Miserable failures: Senate Dems fail to get the votes they need

…. for an Iraq pullout. MSNBC has the headline up. I’ll have a link as soon as I find one. Here’s the only one I’ve found so far, and it’s very brief.

ABC News’ homepage reads:

AFTER AN ALL-NIGHT DEBATE, SENATE REPUBLICANS HAVE BLOCKED A DEMOCRATIC EFFORT TO REMOVE AMERICAN COMBAT TROOPS FROM IRAQ BY THE END OF APRIL 2008 BY A VOTE OF 52 TO 47

(All caps theirs)

Update: Here’s a more comprehensive link:

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans on Wednesday scuttled a Democratic proposal ordering troop withdrawals from Iraq in a showdown that capped an all-night debate on the war.

The 52-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to cut off debate under Senate rules. It was a sound defeat for Democrats who say the U.S. military campaign, in its fifth year and requiring 158,000 troops, cannot tame the sectarian violence in Iraq.

“The amendment tells our enemies when they can take over in Iraq,” said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.

The bill “is the wrong approach at the wrong time,” he added.

“We have to get us out of a middle of a civil war” said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del. A political solution must be found “so when we leave Iraq, we don’t just send our children home, we don’t have to send our grandchildren back.”

I’m sure outraged reactions are forthcoming from the usual suspects.

11 Responses to "Miserable failures: Senate Dems fail to get the votes they need"

Terrye says:

July 18, 2007 at 4:47 pm

Biden is such an embarrassment.
Pat Cunningham says:

July 18, 2007 at 5:13 pm

Oh, the Democrats had enough votes to approve a pullout of troops. They had a majority. They just didn’t have the super-majority of 60 votes required to kill the Republican filibuster against a straight up-and-down vote on the legislation. The Republicans were afraid of majority-rule in this matter. Most members of the House, most members of the Senate, most Americans, most Iraqis and most of the world want U.S. troops out of Iraq. But President Bush, who has some serious manhood issues, stands in the way. Too bad.
Lorica says:

July 18, 2007 at 6:11 pm

“We have to get us out of a middle of a civil war” said Sen. Joseph Biden

I have to wonder if that is how our enemies feel about this “civil” war??? AQ calls Iraq the most important front against America, seems to me if Biden had brain 1, he would tell folks we need to take this fight to the enemy who attacked us. How these people keep getting elected is amazing.

“so when we leave Iraq, we don’t just send our children home, we don’t have to send our grandchildren back.”

Interestingly I do agree with Biden here, but I don’t think you are going to solve anything without the military. A “political” solution really does need that “Big Stick”. If these “cut and runners” keep talking, and encouraging our enemies, we are never going to get out of there, and our great grandchildren will be fighting this war. Exactly how long did the Crusades last?? 300 years or 400?? – Lorica
Baklava says:

July 18, 2007 at 6:16 pm

Pat without perspective wrote, “The Republicans were afraid of majority-rule in this matter.”

That kind of sentence can be written every time Democrats filibuster you know. The Democrats are “afraid”. Trouble is pat you are making an argument as if you know what is in people’s heads besides your own.

Just make an argument based on facts for or against something based on merits and facts and you’ll do well here.

Pat without a good argument wrote, “But President Bush, who has some serious manhood issues, stands in the way.”

That is the definition of a man to me. Somebody who doesn’t sway to public opinion but does lead and do what he thinks is right in the face of adversity.

ok… On to some actual arguments I hope….
Lorica says:

July 18, 2007 at 6:18 pm

But President Bush, who has some serious manhood issues, stands in the way. Too bad.

Yes Pat I am certain you are right. It is because Bush has a small wanker. It has nothing to do with the over 6000 AQ fighters and foreign terrorists that are there trying to create a safe haven for themselves in the chaos that would ensue shortly after we left. Your analysis is spot on. Thanks for you input. – Lorica
NC Cop says:

July 18, 2007 at 6:42 pm

Most members of the House, most members of the Senate, most Americans, most Iraqis and most of the world want U.S. troops out of Iraq.

Once again we see the spin of the Bush haters.

You are wrong Pat. Actually everybody wants U.S. troops out of Iraq, EVERYBODY, including me. The question is WHEN do we pull troops out of Iraq. Do we do it prematurely and have to face an even worse prospect down the road? Even Biden recognizes that fact with his statement. Or do we finish the job, make sure the Iraqi troops and government can continue the fight against Al Qaeda, as a stable country?

The only reason “most of the world” didn’t want us in Iraq is because of their illegal dealings with that nation, see France and Russia for starters.

But President Bush, who has some serious manhood issues, stands in the way.

Sounds like you have some inferiority issues, of a man who was beaten your party twice.
Terrye says:

July 18, 2007 at 7:00 pm

Pat is an embarrassment too.

Why not ask the American people if they want to surrender to AlQaida and leave Iraq to genocide. I doubt you would get a majority saying yes to that.
Mwalimu Daudi says:

July 18, 2007 at 10:46 pm

Senator Gordon Smith Calls Iraq Vote a Squandered Opportunity

Key paragraphs:

One Republican senator who co-sponsored an amendment to force a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by April 30, 2008, said Democrats missed their chance to win over Republicans because of theatrics that offered no substance to the debate.

Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon said Democrats could have gotten several more Republican votes if they had not forced senators to remain at work through the night and squandered the moment by holding photo-ops of rollaway beds being brought into the Capitol.

What a moron! Democrats are not interested in “winning over Republicans”. Democrats want to demonize and destroy any who get in their way because they believe they are morally, intellectually, and ethically superior to everyone else. Who are we to oppose them? Don’t question Democrats’ patriotism – they will question yours instead. And your ethics. And your spirituality. And your basic humanity. But don’t you dare do the same to them.

The fact that RINOs like Smith respond favorably to being slimed by Democrats (“Thank you Master Reid – will you kick me again, please?”) does not mean that others hanker to do the same.
Drewsmom says:

July 19, 2007 at 6:02 am

Yeah and I see this A.m. 7/19 that the dems are gonna block funding, yep, they do support our troops.
All they really support is hill in 08 — Good grief, gimma a freaking break.
nothing but ‘s.
Leslie says:

July 19, 2007 at 10:03 am

Well, look. I don’t think the Democrats would have voted for the bill if it stood any chance of getting 60 votes. Reid’s refusal to allow the Senate to take up any of the compromise bills shows that.

No. The whole charade was designed to put the Democrats on record as having said “don’t blame us.” They don’t want any “who lost China?” “why wasn’t MacArthur allowed to move troops into Red China”? “why did the Democrats force us out of Vietnam?” arguments.

Actually, a more useful all-night debate would have been devoted to the topic of why, for 60 years, we persist in destroying hornet’s nests with sledge hammers, only to find that enough hornets manage to escape to harass us, and so we end up dropping the hammer on our feet.

Anyway, in the end it won’t matter. The GOP will pedal away from the loopy cultists in the White House, but the loopy cultists will still say, like Bogart’s Queeg in the crackup scene, “I could have saved that ship.” And then they’ll add it was Cindy Sheehan and the New York Times editorial board that prevented them from doing just that.

And the loopy cultists over at Kos and Moveon will assert that we lost because Bush has a small wanker, while Maureen Dowd will chime in with some cheap Freudian Oedipal nonsense involving Bush Jr. and Bush Sr.

All will be wrong.

At least NC Cop won’t be. Injecting a note of sanity he avers:

Actually everybody wants U.S. troops out of Iraq, EVERYBODY, including me. The question is WHEN do we pull troops out of Iraq. Do we do it prematurely and have to face an even worse prospect down the road?

And I thank him.
Mwalimu Daudi says:

July 19, 2007 at 10:21 am

And the loopy cultists in al Qaeda (the ones the MSM insist are everywhere except Iraq) will take advantage of our defeat in Iraq and re-start their boffo “American Tour”. And the loopy cultists on the New York Times editorial board and the rest of the MSM will assure us that it was all the GOP’s fault (or maybe global warming). And Mother Sheehan and her flock will claim that it was a worldwide Jewish neocon plot.

And future historians will wonder why we worshipped a cult that preached snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Comments are closed.