The Democrat Alternate Reality on the Iraq War

The Democrat's Magical Thinking
by Nancy Morgan
Right Bias

Something very strange is happening in the hallowed halls of the old media. From the Washington Post to the New York Times, articles are starting to appear actually acknowledging that the Iraq war may be, gasp, winnable. Even the United Nations went on record, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon saying Iraq has made "notable progress" in the security, political and economic fields.

This recent acknowledgment of the obvious has yet to extend to the Democrat Party. Despite the recent CIA assessment that portrayed al-Qaeda as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, the Democrats continue to cling to the notion that the Iraq war is unwinnable, a quagmire, and a lost cause.

Despite the fact that the he commander of British forces in Iraq announced yesterday that missions by special forces and air strikes by unmanned drones have "decapitated" the Taliban and brought the war in Afghanistan to a "tipping point", Democrats continue their time-worn mantra of U.S defeat, hoping that non stop repetition will continue to let them get away with defining their own reality. A reality totally at odds with the facts. In psychological circles, this is called cognitive dissonance.



Obama's presidential platform continues to rely heavily on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, as he vows to immediately withdraw American troops from Iraq the second he is elected president. Democrat Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, continues to spin any vestige of positive news from Iraq into either an indictment of the U.S military or a boost to our enemies.

In the face of the unprecedented and unwelcome success of the surge in Iraq, Nancy Pelosi claimed the U.S. troop surge has failed to accomplish its goal. Apparently, Democrats have redefined the word 'goal', kinda like Charlie Brown. She then partially credited the success of the troop surge to "the goodwill of the Iranians." Riight.

For forty years or so, the left has been able to get away with calling a rose a weed. With the backing of the liberal media, their tried and true tactics of repeating a lie often enough until it is accepted as truth has worked. Essentially, Democrats have been able to define reality to their own liking, dismissing any inconvenient truths as the delusions of a vast right-wing conspiracy.

By suppressing inconvenient facts, large portions of the left have been able to keep alive the fiction that Alger Hiss was innocent, despite incontrovertible evidence to the contrary - that Reagan was stupid, despite the fact that his position of peace through strength won the Cold War - that Che Geuvera was a hero of the people instead of a murdering thug, and that Castro is living proof that socialism works. Tammy Bruce calls this 'magical thinking.' I call it denial.

Hey Harry, watch this!

Ignoring and/or denying reality is the easiest way to cope - for alcoholics, drug addicts, and the mentally challenged. For these poor souls, the first step toward recovery is acknowledging that they are powerless. For liberal politicians like Pelosi however, to admit that any of her premises are faulty would be catastrophic. To admit powerlessness, to admit her worldview is not valid, would be a complete refutation of a lifetime spent seeking and using power. This is not an option.
The good news is, it appears the liberal Democrats might be losing their willing allies in the media, where market forces demand adherence to reality in order to survive. Just as the media has turned against their recent darlings, the Clintons, it now appears likely they will soon question the democrat version of reality they have followed and supported for so long.

Whether or not the left actually believes their own rhetoric is a question beyond my pay grade. The real issue remains, what are the consequences for America if fully half of our elected officials continue to insist on adhering to an alternate reality of their own making?

I have an inquiring mind. I'd like to know.



by Nancy Morgan

Nancy Morgan is a columnist and a news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina, where she writes "Culture Watch" weekly.

Article may be reprinted with attribution. Bio available on request.




by Nancy Morgan
Right Bias.com
images: dbkp

Bush Will Resist Defeatist Democrats

In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq.

Five years later, President Bush strongly signaled Wednesday that he won't order troop withdrawals beyond what's already been planned.

The president refuses to "jeopardize the hard-fought gains" of the past year.

As anti-war activists demonstrated around downtown Washington, the president spoke at the Pentagon to mark the anniversary of a war that has cost nearly 4,000 U.S. lives and roughly $500 billion. The president's address was part of a series of events the White House planned around the anniversary and next month's report from the top U.S. figures in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. That report will be the basis for Bush's first troop-level decision in seven months.

"The battle in Iraq has been longer and harder and more costly than we anticipated," Bush said.

What did Bush have to say to those who "still call for retreat"?

Read rest of "Bush Speech: Will Resist Democrats Who Call for Retreat".

by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse
Source: Bush Speech: Will Resist Democrats Who Call for Retreat
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.

Video: Ann Coulter Dem Slam-O-Rama

This speech got lots of airplay at the time for the one comment Ann Coulter made about John Edwards. What wasn't highlighted was that she set a new world for Dem put-downs in shortest amount of time.

Coulter gets in 10 shots at the Democrats in 78 seconds.

How could the Mainstream Media have overlooked this?

In the interests of equal time, we also include the last 10 seconds where a Nation reporter gets in an amusing question.

DBKP--reporting the news you won't hear in the MSM.Even if it is a year late.

by Mondoreb
image: sleepycatz


DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Total Collapse: Of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Democrats and MSM in the US

Red Planet Cartoons takes a look at the total collapse of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

It was only 5 months ago that John Murtha, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats were assuring their buddies in the Mainstream Media that General Petraeus was a "liar" and "Bush's stooge" for the cautiously optimistic report on the success of the surge of U.S. troops.

And readers and viewers--the few that are left--of the MSM mouthpieces were treated to a summer-long Democrat PR blizzard about the surge's "failure".

On June 6, 2007: Top US congressional Democrats bluntly told President George W. Bush Wednesday that his Iraq troop "surge" policy was a failure.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the president over Iraq by sending him a letter, ahead of a White House meeting later on Wednesday.

"As many had forseen, the escalation has failed to produce the intended results," the two leaders wrote.

Of course, the Mainstream Media proved their reliable selves: reliably left in their reporting; unreliable when it came to telling Americans the truth in the news. It is the primary reason that only 19% trust the Mainstream Media to report the news straight.

A better rating than the Democrat-controlled Congress, to be sure, but still pathetic. It's one reason that, increasingly, people search the Internet for their news instead of buying the NY Times or tuning into CBS Evening News.

Those who trusted the MSM last summer for the truth about how the surge was going had to be baffled by the news of its success. This included most MSM editors and reporters.

From Slate's "Surge Failure" by Ryan Grim--which is a roundup of what the MSM wing of the DNC was saying on June 4, 2007:

The "surge" isn't working in Iraq, the New York Times reports in its lead story. The Washington Post leads with details of a car crash in which a driver barreled through a crowd, injuring dozens. The Los Angeles Times' lead story also focuses on Iraq, highlighting Democratic efforts to keep pressure on congressional Republicans over the summer.

Salon on Feb 8, 2007: "... As the president and Republicans continue to hype the surge -- and ... about it -- Bush's own war planners are preparing for failure in Iraq."

Google "failure of the surge" and over 583,000 references appear: some left wing blog posts, to be sure, but story after story appeared in the MSM under the theme.

Red Planet reminds us in "Total Collapse" what really happened:

Al-Qaeda in Iraq faces an “extraordinary crisis”. Last year’s mass defection of ordinary Sunnis from al-Qaeda to the US military “created panic, fear and the unwillingness to fight”. The terrorist group’s security structure suffered “total collapse”.

These are the words not of al-Qaeda’s enemies but of one of its own leaders in Anbar province — once the group’s stronghold. They were set down last summer in a 39-page letter seized during a US raid on an al-Qaeda base near Samarra in November.

Google "success of the surge" and perhaps, one of every ten references are of a MSM story, many similar to the title of TIME magazine's piece, "The Fleeting Success of the Surge" in December 2007.

Red Planet also has a nice collection of links on the real story of the surge--not the one frantically pedaled by the MSM. Included in the Red Planet collection is one on "Iraqis celebrate the success of the surge".

"Total Collapse" at Red Planet Cartoons is a nice story on the success of the U.S. military--in spite of the Democrat party and the Mainstream Media.

Indeed, if one saw a story bearing the headline, "Total Collapse", in the MSM, the subject matter would mostly likely be the U.S. Marines.

by Mondoreb
image: Red Planet Cartoons
Sources:
* Total Collapse
* Iraqi Surge a "failure", Top Democrats tell Bush



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Hillary Clinton Announces Edwards' Exit, Was "It" for the Right Price?

The day after the Republican primary in Florida produced John McCain as its winner, a new surprise was reported by the AP:

DENVER - Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters' sympathies, The Associated Press has learned.

All sappiness regarding Edwards aside the more interesting story tagged on to the side was Hillary Clinton's "announcement" during an interview this morning with King5 News in Seattle.

Despite the fact that Edwards had not made a formal or informal announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race, Hillary told the King5 News Team that Edwards had called her on the phone to tell her that he was dropping out.

Hillary gave a glowing referral to Edward's campaign while giving her own stump speech as to why Edward's supporters should support her.

We wondered what was behind the scenes with Hillary and Edwards little telephone talk
and whether Edwards knew Hillary would be announcing his departure from the race.

We also wondered if any deals had been made, if Edwards was given any promises of future positions within the Hillary cabinet, perhaps even the V-P slot.

We were surprised to hear of Edwards' impending departure as Edwards had said he was going to stick to his campaign all the way, even if he failed to score in next week's Super Tuesday, that he intended to ride his campaign bus to the doors of the Democrat's convention held in Denver in late August.

We saw a different side to Edwards than the AP reporter, Nedra Pickler, did.

Yes, Edwards did have "high" ideals, on poverty, on the working class guys, on "corporations" that screwed the "little guy."

Edwards talked a good talk but never walked the walk. The former Senator from North Carolina had spent more time campaigning for President than the time he served as Senator. Edwards first run in the 2004 Democrat presidential campaign landed him a spot as John Kerry's VP running mate.

The Kerry-Edwards coupling failed to win despite a close race. Some say Edwards began to plan his "campaign" to win the 2008 Presidential campaign soon after the 2004 defeat.

Despite his "new" message of "working" for the underdog, the underclass, and all things "under," Edwards message failed to garner the votes he needed in the primaries, coming in third behind the battling polbots, Hillary and Obama.

As a solid third place finisher, Edwards does have a voter base, which both Obama and Hillary would benefit from.

Hillary's "announcement" that Edwards was quitting the race told us that the Edwards base will be hand delivered to her via Edwards during his "so long" speech, but for a "price."

Could it be a VP slot or the Hillary cabinet, such as Attorney General. All we know it won't be for chump change. Politicians never, ever do anything "for free."

Time will tell what the Hillary-Edwards deal entails, whether the "price was right". Unless this morning's revelation from Hillary wasn't pre-approved by Edwards.

Then, perhaps, it will be Obama's turn to "spin the wheel."

By LBG
Image - The Price is Right



DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Congressional Democrats and Terror

Click on image to enlarge

Michael Ramirez at IBD.

The Nineteen Percenters

For a great explanation about who the 19% of Democrats who wish the U.S. to lose the war, go over to Red Planet Cartoons.

Or, you could just go read DailyKOS or Huffington Post.

How Far Did General PetraeusMove the Debate on War?THE DEFEATIST CORNER DEMOCRATS HAVE PAINTED THEMSELVES INTO

by Mondoreb

From the Captain's Quarters:

How far has General David Petraeus moved the debate on Iraq? His testimony on the surge, and the effects of the surge itself, has made it much more difficult for Democrats to argue for withdrawal and defeat. In fact, at last night's debate, the leading contenders for the Democratic nomination couldn't even commit to a withdrawal.

Slowly, like a noose tightening around their necks, the leading Democratic candidates are starting to realize something: while the War in Iraq is not popular, a large percentage of American adults realize it was necessary.

The constant Democrat pandering to the Huffington Post and TheDailyKOS crowd is not without it's consequences. Come November next year Americans will cast ballots on a President. Many of those voters will vote on the person they feel can defend the country best in a time of war. Looking over the entire Democrat line-up does nothing to inspire those voters who consider national defense a key to their vote.

Regardless of what the Nutroots, the Mainstream Media and the Democratic candidates shovel out onto the news compost, a majority of Americans seem to liken the War in Iraq to cleaning out a hornets' nest in the garage: an unpleasant task, but it has to be done. And forget anyone else coming over to your garage to do it for you.

The Democrat Debate last night provided evidence of the dilemma the Dems have charged into. None now guaranteed a speedy withdrawal. TheDailyKOSsacks must have been spazzing out in suburban basements all across America. The 'Mad Pakistani Bomber', B. Hussein Obama: "I think it's hard to project four years from now," (from Yahoo News.


Perhaps the Democrats paused over this week's Rasmussen Poll which found that only 28% supported the abhorent MoveOn.org ad on "General Betray Us". 58% disapproved. Maybe Congressional Dems might want to rethink their disgusting attempts at turning the Petraeus Report hearings into one long Democrat Party election soundbite.

The Petraeus Report hearings will make an election commercial all right. Just not the one that opportunistic, defeatist Democrat Party pols thought they were getting.


DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DIGG THIS!
Back to FRONT PAGE

Daily Cox & Forkum

A littler reminder from C & F that the more things change the more they remain the same.

Their cartoon from September 2003.

by Mondoreb

DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DEMOCRATS ECSTATIC OVER ANOTHER CHANCE TO DECLARE "DEFEAT"

by MONDOREB ---The Conservative Spin

- - - --above: Democrats react to latest War in Iraq news. - - - - -


(Washington)--Partying "like it's 1976", Democratic Party leaders rejoiced Friday at, what may be, their last chance to declare "defeat" in the War in Iraq.

Leading Democrats seized on early news of a forthcoming report from the Government Accountability Office that Iraq has met only three out of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress as proof
that the president’s strategy in Iraq is failing to deliver and a new direction is needed to end the violence.

Interupting a heavy schedule of funneling federal earmarks to members of his family, Senate Leader Harry Reid said, "The forthcoming GAO report offers a clear assessment that a new direction in Iraq must begin immediately". Forgetting that the 'Troop Surge' was a new direction that Reid had previously called for, aides rushed to ensure that the senator had taken his daily Altzheimer's meds.

above: A Senate staffer for Henry Reid(D-Nv) prepares for upcoming Senate debate.

Stores in the DC area reported a run on champaign and fireworks, as Democrats scurried to celebrate US defeat before having to confront the much more disheartening news of possible victory later this month.

In other news about the Democratic drive to counter the more sobering victory reports, Washington, DC, police reported an "unusually heavy amount" of Democratic staff DUI (driving under influence) arrests Friday evening.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the report appears to be more negative than a July White House report on progress in Iraq, adding that President Bush is continuing to “stubbornly” refuse to change his strategy.

above: Picture of helicopter evacuating Saigon. Democratic Congress "vows that America not forget our last great foreign policy defeat. We worked for it, it's ours."

Citing the "lessons we painfully learned from Viet Nam", Democratic Congressional leader Nancy Pelosi Friday promised to "not quit in our struggle" to bring defeat in Iraq home to "every last man, woman and child in this great country of ours".

Democratic leaders announced late Friday evening that a candlelight vigil would be held next Tuesday to honor "past leaders of the Democratic Party, who held steady in their resolve not to let concepts of honor or victory deter us from our winning policies of defeat, both home and abroad."

Complete story about the Democrat leadership and the GAO report here..

DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.