The Hushing Season

With Steven Rosenfeld

The women of CodePink are calling for "a Mother of a March" today. Their plan is to surround the Congress in the spirit of anti-war activist, Julia Ward Howe, who in the 1870s, exhorted women to "Say firmly: 'We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies." Howe was the founder of Mother's Day.

No doubt the CodePinkers will be met, as protestors (especially women protestors) are usually met, with either silence or condescension. Establishmentarians don't like protestors behaving rudely and breaking up the consensus. Hush Hush they say. Don't be uppity.

The consensus the White House is trying to build right now is consensus around silence and waiting. As summer looms, we're entering the hushing season.

The White House's latest line is that only come September, will we know if the President's troop escalation strategy in Iraq is working. The only progress report that counts, they say, is the one that'll come from General David H. Petraeus, the new top commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Baghdad, who, we're told will testify on Capitol Hill in September.

Well, the women of CodePink (like Howe before them,) aren't about to hush. And that's because the only the only thing that's certain about September is by then more US soldiers and Iraqi civilians will be dead or maimed, and by September the US presidential campaign will be in full swing, giving ample scope for the White House to dismiss critics and Congressional action as partisan stunts, or political theater.

Unlike the president, who I'm sure plans to take a long summer vacation, war and occupation don't take a break. The time to increase the pressure on W and his Congressional collaborators is now, because we're not in the thick of the 2008 campaign season. Now is the calm before 2008's storm. Now is when the Congress - in the first year of a two-year term – can most legitimately be expected to focus on governing rather than on getting themselves re-elected. Now, not September, is the time to draw the line.

Let's remember the un-hushable Howe: "From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own, it says, "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

From RadioNation Sunday May 13, 2007. Starting May 27th, RadioNation will be heard at a new time: Sundays at 1 pm ET on Air America Radio.

Laura Flanders is the author of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians, out now from The Penguin Press.

Comments (17)

1. Ssshhh, I'm hunting tewwowists.

   (in the wrong place)

   Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2007 @ 08:37am

2. http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a16/a16-fudd.gif

   Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2007 @ 08:40am

3. 'Unlike the president, who I'm sure plans to take a long summer vacation, war and occupation don't take a break. The time to increase the pressure on W and his Congressional collaborators is now, because we're not in the thick of the 2008 campaign season. Now is the calm before 2008's storm. Now is when the Congress - in the first year of a two-year term – can most legitimately be expected to focus on governing rather than on getting themselves re-elected. Now, not September, is the time to draw the line.'

   But what about our sun tans?

   The fact that Iraqi parliament even discussed a two month recess shows how preposterous the notion is that they are working to resolve issues of conflict in Iraq. You know, I think this September business is designed to give our politicians summer vacations too, along with Iraqi parliament. Meanwhile, the death toll will mount, along with billions more wasted.

   School isn't out for summer Congress. Work till you find a solution to get us out of this mess.

   Posted by OneVote at 05/14/2007 @ 08:43am

4. Congress can do nothing, except write checks or withhold the money. It is up to the Iraqis to put their country right. It does noy help that since day one, ChimpCo has been at war with itself over policy and what kind of country Iraq would be. This article is but one in a long line of stories of confusion, cross purposes and infighting within ChimpCo.

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/13/AR200705 1301165_2.html?nav=rss_print/asection

   Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2007 @ 08:56am

5. 2. Staying the Course

   Current U.S. policy is not working, as the level of violence in Iraq is rising and the government is not advancing national reconciliation. Making no changes in policy would simply delay the day of reckoning at a high cost. Nearly 100 Americans are dying every month. The United States is spending $2 billion a week. Our ability to respond to other international crises is constrained. A majority of the American people are soured on the war. This level of expense is not sustainable over an extended period, especially when progress is not being made. The longer the United States remains in Iraq without progress, the more resentment will grow among Iraqis who believe they are subjects of a repressive American occupation. As one U.S. official said to us, "Our leaving would make it worse. . . . The current approach without modification will not make it better."

   3. More Troops for Iraq

   Sustained increases in U.S. troop levels would not solve the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq, which is the absence of national reconciliation. A senior American general told us that adding U.S. troops might temporarily help limit violence in a highly localized area. However, past experience indicates that the violence would simply rekindle as soon as U.S. forces are moved to another area. As another American general told us, if the Iraqi government does not make political progress, "all the troops in the world will not provide security." Meanwhile, America's military capacity is stretched thin: we do not have the troops or equipment to make a substantial, sustained increase in our troop presence. Increased deployments to Iraq would also necessarily hamper our ability to provide adequate resources for our efforts in Afghanistan or respond to crises around the world. (Iraq Study Group Report, page 30.)

   Georgie Jr. is doing nothing more than stalling; he is playing politics with the lives of thousands of US service men and women.

   Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 09:41am

6. Yeah, right. The Commander-in-Chief is in charge. It's all on him.

   Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 11:19am

7. It's all Jr's mess. He started it; he has refused to follow the advice of a bipartisan commission. Jr is responsible.

   Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 11:26am

8. And rather than do something to correct the problem, Jr is stalling. He knows damn well that this increase in troops is not going to solve the problems.

   Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 11:29am

9. The plan Bush came up with was to keep the war going until he got out of office so he could blame others for his screw up which he has a history of doing.The three that we are to have faith in are-1)Bush,who refused to give the military the troops and equipment they said they would need to win and who continues to ignore the military.2)The Iraqi government.These people believe that all is well in their country and so they can go on vacation.3)The Iraqi army who were losers before we attacked,losers when we attacked and have proven themselves to still be losers.

   Posted by i'm nobody at 05/14/2007 @ 11:44am

10. Maybe a congressionally mandated spear and magic helmut would help Chimpy.

    Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2007 @ 11:55am

11. I think it clear that this administration is going to leave this entire Middle eastern mess behind for the next POTUS to clean up. Bush admitted as much when he said that our troops were going to be there after he was gone. While I do not believe that the US military is there simply because the administration wants to be able to blame whichever Democrat succeeds Bush in the revisionist history that Krautheimer et al will be writing. But with all these American kids dying, and for politics, how can anyone doubt that Bush and Cheney are traitors to at least their oath of office?

    Posted by The Goods at 05/14/2007 @ 12:02pm

12. hsuB should just 'decide' to resign and make it official. He has no solutions to the messes he's made nor does he wish to expend the energy to do so. These last two years are all about exposing the severity of his messes. More investigations ala oversight revealing corruption and incompetence everyday in every way. One nail hammered in after another until impeachment is the only alternative the GOP has to keeping itself on life support at least. The dye is cast, hsuB should just 'decide' to resign and make it official.

    It'll be what ends the war the soonest.

    History will at least grant him that little bit of insight. He at least understood when his presidency was over, if it was ever his to begin with.

    Posted by hsuBfools at 05/14/2007 @ 12:11pm

13. Congress can do nothing, except write checks or withhold the money. It is up to the Iraqis to put their country right. It does noy help that since day one, ChimpCo has been at war with itself over policy and what kind of country Iraq would be. This article is but one in a long line of stories of confusion, cross purposes and infighting within ChimpCo.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/13/AR200705 1301165_2.html?nav=rss_print/asection

    Posted by CRABWALK 05/14/2007 @ 08:56am | ignore this person

    How do you explain the Repubs visit with the Prez the other day. They can put the pressure on the Prez in many ways other than simply writing checks. How about "if you don't do this, we are going to override your promised veto on that." Mutual responsibility is appropriate here for wasting time.

    Posted by OneVote at 05/14/2007 @ 12:55pm

14. Mutual responsibility is appropriate here for wasting time.

    Posted by ONEVOTE

    It is for the Repubs.

    Posted by mtspence05 at 05/14/2007 @ 3:11pm

15. I explain it by saying the repubs are beginning to go to war with themselves. Chimpy is going to cleave the party, hopefully for the better. Maybe if the evangelicals pull out, the cons can have their party back. Another decade of dem rule in congress. Oh, boy, Im sure that will be better.

    Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2007 @ 10:48pm

16. Mutual responsibility is appropriate here for wasting time.

    Posted by ONEVOTE

    It is for the Repubs.

    Posted by MTSPENCE05 05/14/2007 @ 3:11pm | ignore this person

    I explain it by saying the repubs are beginning to go to war with themselves. Chimpy is going to cleave the party, hopefully for the better. Maybe if the evangelicals pull out, the cons can have their party back. Another decade of dem rule in congress. Oh, boy, Im sure that will be better.

    Posted by CRABWALK 05/14/2007 @ 10:48pm | ignore this person

    Repubs definitely worried about relection prospects. Nothing gets a politician moving faster than the threat of losing their "honey hole."

    McCain's interview with Tim Russert on Sunday shows how arrogant and out of touch Repubicans are. I nearly choked when I heard ths from McCain.

    MR. RUSSERT: Would you be in favor of a referendum amongst the Iraqi people to make a decision as to whether U.S. troops should stay or leave?

    SEN. McCAIN: No, no more than I should--would have a referendum in the United States of America as to whether Iraqi troops should leave, or whether we should be in or out of NATO, or any other issue. The Iraqi government is an elected government, and they are functioning. And so why we would need a, quote, "referendum" is no more necessary in this country as in that one. Does the Maliki government have to act more effectively, more inclusively? Absolutely they do, and it's of great concern, and I think it's one of the great vulnerabilities as we try to move forward and succeed there. Now, what's success? Economic, political and social progress, which can only be obtained in an environment of security. Neighborhoods in Baghdad are safer. They're not safe, but they are safer than they were before. And the government has to function more effectively, and then the Iraqi military and police take over those responsibilities as we gradually withdraw. That's the recipe for success.

    Source: Meet the Press Transcript

    I think its going to take a miracle for the Repubs to have a shot at the WH. I wonder if any of the fodder currently running for the Repub nomination will actually be the nominee. Prospects of democrat congress and a democrat WH are scary, and all this political posturing on Iraq and lack of concerted courage indicates to me that they (democrats) are more concerned about securing the WH than they are about ending the war. If there was a decent conservative that the Repubs could put forward, they might just have a shot because there are lots of folks worried about Democrat domination and lack of checks and balances - which we have had under the Repubs. Doesn't work too well.

    McCain is giving the finger to the American electorate, but you know, in reality, lots of democrats are too.

    Posted by OneVote at 05/15/2007 @ 10:44am

17. Ms Flanders...

    why do you expect THE WHITE HOUSE to pay attention to "Code Pink"?

    They are ignoring the polls and the American people, and have seen little threat from the Democratic Congress too.

    Posted by Mask at 05/15/2007 @ 12:37pm