Thursday, August 31, 2006

Shays on Iraq

From Hotline on Call:
And Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) discussed his Iraq remarks: "I will just go where the truth takes me. And I will live with the silly criticism. But I have been there 14 times. I know more about Iraq than any member of Congress, any senator. I go there every three months."

More Shays: "I think the president does have timelines. He's just not sharing it with people, the way he needs to" ("PZ Now," CNN, 8/30).

Shays is grabbing for the center on Iraq, which was the issue that hurt him the most. Diane Farrell's move.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shays:

"Hey Diane, checkmate."

Anonymous said...

Seems highly suspect that during this last trip things changed for Shayes, and what about the other trips? The political manuvering is so obvious no one is going to believe it.
It reinforces the need for a broad change in Congress. We need Congressmen and women who will work for us all the time, not just to win our vote. Two years ago most people "stayed the course" and look how well that's going. The war in Iraq is now a civil war with no end in site, and the Middle East is more unstable then ever. Gas, home heating oil and electricity prices are through the roof. The economy is barely limping along. And the most horrific thing to date, the republican controlled House and Senate are spending, spending, spending, as much as they like, with no end in site. How much more can our country take?
I just don't think incumbemnts are really capable of change at this point. We need real change, with new ideas and new people. There's your checkmate.

Anonymous said...

3 weeks ago Shays said "Staying the course" was what he would live or die by as a member of Congress.

I guess seeing his internals saying it was DIE changed his mind real quick.

Shays is noe equal to W in the credibility dept.

Anonymous said...

Schlesinger struggles to get GOP backing but he was endorsed overwhelmingly by not only his only challenger at the GOP convention, Paul Streitz, but by the members of the convention too - at least those who hung around until the end when his nominsation was brought up.

Anonymous said...

Schlesinger only got one vote? I thought you said you had voted for him and regretted it. Or are you talking about Streitz?

Anonymous said...

True Gentleman:

I would be inclined to agree with your points if only the record supported them.

Shays can go on and on about having been uneasy about Iraq for years or months, but with each visit he brings home glowing reports. Check the Courant, the CT Post, or the Stamford Advocate. There are LOADS of positive quotes about Iraq from him.

Unfortunately, Shays seems to have let polls dictate his decisions.

Anonymous said...

Forcing the iraqis to stand up on their own is and was a good strategy long overdue:BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister said his forces should control most of Iraq by the end of the year, as President George W. Bush launched a round of pre-election speeches on Thursday urging Americans to back U.S. engagement. from this Reuters report here today where it also says The U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, said on Wednesday he expected Iraq forces to be ready within 12 to 18 months to operate with little U.S. assistance and praised their progress in recent weeks, despite a range of violent threats to Maliki's three-month-old, Shi'ite-led national unity government.

Anonymous said...

dg: I am not picking on you about Gold since you have already mea culpaed but the GOP reaaly blew it and they need to keep hearing it so they don't do it again. A loser's mentality is never good and it's certainly not good for our democracy. McKinney from Fairfield was even quoted in a Danbury paper before the convention that nobdoy would want to "throw darts" and enter the race - risk aversion plain and simple.

Here's an update on the effort to keep the subbase open 170 Workers Get Pink Slips in New Round of EB Layoffs Cuts Take Effect Oct. 27; Company cites Workload, Budget Assessments

There's also a couple of good local articlesin yesterday's Westport News on Shays and farrell but the edition is not on line yet - amybe tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

I found this synopsis of Shays hsistory on Iraq on one of the blogs:it's very interesting in case you have never seen it or just decided to deny it exists

Anonymous said...

“To have a timetable is absolutely foolish.”

Chris Shays on WNPR, 8/3/06

Anonymous said...

Shays has evolved on this because he was in over his head in the first place. He's used a little politics to wiggle but he is what he is - and he's always been that way regardless of the issue. He wasn't thrilled about Medicare D but after Delay held the vote pen for an unprecedented two+- hours, Shays gave it his vote. As I have said before Mccain voted against it becasue he wanted to make it better and Kennedy voted no because he wanted to make it bigger. Shays can be a bulldog but he's rarely a pointer - that's just the way it is.