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It's 2007, and we better condemn the Young Turks because the genocide survivors are, Nancy said, "very old." (HINT: Most have long since died.)

By Mark Kilmer Posted in Archived — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sunday, October 14, 2007

First on FOX News Sunday, with Brit Hume in for Chris Wallace, House Republican leader John Boehner accused Democrats of playing political games with both the SCHIP vote and the strange resolution, out-of-the-blue, on the Young Turks killing the Armenians, 1915-1917.

Next on FNS, Steny Hoyer proclaimed that the SCHIP vote was a "defining moment for the Republican Party." Will they choose to be compassionate or to follow their leaders blindly? On the World War I resolution, Hoyer scolded the Turkish government with being more concerned about a Congressional resolution than with their own security problems. (Likewise, I'll add, the Congressional Democrats should be more concerned with the well-being of our soldiers in Iraq and the region than with a specious proclamation designed to harm Republicans by hampering the efforts of our troops.

On MTP, Drs. Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint were on a book tour, discussing what ails the black community. Poussaint talked of the effects of the women's liberation movement on the black community, and the availability of qualified black men for marriage, which he blamed in part of the mandatory sentencing laws for crack cocaine. Cosby attacked the record company executives who demand the harsh lyrics in hip-hop music.

On TW, Speaker Nancy argued that the time is right to condemn the 90-year-old genocide perpetrated by the Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire against the Armenians during World War I because "many of the survivors are very old." (Most of them are dead, Nancy; the entire remainder are, by definition, very old.) She said that Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and torture were more dangerous to our troops than jeopardizing their supply lines into Iraq. And more of the standard Dem rhetoric: no compromise on SCHIP, etc.

Mitch McConnell was next on TW, telling Steph that there would be a compromise on SCHIP because they had to pass something. He predicted that this would be a "short term controversy." He offered a Washington Post editorial to counter General Sanchez's rants, and he said that the Senate Ethics Committee was dealing with Larry Craig.

On FTN, John McCain, in response to Bob Schieffer's questioning, pointed out Romney's flip from having once been "passionately pro-choice," as well as flips on immigration and taxes. He asked for a "little consistency." McCain said that his main problem with retired General Sanchez was that the general was not honest with the Senate early in the Iraq war, waiting until now to make assertions that would have helped McCain get rid of the "Rumsfeld policy" when it would have helped. McCain allowed that this may have happened because General Eric Shinseki was "fired" for speaking truth to power.

First on LE, Lindsey Graham told Wolf Blitzer that Sanchez had repeatedly told him that he had enough troops to prevail in Iraq. Blitzer suggested that Sanchez might be doing "pay back" for not getting his fourth star. Graham replied that the Abu Ghraib scandal was "out of control" under Sanchez's watch, as was the war itself. Graham gave the Maliki government until the end of the year to get its act together on reconciliation.

Next on LE, unrepentant Jimmy Carterite Zbigniew Brzezinski differentiated between our staying in Germany and Japan after World War II and plans to maintain a presence in Iraq by stating that Iraq is a "colonial war," while the Second World War was not. He said that it was "delusional" to call the war in Iraq any sort of World War III against the jihad. He laughed at General David Petraeus's statement that the Iraq Quds force was attacking us in Iran by point that of course the Quds would attack us when we were sponsoring enemies of the Iraqi government. On the Congressional Democrats' Young Turk Genocide resolution, Brzezinski pointed out that Congress had no business passing strange historical resolutions. He ignored that the resolution is designed only to achieve an end with which he agrees, i.e. disruption of the war effort in Iraq.

Read More (for the complete, show-by-show review). …

BOEHNOR ON FNS. With Brit Hume in for Chris Wallace, this weekend's FOX News Sunday, House Republican Leader John Boehner stated plainly that they "have to reauthorize" the SCHIP program, but that Republicans want to be certain that "poor children come first." The Democrats, he charged, want to add children not-of-need as well as adults to the program, creating a "larger share" for government-controlled health care. The Dems want to further socialize medicine, while Republicans want to "put the patients back in charge."

He said that the Democrats' current bill was designed not to pass but to "play political games." Making the Republicans look bad for having voted against starving children, etc. But Hume stipulated, and Boehner agreed, that a vote against the bill would be politically painful.

Hume asked Boehner about FISA and the terrorist surveillance measure in the House. Democrats had offered to "solve" all problems by offering a one-year, blanket warrant for foreign surveillance. Boehner questioned whether these warrants would apply only to individuals or to groups, and he noted that we have never required agents to get warrants for foreign surveillance.

Boehner said that the GOP is interested in a compromise, but the Dems won't work with them. Those Democrats who are interested in being productive, he noted, are being "yanked to the left by the ACLU and others."

As for the bill in its current form, Boehner predicted a "close vote."

On to the Democrats' plan to bollix our support and supply operations in Iraq by pulling out a resolution condemning a 90-year-old action by an Ottoman government which does not exist any longer in order to inflame an ally, Turkey, against us. Boehner acknowledged the 90-year-old suffering of the Armenians at the hands of Enver Pasha's (1881-1922) Young Turks, but he avoided the term "genocide." He called this untimely condemnation "the most irresponsible thing I've seen this Congress do." He called on Nancy not to bring the bill to the floor and predicted that even if she did, it wouldn't pass.

Finally, Brit asked Boehner how he planned to get the GOP back into the majority. Boehner's plan is for his boyz to adopt a platform of fiscal responsibility and to promote themselves as a "party of solutions": health care, climate change, and energy independence. He resisted Hume's temptation to characterize this as a new "contract with America," which is good. His issues would appeal to Democrats, but I doubt a Republican embrace would peel off many Democrat voters.

STENY HOYER ON FNS. House Dem leader Steny Hoyer was Brit Hume's next guest on FOX News Sunday. Brit asked Hoyer why the Dems won't work with Republicans on an SCHIP bill which will not be vetoed. Steny countered that the current bill was a compromise with Republicans, who mostly think President Bush is wrong. He insisted that the Democrats in their bill penalize States for giving SCHIP to adults.

"The American people are ultimately going to rule on this," said Hoyer, by their responses to various survey questions printed in the major dailies and spouted by network news anchors. He called the SCHIP vote, "A defining moment for the Republican Party." Will they choose to be compassionate or to follow their leaders blindly?

"It's about including four-million children in health care!"

Asked about the FISA, terrorist surveillance bit, Steny said that the bill "needs to accomplish two things": intercept dangerous messages and defend the "4th Amendment Right to Privacy."

About the Armenian genocide by the Young Turks back from 1915-1917, Hoyer countered Boehner: it is he, Steny Hoyer, who calls bills to the House Floor, not Speaker Nancy. He will call this to a floor vote by November 16, and the current government of Turkey will have to just bite it.

Brit wanted to know why he was doing it now, at this ultra-sensitive time when we need the Turks to help protect American lives. Steny answered that he has both been in Congress and wanted this resolution for a quarter-century. If they do not do it now, when will the do it? He said that they cannot "paper-over" what happened in World War I lest it happen again, as in Bosnia and Rwanda.

Hoyer conceded that Turkey's help to us is "vital," but he countered that they need us more than we do them. He said that he and Nancy sat down with the Turkish ambassador, since recalled, and told him that the resolution was about an historical fact, not the current government of Turkey.

He said that the Turkish government should be worried about the PPK (Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan) in Western Iraq, not some resolution from the U.S. Congress. Likewise, though, the Congressional Democrats should be more concerned with the well-being of our soldiers in Iraq and the region than with a specious proclamation designed to harm Republicans by hampering the efforts of our troops.

COSBY AND POUSSAINT ON MTP. This week on NBC's Meet the Press, host Tim Russert spoke to Dr. Bill Cosby and Dr. Alvin Poussaint about the problems facing the black community in the United States. It wasn't the acrimony I had guessed, what with Poussaint being a professor at Harvard Med School; rather, it was a book tour. The two friends have written a book, Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors.

Poussaint, when asked what has changed with blacks in America, mentioned that things "have happened with women." He singled out women's liberation, how it has reduced the perceived need for marriage. He also spoke of the inavailability of black men who were "eligible to be married," mentioning specifically incarceration. He pointed to the disparity in mandatory sentencing, especially in regards to powdered cocaine vs. crack cocaine. (Whites do straight coke, blacks do rock coke, he said.)

Cosby spoke of hip-hop/rap music, and he blamed the record company executives who demand the offensive lyrics about rape and murder ("dopamine-raising lyrics"). He noted that the kids say they don't listen to the lyrics; rather, they dig the beat. Poussaint argued that the lyrics are absorbed with the beat.

NANCY PELOSI ON TW. On ABC's This Week, host George Stephanopoulos's first guest was Speaker Nancy. First, they discussed the resolution condemning the Young Turks ninety years ago and its potential deleterious effects on our troops and our policy. Nancy said that she has never heard from the President on this matter. Steph let her go on about how the genocide was real. She said that the timing of this resolutions because "many of the survivors are very old." (How many survivors are living, Nancy?) She said that she wanted to pass this resolution but the timing was never right because of this or that excuse. Even though protecting our troops was the most important thing in the whole wide world to her, it was time to pass this resolution now. Steph asked her what she would do if the President or the Secretary of Defense called her and told her that the resolution would be harmful to our troops. She called this a hypothetical and asserted that Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, and torture were even more harmful to our troops than disrupting their supply lines.

Steph asked Nancy if she were through trying to pass resolutions calling for dates certain. Nancy didn't know, but she said that someone had to be accountable and this was a trillion-dollar-war if we stopped now. George pointed out that many say that the Surge is working. Nancy countered with the outdated line that the Surge was designed to create room for political reconciliation in Iraq, which was not happening. (NOTE: It is.)

Steph talked about the Iranian Revolutionary Guards interfering with our troops in Iraq. He asked Nancy if they were a terrorist organization. Nancy said that whatever the Iranians were doing in Iraq should be dealt with in Iraq. We should leave Iran itself alone. She won't bring up the Kyl-Lieberman resolution identifying the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist force in Iraq, because Congress has no business labeling a "part of another country's army" as terrorist.

Steph said that the Dems have the votes to pass their SCHIP bill, but the Republicans have "guaranteed" that the Dems do not have the votes to override the President's veto. Nancy smiled goofily: "Yes, and that's sad for our nation's children." She went through her weepy tirade, complaining that the President wants to use the money for war.

Steph asked Nancy about the low Congressional approval ratings, due much, he said, to the anger of the Dem base at their failure to end the Iraq war. Nancy points out that the Dems are trouncing the Republicans on every issue. Steph smiled at the irony of Nancy having been called a liberal, San Francisco Democrat her entire career, and now those on her side were now her most vociferous opponents. Nancy offered that she was "on of the most vociferous opponents of the war."

MITCH ON TW. Steph's next guest, rebutting Nancy, was Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. Steph pointed out that Nancy had said that she would not negotiate on SCHIP: "Does that mean no deal?" McConnell said that there would "have to be a deal" because they're "not going to leave uninsured children uncovered." He pointed out that SCHIP was a product of the Republican Congress ten years ago. He said that it is a bad deal, as some States will pay more taxes than they would receive in benefits. He said that adjustments would be needed.

Steph suggested a possible deal, but Mitch said that now on TV was not the time to negotiate it. But he sees no chance that they're "not going to approve an SCHIP plan for America."

McConnell said that "this is going to be a short term controversy." There is no chance that they won't "reach a compromise on this in the very near future." Steph pointed out that Nancy had stipulated that there would be no compromise on the funding, and Mitch countered that she will have to compromise.

Steph turned the conversation to the Democrat resolution condemning the Young Turks of the Ottoman Empire for genocide on the Armenians during World War I. He asked if Mitch would try to block such a resolution in the Senate. McConnell thinks the measure is a "bad idea." He stipulated that he's very knowledgably about Armenia and the "mass killings" did occur. We all know what happened, but we do not need Congress passing such a resolution "at any point," but especially not when Turkey is helping us to protect our troops.

Steph turned to General Sanchez and his contention that we can only "stave off defeat." Sanchez, Steph reminded, called on everyone to admit culpability for the "catastrophic failure." McConnell expressed admiration for Sanchez and brought up today's WashPost editorial, which says that "by any objective standard" (McConnell's words), the Surge is working. Mitch said that he hasn't "given up" on victory, which he defined as creating a stable country which is an ally in the war on terror. Mitch agreed with Nancy, though, that the "central government in Iraq has been an embarrassment"; he went on to point out that we cannot ignore the progress on the local level. Reconciliation is occurring because of the security situation created by the Surge.

Steph asked Senator McConnell if he were resigned to Larry Craig serving out his term. McConnell replied that the Senate Ethics committee was handling the matter now. Steph asked if they could expel Craig, and Mitch responded that the committee would be "dealing with these allegations."

MCCAIN ON FTN. This Week's guest on CBS' Face the Nation was GOP nomination candidate John McCain. Host Bob Schieffer wanted to know if he can pull off his comeback.

McCain from New Hampshire. Schieffer said that McCain was sounding like the McCain from 2000. McCain is not happy with the progress in Iowa, but he likes how things are going in New Hampshire. Schieffer asked McCain if he were accusing Mitt Romney of being a "fraud or a con man" when he said that he was the only real Republican. McCain stood by his record and pointed out that Romney had run as a liberal Republican, rejected Ronald Reagan, took liberal positions, and it's wrong of Romney to claim to be the only representative of the Republican Party. McCain said that, though Romney was passionate about being pro-choice, Romney had also flipped on such things as taxes or immigration. These positions might have evolved, he said, but there should be some sort of consistency.

McCain criticized Rudy for attacking the line-item veto for removing pork from budgets. McCain said that we have to have one to eliminate park, and he called Rudy's position on in direct opposition to the mainstream of the Republican Party.

Schieffer asked McCain about Israel bombing "something" in Syria. The mainstream press has reported that Israel struck a nuclear reactor, and he wondered if Pyongyang were in on this. He wanted to know if McCain would continue negotiating with North Korea if this were true. McCain said that he knew nothing other than what David Sanger wrote in the New York Times. Who else were they helping? McCain said that the Norks were doing this for the money to prop their failed economy, but he would continue negotiations pressuring them for better behavior. And get the PRC involved, see if they'll stand up to their role as an "emerging superpower." (NOTE: They're also a "developing nations," allowed by the lefties to anthropogenically warm the planet.)

McCain said that many experts believe that Iran is within two-years of reaching a "tipping point" to develop a nuclear weapon. If Iran reaches that point, McCain said that he would make a decision on a pre-emptive strike to stop them. He's looking even harder, he said, at "meaningful" economic sanctions on Tehran.

Schieffer asked him about the comments of General Ricardo Sanchez (retired) saying that we're doomed in Iraq. What's McCain's reaction to the generals who are suddenly anti-war after they've retired? McCain said that he wished Sanchez would have spoken out against "Rumsfeld's policy" at the time. Schieffer asked if they should resign. McCain said that they had all agreed to give their honest, personal opinions when asked during their confirmation hearings. He blamed this lack of candor on the "fact" that General Eric Shinseki gave his candid opinion and was fired. (Yes, a candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination is repeating Democrat garbage about both Don Rumsfeld and General Eric Shinseki being fired.)

LINDSEY GRAHAM ON LE. Lindsey Graham was Wolf Blitzer's first guest on CNN's Late Edition. He first had to respond to retired General Ricardo Sanchez's belated criticism of the handling of the war. Graham was surprised, as he had asked Sanchez repeatedly if he had enough troops, if everything were okay. He noted that Abu Ghraib was "out of control" under Sanchez's watch, and that the war itself became "out of control" under Sanchez's watch.

Wolf pointed out that Sanchez had criticized the Surge. Graham said that things were broken under Sanchez's watch and were finally going well under the Surge. Wolf asked if Sanchez's new criticisms were "payback time" for not getting his fourth star. Graham would not assign motive, but he repeated that Sanchez continually reassured him that he had enough troops. He said that they are making up for past mistakes, and Sanchez was a big part of those mistakes for not being honest about the needs for additional troops.

Graham sees the situation as right for the Maliki government to come to reconciliation by the end of the year; if they cannot do this, they will be a "failed government" and we'll have to look for new ways to achieve reconciliation. Blitzer asked what this meant. Graham answered that the security brought about by the Surge has allowed the local governments to move forward. If Maliki can't follow that lead by the end of they year, they will have failed.

Blitzer asked Graham about the Armenian Genocide resolution, tearing Turkey from our alliance, and Graham blamed Armenian groups pressuring the Dems. He called the Gelb-Biden plan for partitioning Iraq, "religious-ethnic apartheid."

He called on the "world community" to come together and push against dictatorships and theocracies.

BRZEZINSKI ON LE. Zbigniew Brzezinski will not be an octogenarian until next year. I wanted to clear that up. The unrepentant Jimmy Carterite, though, was again Wolf Blitzer's guest on LE, just to have at Senator Graham.

Blitzer pointed out that General Sanchez (retired) had proclaimed that we cannot cut and run for Iraq, and Brzezinski said that no one is arguing that we should. He mumbled something about Baker-Hamilton. He demanded a date certain for our exit, but all we're hearing is talk of staying there like we have in Korea. He said that we were building a super-fortress in the middle or Iraq to maintain a "colonial presence." Wolf countered with the fact that the U.S. stayed in Germany and Japan after World War II, but Brzezinski argued that the Second World War was not a "colonial war." The Iraq war was a colonial war, he said, and "Iraq is a colony."

He said that it was "delusional" to call Iraq a World War III against Jihad.

Blitzer played a clip of General Petraeus pointing out that the Iranian Quds force attacking us in Iraq. Brzezinski said that of course they are attacking us in Iraq, because we were supporting internal enemies of the Iranian government.

Blitzer played a clip condemning the wild-eyed resolution right now against the Young Turks in World War I. Brzezinski blamed this all on the Iraq war, but he added that Congress has no business passing weird resolutions about points in history.

Brzezinski "get the sense" that the Syrian nuke plant bombed by the Israelis was not a big deal. He thinks the attack was a case of Israel flexing its muscles.
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