Hope to End Iraq War: Republican Political Suicide Doesn’t Make Sense

by paradox

Although Democratic bellicosity was of a sufficient level last week for an opposition party (Joe Biden was pretty good on TV, really, Mr. Feingold ripped Alberto Gonzales appropriately, while Pelosi and Reid railed effectively against escalation on the war) one notices a little fact: none of the Democrats are calling the war an outright failure and that all troops should leave Iraq now.

“The military establishment, the political establishment, the American public, and increasingly elected officials in both political parties have abandoned this war and oppose the surge.” Thus says Glenn Greenwald and he’s right—the war is a disaster, it cost the Republicans Congress in 2006, and there should be very little hesitation by Democrats in calling for an end to it, there should be very little risk.

Yet Democrats don’t call for an end to the lying killing disaster, so they must see significant dangers. Here is where the corporate media corps who think they practice “journalism” will inflict easily one of the greatest wounds on the country this century:

Democrats do not call for an end to the war because they’re certain Republicans will try to blame them for the debacle and they’re certain the “journalism” corps will happily go along. The mighty Wurlitzer of right-wing radio, conservative press and filthy television will breathlessly enable Republicans and endlessly repeat the Democrats stabbed our troops and the country in the back, losing us the war.

This is what I meant about Democrats being “obsequious” and it’s still unfortunately precisely true. Reid, Pelosi, Biden, Waxman, and Feingold were very good last week but, in stark reality, until they call for this outrageously lying, killing, trillion dollar horror show to end immediately they will always be obsequious. In one sense it matters not a whit why Democrats behave this way, it’s the empirical result that matters, relatives of the dead and wounded aren’t interested in excuses.

They’re simply being rational political actors, to call for end to the war could very well mean the end to their careers. CBS, ABC, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, thanks so much. This insane war continues this very day because our “journalism” enables Bush and Republicans to get away with it.

There aren’t the votes in Congress to end the war, Bush and Cheney are insane killers who care nothing for humanity and the constitution, the Pentagon and General Officer Corps are proving themselves to be punk tools of the President, the media are co-conspirators in starting the war, and Democrats can’t even speak of ending the war, let alone trying to end it. What will finally, at last, stop this ungodly lying killing war?

Assuming Republicans are rational political actors (a massive assumption, I’ll admit) there is a glimmer of hope: continuing the insane lying war means political suicide for the Republican party. They can forget about the Presidency for eight years at least, the Congress for twenty and more wipeouts all over the country.

It makes no sense for Republicans to behave this way—if there’s anything that will motivate a politician it’s self-interest. Given all that we know of politics and human nature there’s no way the Republicans will let Bush and Cheney drive themselves over a cliff to total oblivion. Sometime soon (next 12 months) there has to be an indication Republicans are seriously bailing on Bush and work to end the war.

Unfortunately this could be just a desperate grasp at the flimsiest of straws to keep hope alive—Atrios despaired last night that we’ll be talking how to get out of Iraq in 2012. It seems ludicrous in the extreme, but we’re already in la-la land, a horrifying absurd show of lying, war and death for no reason that never ends.

As always, journalism failure precludes any progress in stopping the bleeding (any journalism that still quotes Joe Lieberman is just rank war propaganda, never forget it). This time it isn’t taxation or race or income equality but war, war of horrible expense and cost, a war that cannot be stopped because the country can’t tell the truth to itself. Will in fact the Republicans take the incredible risk of losing everything just on the belief the “journalism” corps will cover and enable for them? We’ll see.