so do what you wannna do? Murtha, Hoyer, not a lof of difference, Murtha is smart though; he channeled the professional military's unease with Iraq into his campaign for Majority Leader. The Dems won(and thus the disaffected generals) and Murtha lucked out since now there is a Majority Leader opening for which to run.

Just know what you are getting. An old line Abscam-type Democrat who like the Jim Wright's and Wilbur Mills' of old was a solid vote for the Pentagon, Social Security, Medicare and whatever project du jour the national liberals desire that Washington do instead of the states and local communities.
Hoyer who is pretty pro-military isn't much different.

So Murtha used troop withdrawal to grease the way for his ascent to power. Fine. But buyer beware. The Pentalgon always has plenty of use for the hundreds of billions that would be "saved" by an Iraq pullout. Don't expect too many federally-funded day care centers or a stabilization of Medicare liabilities just yet.

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With the greatest lack of respect when will you people in America face up to reality. To describe your country's action in Iraq as "failed and tragic" is close to being obscene. If you get control of the oil - which is tragically not unlikely - then you will have succeeded in your evil . "Criminal and evil" are the appropriate words to describe what has happened in Iraq

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Huffington is SO right about Iraq being the key to the Dems victory. If all of the Dems running had made it quite clear quite often that they favored a soonish withdrawal from Iraq then the Dem victory would have been even more overwhelming. If Dem centrists want to do the right thing they must move toward getting out of Iraq sooner rather than later and getting out permanently rather than having any permanent bases in Iraq. It's the casualties, stupid. We can buy oil the normal way, without committing mass murder.

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Yes, Iraq. And falsifying the reasons we're there in the first place. And dozens of bills that benefit corporate special interests at the expense of everyone else. And using 9/11 and the war on terror to dismantle the Bill of Rights, privacy, and increase the "imperial" presidency.

And lies. And more lies. And that smug condescending "father-know-best" way he tells them to us.

Actually. No. Just just Iraq. Not at all.

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Yes, Iraq was and continues to be an important issue but exit polling shows that people cared about other issues, too: corruption, the economy, and terrorism to name a few. It was also a referendum on Bush's performance in office: Katrina, healthcare (drugs and Medicare) and the environment. And let's not forget the failure of the Republican Congress to hold the President accountable for his numerous lies.

Having won, it would be a huge mistake for the Democrats to focus all of their attention on a single issue because what happens once you've finally succeeded in withdrawing from Iraq? While you've been focusing on that single issue, the Republicans will have recaptured the mainstream agenda once again and made it their own!

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As was reported by CNN:

"Early exit polls showed voters disapproved of the war in Iraq by a large margin, but voters said corruption and ethics were more important to their vote, CNN said."

Huffington is focusing on Iraq and not on the corruption issues. I think I remember some recent polls that suggested over half the people in the U.S. would support impeachment of Bush and even criminal charges. That's what people are really upset about, but is Huffington on top of that issue? Or is she just promoting the new/old "Israel First" Democratic Party Line?

The Chicago Tribune wrote:

"After six years of near-total Republican domination, voters repudiated President Bush, the Iraq war and the GOP-led Congress on Tuesday, handing control of the House of Representatives to Democrats, placing Republican hold of the Senate in doubt and upending the balance of power in Washington. The election, which centered on war, scandal and an array of anxieties about illegal immigration, high gasoline prices and embryonic stem cell research, abruptly ended 12 years of Republican rule in the House, casting out incumbents in every region of the country. ..."

Notice how the corruption issues mentioned by CNN exit polls as being the chief concern of the people are mentioned only briefly in the Chi. Trib. - a single word: scandal - while the focus gets put on the war, (which is certainly an outgrowth of corruption in the Bush Administration), immigration, high prices, and - geeze, how did that get in there - "stem cell research"?? Did they miss the exit polls that said: "voters disapproved of the war in Iraq by a large margin, but voters said corruption and ethics were more important to their vote."

You know: corruption, lies about WMDs, corruption of the Media, criminal behavior that needs to be investigated and prosecuted criminally?!

It's sounding more like a set-up all the time: "hey, we'll let you Dems take the elections so it gets the heat off of us from the people who are ranting that we are fascists, meanwhile, you just make sure that nobody gets called on the carpet and/or raked over the coals! We don't want any REAL truth and justice and the American Way in Washington, ya know!"

The Trib article then goes on to say:

" Democrats have vowed to raise the minimum wage, allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies, make college tuition tax deductible and implement all of the recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission to secure the nation's borders and ports. They have also promised to expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research, which Bush gave his first, and only, veto to this year."

But wait a minnit! What about the exit polls that said: "voters disapproved of the war in Iraq by a large margin, but voters said corruption and ethics were more important to their vote."??

Sure, raising the minimum wage is a good idea, helping medicare and students out is all fine and good, but what about investigating the lies that led us into the Iraq War? What about investigating the complete lie of 9/11?

What's this about "securing the nation's borders and ports"? That sounds like they are just going to continue the Bush Zio-con agenda while handing out candy to the crowd. And again, "stem-cell research"??!!

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for stem-cell research if it is conducted ethically. I'm also pro-choice. But how did this become a "talking point" when what is really upsetting Americans is corruption and lack of ethics in government?

We need some investigations - independent ones at that - and some arrests and prosecutions! We want ACCOUNTABILITY Geeze, Huff! they've murdered over 600,000 innocent people! Don't you get it?

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You say, "Don't let the DLC and DCCC spin-meisters fool you. This election was not a mandate for the Democratic Party to run to the middle. It was a mandate for the Democratic Party to do everything in its power to get us out of Iraq -- rapidly and responsibly."

Yes, the DLC and other corrupting establishment forces (most notably the corporate controlled MSM) will attempt to draw the Democratic Party to the center --- because it is a 'center' that the ruling-elite can control.

And yes, the peoples vote to get out of Iraq, and get out of war, was and IS the mandate of this pivotal vote by the people.

But Huffington doesn't follow the heartfelt reality of the peoples' loud vote far enough.

The popular vote is not only left of Bush's disastrous oil-war policy in Iraq, not only left of the acceptable 'establishment center', not only left of the DLC democracy co-opters, but is even left (and more progressive than) the establishment Democratic Party and the establishment media.

Let's just think about what the American people --- the vast majority of the working people --- were voting to end.

Sure the war in Iraq. But more than that, they were voting to end an unjust, illegal, immoral, and non-democratically started war of EMPIRE ---- and thus they were voting against empire itself.

The same global corporate ruling-elite empire that started this imperial oil-war in Iraq (for their own purposes), and who used non-democratic means (including lies, a faux-president, and heplful media cheerleaders) to start the oil-war of empire, also used imperial power within the US to silence debate, discussion, dissent, and even free speech about carrying out such an obviously flawed war of empire.

The same ruling elite empire that started the war (that the people have just voted against) used their moneyed power and influence to fund their imperial hubris and oil-war with the peoples' own money and the peoples' own military forces, and the peoples' own childrens' lives.

This deadly empire of power-elites used the peoples' treasure, the peoples' blood, and the peoples' good name of our country to start an imperial war for oil to sustain their own corrupt Ponzi scheme of looting and fantastic wealth concentration in the hands of a tiny minority of malefactors of great wealth and undue political control ----- and the people voted against this scheme of EMPIRE resoundingly.

This was a vote agaisnt the Iraq war.

But even more importantly for the survival of democracy:

this was a vote against war of EMPIRE

this was a vote against polictical control by EMPIRE

this was a vote against theft by EMPIRE

this was a vote against the lies of EMPIRE

and this was a vote against the very concept of ELITE-RULE which is the very heart of all EMPIRES.

History may well record that in the seemingly unimportant, 'off-year' elections of 2006 the people of America were the first free people, in the world's last struggling but resilient democracy, to overtly, loudly, and resoundingly vote, through popular election, against allowing their country to quietly fall into empire.

In all of history, many people have allowed, and even voted for, their countries to morph to empire ---- often based on the lure of 'war spoils' sold to them by the elites who always prefer empire to democracy.

But the average American people, unlike the Romans, the Spanish, the British and the Germans choose to make a stand for democracy when offered the crumbs of imperial conquest (in this case, the implied elite offer of cheap gas ---- the price of which had been so obviously manipulated down prior to election day).

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All three reasons as stated by the exit pollers and the leadership of the religious right. Murtha would be good in leading us out of Iraq, but leadership would also include moving forward with a progressive agenda, and I don't think he is capable of that.

He would have to raise taxes for the very wealthy and profiteering bonus taxes on oil companies and cut defense budget to finance a progressive agenda along with reducing the deficit. I think it would be poetic justice to have the oil companies, halliburton, bechtel, carlyle group etc to pay additional taxes to all of those above until the deficit is in balance. Now that would definitely be poetic justice. LOL

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Murtha will always be helpful to the cause, but neither he nor Pelosi are going to be able to end the war. Bush is in the driver's seat.

The one thing the Democrats can do to get us out of Iraq soon is push for the kind of solution that is outlined here:
Withdraw From Iraq In 3-6 Months

Not cut and run. Substitute and get the hell out of the way.

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A few points I've noted: Arianna did not support Dennis Kucinich, one of the few who voted and railed against getting into Iraq. What was she thinking or drinking? Ditto Molly Ivins.

Murtha did support the Iraq War, when millions of people around the world were marching against the idea.

Murtha's resolution, easily found in full online, and discussed in Their Barbarism and Ours appears to include aerial bombing.

Kucinich's Plan for getting out of Iraq still seem like the best to me. My reservation was getting enough U.N. Troops, but if we kick Bolton out, we'd be headed in the right direction.

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I think the natives got restless and the Powerful tossed the dogs a bone. Raise minimum wage, the only $5.15 states are the ones still voting red. The people of Iraq are going to throw us out if we do not pull out. That is their only chance for survival. I keep hearing that there is little comparison between Iraq and Nam, the problem is the idiots did not learn the lesson of Nam. If you invade a country, you have to be willing to kill every body in that country and take what you want. When invasion turns into occupation the homeboys will bushwhack you forever. Therefore, can Murtha get us out of Iraq before they throw us out? I doubt it. Bush can save face though, “I would have stayed the course and won but the devils made me do it”.

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No not just the war. The dems did win because of the Iraqi war; but there was more...this war has as many tentacles as 8 octopusi, and Americans don't like any of them. Civil Liberties, and the miserable failure of Katrina are both linked to the war, Americans having to cope with TORTURE is linked, as is the continuing dismantle of our Constitution. Even Viet Nam had fewer issues. American's don't like any of it.
ALOHA and PEACE

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Excuse me, but while many Americans recognized that American involvement in Vietnam was wrong--some even went to jail or became Canadian citizens to avoid service, Jack Murtha has never apologized for his service in Vietnam or said that war was wrong (as far as I know). He learned so little from the Vietnam experience that he supported the illegal invasion of Iraq. This man is too stupid to learn from experience and, frankly, should not be allowed anywhere near a position of power. If you can't look at what happened in the past and think about what might be the consequences of your decisions, you're too dangerous to be majority leader.

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If we can get off our "addiction to oil," we can ignore the Muslim barbarians out there, except when they're committing genocide someplace. This is what the American people really want. If Murtha can articulate that, great.

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Its simply amazing how arrogant, condescending commentators like Arianna, and Molly Ivins (to name two) can label themselves as "progressives" while covertly supporting the "stay the course" strategy in Iraq. I have YET to hear ONE so-called progressive (other than Dennis Kucinich) state unequivocally and forcefully that the troops need to be withdrawn IMMEDIATELY. They 'hem & haw' around the idea of a timeline, and in the meantime people continue to die there.

The bottom line: the PTB, which naturally includes the commentators, know that failure to seize control of Iraq's oil fields will put the US in an untenable position for the future. The fight to control the world's depleting resources should rate headlines in all media outlets everyday. Why? Because its the most important geopolitical development in today's global economy, by far. As I type this, nations are frantically updating their weapons systems for the ultimate fight for energy resources that cannot be avoided. Those that do not have access to nuclear weapons technology are desperately attempting to get it, by any means necessary.

It will be the fight for energy that will determine how everyone in the industrial world will live on a day to day basis. The losers in the coming wars will see their standards of living decimated. Citizens living in the "winning" nations might also be in the same boat due to the fallout of the wars, but at least their governments and elites will have access to oil (if that's a good thing...).

This is why so-called "progressives" will never advocate for withdrawal from Iraq. Its time that the masses become aware that their way of life is inextricably bound to the events in the Middle East. For so many, their connection with the genocide being committed there is limited to sanitized pictures on the tube. That won't last for long.

Just as a fish rots from the head, the empire is morally dead - if morally it was ever alive. Look for more declarations from the PTB of "we have to win" as the situation gets more desperate. I believe that McCain has already started this. It doesn't matter how many brown people need to be killed in order to "win." The world is about to be plunged into chaos over energy, and most are not even aware of how tenuous things are right now.

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China's announcement that it will begin diversifying its reserves, most likely into the Sterling and Euro, should be considered a very important, related topic. The Chinese went on to say that they are not actually sellling the dollar at this time but that is certain to change in the next year or even less.

This is where Iraq or some other hapless oil-rich nation comes into the picture. The US dollar has become nothing more than fiat currency and with a gutted industrial infrastructure, bust housing market and three trillion dollar deficit, there is no reason to assume the dollar will not collapse within the next 3-5 years. The simple truth is that it's only being propped up by the international oil market and when the dollar no longer reigns supreme in that realm, the end is very near. The only way to maintain the dollar's preeminence is to control the oil. Murtha will have his hands full trying to get us out of Iraq especially when we never had any intention of leaving in the first place.

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While Jack Murtha may not be what I consider an ideal choice I think there are several good, practical reasons for his becomming Majority Leader.

1. Even though Murtha is (as noted above) something of an old-line Jim-Wright kind of congressman, his leadership on Iraq has been a powerful catalyst for change on that issue, which is what people voted for in this election!

2. Many of the newly elected Dems in the House actaully ran to the right of the Repugs they defeated, we have a D majority, yes, but a lot of those new Ds strike me as being DINOs who will need to be kept in line on many issues and I think Jack Murtha is better suited to this task than Steny Hoyer, who I consider one of those sleazy corporatist ass-kissing DLC back-door-dealin' sell-outs (and a major slime-ball to boot).

3. Murtha as Majority Leader will go a long way to shutting up critics who still insist that Dems are somehow "soft" on national security issues.

Like I said, Murtha is not an ideal choice, but given the alternative, I'll take him over Hoyer any day!

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"Don't let the DLC and DCCC spin-meisters fool you. This election was not a mandate for the Democratic Party to run to the middle. It was a mandate for the Democratic Party to do everything in its power to get us out of Iraq -- rapidly and responsibly."

Do you really believe that? I don't. It wasn't about getting us out of Iraq.....if it was, then they would have supported ALL progressive candidates. Amazing how hindsight is always 20-20? Our democratic candidate didn't get ANY support and she was all for getting us out of Iraq. Dr. Dean's crowd is the old guard, we did take back the country, now we have to finish the job. WE need the progressives to step forward and kick the old guard democrats into retirement.

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Face it: the middle class in America (of whom neither Murtha, Pelosi or Arianna is really a member) are the ones who paid for the Iraqi war; the corporate-protected wealthy class got even richer due to lucrative government contracts doled out at home and abroad. The result? A massive deficit and an economy on the verge of collapse.

Anyone else notice how gas prices are jumping right after the election? Who wants to bet it'll be back to $3 a gallon in a few months (if not sooner)?

Face something else: Congress doesn't have much control over the troops, and Bush & Co. are trying to squelch dissent among the troops. If US soldiers in a failed occupation ever needed your support, they do now. What can Congress do about this? A good first step might be to get the 'permanent military bases' removed.

For the details of the economic picture, check out this excellent diary at dailykos:
Speaker Pelosi, We've Got BIG Economic Problems, Pt. 1 by bonddad

The combination of bloated government contracts and no taxes on the wealthy are destroying the US economy - and guess who the Republicans will blame for the mess come 2008?

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In my opinion, Murtha is just a big, fat, gutless coward
who is hiding behind his Marine service to avoid critizism.
He was after the house leadership from the start of his
so-called redeployment ie: cut&run from Iraq.
I am more highly decorated than Murtha(Special Forces
Vietnam) so his record doesn't impress me. He has defamed
the USMC by his actions and they will remember him next
election after the Dems try to dishonor the heroic serice of
our military in Iraq in the next two years. May God have
mercy on us citizens of the United States under Dem control.

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I'm afraid that Ariana is only HALF right.....

Yes, this WAS a mandate, but not by the Dems (many of whom, I would assume, never really thought they had much of a chance). This was a mandate from the American people. And although Iraq played a major role in the Vox Populi, it was certainly NOT the only one. I think America finally did what we all have been ranting and railing and grousing and praying over: changing the tide from arrogance and incompetance in the 'good old boy' network to leaders who will actually act on behalf of the constituants who elected them. The will of the people has be shaped, spun, dismissed, and ignored - and we won't stand for it any more!

If the election solves nothing else, the removal of the evil and heartless Donald Rumsfeld is a godsend. Did you notice his parting swipes at the American people? Apparantly, we're too stupid to grasp the 'complexities' of the Iraq war. He's always been a sore winner, now he's a sore loser. He's out of a job, but his arrogance marches on.....

I believe that something in America just snapped. We've been force fed spin and agendas and BS and all of that for so long - through two fraudulent elections, Downing Street, Valerie Plame, Katrina, etc. - that the public psyche just overloaded. We all became Howard Beale; mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!

So now comes the hard part: living up to our promises. No more finger pointing, labeling, nor other negative behavior that taints our intent. We must remain true to our intentions. Progressive talk radio should stop gloating and sounding as ceptic as Rush or Sean. We don't have to act desperate anymore! We're in charge, now let's take charge and be true leaders.

Oh, and if we want a progressive President, stop touting Hillary as 'the' candidate. She won't win, and we'll end up handing this back to some other NeoCon nutcase.......

God Bless America!

peace

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I am so sick of people posting that we, the American people, voted for this war via our representatives. FIrst off, there's no way anyone could know a vote for this or that individual might mean a vote for an endless war which will cost millions of lives! That's ridiculous! Yet we, the people, are blamed over and over again for what congress/the hors give the "Commander-In-Chief" power to do. The US government stopped being the voice of the people long ago and our involvment in the system is superficial at best, theatre of the absurd at worst. About Murtha, though...

I wonder if he'd be so equivocating had the US been occupied by a foreign power and almost one million US dead both directly and indirectly because of it. The utter nonchalance these folks use is enough to make you sick! Worst of all is that Murtha, a man who I have to assume has some intelligence, remains mum on the real reasons why we went to Iraq in the first place and how those reasons are tied to the current structure of the US empire. j

Okay, thanks for listening. I'll take a nap now.

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42 percent of Americans now believe that our government at least had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks and I think it is 30 percent now believe that our government was complicit in 9/11. Remember 9/11 led directly to Iraq. An attack by a government on it's own people is the most criminal act a government can ever commit beecuse it violates the very premise of government, which is the collective protection of it's members above and beyond the protection any individual could provide for him or her self. I think this was also in the minds of the voters. The re-opening of teh 9/11 investigation should also be part of the new agenda being formulated by the Democrats.

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the corruption from this ill-begotten war. Everything the Bush administration touched is suspect. We do need to ferret out the truth about the secret dealings and misdeeds of the last six years and bring the perpetrators to justice. The alternative is to continue to perpetuate the cynicism and mistrust of government that has created the current toxic political environment with its bitter divisivness and its proliferating conspiracy theories . If we are to continue claiming that we are an open, participatory democracy, the people deserved to know the truth and to see justice served.

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IMPEACH IMPEACH IMPEACH IMPEACH - PROCECUTE PROCECUTE PROCECUTE PROCECUTE PROCECUTE -
EACH AND EVERYONE OF THOSE BASTARDS IN THE ADMINISTRATION and maybe two or three of the peripheral players. Don't let them finish their terms and then write a best seller and get off scot free.

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