August 29, 2006
Hotline After Dark -- How Many Times Can Shays Say "Timeline"?
With breaking news in the JonBenet Ramsey case, a lot of cable coverage was devoted to that topic. There was some talk of the Hurricane Katrina anniversary and whether the region is prepared for another storm.
But, first of all, Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) was on "Hardball" last night to discuss his call for a timetable on U.S. troops in Iraq:
Shays: "I'm not breaking with the president in supporting the mission in Iraq. I am a strong believer that we need to be fully engaged militarily, economically and politically and I believe that if we leave now or leave prematurely, you will see clearly a higher oil prices but what's more fearsome is you will see an Iraq that's dominated by Iran."
Asked if he's calling for a timetable: "Yes, but one more thing you will see the terrorists win and we can't allow them to win. I'm calling for a timetable on three things. One, that they set provisional elections, that they have reconciliation and a timeline to do it, a timeline for finishing the constitution and give them the timeline on how long our troops will be there, doing the police work that ultimately we want them to do."
More: "Taking this position doesn't help me politically, but more importantly I want to make sure that you see the distinction. I agree with the president in our mission, I agree that we have got to succeed. The only difference and it's a big difference, but it's the one difference, and that is I think the way to get the Iraqis to wake up, to do the heavy lifting, is to let them know that we are not there indefinitely, that there's not an open checkbook, that we're not going take sustained losses indefinitely."
He continues: "The Democratic timeline, was not based on specific fact. Their timeline was just get out, whether or not we can do it. My timeline is based on this important fact, we tell the Iraqis when they replace our, our troops leave" (MSNBC, 8/28).
THE BIG EASY
Amid all the stories on New Orleans recovery (and its lack of recovery), there was talk of the political fallout:
CNN's Schneider: "A year later, New Orleans has not fully recovered. And neither has President Bush" ("Lou Dobbs Tonight," 8/28).
FNC's Baier: "While emphasizing one year later he understands there is a lot of work to do, the president said he sees signs of recovery, renewal and hope" ("Special Report," 8/28).
Pat Buchanan: "I think the president was asleep at the switch in this sense. He's on vacation. His top staffers aren't there. He wasn't alerted to the fact that every journalist in the country was down there focusing on this. He's got usually good political instincts. They either were not touched here or they weren't working" ("Scarborough Country," MSNBC, 8/28).
CNN's Bash: "While Democrats are slamming the president's trip to the Gulf Coast this week as nothing more than a photo op, 25 House Democrats are there right along with Mr. Bush to deliver their talking points. The delegation is descending on Louisiana and Mississippi over the next two days to talk about everything from health care to insurance with local residents there" ("Situation Room," 8/28).
Newsweek's Wolffe: "It has become emblematic of a whole range of problems with the Bush administration that again, the president has worked hard to overcome. But they are still there, questions of competency, again about compassion and so, you know, the downside is really for, I would say, Democrats in Louisiana, people who may fell angry at incumbents, generally. But for Democrats nationally, I don't think there are not too many downsides" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 8/28). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 07:14 AM
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