Iraqis are Ready to Discuss U.S. Pullout

Note: Links to NYT article. This requires a free online subscription

While opinions differ widely on both ends of the political spectrum, it seems that the majority of Americans are, at this time, at least supportive of a set timetable for coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq. Apparently, the Iraqi government supports this initiative as well. At a conference in Cairo, Iraqi officials from all major parties called on the twenty-first for a timetable for U.S. and coalition troops to leave Iraq's fledgling military to its own resources.
While there were compromises and concessions made (welcome to Realpolitik 101), Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish officials have agreed that it is in the best interests of Iraq for us to set a date, within the next year or so, to gradually brings our troops home. While this is not a complete victory for certain factions who wish for an immediate and complete abandonment, it is certainly a long stride toward forcing the hand of our current administration to relieve our brave soldiers of the burden they currently bear. If this leads to a successful timetable, we'll have the satisfaction of knowing that we won't be in Iraq for the rest of the decade, and our troops will come home with the knowledge of a job well done.

GOP Separatism and the Difference Between Neocons and Traditional Republicans

First off, the article linked to in the post title is only a starting point for this topic- How Congressional Republicans are beginning to distance themselves from the White House and the Neocon stereotype.
Recently, House and Senate Republicans have begun distancing themselves from the Neocon political ideology of the Bush White House. This is largely due to severely declining support for the current conflict in Iraq, but is built also on a by-and-large rejection of policy proposals falling in line with that ideology (i.e., privatization of Social Security and Medicare, the non-traditional Neocon support for illegal immigrants, etc.). Some Republicans and Democrats with more traditional leanings may be confused by this concept, so let the ol' vet put it into perspective for you: Bush, Cheney, et al are NOT normal conservatives. They fall into a category referred to as Neocons, which differs on a large scale from traditional conservatism. One example is the Neocon policy toward illegal immigrants: Neocons typically support (or, at least, don't reject) illegal immigration into the country, as their take is that these immigrants mostly take jobs that Americans don't want, and aren't a large burden on government social programs. The traditional Conservative take on this subject is that illegal immigration should be stopped in its tracks, as regardless of whether Americans want those jobs, they NEED them. Also, traditional Conservatives feel that illegals DO create a significant burden on the government (while not paying taxes), and therefore should be removed, forcibly if necessary. Another example is the excessive spending that has taken place in the last few years under this administration. Traditional Conservatives are great supporters of fiscal responsibility, i.e. not spending more than we can afford to. The current administration has financed our current conflict not with slight tax raises, as is the more traditional way of financing a war, but mostly with foreign loans. Yes, a large portion of the money financing this conflict has come from borrowing. We'll be owing that back, with interest, here in just a few years. Traditional Conservatives wouldn't like that very much. Let me reiterate that for you: Traditional Conservatives would raise taxes as opposed to borrowing foreign money for this war. The current administration's tax cuts, combined with non-efficient spending on foreign military engagements, has destroyed the federal budget. Whatever happened to fiscal conservatism? It was left behind a couple of decades ago. Bush is a fiscal liberal. That's what a Neocon is.
I'd go on with this rant, but the vet is severely ill at the moment. More later.

Cheney Hate in My Adopted State

According to Duncan Mansfield (AP), anti-war protestors directed their anger at the Vice President at the groundbreaking of a new public policy center in Knoxville, TN. The Baker Center, named for former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (who was honored at the event) is, in Mansfield's words, "being created to foster greater appreciation of public service and understanding of government." Baker was a major player in the downfall of fmr. President Richard Nixon.

While the event only featured Mr. Cheney as a guest speaker, it's good to see some members of the home team down here in Tennessee (so long as there's no pie-throwing involved). Some may question the reasoning behind this protest, as the purpose of the event had nothing to do with the current administration's policies, nor was Cheney there specifically to continue leading the nation on. However, this is yet another sign of the growing unrest throughout the nation, to include the red states. What would Bill Frist have to say?

As Barely Noticed on the MSNBC Ticker...

This morning around 6:10 or so, while watching Imus, the veteran observed a short headline in the ticker, pronouncing that a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage has passed a Senate panel headed by Kansas Republican Sam Brownback. This is the worst kind of sliding-it-in, because few people (except those like me who are overly observant of news tickers), will have seen it. I couldn't find anything on MSNBC.com about it, and at the time, there was no mention of it on any of the morning newscasts I was flipping through. If you have any gay friends, are gay yourself, or support the idea that marriage is up to couples and churches and not the federal government, tell whomever you can about this sneak attack on the rights of same-sex couples everywhere. Hopefully it will be defeated (again).

New Work for Miers

So, whatever happened to dear old Harriet Miers, you ask? The President has given this White House counselor a new and difficult task- To train White House staff on ethics. Following the indictment of former Deputy Chief of Staff Lewis Libby, President Bush has ordered that all staff take courses in ethics to prevent such a problem occuring again. While this may just be a move to pacify the constituency, perhaps in the wake of DeLay, Frist, Libby et al, this will be just the thing to revitalize the White House. The original article can be found at MSNBC.