Classic Don
The C-Man for All-AK got his 5 minutes on the floor today to address the Iraq war resolution. I entirely respect that Don Young and I might have different views on the resolution. But what I don't respect is that he made a number of inexcusable factual mistakes.
He begins by citing the bogus Lincoln quotation:
Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged
And then asserted that support of this resolution implies that funding will be cut off in the future. The resolution makes no reference to funding and to imply otherwise pre-empts a debate that is sure to divide the Democratic Party in the near future.
He casually calls the Khmer Rouge the "Cameron Rouge" which sounds either like an actor or a make-up, I'm not sure which.
And he implies that Congress stood behind every presidential war effort up until Vietnam, which I have difficulty swallowing, given past debates over Truman's use of nuclear weapons, the America Firsters in World War I, and many more.
(I haven't been able to find the text of the address yet but I did hear it so you'll have to assume I'm getting everything right.)
Is it too much to ask that our only congressman - and his staff - could have the wherewithal to factually express their support of this war?
By "Classic Don" I mean "completely wrong."
5 comments:
Sounds to me like Don Young got it right and the little people from the left are left to nit pick his comments lacking any clear vision of their own.
A couple points. Congress was not unanimous in its support of WWI nor WWII. Neither war was supported by 100% of congressmen. However, congress did not vote on, much less debate, non-binding resolutions that showed sympathy for the enemy once the war had started. Congressmen did not go on national television to call the President a war criminal in the time of war.
Congressmen who engage in such activities should be arrested, exiled, or hanged, regardless who that quote can be attributed to.
You cannot dismiss the Khmer Rouge comment because of a mispronunciation. Iraq is poised to devolve into another Cambodia. One of the greatest failures of civilized mankind is that we stood by and let Pol Pot slaughter millions of his own people, just because we were afraid of how his Soviet allies would respond.
Brian
(note: the new Blogger sucks)
To take it a step further: Non-binding resolutions are like promising I won’t get a gal pregnant by expressing this wish publicly, after the fact. However, I can do what boys and girls do in the dark, but by golly, I expressed my wish didn’t I? It takes two to tango and trying to disassociation themselves by a non-binding resolution is sheer stupidity. It’s like blaming the girl for what we did together. Taking responsibility is a sign of maturity.
I share your frustration with Mr. Young; he is inchoate at the best of times yet seems to revel in his missteps, consequently we (Alaskans) are sometimes seen in the same light as Mr. Young. Since he just won his election, he will be free to gloat until the next election. I had supported him (grudgingly) in past as we need a pro-development slant in our federal legislators. No more. He showed his true colors when immediately after the election he started talking about his Alabama, or was it Arkansas connection. It doesn’t matter which state so much as it wasn’t connected to Alaska in any way, shape or form. I am looking forward to working for Halcro on the next go around.
Cameron Rouge? I hadn't heard that one. Add it to: "Pribilof's Dog," "Mute Point" and other Don Youngisms.
What a "maroon." And he's all ours!
Now you have me snickering thinking of the Youngisms; his should be the leapersenatative for all of Alaska.
This is a classic example of Republican hypocrisy. Their argument since Dubyah got us into the mess in Iraq was that one could not question anything without being a traitor, and that it was impossible to support the troops but not the mission.
Of course, this was not the tune they were singing when Clinton was in office. By which I offer one of Don Young's press releases from that time regarding Kosovo.
http://donyoung.house.gov/PressRelease.aspx?NewsID=1265
The headline reads: "REP. YOUNG SUPPORTS U.S. TROOPS, NOT KOSOVO MISSION"
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