Boehner, Hewitt, and the SOB Alliance

As the Alliance's main supporter of John Boehner, I suppose I should weigh in a bit more than I have on the issue burning across the Alliance feed this morning...

Boehner did a segment with Blew Blewitt on the radio last night (audio) which I have not yet had the opportunity of hearing for myself yet. This got Blewitt and his fellow blogger Dean Barnett all in a tizzy... Here is a taste of the bile:

What did Boehner do to get us so riled up? Boehner, not wanting to be left in the dust of all this resolution hoo-ha, is proposing a benchmark measuring device that he will put forward in a congressional resolution of his very own. Boehner kept insisting that his only motive in cooking up yet another offering for the already-crowded “Meaningless Resolution Buffet” is to help the White House.

To suggest that Boehner put forth these benchmarks simply for the sake of his ego and a headline or two is insulting. And it is rhetoric like this that fails to put the idea in its proper perspective. Dean's suggestion that Boehner is acting as some attention starved media whore is out of line.

I'm not a fan of having Congress dictate what success in Iraq would like like. Congress just isn't qualified to make those judgements and even if they were, it is the President's constitutional authority as commander-in-chief to make those judgements. Congress' role is funding...once the war is declared, Congress is out of it. At this point, Republicans and Democrats are using Iraq as a political football and it is not acceptable. Victory is the only acceptable plan...and if people want to have a dialogue on what victory means, I have no problem with that; but let's not pretend that there isn't some political theatre going on here.

Ultimately, though, some benchmarks are needed to determine whether or not the strategy is a success. Democrats haven't offered any and quite frankly, neither has the President. We have to start addressing the popularity of this war if we are to achieve victory and one of the ways to do that is to start talking about what victory would look like. There are two lessons of Vietnam... First: popular support is important. Second: Micromanagement is the path to defeat. We can't ignore the fact that many Americans are not fond of how this war is playing out, but we also can't have Congress jumping in and making all the decisions.

I've been saying all along that I don't think a resolution filled with benchmarks is the way to go. But I understand what Boehner is doing here: he is forcing the Democrt majority into repudiating victory or establishing their own set of benchmarks that lead to victory. It's politics, yes; but Boehner should also have taken in to account the effect of this manuever might have on our enemy. I've seen it witten that the only benchmark we need is victory... Here is how that plan looks on paper:

1. Invade Iraq to depose Saddam and bring freedom to Iraq
2. Victory

See something missing? I do... I criticize liberals who are lacking such critical thinking skills, why should I not do the same for conservatives. Sticking our heads in the sand while hoping and praying for victory is not a plan...at least, not a plan for victory.

BizzyBlog has a big post on this subject that includes an update from Boehner's Deputy Communications Director, Don Seymour, that you will want to read.

NixGuy also has a post on the issue.

Hugh Hewitt's post can be found here. One of the comments to that post:

I am still a big fan of yours, still going to continue voting Republican as I have for over 30 years, and will still give 'til it hurts.
I think in listening to you today, I was listening to the beginnings of a train wreck.
And it is not Boehner I am talking about.
You let that sleaze ball McAuliffe totally kick you around. You let him slander Chaney over that hunting accident in disgusting ways.
And then you took it out by kicking Boehner.
I am not impressed.
President Bush is the one who refused to sell this war consistently and effectively. President Bush failed to lead well. The dhimmiecrats were and are totally vulnerable to effective argument, facts and history. Pres. Bush has ineffectively used all three.
The Congress is not going to sit quiet.
Boehner [made] some good points, and he has the advantage over you of having to actually be accountable for what he does.
We are the same age, ahve similar backgrounds in many ways, and I know that I want victory for this country in this war.
We will not get it if the Republican party, the only party even slightly inclined to work towardes that victory, is blown up.

Hewitt should feel free to run for Congress and put his money where is mouth is... And this commenter is pretty much a representative sample of the nonsense going on at Hewitt.com:

boehner is a straw man with sawdust in his veins. Nothing is more important than office. And you stay in office by knowing where the wind blows. His signature should be a windsock.

Boehner need not worry one iota about staying in office...he's actually in the most conservative district in the great state of Ohio. What an idiot!

UPDATE: Matt Naugle jumps in to the fray at RightAngleBlog.

What really irks me about this is that now that the GOP is in the minority, Blew Blewitt's GOP cheerleader uniform must have shrunk or something. Let's all remember the great conservative championing of...Arlen Specter...by the great conservative leader...Blew Blewitt... We wouldn't be in this electoral mess if there was support for real conservatives, like John Boehner, when it counted... Now, its open season on any Republican who has a different view all of a sudden... Give me a break...

If the President of the United States had done his job communicating with the American people, Boehner wouldn't be put in the situation of having to explain what success in Iraq should look like... Those complaining about Boehner ought to take a closer look at what has been coming from the White House...

UPDATE 2: Clearly, Minority Leader John Boehner is providing aid and comfort to the enemy by insisting that we win.....or something.

UPDATE 3: So, what you are saying here is that Boehner asking for information that is already being published by our military is somehow providing aid and comfort to the enemy.....or something.