Old Edwards: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard will soon be deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. As president, Edwards will ensure that such steps are not just more rhetoric, but actually lead to results.
McQ:I think any reasonable person would interpret that to mean that Edwards endorses the declaration and is claiming that unlike others, he’d take steps to ensure such a declaration means something in terms of actions taken. I don’t care to defend Edwards but in the interest of benefit of the doubt I don’t think the statement is necessarily support. It certainly can be read that way and is therefore a fine example of politician-speak that avoids specifics.
If the old Edwards is rewritten to say something like: "This step is just more rhetoric. As President I will instead take actions that get results" I think it can be argued that it matches a fair reading of the original statement, just without the weasel-room.
Then obviously the debate becomes what exactly Edwards expects will get results, which is where the real focus should be rather than a flip-flop question.
What is the Edwards plan? From what I understand it is pretty much like those of the other Dems: talk, appeasement, plus an unrealistic expectation of what China and Russia and Europe would pressure Iran to accept.
(Also fwiw, it is possible Edwards supported labeling IRG as terrorists but not the actual final form that came out.) |
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Written By:
abw
URL:
http://abw.mee.nu
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Occam’s razor: If the purpose of putting a policy statement or position paper out is to clarify your policy or position, why would you purposely intend the opposite of what you wrote to be the policy or position.
It is clear in the first statement that he sees the declaration of the IRG as a terrorist organization to be a good thing and even goes on to say that he’d ensure, as president, that such a declaration was more than mere rhetoric. I.e. he implies he would ensure it had some teeth.
In the second statement he’s stating he’s opposed to the bill which declares the IRG a terrorist organization because he doesn’t trust Bush.
If that were true for the second statement, why wouldn’t it have been true for the first? Is the only reason he doesn’t support the declaration about the IRG is because he doesn’t trust Bush? Did he think that such a declaration wouldn’t involve Bush? Did something change where he trusted Bush on Sep. 6th but not on the 7th?
No. Obviously what changed was the political wind and I’m guessing that when he found out that Clinton had decided to back the declaration he changed his position. Pure politics and certainly not the hallmark of a principled politician by any stretch. |
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Written By:
McQ
URL:
http://www.qando.net/blog
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Come now, McQ: I’d much rather think Zebras than Horses if I hear hoofs. It’s far more interesting. |
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Written By:
Joel C.
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Stop picking on Edwards, or he’ll play the "chick card", too.
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Written By:
Steverino
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certainly not the hallmark of a principled politician Edwards? Why would anyone think principled with respect to Edwards?
The guy got rich using lawsuits based upon junk science and emotional appeals. He checked any principles years ago . . . . |
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Written By:
Don
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If the purpose of putting a policy statement or position paper out is to clarify your policy or position, And if the purpose of shoes were to keep the hair dry, we’d wear them on our heads. |
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Written By:
Milhouse
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In reality, neither message probably had anything to do with the pretty pony. Both were manufactured by campaign hacks on autopilot. |
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Written By:
Ron Coleman
URL:
http://www.likelihoodofsuccess.com
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Politicians put out statements that can mean the opposite of what they say in order to attract more voters. Edwards wants to be tough on terrorism and anti-war, anti-Bush at the same time.
I followed the links and found a fuller context:Pressure Iran to stop supporting insurgents in Iraq. Iran is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, actively supporting terrorist and insurgent activity not only in Iraq but in other areas, such as Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Our policy must aim to stamp out state-sponsored terrorism targeting Israel, our strongest ally in the region. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard will soon be deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. As president, Edwards will ensure that such steps are not just more rhetoric, but actually lead to results. He will increase both diplomatic contact with the Iranian government and diplomatic pressure on the Revolutionary Guard to shut down its support of insurgent activity in Iraq and in other areas, such as Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. He will also work with multilateral partners to forge a coalition to apply diplomatic and economic pressure to stop Iran’s involvement in insurgent and terrorist activity in Iraq. Yes Edwards says Iran is involved in insurgent and terrorist activity in Iraq. He does not however say that the IRG are the terrorists. Also increasing "diplomatic pressure" on IRG is not necessarily support for labeling them a terrorist organization. Sometimes diplomacy involves turning blind eyes to unpleasant facts.
But again, parsing Edwards and playing gotcha is not very productive. The better discussion is whether or not calling the IRG terrorists is a good idea. |
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Written By:
abw
URL:
http://abw.mee.nu
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"... The better discussion is whether or not calling the IRG terrorists is a good idea. ..."
We can call the IRG "choirboys" and "saints", and think it’s a great idea and feel good about it all we want. We may even pat ourselves on the back because the entire UN membership agrees. However, that doesn’t mean it’s so.
The better discussion is to be frank and honest about what they really ARE. And then decide what we’re going to do about it. |
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Written By:
fd col
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It seems eminently reasonable to support a given tool (sanctions being one) in the right hands, while opposing steps to put them in the hands of the retarded (such as Bush).
One would have to have pretty lousy judgment not to understand that basic principle. |
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Written By:
jpe
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One would have to have pretty lousy judgment not to understand that basic principle. So why didn’t Edwards appeart to understand that prior to Sep. 7th? |
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Written By:
McQ
URL:
http://www.qando.net/blog
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All you neocons think Edwards is flipping cause none of you have the brains he does.
Get a clue, the world is sick and tired of you rethugs. The world will be a better place once you all die off from being fat and uneducated. |
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Written By:
Rainlillie
URL:
http://greatmindsthinklikemerainlillie.blogspot.com/
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" ... The world will be a better place once you all die off from being fat and uneducated. ..."
Fat, maybe. Uneducated? Nope. But we "rethugs" are evil enough to keep oppressing people like you, and we breed instead of aborting our young.
We’ll stick around while your ilk dies off or merges with the "Singularity". LOL |
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Written By:
fd col
URL:
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"He will increase both diplomatic contact with the Iranian government and diplomatic pressure on the Revolutionary Guard to shut down its support of insurgent activity in Iraq and in other areas, such as Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. He will also work with multilateral partners to forge a coalition to apply diplomatic and economic pressure to stop Iran’s involvement in insurgent and terrorist activity in Iraq."
Ah yes, diplomatic pressure. The mere mention strikes terror into the hearts of homicial, suicidal, rabid, foaming-at-the mouth heads of Islamic mobs. Slaughtering them by the thousand in every battle we can trap them into doesn’t stop them, but diplomatic pressure; it’s so obvious! God, why didn’t anyone think of this before?
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Written By:
willis
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