by the Indepundit (The Milblogger Formerly Known As Lt. Smash)
DID YOU FEEL IT?
At some point in the past few weeks, a shift occured. Maybe it started back in November, when Congressman Jack Murtha lost his bid to be House Majority Leader.
Or perhaps it was on January 27, when Jane Fonda staged a defeatist demonstration on the hallowed grounds of the U.S. Navy Memorial. On that same day, some of her fellow defeatists vandalized the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol, while others spit at the foot of Iraq veteran Joshua Sparling (that's not a typo, Sparling lost his right leg in Iraq).
Maybe it all came to a head last Friday, when the House of Representatives expressed their institutional preference for defeat over victory in Iraq.
Whenever the shift began, it was evident by Saturday afternoon that something had changed. That was when a motion in the Senate to take up the House's anti-war resolution failed to win enough votes to move forward. And that was for the mildest, most watered-down rebuke that could possibly satisfy the defeatists. On that same day, the Washington Post slammed Congressman Murtha for advocating a "slow bleed" strategy to end the war in Iraq.
. . . an increasingly vocal number of Americans are indeed "finding fault" with Jack Murtha and his friends in the defeatist movement. . . . Last week, a Navy officer in Baghdad and a retired soldier began circulating a petition amongst the troops, "The Appeal For Courage," urging Congress to "fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat." Such petitions are rare, but are allowed under DoD directives designed to protect military whistleblowers. For the first few days, their petition garnered little interest. Over the weekend, the number of signatures doubled.
At the same time, blogger NZ Bear established a new advocacy group, "The Victory Caucus." By week's end, his new website had recieved over 100,000 visits, and 3,400 had registered to join the group. If you think this is small potatoes, consider that this is exactly how the left-wing advocacy group MoveOn.org got started in 1998, at the height of President Clinton's impeachment crisis. . . .
Meanwhile in Iraq, the "surge" moves forward. . . . Moqtada al-Sadr is in hiding, and al Qaeda in Iraq is dying.
The momentum has shifted. Did you feel it?
I hope he's right.
Please take note in particular of the link to the Victory Caucus. I respectfully ask Mayor Fred and the Mods to consider adding a permanent link to the Victory Caucus on the 'Burg's homepage.
It's linked. |