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   Memo: The way forward on health care reform in 2010.
 A dark legacy of the Vietnam War is creating a whole new set of problems.
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March 19, 2009
PLAYING GAMES WITH CHRIS HILL.... President Obama recently nominated Christopher Hill to be next U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, and as nominations go, this should be one of the easier ones. He's an experienced diplomat who enjoys bipartisan support. There are more than enough votes to confirm him, even if he's subjected to a filibuster. And yet, several Senate Republicans are playing an annoying game. For a while, Hill's GOP critics complained that Hill doesn't speak Arabic and lacks experience in the Middle East. That argument fell apart when we realized that those same Republicans voted to confirm John Negroponte as ambassador to Iraq in 2004 -- and Negroponte doesn't speak Arabic and lacked experience in the Middle East. The same Republicans suggested Hill lacked institutional support needed to do the job. This, too, fell apart when Negroponte, Zalmay Khalilizad, and Ryan Crocker endorsed Hill's nomination, which was followed by support from Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But several conservative Republicans -- most notably John McCain and Lindsey Graham -- continue to fight a losing battle against a qualified nominee anyway. Laura Rozen reports today that the GOP obstructionism is starting to annoy U.S. military leaders.
Let me get this straight. Hill is qualified and has the bipartisan support needed to win confirmation. He supports the same U.S. policy that's won plaudits from policymakers in both parties. He's ready to get to work, and U.S. military leaders believes his service is needed right away. And John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Sam Brownback are still playing partisan games? A Senate Democratic foreign-policy staffer told Rozen, "Why are they dicking around and not putting an ambassador in there if Iraq is so important?" —Steve Benen 11:10 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (15)Comments
Why are they dicking around? Because they're dicks. Posted by: Screamin' Demon on March 19, 2009 at 11:15 AM | PERMALINK"Why are they dicking around?" too bad this staffer (and maybe his boss) doesn't come right out and say this publicly. it's time to start slapping these morons around and show the american public the stupid games they're playing, and sometime strong language is better at getting the point across. Posted by: just bill on March 19, 2009 at 11:26 AM | PERMALINK"Why are they dicking around and not putting an ambassador in there if Iraq is so important?" Because they're Republicans and they aren't in charge. Posted by: Michigoose on March 19, 2009 at 11:30 AM | PERMALINKThe interesting thing is that Obama is not expending any political energy on this. Instead he is allowing Hill supporters to slowly weigh in on how necessary this is. Meanwhile, McCain and Graham lose any admiration they enjoyed with the military and diplomats. But as long as Obama keeps out of it, they only lose. Obama is letting a consensus build for Hill and against GOP obstructionism just by staying silent. Pretty smart. He is doing something similar with the bonus issue. He supports Geithner, but is only interested in using the outrage to get legislation to prevent future melt-downs. He doesn't really care about the bonuses, just use them as examples of greed an corruption in the business world. Meanwhile, he knows that the Fed can always step in and do exactly what TARP was supposed to do, TARP is his backup plan, used to fuel outrage and spur regulatory reform. Very smart. Posted by: tomj on March 19, 2009 at 11:31 AM | PERMALINKsurely McCain and his shadow should apologize for showing such disrespect to General Petraeus! oh yeah. only Democrats are expected to do that. my bad. Posted by: zeitgeist on March 19, 2009 at 11:33 AM | PERMALINK"Why are they dicking around and not putting an ambassador in there if Iraq is so important?" because loser McAce, and sissy-pants Graham and obstructionist Brownback, are dicks. Posted by: Stevio on March 19, 2009 at 11:35 AM | PERMALINKwhy do loser McAce, and sissy-pants Graham and obstructionist Brownback hate the troops so much? Posted by: stevio on March 19, 2009 at 11:37 AM | PERMALINKI suggest Generals Petraeus & Odierno call these nimrods and give them a good kick in the ass. The games continue as usual. And John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Sam Brownback are still playing partisan games? Y'know, just the threat of discussing, or even merely discussing the threat of discussing, a military coup against these three guys would not only end the obstructionist agenda of "the Party of Limbaugh", but it would go a long, long way towards releasing a lot of the pent-up rage fomented by the Right. It might even make the Beckster and his little action-figure muppet, Norris, politically irrelevant.... Posted by: Steve W. on March 19, 2009 at 12:10 PM | PERMALINKNice catch, tomj. Obama does keep doing things like this. (I remember that, during one of the eruptions of 'Obama will never win because he won't attackattackATTACK!!' I got some flak for comparing him to the Sheepdog in the obscure Warner Brothers "Wolf and Sheepdog" cartoon series -- who always did nothing while the Wolf started these immensely complicated plots, then, at the very last moment and with the minimum of effort, ducked and turned the plot against the Wolf. I still like the comparison.) One thing I will say. I can imagine doing many things with President Obama were the impossible happen and I should actually meet him. But playing poker with him? No Frakkin' Way Posted by: Prup (aka Jim Benton) on March 19, 2009 at 12:43 PM | PERMALINKWithdraw the nomination. Appoint John McCain as Iraq ambassador. Everyone wins (except the Iraqis)! Posted by: Michael Cohen on March 19, 2009 at 1:00 PM | PERMALINKIf it talks like a dick and dicks like a dick... ...it must be John McCain, because Lindsay Graham talks like a chick. Posted by: Capt Kirk on March 19, 2009 at 1:29 PM | PERMALINKThank you Capt. You went beyond the obvious! Posted by: Cal Gal on March 19, 2009 at 5:41 PM | PERMALINK
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