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M4arc
11-08-06, 12:15
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, architect of an unpopular war in Iraq, intends to resign after six stormy years at the Pentagon, Republican officials said Wednesday.

Officials said Robert Gates, former head of the CIA, would replace Rumsfeld. The development occurred one day after midterm elections that cost Republicans control of the House, and possibly the Senate, as well. Surveys of voters at polling places said opposition to the war was a significant contributor to the Democratic victory.

President Bush was expected to announce Rumsfeld's departure and Gates' nomination at an afternoon news conference. Administration officials notified congressional officials in advance.

In the days leading up to the election, Bush said he wanted Rumsfeld to stay on as defense chief until the end of Bush's second term.

Source (http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/08/D8L91NV00.html)

VA_Dinger
11-08-06, 12:35
Even Yahoo news is running the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061108/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rumsfeld_resigns

Rmplstlskn
11-08-06, 13:07
Casualty #1

Rmpl

M4arc
11-08-06, 13:20
Yep. Probably the first of many.

KevinB
11-08-06, 14:06
While I did not like the results of the voting -- I am happy Rummy is gone.

I dont think he has an open mind to anything.

Dport
11-08-06, 14:23
Let me know when his resignation is effective and I'll give my opinions. Right now, I want to support the CoC.

Submariner
11-08-06, 15:08
Kentucky's Third District Congresswoman, Ann Northup (R), recently called for Rumsfeld to step down. She was snubbed by the GOP for that call. When Bush came to Southern Indiana last week to campaign for Cong. Sodrell, he pointedly gave no support to Northup even though he came to and left from Louisville (in Northup's District). Last night, Hardball's Chris Matthews called her a nice woman and good representative who didn't deserve to lose. She lost to a twit Democrap. So did Sodrell.

Napoleon said, "There are no bad regiments, only bad colonels."

RyanS
11-08-06, 15:12
I don't know if I so much care about Rumsfeld, it's the fact that Bolton might be the next to get cut that's got me bothered. To say that I despise the UN is a gross understatement and it was nice having someone there who actually stood up for the US. I view the UN much like the Congress, the less that gets done the better. Bolton didn't kiss anyone's ass, if it didn't jive with American interests, he didn't go along to get along like the Dems feel is necessary.

According to the news today, Europe is happy with the Elections. I'm sure the Mid-East is too. I'm sure Mexico is delighted.

Striker5
11-08-06, 15:53
This smells like some sort of drug deal. I give Rumsfeld an A+ for balls, but he doesn't seem to pay much attention to the generals. Counterinsurgecny is manpower intensive and cannot be effectively executed by a lean, mean SF-oriented military as envisioned by Rumsfeld.

The plus side to these elections is that the Dems have the ball and I am waiting for them to screw this up collosally. The sad thing is that they do not understand the Arab world (or any world outside of Starbucks and Salon.com) and if we back up in front of them we lose all the "street cred" we've spent 3 years building. The fact that we are going to look weak to the Arab world makes me nauseous. The sadder thing is that we are going to pay for their tree-hugging ineptitiude in blood. At the end of the day, Lefties are lovers, not fighters and believe deep down that ANY sort of aggressive behavior is wrong.

M4arc
11-08-06, 17:06
I don't know if I so much care about Rumsfeld, it's the fact that Bolton might be the next to get cut that's got me bothered. To say that I despise the UN is a gross understatement and it was nice having someone there who actually stood up for the US. I view the UN much like the Congress, the less that gets done the better. Bolton didn't kiss anyone's ass, if it didn't jive with American interests, he didn't go along to get along like the Dems feel is necessary.

According to the news today, Europe is happy with the Elections. I'm sure the Mid-East is too. I'm sure Mexico is delighted.

I read something about that and I feel the same way because I feel he honored our constitution and wasn't about to give into the UN. It will suck if he gets whacked.

I was specifically looking for reactions out of the middle-east and while everyone is glad Bush's "clones" are gone most don't expect anything different out of the US. At least they are smart enough to realize we just swapped one bunch of buffoons for another.

DrMark
11-08-06, 18:45
Let me know when his resignation is effective and I'll give my opinions.

There's a lot of that goin' round.

Rmplstlskn
11-08-06, 21:48
I didn't realize Rumsfield had so many in uniform/DoD that think it best he move on...

Rmpl

Impact
11-09-06, 00:44
he won't be missed...

HAMMERDROP
11-09-06, 07:41
Maybe all Americans need to face what most Americans ignore, the fact when you are 74 your not dead but definitely the mind has begun to slip away ... I am 48 and I find myself forgetting on occasion more and more and when you forget things that are important things/people can suffer. I'm not saying Rumsfeld forgot the Troops or forgot important issues but if the mind is evacuating details that it once thrived on perhaps he forgot what was important. Maybe he forgot he may need other people to accomplish what he could once manage on his own. My Mother is 85 years old she will still try to get something she cant reach mentally or physically and become more stubborn just to remain independent. Maybe Rumsfeld, since he has people who can reach things for him, forgot to employ them for that task and it frustrated him then snowballed on him. I'm not saying he's incompetent but maybe too old to serve in the capacity he did. I feel there is wisdom that comes with experience and age but that experience and age will also dis-allow ideas to surface which are not what are considered contemporary thinking. When your 74 your contemporaries are dated back several decades. Which could be why he did not respond appropriately in regards to Iraq. IMHO

Glockster35
11-09-06, 07:49
I will withold most of my comments until he is out. Much for the same reasons as already stated.

I will say that his demise, is most likely contributed to his inability to listen to the commanders underneath him. He had his way, and didn't want to hear anything about it. Once all these retired Generals started spouting off, he has been pretty non-existent on the TV screen!

RyanS
11-09-06, 21:32
So I heard yesterday from several media sources that Bush made the decision several weeks ago to ask Rumy to resign. Well it was sure good of him to let America know this fact one day AFTER the Election. One day after it was too late. I'm sure Allen and all of the other Republican House and Senate candidates that lost because of how the War was being handled are really happy about this. Way to go W!!! What an idiot.

Now Bush is talking about toning down the partisanship and working with the Dems in order to get stuff done. Like.....granting amensty to illegals, passing a guest worker program, removing the tax cuts, raising the minimum wage, and probably, although not actively promoted, a new AWB.

Man, I wish that man had the nuts that Cheney does.

Rmplstlskn
11-09-06, 22:50
The "ONLY" reason W got my vote in 2000 and 2004 was due to the repugnancy of the thought of having Al Gore or John Kerry as President...

Rmpl

Milkman
11-09-06, 23:42
It is pretty sad when you have to vote for a candidate who is not the best but rather not quite as bad as the other.


Politics are like WWF, the politicians may enter through different doors but they leave on they same tour bus.

SOPMOOD
11-10-06, 10:33
1st of all let me say, I am glad that Rumsfeld is gone. However, how does the old saying go? "Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't" The new SoD may be a bigger liability than Mr. Rumsfeld, although that would be a steep order to fill, considering Rumsfeld is the Mcnamara of our generation. "I don't do quagmires" is one of his funnier quotes.
I look at it this way, since Nancy Pelosi has been threatening subpoenas at the SoD since the minute she was made the heir apparant Speaker,it became clear that Mr. Rumsfeld would spend more time on Capitol Hill in front of oversight committees, than he would doing his job (albeit poorly)
The thing that angers me the most is that now that he is leaving office, he will be doing the speaking circuit, getting paid 7 figures per event, not to mention 1 or more book deals and other psuedo-celebrity perks that go with his former title. It should be law that when you "tap out" or are drummed out of public office, that you cannot use your former fame to make yourself richer than you already are. I for one wouldn't buy a book written by or about him, as I feel that he is disconnected from reality. Much like Madeline Albright, or John Kerry.

Case in point :

http://michael.ellerman.id.au/misc/Rumsfeld-Saddam.jpg
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/rumsfeld_saddam.gif

He built this Golem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem), and just like the history of Golem's or the Frankenstein monster, it ended up killing him (politically)

Kerry's "Golem"
http://www.midiasemmascara.org/images/articles/Kerry%20e%20Ortega.jpg

Looking for pictures of Albright's dance with Kim Jung-il. :)

SOPMOOD
11-10-06, 10:48
So I heard yesterday from several media sources that Bush made the decision several weeks ago to ask Rumy to resign. Well it was sure good of him to let America know this fact one day AFTER the Election. One day after it was too late. I'm sure Allen and all of the other Republican House and Senate candidates that lost because of how the War was being handled are really happy about this. Way to go W!!! What an idiot.

Now Bush is talking about toning down the partisanship and working with the Dems in order to get stuff done. Like.....granting amensty to illegals, passing a guest worker program, removing the tax cuts, raising the minimum wage, and probably, although not actively promoted, a new AWB.

Man, I wish that man had the nuts that Cheney does.
Of course Cheney has nuts, he is a cyborg, the real Dick Cheney had a M.I. on September 11th and died. Here is the plant where they got Dick Cheney Ver. 2.1 from:
http://www.starwars.com/databank/technology/cloning/img/movie_bg.jpg

Here is what he originally looked like until the hosts of TLC's "What not to wear" got ahold of him

http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/lobot/img/movie_bg.jpg

Milkman
11-10-06, 11:20
1st of all let me say, I am glad that Rumsfeld is gone. However, how does the old saying go? "Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't"

It is pretty easy to Monday-Morning-Quarterback this situation as it looks like every single pundit is now doing.

And as far as the picture of Rumsfeld with Sadam, your saying directly applies to that. Sadam was the greatest things since sliced bread when he was gassing Iranians. Of course if Sadam had invaded Jordan or Iran instead Kuwait we would not be having this conversation.

SOPMOOD
11-10-06, 12:02
It is pretty easy to Monday-Morning-Quarterback this situation as it looks like every single pundit is now doing.

And as far as the picture of Rumsfeld with Sadam, your saying directly applies to that. Sadam was the greatest things since sliced bread when he was gassing Iranians. Of course if Sadam had invaded Jordan or Iran instead Kuwait we would not be having this conversation.

I am not a pundit, I was against Mr. Rumsfelds appointment from the minute George Bush announced it. I knew about D.R.'s involvement in the Mid-East and most especially his puppet work with Sadam. Labeling me aas a pundit is a short sighted statement.
Sure Sadam was the best thing at the time, but apparantly politicans never learn from history. Did we use the Russians to help us defeat Germany in WWII? Yes, but did it turn around to bite us in the ass? Yes. Did the Reagan Whitehouse use Noreiga as a puppet in Panama? Yes, did it bite us in the ass? Yes. Did we use the Mujahadeen to help defeat and drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 80's, yes, did it bite us in the ass? There is a hole in lower Manhattan that says yes.
You are missing my point. Had Rumsfeld and others looked at the bigger picture and measured the threat posed by Iran better, they might have found it unnecessary to prop up Sadam in the first place.
Please look at history as a whole, not fractionally when measuring the "good" that Sadam did for us. When he gassed the Kurds and killed all Shities in the 80's, couldn't we have intervened then, recognizing that we had made a big mistake. It wasn't until after Sadam threatened our oil interests in the Mid-east that we took action against this "mad man".

If you ask me, now that we know there are no WMD's and Al Queda training camps in Iraq, I say give Sadam the keys back, and bring our men and women home. Do you honestly think that there will be a recognizable form of Democracy in Iraq in our lifetime? Not a single drop of gas is worth the loss of another single American life in Iraq. If we had a plan, a goal and an exit stragedy, I would parrot like Bush and say "Stay the course", however, much like Viet Nam, we entered Iraq without a clear understanding of a tangible goal, hamstrung by an ineffective SoD, and have no clearly defined, no strike that, ZERO IDEA of an exit stragedy:
http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t051/T051584A.jpg
How long will it be before this image repeats itself, only this time it will be Blackhawks, Chinooks and Osprey's, with Mosques and minarets in the background.

Do not label me a a peace-nick, a hippie, a democrat or any other slur. Becasuse I am against the war in Iraq, do not label me a pacifist. I am a realist. There is a difference. Fighting for an attainable goal is one thing, feeding our best and brightest into the meat grinder is criminal. My father was a Marine, he went to Viet Nam in 1968, he was there for Tet, I was a Marine, I went to Desert Storm and Somolia, My brother was a soldier, he went to Iraq, and was in the Armored Spearhead in March of 03 with the 3rd ID. My family is full of patriots and we all risked our lives for our country and our beliefs. Calling me a pundit or arm-chair-quaterback is just plain silly.

Striker5
11-10-06, 17:26
SOPMOD,

Not trying to call you a peacenik by any means, but there are some problems with simply pulling out of Iraq. As you probably know, Saddam claimed he beat us after Desert Storm. If the ME spins crushing defeats into victories, what do you think an actual defeat would come out as? I don't agree w/ every twist and turn of our policy, but one good thing is that we are rebuilding our image as fighters after 8 years of BJ-Boy. How are we going to show our faces in the ME and conduct any type of policy when everyone knows we got whipped by a bunch of ragtag idiots? What about all the translators and other personnel that are going to swing (literally) in the wind?

I think Republicans are as clueless about the conflict in the ME as Democrats, but they don't piss their pants at the idea of someone getting a bloody nose and are less likely to meddle in military affairs. I say this without any hint of hyperbole, but the Pelosi's of the world genuinely believe that we can sit down with the Bin Ladens of the world at a french restarant and work this all out like decent "progressives".

Maybe we need to restructure our plan, but leaving would be the wrong call.

Milkman
11-10-06, 20:10
I am not a pundit, I was against Mr. Rumsfelds appointment from the minute George Bush announced it. I knew about D.R.'s involvement in the Mid-East and most especially his puppet work with Sadam. Labeling me aas a pundit is a short sighted statement.
Sure Sadam was the best thing at the time, but apparantly politicans never learn from history. Did we use the Russians to help us defeat Germany in WWII? Yes, but did it turn around to bite us in the ass? Yes. Did the Reagan Whitehouse use Noreiga as a puppet in Panama? Yes, did it bite us in the ass? Yes. Did we use the Mujahadeen to help defeat and drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 80's, yes, did it bite us in the ass? There is a hole in lower Manhattan that says yes.
You are missing my point. Had Rumsfeld and others looked at the bigger picture and measured the threat posed by Iran better, they might have found it unnecessary to prop up Sadam in the first place.
Please look at history as a whole, not fractionally when measuring the "good" that Sadam did for us. When he gassed the Kurds and killed all Shities in the 80's, couldn't we have intervened then, recognizing that we had made a big mistake. It wasn't until after Sadam threatened our oil interests in the Mid-east that we took action against this "mad man".

If you ask me, now that we know there are no WMD's and Al Queda training camps in Iraq, I say give Sadam the keys back, and bring our men and women home. Do you honestly think that there will be a recognizable form of Democracy in Iraq in our lifetime? Not a single drop of gas is worth the loss of another single American life in Iraq. If we had a plan, a goal and an exit stragedy, I would parrot like Bush and say "Stay the course", however, much like Viet Nam, we entered Iraq without a clear understanding of a tangible goal, hamstrung by an ineffective SoD, and have no clearly defined, no strike that, ZERO IDEA of an exit stragedy:
http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/sharemed/targets/images/pho/t051/T051584A.jpg
How long will it be before this image repeats itself, only this time it will be Blackhawks, Chinooks and Osprey's, with Mosques and minarets in the background.

Do not label me a a peace-nick, a hippie, a democrat or any other slur. Becasuse I am against the war in Iraq, do not label me a pacifist. I am a realist. There is a difference. Fighting for an attainable goal is one thing, feeding our best and brightest into the meat grinder is criminal. My father was a Marine, he went to Viet Nam in 1968, he was there for Tet, I was a Marine, I went to Desert Storm and Somolia, My brother was a soldier, he went to Iraq, and was in the Armored Spearhead in March of 03 with the 3rd ID. My family is full of patriots and we all risked our lives for our country and our beliefs. Calling me a pundit or arm-chair-quaterback is just plain silly.

Who called you anything?

Not all news stories are as they seem or even true.

It may sound ugly but every once in a while we just have to let everyone know we're running the show. The problem is that we need to actually run that show, not just **** around.

I never saw so many people cry for the resignation of Rummy until the day after his resignation was announced.

Dport
11-10-06, 21:27
I never saw so many people cry for the resignation of Rummy until the day after his resignation was announced.
Ever think that many military professionals didn't feel free to express their opinions until now?

Milkman
11-10-06, 22:01
Ever think that many military professionals didn't feel free to express their opinions until now?

No, not really. It is a good excuse though.

Dport
11-10-06, 23:08
No, not really. It is a good excuse though.
It's not an excuse. You would have been surprised to hear opinions of military professionals behind closed doors over the last several years.

However, they don't go around bashing the SECDEF in public. It's just not done, and for officers, it's illegal.

So it's not an excuse, it's the truth.

Milkman
11-10-06, 23:18
Who said anything about bashing? You brought soldiers into this not me.

As far as I'm concerned there are far too many people jumping on the band wagon just so they can be another me-too instead of ever being critical in the first place. That is the point.

SOPMOOD
11-11-06, 01:41
Who called you anything?

Not all news stories are as they seem or even true.

It may sound ugly but every once in a while we just have to let everyone know we're running the show. The problem is that we need to actually run that show, not just **** around.

I never saw so many people cry for the resignation of Rummy until the day after his resignation was announced.

You did, you called me " Monday-Morning-Quarterback" and a "pundit".

Your quote: "It is pretty easy to Monday-Morning-Quarterback this situation as it looks like every single pundit is now doing."

Dport
11-11-06, 08:08
Who said anything about bashing? You brought soldiers into this not me.

As far as I'm concerned there are far too many people jumping on the band wagon just so they can be another me-too instead of ever being critical in the first place. That is the point.
Party faithfuls operate under much the same philosophy. You don't undermine the administration, especially this one. They have problems with undermining themselves, such as the timing surrounding Rummy's resignation. Perhaps one of the most politically tone deaf moves I've seen in my lifetime. I'm trying to think of another one, and would probably have to go back to Carter to find one.

VA_Dinger
11-11-06, 08:52
They have problems with undermining themselves, such as the timing surrounding Rummy's resignation. Perhaps one of the most politically tone deaf moves I've seen in my lifetime. I'm trying to think of another one, and would probably have to go back to Carter to find one.

I will have to agree 100%. Even a first year Political Science major could have told them this was a bad idea.

Doing it two weeks before the elections might have made a big difference in the out come.

Doing it immediately after only made the current administration look even more defeated & weak. It only compounded their already bad situation. It also helped to fuel the Dem's boldness and even the current GOP in fighting. Newt Gingrich’s boldness in attacking the President is only the beginning. He might have started a GOP civil war that will only weaken the current administrations position even further. It’s a bad situation.

IMO – Newt is a scumbag opportunist. He fully supported the war from the very beginning, even right up to the mid-term elections. But now that he smells Bush blood in the political waters he has unsurprisingly (for a politician) changed his tune. I expect him to run for President in 2008. He has shown his true colors with this behavior. I would not piss on his head if he were on fire.

Politicians suck (Damn near every last one of them) - Finding even a "Decent" one is the equivalent of seeing a Unicorn or Bigfoot.

BravoCompanyUSA
11-11-06, 09:01
Newt Gingrich’s boldness in attacking the President is only the beginning. He might have started a GOP civil war that will only weaken the current administrations position even further. It’s a bad situation.


What did Newt say?

Bulldog1967
11-11-06, 09:06
What did Newt say?

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2006/11/09/1110metnewt.html

Gingrich says Bush, GOP to blame for defeat

By TOM BAXTER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/09/06
After having watched the majority he engineered in 1994 crumble in this week's elections, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich laid into President Bush and congressional Republicans in an Atlanta appearance Thursday.

Taking questions after a medical forum, the former GOP congressman from Cobb County said four c's — an absence of competence in Republican performance, an absence of candor, corruption and the bad advice of consultants — led to Tuesday's defeat.

But Gingrich saved his strongest words for President Bush's performance at the Wednesday press conference announcing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. Bush told reporters that he had planned to replace Rumsfeld since before the election, despite praising the unpopular defense secretary a week ago and saying he would remain for the duration of his presidency.

"If the president had decided to replace Secretary Rumsfeld he should have told us two weeks ago," Gingrich said. "I think that we would today control the Senate and probably have 10 to15 more House seats. And I found it very disturbing yesterday in the press conference, the explanation that the President gave.

"We need candor, we need directness," said Gingrich, a potential 2008 presidential candidate."We need to understand the threats we faced with are so frightening and so real, the danger that we'll lose two to three American cities so great, that we cannot play games with each other, cannot manipulate each other, we have to have an open and honest dialogue, and I found yesterday's staments at the press conference frankly very disturbing."

He condemned Bush's admission that in making last week's statement about Rumsfeld, he had known he was being misleading.

"It's inappropriate to cleverly come out the day after an election to do something we were told before the election would not be done," Gingrich said. "I think the timing was exactly backwards and I hope the President will rethink how he engages the American people and how he communicates with candor."

He contrasted the euphoria of 1994, when his Contract with America agenda helped ended decades of Democratic rule in the House, with the bitterness of Tuesday night's Democratic sweep.

"I remember what it felt like the night we were at the Cobb Galleria and for the first time in 40 years we won control of the House and (there was) the Contract with America and people were very exicted about welfare reform and cutting taxes and balancing the budget and all those things, and I have to say 12 years later that I'm very disappointed, but if you look at what I've said all year, I'm not surprised."

As for whatRepublicans should do now, he said, "I believe the House and Senate Republicans and the White House need to take a deep breath and think very seriously about this election result, because I think we're at a very important turning point this is either a temporary interruption of what has been a gradually consolidating center-right majority, or this is a breakdown of that center-right majority leading to a significant effort to establish a center-left government majority."

As usual, he couldn't be more right. :mad:

VA_Dinger
11-11-06, 09:11
What did Newt say?

Edit - It seems Bulldog posted one of his statements.

IMO: Gingrich is positioning himself for a Presidential run in 2008.

It’s not that I totally disagree with Gingrich’s statements. It’s the timing. It clearly shows he will change his position for whichever way the political wind is blowing. That’s not a leadership trait in my book.

Milkman
11-11-06, 10:42
You did, you called me " Monday-Morning-Quarterback" and a "pundit".

Your quote: "It is pretty easy to Monday-Morning-Quarterback this situation as it looks like every single pundit is now doing."

It wasn't inteded that way but I guess if the shoe fits..

Milkman
11-11-06, 10:42
Party faithfuls operate under much the same philosophy. You don't undermine the administration, especially this one. They have problems with undermining themselves, such as the timing surrounding Rummy's resignation. Perhaps one of the most politically tone deaf moves I've seen in my lifetime. I'm trying to think of another one, and would probably have to go back to Carter to find one.

Party faithfuls? Thats a laugh.

Striker5
11-11-06, 20:12
Gingrich has an extremely sharp political mind. Personally, he has alot of baggage, especially in the woman department. If he's all there is I'll vote for him, of course I would vote for my maglite before I would vote for any current Democrat.

I remember Gingrich making a comment to the effect that Liberalism is all about feeling good about yourself, like you're some kind of crusader, not about getting results. Since I heard that, I usually turn the volume up when I see him on TV.

VA_Dinger
11-11-06, 20:27
Gingrich has an extremely sharp political mind.

What does that mean? All I see is another opportunist politician who will change his position depending on which way the political winds are blowing. That’s not my definition of “Sharp”. Any moron can read the paper each morning.

His time has come and gone anyway.


I remember Gingrich making a comment to the effect that Liberalism is all about feeling good about yourself, like you're some kind of crusader, not about getting results. Since I heard that, I usually turn the volume up when I see him on TV.

I'm not following your train of thought on this one.

M4arc
11-12-06, 08:25
Let's keep this conversation civil.

Milkman, the reason some of these guys can't (or couldn't) say anything about Rumsfeld until after is resignation is because they are active duty. Doing so while he was SoD would be a violation of CoC.

That hardly constitutes arm chair quarterbacking.

Striker5
11-12-06, 16:32
[QUOTE=VA_Dinger]What does that mean? All I see is another opportunist politician who will change his position depending on which way the political winds are blowing. That’s not my definition of “Sharp”. Any moron can read the paper each morning.

I agree that his recent comments do appear to be opportunistic. I call Gingrich sharp because he engineered the Republican resurgence in Congress in the early 90's - something that had not occurred in the previous 30 years, including during the Reagan era. He put together a comprehensive package of Conservative legislation and was running with it when the focus shifted to trying to nail Clinton. As Newt had allegedly screwed around on his wife, he had to step out of the limelight as he would not make an effective front man.
It is this record and the way he comports himself in interviews and his ideas and the clarity with which he gets his points across that makes me calll him "sharp".

As to not getting my train of thought on Gingrich's comments on Liberalism, allow me to elaborate.
Gingrich was making the point that American Liberalism doesn't really solve anything, that they keep using the same tired old policies and get the same mediocre results, often at the expense of our rights and our fibre as a society. He explains that this is because the true endstate of being a Lefty is self-congratulation, feeling superior to people, and the ability to manage people's lives.

I heard this, matched it up to every Liberal I have worked with, dated, or argued with and thought "The man has a point". I find his ideas interesting and pay attention when he's on TV. I don't think he's always right or the ultimate Conservative, just a "sharp" guy.

I hope that helps clear things up.

SOPMOOD
11-12-06, 23:07
It wasn't inteded that way but I guess if the shoe fits..

What other way was there to take that? If that is not what you intended, you shouldn't have said it.

SOPMOOD
11-12-06, 23:09
Let's keep this conversation civil.

Milkman, the reason some of these guys can't (or couldn't) say anything about Rumsfeld until after is resignation is because they are active duty. Doing so while he was SoD would be a violation of CoC.

That hardly constitutes arm chair quarterbacking.
Thanks M4Arc. Even you spotted Milkman's obvious bashing.

M4arc
11-13-06, 06:07
Thanks M4Arc. Even you spotted Milkman's obvious bashing.

I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult...

Gentlemen, if you want to discuss Rumy's resignation please do so. Offer your opinions, points and counterpoints, let us know what you think that means moving forward but this badgering back and forth will stop.