How smart is Murtha?
Just got to thinking, that if, in fact, John Murtha is as wired into the military as has been reported, then he must've known that the military was drawing up plans for a troop reduction. If that's the case, his sudden announcement for redeployment takes on a whole new set of possible motivations.
Was he out front, trying to create public pressure to support Gen. Casey's hopes for withdrawal? Acting genuinely in concert with his military contacts to create political ground to help them push their plan?
Did he hear about plans being drawn up by the Bush administration to wait out the December elections, then declare victory and bring the troops home? Was this a preemptive move to make it appear that the Dems have driven this policy?
Was he trying to bring forth a political situation, like we have now, where the Congress came forward to defend the president, stating any withdrawal would be a failure? Think about it. By calling for redeployment, he created a situation where the Republican side of Congress predictably attacked him, saying that any withdrawal would be a sign of weakness. Now, the president will have to meet a nearly impossible threshold of success to characterize bringing the troops home as a victory.
If this is the case, this is brilliant jiu jitsu. He played on the Republican's preferred tactic of attack to lead them to a position of imbalance.
And notice, he chose the moment when the President was in China, and presidential staff was spread around the world unable to coordinate a response.
If any of these three speculations are true, I have to take my hat off once again to Rep. Murtha. Even though I would prefer to believe this was just a genuine outpouring of frustration, the more I look at this, the less I think it is so. The politics are just too good to be coincidental.
I'll say it again, Brilliant.
(The kernel for this idea came trading comments with JReid)
Was he out front, trying to create public pressure to support Gen. Casey's hopes for withdrawal? Acting genuinely in concert with his military contacts to create political ground to help them push their plan?
Did he hear about plans being drawn up by the Bush administration to wait out the December elections, then declare victory and bring the troops home? Was this a preemptive move to make it appear that the Dems have driven this policy?
Was he trying to bring forth a political situation, like we have now, where the Congress came forward to defend the president, stating any withdrawal would be a failure? Think about it. By calling for redeployment, he created a situation where the Republican side of Congress predictably attacked him, saying that any withdrawal would be a sign of weakness. Now, the president will have to meet a nearly impossible threshold of success to characterize bringing the troops home as a victory.
If this is the case, this is brilliant jiu jitsu. He played on the Republican's preferred tactic of attack to lead them to a position of imbalance.
And notice, he chose the moment when the President was in China, and presidential staff was spread around the world unable to coordinate a response.
If any of these three speculations are true, I have to take my hat off once again to Rep. Murtha. Even though I would prefer to believe this was just a genuine outpouring of frustration, the more I look at this, the less I think it is so. The politics are just too good to be coincidental.
I'll say it again, Brilliant.
(The kernel for this idea came trading comments with JReid)
posted by mikevotes at
10:01 AM
2 Comments:
There is a delightful logic in that argument. It is easy to overlook the power of judo politics in the midst of all the macho variety we are seeing.
I guess, faced with the bully approach, a bit of subtlety is both unexpected and more likely to make an impact in time.
Nothing quite so satisfying as to see the bully ‘Hoist on his own petard’.
By
Cartledge, at 4:40 PM
Well, you're correct, this would be brilliant if true. I'm not convinced, frankly, that Murtha is that brilliant. He's never really been out there on much of anything, on the national stage. I think it's more a case of serendipity. But you could be right, in which case, you'd be more brilliant than I even though!
Cephas
http://cephasworld.blogspot.com
By
Cephas, at 8:02 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home