I just pulled the transcript from the House debate over the phony GOP resolution calling for withdrawal from Iraq because I want to highlight how Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) went even further than his colleagues in his attacks on dissent.
Early in his speech, Johnson offered the standard line:
America, and the Congress, must stand behind our men and women in uniform because they stand up for us every minute of every day.
Any talk, even so much as a murmur, of leaving now just emboldens the enemy and weakens the resolve of our troops in the field. That is dangerous. If you do not believe me, check out al Jazeera. The withdrawal story is on the front page. We cannot do that to our fellow Americans over there.
It takes incredible chutzpah to say that "even so much as a murmur" about withdrawal "emboldens the enemy" after Johnson's own party introduced a resolution designed to forced a debate over withdrawal.
But Johson later went even further, directly accusing his fellow members of Congress of seeking to "embolden the enemy":
However, sadly, some here want to embolden the enemy by saying we just cut and run. That is just irresponsible and unconscionable.
I'm amazed someone hasn't tried to have Johnson's words stricken from the record. Usually, the Republican tactic is to say that advocates of withdrawal are unintentionally emboldening the enemy. To say that Iraq war critics "want to embolden" the enemy is essentially an accusation of treason.
Comments