There are some serious ass issues with this place when DamonEsquire is the most informative person in a thread about the major news story of the day..
If I may channel Dan Loney for a second, why are you relying on a soccer yapfest for unbiased information about a serious news topic? I can think of lots of places that you can look for better info. The people for whom this is important are probably watching it live (and too busy to post here), and the people for whom this is not important are doing other things (like working, or avoiding work in my case). If this is so important to you, why don't you make some effort to find better sources of information about it than BigSoccer?
Well, the comments of the people here do provide some more entertaining reading material than your average political site.
The "news" at the cable news network: -Petraeus: Troop 'surge' could end by July '08 -7 U.S. troops die in Iraq vehicle accident -Help your child handle bullies -Toddlers enter online world -Petraeus 'betray us' ad slammed 13 min -Ticker: Four-letter words fly at Iraq hearing -Britney ripped mercilessly for train wreck show -Angry rugby fans attack reporter on live TV Video -Dog learns new trick -- climbing trees Video -Title of new 'Indiana Jones' revealed -Country star's husband wants her to admit affairs -Britney Bombs lol...what a pathetic joke the "news" is...the concern with how folks live their right to dissent, instead of "how seldom," sprinkled in among the pop-bubble cultural feculence and nightmare of more dead soldiers in this hell-disaster... Anyway, for those interested in what was actually submitted by the general: Petraeus' opening statement (pdf) Petraeus' charts (pdf)
A) Thank you. B) Wow do I hate power point. Compare Petraeus' charts to The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation
That's pathetic, I've lost all respect for that organization. Talk about being prejudice, they made up their minds before the General even gave his report.
Oh come one. There was absolutely no chance that Petraeus was ever going to deliver a less-than-glowing report, which flies in the face of reality. MoveOn made a good call, and if it makes the Dem fence-sitters nervous, all the better.
He's report is that militarly the surge is working, which most people argee is happening. The fact that there isn't any political movement toward cooperation isn't his reponsiblity. Move On's beef should be with the political heads in this case, not the military chiefs. If you want to ask, what does this military progress mean? That's a good question. My answer is, probably very little.
Actually, it was tone deaf. More than that it was completely unnecessary. And now it'll just be a distraction and an easy rallying cry for their opposition. MoveOn didn't make a good call, they made a moronic call. If they really wanted to pressure the Dems then they should have taken a hint from the ACLU's recent "Leadersheep" ad. Notice the difference between the ACLU's ad and MoveOn's?
"a good call" ? Well Claymore, I could answer your statement, but our next president says it much better than I could: Thompson Slams MoveOn.org For Libelous Attack On General Petraeus Columbia, SC - Fred Thompson released the following statement regarding MoveOn.org's recent advertisement in the New York Times about General David Petraeus: "MoveOn.org has today, in effect, said that the General leading our brave troops in Iraq is betraying his country. This is the group that funds the Democratic Party. I call upon the Democratic Party and all of the Democratic candidates for President to repudiate the libel of this patriotic American." If MoveOn.org/George Soros objects to the General's actions, there are respectful ways to show their disagreement. Smearing an honorable soldier on the battlefield, as MoveOn.org has done, clearly defines their agenda as anti-American, along with the rag that ran the offensive ad.
Two sides of the same coin - ACLU takes the high road, MoveOn goes for the gut. The GOP is scared shitless of MoveOn, or they never would have had a mouthpiece like Ros-Litehnen (sp?) make that little display at the hearing today. MoveOn called a spade a spade today, and the kabuki players got upset. every single person in that hearing today knew exactly what Petraeus and Crocker were going to say, and not one of them asked a decent question or challenged their methodology (which has more holes than a IED'd Humvee). It was a shameful display by both sides today.
I'd rather have Ghouliani... And that's saying something... If he wants to be an honorable soldier in the battlefield then he should keep his ass on the battlefield. Once he stepped into this hearing, he became fair game...
Fred Thompson can kiss my ass. Petraeus has been a water-carrier for Bush since at least 2004 - remember his little op-ed, the one where he claimed "progress" in training Iraq's security forces? Three years later, and this guy is back spewing the same garbage. Oh, and he's got an "exclusive" with Fox News and Brit Hume after the hearings.
You're seeing what you want to see. They're not swooning and reaching for the smelling salts. They're thanking their lucky stars that the left handed them such easy prey.
There's so much wrong with this post, but I'll hit just one point. If you prejudge something but you turn out to be 100% correct, is it fair for people to whine about you being right?
And if they're not correct, will they retract? And if they are 100% correct, does calling the General a traitor still the right thing to do?
Petraeus needs to give a progress report. As with most preformance reviews, they tend to highlight the successes and downplay the faliures. That's normal. It's the job of the Congress to point out that the failures are more important then the successes.