Clinton Says GOP Blindly Follows Bush By Dan Balz, Washington Post Staff Writer

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said, “We’re not blindly united like the other side is, where they are like the three monkeys — ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,’ ” she told reporters after a speech to the Democratic group NDN. “They’re not going to say anything negative about the president, the vice president, the secretary of defense or anybody else. I think that’s irresponsible. It’s negligent.” …

“When people say, ‘Gee, the Democrats seemed not to have a unified position,’ I can very straightforwardly say I’m proud of the debate that we’re having,” she said. “We are trying to fulfill our responsibilities, in contrast to our friends on the other side, who have abdicated theirs.” …

Clinton said her party’s stance of “honestly and openly struggling” with the issue of Iraq is in contrast to the GOP’s embrace of the White House’s conduct. “There is very little willingness to do what should be done in holding this administration accountable,” she said. …

The aggressive Republican rhetoric throughout the debate caused considerable consternation among Democratic politicians and strategists. … Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt offered a harsher appraisal, saying that the Democratic divisions add up to “surrender to the terrorists.”
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Democracy Journal

Democratic Strategist

Cheney Stands by His ‘Last Throes’ Remark By Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post Staff Writer

Vice President Cheney yesterday defended his much-criticized claim a year ago that the Iraq insurgency was in its “last throes” and said he believes that Iraq “turned a corner” last year when its people held elections creating a constitution and a government. …

Cheney has repeatedly stood by his May 2005 declaration that the insurgency was waning….

The most famous optimistic assessment came nearly three years ago, when President Bush stood on an aircraft carrier off California under a banner that read “Mission Accomplished.” “We have seen the turning of the tide,” he said then. Since that statement, more than 2,300 Americans have died in Iraq.

Despite Cheney’s assertion that no one foresaw how difficult the post-invasion phase would be, defense and Middle East experts have said that administration officials during the run-up to the war ignored their warnings about potential obstacles ahead.
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Bush said that the “Democrats are good talkers, we’re good doers.”

Iraq Debate Previews Presidential Bids By Shailagh Murray and Charles Babington, Washington Post Staff Writers

Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) called Kerry’s amendment a “tuck-tail-and-run approach.”

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) took a slap at some of the partisan rhetoric that has marked the debate all week. “The American people want to see serious debate about serious issues from serious leaders,” Hagel said. “It should be taken more seriously than to simply retreat into focus-group-tested buzzwords and phrases like ‘cut and run.’ “ [mjh: 2008 is going to be such a better year, when decent people like Hagel and McCain take back their party from the bunglers.]

Sen. Clinton Accuses GOP of ‘Playing Politics’ With War By Susan Jones, CNSNews.com Senior Editor

“They choose to tar all who disagree with an open-ended, unconditional commitment as unpatriotic, as waving the white flag of surrender. They may not have a war strategy, but they do have an election strategy,” Clinton said the Senate floor.

Republicans Gone Wild By Dana Milbank

Maybe it’s the early summer heat, but something has caused House Republicans to boil with rage this week — and to direct much of it at President Bush and his administration.

The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register
New Law Won’t Deter Terrorists
By The Intelligencer

Members of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations that target Americans seem to be a very humorless lot — but we suspect some of them are laughing hysterically at the Ohio General Assembly. Legislators, with Gov. Bob Taft’s approval via his signature on a bill, have given the terrorists good reason to wonder if Americans just aren’t very bright.

In the process they have added to the bureaucratic burden of local governments throughout Ohio, making government more expensive without accompanying benefits.

The Ohio Patriot Act, approved by legislators in December and signed into law by Taft in January, took effect a few weeks ago. It may have some genuinely helpful tools to help state and local officials combat terrorists — but it also contains some ridiculous provisions. …

Obviously, the requirements were put into the new law to bulk up the Ohio Patriot Act in an attempt to convince Buckeye State residents that their government actually is doing something meaningful to protect them. But if government paperwork was an effective defense against terrorists, we suspect al-Qaida leaders would have decided long ago that the United States was impregnable.

Right Web | Analysis | The Neocons Are Talking War—Again by Tom Barry

The neocons are largely united over Iran policy, which they say should have three pillars: avoid diplomacy, which they call appeasing the “evildoers;” destabilize Iran and set the stage for regime change by supporting the “true democrats;” and bomb Iran before it poses an imminent threat to Israel or the United States.

The neocons and their allies in the Pentagon and vice president’s office set the Bush administration’s policy on Iraq. As they set their sights on the next target of preventive war and regime change, what the “scholars” at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Iran Policy Committee, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and other neocon groups are saying about Iran merits attention. …

Today, the gathering War Party on Iran is discussing a two-pronged strategy—having the United States and Israel begin preparations for military strikes, while at the same time immediately putting into motion a destabilization strategy involving U.S. support for Iranian dissidents.