Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

IRAQ: Sawyer, Dems and the Republican Filibuster updated

Jon Stewart pokes fun at Democrats.

This is rare, so let’s
give it some space.

SAWYER: OK, I have a quick correction about something I said earlier this week. I said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was vowing to filibuster on the whole question of the vote on withdrawing troops from Iraq and it would close out other issues. In fact, Senator Reid held the all-night debate to protest the threat of a filibuster from the Republicans on the same proposal. You wrote me. You were right. I was wrong. I apologize. We’ll be back.

But it reveals something rather important. The sad fact is that very few people
seemed to understand what the Democrats were doing this week. Honestly, even
though the headlines screamed Reid to force filibuster or Reid
to force Republicans to filibuster, it doesn’t seem like many understood
the actual meaning of the Republicans’ filibuster action. The resulting headlines
going something like this: Senate
Republicans torpedoed…Democrats
fail… blah-blah-blah.

Reid’s all-night action was a protest against Republicans refusing to change
course on Iraq, while continuing to refuse to vote on withdrawal plans. Reid’s
protest and the subsequent pulling of the Defense Appropriations bill is laudable,
but it’s hardly the end. “Let us vote” was the slogan chosen by Senate
Democrats. But did that message ring loud enough with the passion we all have
for this fight?

Anyone see Jon Stewart last night?

In a segment entitled “C-Span After Dark,” Stewart put together clips
of the Senate Dems talking about Iraq, which included the poster “Let Us
Vote.” His description of what Democrats did amounted to this cry: “MOM!
… .. Look at that font. … They must really want to vote.” Then
there was the review of America and war. It’s priceless “Daily Show.”

Stewart’s team and (of course) Republicans, among others called the Senate Democratic action political theater. Perhaps, except for the fact that most didn’t understand
the plot. Maybe that’s because even though Reid and the Senate Democrats were
willing to go down fighting, the message still got muddled.

UPDATE: The following picture was just emailed to me. It’s a sign that now sits in front of Senator Norm Coleman’s house. This is the message Dems should have chosen this week instead of “Let Us Vote.” It’s absolutely perfect and confuses no one.

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