don’t you have bills to work on or something?”
20 D
I agree. No one would dare oppose the powerful murderobilia lobby until Dave Reichert took them on. He pimp-slapped the Merchants of Murderobilia.
This would kill anyone else’s presidential ambitions, but I believe it will still take this, and a stake to the heart.
March 31, 2008
Watergate-Era Judiciary Chief of Staff: Hillary Clinton Fired For Lies, Unethical Behavior
http://www.northstarwriters.com/dc163.htm
Hillary Rodham Clinton:
Once a Republican, always a Republican
It’s all the dang librals’ fault and all we need is a few more prayers in the dang schools.
The Pianist
(never have operated a bagpipe assembly)
In support of Reichert:
1. Isn’t there something VERY impressive about a Reprican who is unpopular in the current Reprican Radical Right?
2.Reichert has NOT been endorsed by the White Citizens’ Council, the KKK
Some error happened in @27
In support of Reichert:
1. Isn’t there something VERY impressive about a Reprican who is unpopular in the current Reprican Radical Right?
2.Reichert has NOT been endorsed by the White Citizens’ Council, the KKK
still happening .. maybe there is contaminant?
Let me satrip out some text and tray one last time:
In support of Reichert:
1. Isn’t there something VERY impressive about a Reprican who is unpopular in the current Reprican Radical Right?
2.Reichert has NOT been endorsed by Sean Hannity, the White Citizens’ Council, Cardinal Dobson, the KKK or Lou Guzzo.
3. Reichert has never appeared in public with Guzzo.
4.Reichert has never worked for a company that outsources work to India.
5. If elected Reichert will not have responsibility for raising a young child as a single parent.
6. Congressman Reichert has never been seen carousing with the Marxists at a certain tavern.
7. Congressman Reichert is committed to maintianing or raising the sea level in Puget Sound.
8. Reichert will assure the votyers that under no cirtcumstance will he run for President during the comng term.
9. Reichert has worn his country’s uniform.
10. Unlike his opponent, Daviod Reichert has NEVER lurked ina lady’s room.
As for Darcy, reasons NOT to support her:
1. Bad Hair. She needs to get lessons from Hillary!
2. Has never caught a murderer or run a country police office.
3. Does not speak Mandarin.
4. Wears PANTS suits!
5. Is too short to speak at most lecterns.
6. Is oftyen seen in the company of people who are known radicals.
7. Uses encrypted channels to raise money.
8. Has never been seen with an American flag button.
9. Has not stated her devotion to Jesus. Does her child attend religious school?
10. Has not visited Iraq or Afghanistan.
11. Has never registered for the draft.
12. Is known to frequent ladies’ rest rooms.
13. Has not disclosed her recipe for choclate chip cookies with MJ.
14. Has no stated opinion on critical Washington state issues such as the identity of DB Cooper.
15. Will not submit ot a DNA test to prove she is not transgendered.
This is why we need a responsible plan to end the war. We’re sending airstrikes into Sadr City in Baghdad. In case you don’t know, air strikes in urban areas are the antithesis of counterinsurgency, because the collateral damage is both widespread and inevitable. Do we just not fucking care if more innocents die and more citizens of Iraq turn against us?
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/32348.html
@31 ,,, you miss the point, who are we supporting in Sadr City? Whuch side?? No one knows! So we are fine! This way the Iraqi pople may hate us but whoever they are loyal to has a fifty fifty chance of being our guys!
BTW, the botched and failed Basra operation by the Iraqi government is just another example of Cheney and McCain pulling strings and utterly failing at what they intended. We cannot let these people continue to run our country.
SJ 31
We support the current government of Iraq, made up of a ruling coalition of the Iranian-backed Dawa and ISCI parties, backed up by ISCI’s Badsr Brigade militia (from which they just inducted 10,000 militiamen into the Iraqi Security Forces after thousands of others refused to fight in Basra).
We are against (God knows why) probably the only man who could control Iraq, the popular Moqtada al-Sadr, who controls the Mahdi Army (sometimes called JAM).
The people are not confused in the least, even if you are. They know al-Maliki is a snake and a tool of the Americans. The love and revere Moqtada. They hate us (the occupiers).
Does that help?
Daddy Love ..
You need to lay of the Kool-Aid.
The “people” you refer to do not exist. There is no chance any Sunni or Kurd would support al-Sadr and I suspect the majority of Shia detest him too.
AS for who “we” support I think you would have trouble convincing the Shia central government that THERE our buys when we (also) support assorted Sunni cliques and the Kurds.
The good news, he said sarcastically, is that the only ones we don;t support in Iraq .. the Jews, the Christians, and el Qaeda, are so unpopular that we can not fail by choosing NOT to support them.
General Petraeus is, IMHO, the real thing. His goal has been to stabilize the place BUT he saidf w/o long term polcy thjis goes no where. We will not have any sort of long term policy until next January at the earliest IF we survoive that long.
Wonder when Goldy will have to declare the monetary value of all his free advertisements and fund gathering to Darcy so her election money reports are correct?
Typos! You meant “reprehensible” plan. Dim bulb that Darcy….
Why did Tom Cacanaugh end up playing Sheriff Dave? Wasn’t Leslie Nielsen available?
26 What, in reality, is a bagpipe but a small pipe organ with a really inexpensive blower?
Seems some think Dave has done absolutely NOTHING so here’s a the stuff he has sponsored…looks though like most have gotten absoltely no where. But some are actually great initiatives.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/.....t++David+G.))+01810))
So Hannah is that the benchmark? If so – you’re going to have to admit that Senator Obama has tons of experience. ANYONE can “sponsor” legislation. That just means you sign your name to SOMEONE else’s work. How many pieces of legislation did he author and pass?
Here come the crickets…
I am voting for Obama with the little “experience” you speak of. I see that to be a great president he is someone I’d rather have in with less experience, as he is less poluted by politics and the game.
I don’t know “How many pieces of legislation did he author and pass?” Nor do I know the same of Hillary, McCain or Obama….do you?
25 SJ
The “people” you refer to do not exist.
No, the people I refer to are the people of Sadr City about whom the article I quoted, to which you responded, was written. You meant other people? Perhaps it was incumbent upon you to clarify.
There is no chance any Sunni or Kurd would support al-Sadr…
You are so certain. Sunnis know that a Sunni will not rule Iraq (even if they wish differently). Kurds likewise, though Kurdish plans are for autonomy or independence and are thus not really relevant to “who rules Iraq.” But who would support someone depends on their calculation of gain v. loss. A Moqtada al-Sadr who promises wide Kurdish autonomy might very well gain a great deal of Kurdish support, or a Moqtada al-Sadr who promises to end reprisals against Sunnis, or integrate them more fully back into th societal infrastructure, might very well gain some Sunni support. Not that either group would trust him. But in a country that is 60% Shia, that might not matter.
…and I suspect the majority of Shia detest him too.
I suspect your suspicions. When Iraqi provincial elections are held (if they are) in October we’ll both learn a lot more about who supports who. ~I~ suspect you’ll be surprised.
As for who “we” support I think you would have trouble convincing the Shia central government that [they’re our guys] when we (also) support assorted Sunni cliques and the Kurds.
We supported the Kurds so much that we let Turkey attack them from the ground and the air inside Iraq? And we “supported” the Sunnis by disbanding their army and throwing them out of the government, then standing around and doing nothing when the Shia government flatly refused our “request” to let them back in? Yes, I’m sure that our puppets are convinced we have it in for them.
The good news, he said sarcastically, is that the only ones we don;t support in Iraq .. the Jews, the Christians, and el Qaeda, are so unpopular that we can not fail by choosing NOT to support them.
We are really not supporting anyone in Iraq except our puppet government. And them we support incompetently.
General Petraeus is, IMHO, the real thing.
Well, maybe you and General Petraeus should go and get married, then. You can tell what a bang-up job he did “training” the Iraqi security forces.
His goal has been to stabilize the place BUT he said w/o long term policy this goes no where. We will not have any sort of long term policy until next January at the earliest IF we survive that long.
Note “long-term policy” suggestion: LEAVE.
McCain co-sponsored McCain-Feingold, but now he’s violating it. Does that make him better? (Hint: no).
Here’s an important piece by Charles Peters about Obama’s work in the Illinois legislature (http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....03303.html), including working to compel both houses of the legislature into passing a law requiring videotaped confessions — the kind of civil liberties protection that it’s very difficult to get legislatures to initiate. This has often been true at the federal level as well. He’s sponsored important and generally good legislation on important but low-profile issues, as opposed to doing stuff like sponsoring idiotic and unconstitutional flag-burning legislation (see: John McCain, GOP). Combine this record with a stunning ability to mobilize new voters, and you have a compelling presidential candidate.
So, in a Senate where the GOP has filbustered virtually every Democratic bill, how would Barack Obama “pass legislation?”
Just as a in a Senate where the dems have control, how would Reichert pass any legistation? Look at his 2007 leg, nothing.
Democrats took control of the House in January 2007, but Reichert was there since January 2005.
I was looking into Reicharts “accomplishments” and noted that nothing passed in 2007…just as you pointed out Obama’s attempts in post #46 from a republican controlled congress. I didn’t look into Reichart 2006 cuz I know there is nothing there.
# 14 & 19
Hello, Dave Reichert won the last election. There was not enough votes to put Darcy Burner in office. Why, because she is still stuck on second, her eyes are open,but nobody is home. Vote Dave Reichert 2008.
@45 … I am utterly confuswd by the pint .. if any .. you are trying to make.
Petraeus said we ned t work WITH t5he local forces in order to rpovide stability. That overturned the bulk of the fnatasies called doctrine by Bush. Under Petraeus we have dreed and armed the very Sunni forces Rumsfeld tried to disarm.
Now they, not the central government, control their areas.
As for the Kurds, i did nt say we were perfect BUT we did create the conditions for their freedom from the Hussein regime. The incursion from Turkey was fairly minimal and targeted at a real issue .. it may well have had the tacit support of the Kurds.
AS to the Shia, yoyu may know more than I but everythng I is more or less the current ruoing clique, have read says there are at least three vying forced. one is ak Sadr, one is the current government, and the third is anti Sadr. If you are right that the rolly polly cleric in black is a natinal favorite, I would love to see where you have rad data supporting this.
The bottom line, where i assume we agree, WHATEVER we actually do in Iraq, there needs to be carefuly thought out
set of goals and a plan as t hw to get there.