Democ
s Platform!Posted on 02/20/2006 6:08:22 AM PST by AZRepublican
WASHINGTON -- After months of trying unsuccessfully to develop a common message on the war in Iraq, Democratic Party leaders are beginning to coalesce around a broad plan to begin a quick withdrawal of US troops and install them elsewhere in the region, where they could respond to emergencies in Iraq and help fight terrorism in other countries.
The concept, dubbed ''strategic redeployment," is outlined in a slim, nine-page report coauthored by a former Reagan administration assistant Defense secretary, Lawrence J. Korb, in the fall. It sets a goal of a phased troop withdrawal that would take nearly all US troops out of Iraq by the end of 2007, although many Democrats disagree on whether troop draw-downs should be tied to a timeline.
Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee chairman, has endorsed Korb's paper and begun mentioning it in meetings with local Democratic groups. In addition, the study's concepts have been touted by the senator assigned to bring Democrats together on Iraq -- Jack Reed of Rhode Island -- and the report has been circulated among all senators by Senator Dianne Feinstein, an influential moderate Democrat from California.
The party remains divided on some points, including how much detail to include in a party-produced document, fearful of giving too much fodder for attacks by Republicans.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
The war is a losing issue for the democratic leadership no matter how it tries to approach it. Democrats desperately want the war (not just in Iraq, but against Islamic terror in general) on its way to being resolved before 2008 because they don't want to have to take responsibility for the war if, heaven forbid, they manage to take the White House in 2008. Like Butterfly McQueen in Gone with the Wind who didn't "know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies," Hillary "don't know nothin' 'bout winnin' no war against terror."
What democrats hope to do is to force the Bush White House into at least starting the "strategic redeployment." That way, the democrats can claim that they are not surrendering. They are merely cleaning up the "disgraceful mess" that Bush made.
The difference is that once the Dems redeploy the troops , they will never be allowed to go into combat anywhere, despite any justification , and will serve the sole function of being targets for terrorist bombs, and subsequent Janet Reno FBI investigations of the "crimes".
Trusting the Democrats with our security is like trusting your gerbil [the Dems' pet of choice] to guard against snakes.
"WASHINGTON -- After months of trying unsuccessfully to develop a common message on the war in Iraq, Democratic Party leaders are beginning to coalesce around a broad plan to begin a quick withdrawal of US troops and install them elsewhere in the region, where they could respond to emergencies in Iraq and help fight terrorism in other countries."
Well, this is a really stupid thing to propose. But they seem to be coming up with a plethora of stupid ideas...
It seems to me that this nation is no longer capable of waging war for any reason, good or bad.
(Lawrence J. Korb and Brian Katulis, Strategic Redeployment: A Progressive Plan for Iraq and the Struggle Against Violent Extremists, Washington, DC: Center for American Progress, October 2005.)
* The Shadow Party's leading policy organization and spin machine
* Run by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta
* Helped launch "Media Matters for America" - a media ethics watchdog group run by David Brock, who has publicly confessed to writing false, political hatchet jobs for pay
* Key players: Hillary Clinton, George Soros, Morton Halperin, Harold Ickes, John Podesta
Inside sources have described the Center for American Progress (CAP) as "the official Hillary Clinton think tank" - a platform designed to highlight Hillary's policies and to enhance her prestige as a potential presidential candidate.
On its Web site, CAP describes itself as, "a nonpartisan research and educational institute" aimed at "developing a long-term vision of a progressive America" and "providing a forum to generate new progressive ideas and policy proposals."
CAP is one of the Seven Sister organizations forming the administrative core of the Democrat Shadow Party. The other Seven Sisters constituent groups are America Coming Together, America Votes, Joint Victory Campaign 2004, The Media Fund, Moveon, and The Thunder Road Group.
Among CAP's expert commentators are Eric Alterman - who claims expertise on the subjects of media and democracy - and Morton J. Halperin, who offers to speak on national security. For more, see the "American Progress experts directory."
History
The Center for American Progress (CAP) was the brainchild of George Soros and Morton H. Halperin, the latter a veteran leftist critic of national security policies. Robert Dreyfuss reports in the March 1, 2004 edition of The Nation:
"The idea for the Center began with discussions in 2002 between [Morton] Halperin and George Soros, the billionaire investor. … Halperin, who heads the office of Soros' Open Society Institute, brought [former Clinton chief of staff John] Podesta into the discussion, and beginning in late 2002 Halperin and Podesta circulated a series of papers to funders."
Soros and Halperin reportedly recruited Harold Ickes - chief fundraiser and former deputy chief of staff for the Clinton White House - to help organize the Center. It was launched on July 7, 2003 as the American Majority Institute. The name was changed to Center for American Progress (CAP) on September 1, 2003.
snip
Regarding the new think tank proposed by Soros and Halperin, Hillary Clinton told Matt Bai of The New York Times Magazine on October 12, 2003, "We need some new intellectual capital. There has to be some thought given as to how we build the 21st-century policies that reflect the Democrat Party's values."
Expanding on this theme, Hillary later told The Nation's Robert Dreyfuss, "We've had the challenge of filling a void on our side of the ledger for a long time, while the other side created an infrastructure that has come to dominate political discourse. The center is a welcome effort to fill that void.
snip
Hillary Clinton tries to minimize the depth of her involvement with the Center for American Progress (CAP) - as indeed she does habitually in all matters connected with the Shadow Party. Beltway insiders are not fooled, however. Persistent press leaks confirm that Hillary calls the shots at CAP - not John Podesta.
"It's the official Hillary Clinton think tank," an inside source confided to Christian Bourge of United Press International.
Many ideological purists on the Left dismiss the Center as a platform for Hillary's presidential ambitions. And, of course, they are right.
As Robert Dreyfuss notes in The Nation, "In looking at Podesta's center, there's no escaping the imprint of the Clintons. It's not completely wrong to see it as a shadow government, a kind of Clinton White-House-in-exile - or a White House staff in readiness for President Hillary Clinton."
Dreyfuss notes the abundance of Clintonites on the Center's staff, among them Clinton's national security speechwriter Robert Boorstin; Democratic Leadership Council staffer and former head of Clinton's National Economic Council Gene Sperling; former senior advisor to Clinton's Office of Management and Budget Matt Miller; and so on. Dreyfuss writes:
"[T]he center's kickoff conference on national security in October [2003], co-organized with The American Prospect and the Century Foundation, looked like a Clinton reunion, featuring Robert Rubin, Clinton's Treasury Secretary; William Perry, his Defense Secretary; Sandy Berger, his National Security Adviser; Richard Holbrooke and Susan Rice, both Clinton-era Assistant Secretaries of State; Rodney Slater, his Transportation Secretary; and Carol Browner, his EPA administrator, who serves on the center's board of directors."
Naturally, Hillary Clinton also attended the event, Dreyfuss reports.
snip
On May 3, 2004, CAP helped launch David Brock's Media Matters for America - a 501(c)(03) public charity (EIN 47-0928008), better known for its Web site MediaMatters.org. Inasmuch as Media Matters claims to serve as a "watchdog" organization, monitoring "rightwing" media for ethics and accuracy, it is revealing that David Brock - a self-confessed liar who admits to having fabricated evidence while writing journalistic hatchet jobs for pay - has been appointed its President and CEO.
According to The New York Times - which announced Brock's grand opening with a 1,025-word feature on May 3, 2004 - Brock conferred with Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Tom Daschle and former Vice President Al Gore about Media Matters before embarking on the project.
"Mr. Brock's project was developed with help from the newly formed Center for American Progress," notes The Times, and CAP president John Podesta "introduced [Brock] to potential donors."
Brock reportedly received $2 million for the start-up. The New York Times states that his donors include Hillary friend Susie Tompkins Buell, co-founder of the fashion company Esprit; former Global Crossing CEO Leo Hindery Jr.; and San Francisco philanthropist James C. Hormel - an enthusiastic promoter of the "gay lifetstyle" - whom Clinton appointed ambassador to Luxembourg in the 1990s.
Media Matters provides "rapid response" rebuttals to any and all conservative viewpoints which happen to find their way into mainstream media. In its short life, Media Matters has already acquired a reputation for virulent partisanship and reckless disregard for the truth.
http://tinyurl.com/h4zz7
And where exactly do y'all plan to redeploy our troops? Saudi Arabia? Jordan? Turkey? Iran? Israel?
To get out of Iraq and to try to avoid the political stigma of advoctating a cut-and-run policy (which is exactly what they're doing) the DemoRats been floating this idea of a "strategic redeployment" in neighboring countries for several months now. One of the guys I work with, who's a hard-core lefty, even suggested this to me as a viable policy during an intense debate we had last week. So its definitely sinking in among their rank and file left-wingers who know nothing about military operations and the real geo-political world.
My question here is (rhetorically, of course) has anyone of these DemoRat ignoramouses bothered to ask the aforesaid countries if they would even allow massive numbers of U.S. forces to be based on their terrotories? Israel would probably be most happy to have them, but I'm sure that one of the reasons for invading Iraq was because we absolutely had to get out of Saudi Arabia. I'm sure the Saudis do not want out roops back. What sheer stupidity!!!!!!!
s Platform!Wow! That is the most cogent summation of what they are proposing that I have seen yet. I'll make a point to use it when I'm arguing with the hard-core socialists I have to deal with on a daily basis, particularly the point about invading Iraq a second time.
The party remains divided on some points, including how much detail to include in a party-produced document, fearful of giving too much fodder for attacks by Republicans.
They lack the courage of their convictions. This is all the assesment of their own plan anyone needs.
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is a liberal organization led and created by John Podesta, a former chief of staff to Bill Clinton. It is located in Washington, D.C. The Center for American Progress has a sister advocacy group, the American Progress Action Fund, and campus outreach group, Campus Progress.
Since its inception, the Center has gathered a group of high-profile senior fellows, including Lawrence Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan; Gene Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council under President Bill Clinton; Ruy Teixeira, political scientist and author of The Emerging Democratic Majority; and, most recently, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.
The Center co-sponsored the recent, much-publicized Robert Greenwald documentary entitled Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, which was also sponsored by groups such as MoveOn.org, America Coming Together, and others.
The Center also produces the Bill Press Show, a progressive talk radio program broadcast from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m Eastern Time weekday mornings. The program is syndicated by Jones Radio Networks.
The Center for American Progress publishes a daily email newsletter known as the Progress Report. The Progress Report is essentially a recap and analysis of major political news in the United States. The Center For American Progress is harshly critical of President George W. Bush and his administration on everything from foreign policy to environmental issues.
The Progress Report has drawn praise from notable progressive figures, including Paul Begala.
In February 2005, the Center for American Progress launched Campus Progress, an "effort to strengthen progressive voices on college and university campuses nationwide; counter the growing influence of right-wing groups on campus; and empower new generations of progressive leaders." The project features a web publication, CampusProgress.org; funding, training, and mentoring for campus progressive publications; a campus speakers bureau; support, advice, and materials to students engaged in public education campaigns on national, local, and campus issues; and an annual student conference. The first conference was held on July 12, 2005 in Washington, DC, and featured President Bill Clinton and Congressman John Lewis. CampusProgress.org features a frequently-updated blog published by "campus correspondents" from Montana, Texas, New Jersey, and elsewhere.
Distance between Okinawa, Japan and Baghdad, Iraq, as the crow flies: 4899 miles (7884 km) (4257 nautical miles).
American Progress is slated to operate with a $10 million budget next year, raised from big donors like the financier George Soros.
* Morton H. Halperin, senior vice president of the Center for American Progress. Halperin is also George Soro's, Director Open Society Institute and Open Society Policy Center [1] (http://www.opensocietypolicycenter.org/html/staff.html)
February 2, 2006
Center for American Progress Releases Report on Domestic Surveillance
Earlier today, the Center for American Progress released, "NSA Domestic Warrantless Wiretapping and the 'Trust Me' President," a report by Senior Fellow Mark Agrast and Associate Director Ken Gude examining the domestic surveillance program. It argues that "[t]he administration’s campaign to defend the illegal spying program is nothing more than a smokescreen to cover up its failure to make real progress in protecting us from terrorists."
So?
Have they put together their plan to get the US out of Germany and Japan, yet?
Hysterically funny pictures...!
You know what you have when someone or some group is called "progressive" don't you? Why a fellow travelor, better known as fracking Commie!
This is the first in a series of collaborative pieces between the Rockridge Institute and the Center for American Progress.
Rockridge Institute
George Lakoff is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously taught at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. He has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, and a Visiting Professor at the Ècole des Hautes Ètudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris (1995) and at the Linguistics Society of America Summer Institute at the University of New Mexico (Summer, 1995).
RockridgeInstitute.Org resources by George Lakoff:
Articles
Framing: It's About Values and Ideas
Reframing is rethinking, sometimes a conceptual overhaul. The debate over reproductive rights demonstrates the conceptual work that needs to be done. A response to Katha Pollitt's piece in The Nation.
Simple Framing
An introduction to framing and its uses in politics.
What's in a Word? Plenty, if it's "Marriage"
George Lakoff analyzes the current debate over same sex marriage.
How to Respond to Conservatives
An excerpt from the book Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.
Framing Katrina
"War on Terror," Rest In Peace
It seems they (Progressives) have plenty of help promoting it (George Soros ideas run through the Clinton's mouthpieces) from the NYT...
New York Times October 12, 2003
Notion Building
By MATT BAI
The complete article
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60810FC3A580C718DDDA90994DB404482
Excerpt--
... [John] Podesta is a 54-year-old marathon runner with an intense, angular face that seems to suggest he is always calculating something you would never be able to grasp. He is also the leader and architect of a new liberal think tank in Washington known as the Center for American Progress. His goal is to build an organization to rethink the very idea of liberalism, a reproduction in mirror image of the conservative think tanks that have dominated the country's political dialogue for a generation.
Many such left-leaning ventures have been tried over the years and have failed to wield much influence, but Podesta's effort seems different, not only because of his considerable personal stature within the party but also because rage at the Bush administration has galvanized Democrats. ...
Matt Bai is a contributing writer for the magazine
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