Prejudice is an Interesting Word

Most of the time when I hear the word prejudice mentioned it has to do with race, religion, or lifestyle issues. And while the definitions of prejudice certainly apply to these things they apply to many other things as well. Certainly one definition bias: a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation pertains to what has gone on in congress over the last couple of days.

Over the last few months congress persons and senators on both sides of the aisle have been saying that they were looking forward to the report on "The Surge" from general Pretaeus. I think that both sides were thinking that the report would bolster their position. On the right - that it was working and was the right thing to do. On the left - that it had not worked and that nothing the US could or would do in Iraq would make any difference and that it would further galvanize their efforts to force a pullout.

A few days before yesterday's report many democrats on the hill began to disavow what they had come to believe the report would say. Senator Durbin of Illinois said that nothing in the report could be believed because it had been filtered through the White House and that it was going to be the "Bush-Pretraues" report. Senator Schumer from New York even went so far as to say that the drop in violence in Anbar province was "in spite of" the surge - not because of it.
Of course he back peddled the next day saying he had the greatest respect for the troops but I doubt many believed him. These people did not have advance copies of what the report would say - nor was it leaked. Instead they had seen evidence that the surge was working. Maybe not a total success but working nonetheless.

So as I watched (and continue to watch) the testimony in front of the house and senate committees a few things struck me. The first that even though the general stated that while he had briefed his chain of command the report had not been seen by anyone at the Pentagon or the White House and it was HIS report and his alone, many of the democrats basically called him a liar. A large number of those doing so have never even been to Iraq (maybe senator Kennedy was afraid he couldn't get his two or three martinis at lunch over there - who knows), and yet had the audacity to purport they knew better than the general what was transpiring in Iraq.

The second thing that was really amazing thing was the duplicity. Before launching into disparagement of his integrity they had the audacity to say they appreciated his service. Can you say "two faced" boys and girls? How can I go so far as to say "two-faced" and that they were being duplicitous? Well, easy. Several of the Republican congress persons and senators brought up the full page ad taken out by Moveon.org in Monday's New York Times with a picture of the General and underneath a caption "General Pretraeus or General Betray us". They went on to say that they hoped they would be joined by all their colleagues on both sides of the aisle in condemning the ad. However not one of the democrats followed their supposed appreciation of the general's service with a condemnation. Instead they went directly into their character assassination of General Pretraeus and the questioning of his motives.

While the general did not paint an overly rosy picture I got the feeling that he was giving his honest assessment of the situation now and in the future. It is sad to think that there are those in congress who are so invested in failure in Iraq - as a prelude to getting more power - that they would blatantly ignore what many would see as good news. Am I making it up? Well SC representative James Clyburn - majority whip and the number three democrat in the house said not long ago "If Pretraeus has a positive report that would be a real big problem for us (the democrats). (As an aside I have to say that Rep. Clyburn may have just ridden into town on a turnip truck to admit that to a member of the press.) It is truly a sad thing.

So my point is that most of the democrats (of the party that claims to be accepting and inclusive)are prejudiced. They refused to listen with an open mind. They had a bias and they acted upon it.

In closing I have to say after watching all the hearings that I have come to one very concrete conclusion - the only person in the United States with a less coherent thought process than Lauren Caitlin Upton (the infamous Miss Teen USA contestant from South Carolina) is Senator Robert (bring home the bacon [read "pork"]) Byrd from West Virginia. No worries for her, though. She has plenty of time to groom herself to takes his place - at least another thirty years. Because it is my firm belief that Robert Byrd will be the first senator to be returned to office after his death - for several terms. Well at least his speeches on the floor will be more interesting.