Nothing really new in terms of rhetorical devices today. I just want to point out a couple more I have observed to be common threads from Republicans. The ISG mischaracterization I pointed out the other day has been repeated by a lot of speakers, and it is apparently impossible to both be supportive of the troops and disapprove of the way the Commander in Chief is using them. I don't know how that works. I think it's also worthwhile to note that, while this is by no means exclusive to them, Republicans have been the party that has by far used letters from soldiers in Iraq the most (despite the fact that polls have shown a majority/plurality of troops not in favor of Bush's plan and the war in general).

Republican Highlights

Don Young (R-AK AL) - Don Young propagated a fabricated Lincoln quote to imply that Democrats are traitors who should possibly be executed.

Mario Diaz-Bolart (R-FL25) - He confused cause and effect when he claimed that Bush decided to escalate the war at the request of commanders on the ground. In actuality, Gens. Case and Abizaid were both against this idea when Bush decided on the escalation, and they were then replaced by Generals who were willing to support it.

Timothy Murphy (R-PA18) - Like Tom Tancredo, he's against this plan and against the war, but won't actually do anything about it.

Michelle Bachmann (R-MN6) - 9/11 TERROR 9/11 TERROR TERROR TERROR 9/11 TERROR 9/11

Virgil Goode (R-VA5) - I'll just let you listen to this brazen bigot's own words here. Did you know he hates Muslims? It's true!

Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO8) - I understand there have been a number of Republicans that have stood up in favor of the Democrats' resolution, but this is only the second one I've personally heard, so I'm highlighting her now.

Democratic Highlights

Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL2) - "Now is not the time to close our eyes, cross our fingers, and stay the course."

Stephen Cohen (D-TN9) - He had a number of good bits. He starts off quoting Maya Angelou, who said "When I knew better, I did better." He then exhorted how we have learned that Bush was full of it when he started this war, and now that we know better than we did, we have a responsibility to actually do things right. He proceeded to add a couple nice sound bites: "We've gone from 'shock and awe' to 'aw shucks'" and "May God save us, if the President of the United States will not."

I think that's a nice bit to close out on, but I just want to point out one more thing. Frankie mentioned this in the comments for yesterday, but Nancy Pelosi has started a blog where you can see a lot of Democratic speeches on this resolution.

-David Kleppinger, Morons.org Legislative Analyst

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