Before I had to take care of some out-of-house business this morning (picking up my bifocals), I happened to catch this part of President Bush’s press conference.
Q What is your reaction to the MoveOn.org ad that mocked General Petraeus as General "Betrayus," and said that he cooked the books on Iraq? And secondly, would you like to see Democrats, including presidential candidates, repudiate that ad?
THE PRESIDENT: I thought the ad was disgusting. I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military. And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org -- or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal. It's one thing to attack me; it's another thing to attack somebody like General Petraeus.(Emphasis mine.)
The adjective 'most' might be a stretch on the president's part, but 'how many' is a less important question than 'who.'
I had wondered what had caused the questioner to bring up the “Betray Us” incident again. When I returned home, however, I found out that Senators Clinton and Reid, the front-runner for the 2008 Democrat Presidential nomination and the Senate Majority Leader, respectively, both voted against a resolution
To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.The resolution passed 72-25-3. (Democrat presidential candidates Obama and Biden were among the three not voting.) Says Allahpundit to Senator Clinton, “They own you now."
As if there was any doubt. Consider this a Commander-in-Chief preview.
