Pew Is Ridiculous

One of my pet peeves in the arena of politics is pollster’s phrasing of questions.  More often than not, they’re phrased poorly.  Case in point today: a Pew poll asking about Iraq, specifically the Iraq “war”.  The problem I have is with the larger message.  Are we battling the Iraqi government and military today?  No.  Our military is fighting against guerilla elements, only some of which having an association with the Iraqi government.  No, the United States is occupying Iraq, against their will and against the will of Americans.  Nobody in the corporate media and its lackeys is willing to admit to this, however.

And here is why it matters: if the debate about Iraq centered around our occupation and not a war against its forces, more Americans would demand an end to that occupation.  Admittedly, a majority of Americans continue to think the Iraq invasion was a bad idea and a majority also want American troops to come home.  In the face of Bush’s Bailout, which could cost $700 billion or more, Americans would be quite adamant about returning troops stateside, recognizing the continuing costs of occupying Iraq are too much to handle.

The quixotic wording of Pew’s questions has led to 58% surveyed saying the Iraq “war” is going well and 58% saying the U.S. is winning.  It’s the winning question that really gets to me.  We won the war, a very, very short time after we invaded.  Since Mission Accomplished, U.S. forces have been occupying Iraq.  The Iraqis continue to have no successful political progress, despite the escalation Bush ordered last year.  As such, how is America winning the occupation?  What is the end goal of that occupation that America is theoretically moving toward?  Organizations like Pew won’t ask those questions.  And this country continues to bleed $12 billion per month as well as more servicemember casualties because of it.

Joan Fitz-Gerald on Jay Marvin Show

This morning, Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald spoke with the morning talk-show host for the Denver/Boulder area, Jay Marvin on AM760. Joan is running to represent Colorado’s 2nd congressional district (CO-02). Her Democratic opponents include Jared Polis and Will Shafroth. There is an Aug. 12th primary election that will decide who the Democratic nominee for the seat will be. Then in November, the winner will face off against other party opponents. As CO-02 is solidly Democratic, the primary really constitutes the only meaningful race. The current CO-02 representative, Mark Udall, is running for the open U.S. Senate seat. Thus, there is no incumbent.

Joan started the conversation by telling Jay she has a sense of urgency about the state of the country that she doesn’t see in other members of Congress. She spoke about inertia in our political system. I think this was likely in reference to introducing “new” concepts/policies and getting them implemented. My opinion? Democrats have had a harder time than Republicans. Look at what Republicans passed in the six years from 2001 to 2006. Will Joan lead the charge to introduce progressive policies if elected?

She was asked to list her top three issues. She named the war, the economy, and health care as top concerns CO-02 residents identify. Then she went into some detail about each.

She said she was the only candidate who supported immediate withdrawal. I don’t consider this to be true. Jared Polis helped craft something called “The Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq“. Currently, 54 Democratic House candidates have endorsed it. Joan Fitz-Gerald is not one of them. She has said it is a bad plan, that it won’t accomplish what it says it will. I’m not aware of any specific points she disagrees with. And I definitely haven’t heard any specifics on how she would propose we immediately withdraw from Iraq. Unfortunately, this sounds just like climate change delayers: criticize everybody else’s plans, but don’t come up with your own. I don’t consider that to be leadership.

Iraq Occupation Charge on Your Bill

How long does John McCain want us to stay in Iraq?

Regardless who the Democratic nominee for president is, they have to beat McCain in November.

Bits like this will certainly help.

Sound bites

I just read this over at SquareState. Part of me applauds Rep. Udall for making the trip to Afghanistan to get a better idea of what conditions might actually be like over there. Another part can’t give a shit less. It’s all words – Democratic politicians just want to make enough noise in the press to make it seem like they really care a lick about what’s going on in the region. If they really felt that Afghanistan and Pakistan posed the kind of threat they talk about, they would have forced Bush’s hand by now. But somehow, they view the situation as politically expedient for themselves as well.

And note: despite Udall’s mention of Pakistan, where was the announcement of a plan to do something about that country? A nation (with a former U.S.-supported dictator re-exerting dictatorial rule) that we arm and supply to the teeth has a governmental crisis on its hands. Oh, and they have nuclear weapons at their disposal. But where is the rebuke to our Dear Leader to stop bullshitting about Iran and get serious about Pakistan’s crisis?

Another thing that has bothered me about the Iraq/Afghanistan debacle is the amount of taxpayer dollars being funneled into the toilet. You’ve probably heard that argument before, but here’s my more personal take on it. Every dollar we spend over there is one less dollar for our single-payer health care system. It’s one less dollar for public education funding preschool through college. It’s one less dollar going to fight the greatest threat that we are facing: global warming. Folks, this planet will change in ways we can’t imagine. The Earth my children (if I ever have any) grow up in will not be recognizable to you or I today. And every dollar we waste on financing mercenaries and fraud is a dollar that should have gone to mitigate our horrendous treatment of this planet.

Every dollar we waste to fund an illegal occupation means we’ll have to waste more and more dollars to react to the next series of terrorist attacks. And we’ll face more attacks, but not for the reasons the fringe right would have you believe. We’ll be attacked again because we have a military presence in other people’s countries. And forget the bullshit that neocons spout about that’s the responsibility of being a superpower. Why shouldn’t being a superpower include supporting the will of the world’s populace? The vast majority of us just want to live our lives. Why do we continue to prop up dictators and governments hostile to their people’s interests? That’s why America’s standing in the world is in the toilet.

So stop sending out releases like this, Rep. Udall.  Or if you truly believe the words you put in them, then pay attention to the people you’re paid to represent.  Take action and show some guts.  If you don’t, why should I donate to your campaign?  Why should I vote for you?