Today is “Dog and Pony Show” Day on Capitol Hill.
General Petraeus is scheduled to “report” to Congress today, giving his assessment of the President’s Iraq escalation and what the “surge” has and has not achieved. There have been so many predictions of what the man is likely to say, and what the White House has essentially told him he better say if he expects to keep his job as (a) the head of US forces there and (2) the new darling of the “stay in Iraq indefinitely” set, that everyone will be surprised if he doesn’t ask to retain as many troops for as long as the Pentagon will provide them.
This seems more or less confirmed by the semi-official leak to the Pentagon reporter embedded at the New York Times. Michael Gordon reports that Petraeus will ask for — wait for it — another Friedman Unit before telling us whether the drawdown everyone says must happen by April will begin at the end of March or April.
To prepare for today’s and Wednesday’s hearings folks are already suggesting lots of questions to ask. And the former co-Chairs of the Iraq Study Group think Congress should ask itself a question: Are we safer today? Along with Glenn Greenwald, I’d like to ask why no one seems to be listening to what the public thinks and keeps telling their government.
MoveOn is planning to highlight the “dog and pony show” theatrics of Petraeus’ appearance by staging their own dog and pony shows just before the General’s appearance. One dog and pony show will be outside The Today Show Monday morning; the second will be near the Capitol Building in Washington. According to the organizers, they’ve rented real ponies for the event, and MoveOn volunteers and friends will be bringing their own doggies.
Here’s the announcement I got in an e-mail.
Congress was fooled before by the White House’s ‘dog and pony show’–we need to make sure they’re not fooled again. That’s why we’re hosting our own ‘Dog and Pony Show’ outside the Capitol Building right before Petraeus takes the stage for his testimony. We want to show Congress and the cameras that the American people aren’t buying the White House spin.
We’re bringing real ponies, signs and a big banner that reads, “CONGRESS: Don’t be fooled, AGAIN!” Can you make it (and bring your dog, if you have one)?
Who : Iraq Vet, John Bruhns, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, dogs, ponies and MoveOn members like you
What: Dog and Pony Show rally
Where: West Front Grassy Area of the U.S. Capitol between Constitution Ave. NW and Independence Ave. SW on 1st St. NW (click here for a map)
When: 10:30am-11:30am
RSVP: Click here
Everyone is invited to attend, so if you happen to be in the area and would like to walk your dog(s) or can borrow someone else’s for the morning, head on down.
PS: I’m told that dogs of all types are welcome, even if TRex thinks they look like bats.
PSS: If you haven’t read George Packer’s article in The New New Yorker, Planning for Defeat, it’s another of those very long but “must read” articles, and we’ll likely be talking about it today. He critiques several think-tank troop withdrawal plans, which you can find here; he did not have this most recent plan from the U.S. Institute of Peace, the folks who sponsored the original Iraq Study Group and who kept the ISG’s staff of experts around to work on this update.
Photo of “Dog and Pony Show,” from Blue Dome Artist Gallery
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Good Morning!
Good Morning Scarecrow!
Elliott @ 2
and nonplussed, too
Caw, caw!
Good morning Scarecrow. We have some ponies left over from election night bets, they can go to the protest.
Hi Elliot! Wish I was there, I’d really like to see a real dog & pony show for a change.
Bring your dogs, by all means, but I want to see someone show up with a team of Clydesdales.
To the barricades, Scarecrow.
Peterr @ 6
now that’s a horse!
g.mornin all firedogs and thanx for the early post scarecrow
I’m gonna be mailing my congress criters the proper statistics and the questions that need to be asked to patreaus
for instance, “how can he claim the surge caused any of the success in anbar province since the surge didn’t occur there and the improvement started long before the surge”
there are tons of other statistic we need to make sure the congresscriters are armed with and it might be a good idea to list those here so we can all contact our reps with those en masse
think progress has the graph that congress criters need to look at as well
Today will be a day filled with furrowed brows and searing commentary. People will ask questions. Some people will raise their voice. Yet other people will ask with solemn sincerity.
In the end, Bush will get his money and run out the clock. Democrats will own this war in 2009 not because they were wrong about it but because they were cowards in the face of their own convictions.
oh, and perfect illustration for the post, too
caw caw!
three showings of the Petraeus/Crocker dog and pony show today and tomorrow:
Monday, 12:30 pm – Joint Hearing of House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs
Tuesday, 9:30 am – Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Tuesday, 2 pm – Senate Committee on Armed Services
also today, Chertoff, McConnell, Redd and Mueller on the terrorist threat 6 years after 911:
Monday, 9:30 am – Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
for details and complete listing of this week’s congressional hearings – go here.
From McClatchy’s pre-report set up piece:
And we all know how much respect this administration has for auditors and oversight. George Bush is the Ken Lay of politics, and we all know how Enron turned out.
Still, a good analogy.
the chart petraeus won’t show from think progress
will Kobe and girls be there?
selise @ 12
thank you selise, as always. :)
perris @ 14
Iraki’s say the surge has failed from raw story
I want Bush to answer how he is going to pay for this war! Debt fianncing? isn’t debt just a tax deferred until a later date with interest. I want some numbers and ideas about how we are going to pay this debt with interest without raising taxes!
If Bush doesn’t have a real answer the Democrats should just raise the tax rate on the richest 5% now during Bushes term!
oh shoot. i put one too many links in my comment on this week’s congressional hearings. thank you to the mods for releasing it…
to anyone who missed it and wants to see it, hard refresh – it is @12.
Monday, 9:30 am – Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
So we can watch Lieberman say we need a lot more money for
Republican croniesfatherland security?perris @ 13
The general may not show it, but there’s nothing to prevent an enterprising representative or senator from holding it up and asking the general to comment on the chart.
Sheldon Whitehouse is pretty good with charts when grilling DOJ folks. Surely there’s someone who could do the same for the DOD.
myths about the progress in Iraq from media matters
Peterr @ 20
exactly peterr
the democrats have to be prepared with the facts and they have to challenge the generals integrity right from the start
I think if they get on the right footing the general might remember his oath and testify honestly instead of on behalf of his commander in chief
we need to contact our representatitves and arm them with all the actual facts which dispute and progress the general claims
the media matters link I posted is a good compilation
Selise, thank you as always for your list of hearings. We depend on you.
Here is another question this time to General Petraeus. General are you willing to bet your pension, benefits etc and accept being barred from any wingnut welfare cushy job paying more than $50,000 a year if the Surge does not work by the Time Bush leaves office?
Please remember our troops are giving their lives for this Surge the least you could do is make a public and real show of your confidence in the Surge.
i love the dog and pony demos, move on et al are doing, targeting the both the media and congress.
that does it – between this and last week’s poll on targeting pro-war dems for primary challenges, i’m going to re-join moveon (i quit after their push poll and hard lobby against anti-war congressmembers this spring).
and the Iraqis want us to Get.Out.
egregious @ 19
yeah, just the thought of this hearing makes me want to gag. starts in an hour on c-span. i’ll probably try and watch some of it…. yuck.
Elliott @ 26
isn’t there a video where bush says if the Iraqi’s ask us to leave he will?
I am positive I remeber that, does anyone have that link?
sorry mods! I wasn’t thinking when I quoted selise’s comment.
The plan is, as it has always been, to run out the clock.
allan_in_upstate @ 31
I thought it was NCLB – No Crony Left Behind.
I want a condition attached to the 50 billion Bush wants. The condition is that any company found guilty of cheating the army or not building an Iraq reconstruction project as promised, not delivering goods promised on time will be charged with Treason.
All involved should be shot which is the penalty for treason during war time and their personal assets siezed and used to pay for our wounded troops medical care.
Yes I mean you Darth you blackhole son!
(Spiderpaws said something about Darth having a blackhole in his astrology chart a few weeks? ago)
on topic
Stephen Biddle
Military consultant to General Petreaus is on Washington Journal
Straight from EPU land
JPL @ 320
I bet Bush talked to the MainStreamMedia and threatened to cut off WhiteHouse access to any newsgroup that ran the story in order to prevent a Panic.
Or a loss of confidence in his leadership or the military.
Its not like the Army Times which your story is linked to is not a first rate source.
We should have Jane call the NY Times, the WallStreet Journal and USA Today to ask if they would confirm or deny that the White House asked them to kill or sit on this story untill after 9/11 or Bush gets his 50 billion for the war.
She should also asked if they were threatened in anyway if they ran with this story. So if we later find out they lied we got them on record as bowing head to the ground to the very power they should keep in check.
Maybe KO if he reads this could tug his ear during his broadcast as a sign that he is not allowed to report on this story.
Maybe we could start a daily countdown on how many days before the MSM runs this story.
Peterr @ 32
That was the theory behind the Coalition Provisional Authority.
I’m hoping that with Bush trying to dump responsibility for disbanding the Iraqi Army on Bremer,
Jerry might begin pushing back and
we might learn more about all the corrupt crap that took place at the CPA.
egregious and elliot – you are most welcome (we should thank scarecrow too, since it was his idea). i’ll keep trying to do the weekly list of hearings, so long as firepups find them useful…. at least until the sunlight foundation / openhouse project have their systems up and running.
things come undone @ 35
Your link is bad — here’s the right one.
So we are going to stay in Iraq.
http://rawstory.com//news/2007….._0910.html
I really cant bear this this morning. We the American people are impotent. The US will occupy the country of Iraq.
Will there be gated seaside communities?
things come undone @ 33
you make a persuasive argument, tcu. imo, war profiteering HAS to be prosecuted aggressively, but I’m not sure under what statutes.
and no surprise that spiderpaws found a black hole in Cheney’s chart. There appears to be a black hole in Cheney’s heart.
Here is another question for Bush do you think that solders who don’t show up for their national guard duty and report for deployment to Iraq should be prosecuted?
Anybody want to bet on whether the MSM will deign to show MoveOn’s demonstration?
Peterr @ 38
Thank You!
selise @ 37
not only is the list valuable, but so, too, your input, your suggestions.
Elliott @ 40
Yes he has as Ronnie James Dio said “lost his soul to the shadows of the night”
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090707D.shtml
Scott Ritter….powerful!
Things come undone the media is overly obsessed with missing white girls, nukes don’t matter much. I have to go to work but hopefully Alsthespook will weight in again on this important development.
From Ritters article and what I am most afraid of
[Mod: You can swear all you want, but insulting guest posters and other commenters is crossing the line.]
Good morning, people. I hate to do this, but I think it is important. FDL covered itself with shame yesterday, censoring serious debate over the issue of men’s rights after their guest blogger Thers sneeringly dismissed the entire issue as “hilarious.” FDL hid behind the pretext that my comments were an “insult” to the author, but they were not any more insulting than his initial comments to me had been, and were certainly not over the top.
Today, Thers has shown his true colors by posting on his own blog, Whiskeyfire, a comment that his “donkey’s dick” was last seen in my mouth. See the handful of comments below his post on hemanliness, second or third from the top. See also the comments near the end of the thread below his posted blog here, especially those from #220-255. Decide for yourselves whether FDL is living up to the standards we expect.
This is now a full-blown issue of free speech and censorship, and FDL has unapologetically aligned itself on the wrong side. This is far more important than whether you agree with any particular viewpoint as to men’s issues, although I think it is clearly misguided to decide without debate that men simply aren’t entitled to have any.
How can we relentlessly attack the right wing and the MSM for censorship and distortion, when FDL is doing the same exact things to one of it’s own readers?
I think this demands some kind of firm corrective response from management here at FDL, which, let me say once again, is far and away my favorite blog. But not for long if things are allowed to stand as they are.
Waccamaw @ 42
I don’t know . . . they’re suckers for cute animal stories.
I still want Clydesdales.
Congress needs to call their phony statistics out, and that’s it! You cannot have a debate about something when one side uses lies to back up their debate. Bush has been doing this for his whole time in office. He has no credibility left. At some point, someone has to call this a sham and not get involved in debating “larger talking points” that have no meaning and no connection with what’s actually happening.
JPL @ 47
I hope KO does not disappoint me!
things come undone @ 45
Woohoo — a big shout out to fans of Ronnie James Dio — he comes from my hometown and my 10th grade English teacher was in his first band, “Ronnie Dio and the Prophets”. There’s a street named for him, Dio Way.
Here’s your chance to tell Matthew Dowd what you think of his behavior:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..63677.html
Remember, he played an important role in helping Bush get re-elected in ‘04.
- Tom
Toby Wollin @52 ROCK ON!
Today should be dress like a pirate Day, in honor of General Patraeus. If we’re going to be stealing time & oil, we might as well dress the part.
oh pain. why i am listening to NPR this morning? morning edition is doing a big interview on global warming and the “expert” just provided a majorly misleading summary of projected sea level changes. i can’t stand this…
Tuesday, 2 pm – Senate Committee on Armed Services
aah, a chance for Senator JoeLie to pop some questions:
“General, would you call this a good war, a great war, or The Best War Evah?”
“General, when’s the last time you had a good bl*wj*b? Because I want you to know that I support the troops fully, and stand (ahem) ready to do my part…”
Petraeus’s job is to spin for the BushCo ‘wheel of fortune’ contractors. The question is will Pelosi, Reid, and gang play along and have another Leap of Faith? They are way past due for tough love and oughtta be smacked up the side of the head, taken out to the barn and whip their hides for their stubborn stupidity. No more spare the rod and spoil the child.
Scott Ritter on the compliant mainstream media:
We can be “Dead Certain” that we are only one Friedman Unit of Time from Victory in Iraq. This will be a Victory for Oil and Christianity. Remember, we are being played for next November.
___________________________
Bush told the author, Robert Draper, in a later session, “I’m playing for October-November.” That is when he hopes the Iraq troop increase will finally show enough results to help him achieve the central goal of his remaining time in office: “To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence,” and, he said later, “stay longer.”
I want Bush to agree to fully fund healthcare for our wounded vets before he gets his 50 billion. No more Walter Reeds! I want every American to have the same healthcare plan Congress and the President has!
I want an answer on why there is always money for the war but we can’t afford healthcare for everyone, not even the children!
since you’re quoting scott ritter… for any firepups in MA, he’s going to be giving a talk in worcester on sept 20 (there’s a suggested donation, but no one will be turned away).
Sept 20, 5:30pm, First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester MA
ccmask @ 55
CC, what an excellent idea! and I have just the blouse for this! oo and I’m sure I can find those gold hoops.
Good morning, everyone. There should be a new post up in about a minute.
things come undone @ 62
The answer is because Republics continue to have a say.
Duncan Hunter on MSNBC -
Total gagger…………
Powerful post from Scarecrow upstairs.
Dear Jim Lehrer
Ready for the Spotlight, folks.
I want Holy Joe to answer if he really thinks the Jews in Israel feel safe knowing that American troops are in Iraq when Ossama is in Pakistan.
Pakistan is a country that already has Nuclear missles unlike Iran. But it is so unstable thanks to Al Quieda that they almost declared Martial law a month ago.
Condi convinced Pakistan not to declare martial law, probably because it would make Bush look bad!
Of course if there is a midnight coup in Pakistan and a launch which could happen at any moment, I wonder if Holy Joe and Bush will admit that letting Ossama go free while we invaded Iraq was a huge HUGE MISTAKE!
Anybody got any good links to when this Surge bullshit was first announced? I guess I really shouldn’t call it bullshit ’cause people are getting killed. Serious stuff, but you know what I mean.
-If you think the Surge is so great, why not participate?
It there’s a Captain in the DC police with a sense of humor, perhaps he or she will send the DC Mounted Police unit to keep MoveOn’s demonstration in line.
[Mod: What other people say *on their own blogs* is not the issue. If you call posters or commenters names, your comment will be taken off. Saying somebody else did it so you can? Not such a great excuse. ]
To the Moderator: I ask again, is your “no-insult” policy a one-way street? Thers called me a sniveler and a whiner, and Wrecker a whimperer, before I ever posted a comment that called him a brainwashed moron. Today, on his own post, he calls me a sucker of donkey’s dicks. Are those not insults? Why the hell would you align yourself with this guy.
I urge everyone, and you, too, Moderator, to review the last 35 comments to Thers post here yesterday, and to view the comments on his blog Whiskeyfire below his post on tough manliness. The truth is plain to see, and I was censored here yesterday for no good reason. Please note that there has still been absolutely no attempt to address on the merits the serious issues I raised that set this all off. Instead, Thers chose to convert the discussion into a series of ad hominem attacks and name-calling, and then the moderator here at FDL shielded and enabled him. Now that he has shown his true colors in all their glory, by placing a “donkey’s dick” in my mouth, I think that FDL’s own integrity has been called into question. I would like to see some corrective action, because I read and suport this website every damn day.
things come undone @ 52
Am I missing something? This was reported in MSM. Maybe not as aggressively as we would have liked but it was reported. Or are you all talking about some new development?
Solai @ 72
Was it reported or buried on page 15? This is a front page story! Was it reported in the major news outlets like the NY Times and the WallStreet Journal? JPL had a link to a blog which linked to the Army Times which while a creditable source does not have many readers.
Never mind. I found Bush’s speech announcing Da Surge. Interesting stuff.
-A successful strategy for Iraq goes beyond military operations. Ordinary Iraqi citizens must see that military operations are accompanied by visible improvements in their neighborhoods and communities. So America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced.
Really?
-I’ve made it clear to the Prime Minister and Iraq’s other leaders that America’s commitment is not open-ended. If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people.
It has and if some reports are to be believed has lost the support of the Fucktard administration. But nobody seems to care about whether we support this and they are gonna go on with this no matter who’s in charge in Baghdad.
-To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq’s provinces by November.
Anybody gonna ask General P. about whether that’s gonna happen?
-The question is whether our new strategy will bring us closer to success. I believe that it will.
Good way to frame the issue. if no political progress is being made, how can anyone say we’re “closer to success.” If we’re not, then by President Fucktard’s own announced standard, the “new strategy” is a failure.
things come undone @ 74
I don’t know about the newspapers but it was on nbcnews.com, cnn.com etc. I just went and checked and you can still read about it at nbcnews.com. I’m not defending the MSM, they have failed us miserably. But thought the record should be straight on this one issue.
CNN, says they will be doing live coverage of the Patraeus/Crocker Congressional hearings. John (I want Tony Snow’s job) Roberts will be doing the blow by blow.
I think of him as John (Ted Baxter) Roberts.
Solai @ 76 point taken I retract my point about this story not being covered by the MSM.
I do think though this story was buried it should be a lead story! I want Tweety to question people about this. If missing nukes are not front page news then those jokers should get out of the news business.
things come undone @ 79
I agree.
OK, OK, delete my last post. Sorry. No big deal. I just thought some of the name calling is funny. But the “no insult” situation is a good rule. Didn’t mean to insult anyone.
[Mod: Wise decision.]
Bush in January 2007:
-To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq’s provinces by November.
al-Maliki in September 2007:
“Despite the security improvement, we still need more efforts and time in order for our armed forces to be able to take over security in all Iraqi provinces from the multinational forces that helped us in a great way in fighting terrorism and outlaws.”
Can somebody ask Gen’l P. a Ricky Ricardo Ricardo question: “Wha’ happun’?”
Mod: Controversial subject matter is not only permitted but encouraged. Foul language is quite obviously permitted. Name calling is not allowed. We are not discussing the behavior of others here. If you are engaged in namecalling the comment will be pulled.]
To the Moderator, re Comment #72: Your policy states that the commenters shall also not be insulted by the poster. Why the selective enforcement? I just cited Thers’ comments on his own blog because it further illustrates what his attitude was here yesterday, not only to me but to the other commenters who challenged him on the men’s issues topic that HE raised in the body of his post, singling men out for special ridicule.
I’m really upset by the attitude you are displaying here. Is the “no-insult” policy merely a one-way street, or what? I’d hate to think that it was only the subject matter of my comments, which dared to reasonably defend men in some aspects after we were generically slandered by your poster, that brought about the selective enforcement. If you want this to be a girls-only and fully subdued men website, why not just say so? We men can then go someplace else. I’m serious about this.
Is it not significant that the Blight House allowed it to be leaked a while back that the sycophantic general was not to be the author of the report required by Congress? Not that such a general is ever likely to contradict what the Junta’s message is likely to be were he allowed to submit his own version.
And since when has the Junta ever done anything required by law, let alone, by Congress?
The D&P last positive action is not going to make any sense to the onlookers, btw.
PPS, love the tarted up pony.
[Mod: Not interested in discussing the behavior of a third party. If you engage in namecalling, your comment will be removed.]
To the Moderator: Well, I can see that you just are not willing to deal with the behvior of your guest poster Thers, or your own. So, your no-insult policy is simply a one-way street. Posters are free to insult commenters without provocation, just for making an honest argument. Good to know, but sad to know. I guess I was wrong to have had such a high opinion of this website as I have had for the last years. I called Thers a brainwashed moron, after he sneeringly dismissed me as a sniveler and a whiner. Now I call you a censor. Go ahead, delete me.
Toby — You would be better served to e-mail either Jane or I with whatever complaint you have since, frankly, I have absolutely no idea what it is that is your beef since I try to use evenings for my family time.
Bitching at the mods, though, is going to get you nowhere, because they don’t have the power to do anything other than try and keep discourse civil. The About Us page has contact information for both Jane and I — I suggest you use it.
Tom! Get the fuck away from that water cooler!
Bush and Petraeus need FRIEDMAN’S! Lots of Friedman’s!
At least 500 tons of those motherfuckers. Fast! You can ship them to Iraq in single-use aluminum tubes.
And, happily enough, you can store them in those abandoned Al Queada camps which Saddam was renting to OBL’s boys, before junior chased them out, and made Iraq safe (more or less) for Halliburton and the Fortune 500.
(Oh. The “British government has recently learned” that if they’re going to pull;
Let’s-help-cover-george-bush-and-the-GOP’s-political-asses!” duty,
that it’s relatively safer to do it behind the wire at the Basra Airport, than it is in the middle of town, where the various militias queue up for a crack at them every day.
Hey Toby, this is not an insult, but if you’re calling me a “fully subdued male” jest piss off with that bullshit, huh? Again, this is not an insult, just my opinion — you’re too sensitive, have skin which is much too thin and when it comes to give-and-take, you just can’t take it.
Beeffart Liberal, I wasn’t calling you fully subdued, but rather was saying that men who don’t acknowledge that there might actually be some men’s issues are fully subdued. Big diff. I am a longstanding member of this community, and if you read the context, you will see that I was actually arguing for some confirmation that unsubdued men were still welcome here.
I’m not especially sensitive, but do believe in substantive, open debate, and do think that there may actually be some men’s issues that are worthy of discussion. I have also always supported the bulk of the feminist agenda, but not some of it’s more extreme elements, just as I do not support the extreme elements of the men’s rights movement as presented and supported by the WSJ. OK?