Residual Forces

I came across something on CSPAN last night, and it caught my eye. And I guess I was the only one. It was a press conference of the Democrats attempt at proving they are tough on terror.

This morning, forty Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress, all veterans gathered between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument to tell the American people that this “Band of Brothers” was coming together to take “The Hill” … again. They came together as part of a group who recognizes the current administration doesn’t hesitate to stand in-front of the troops when it comes to a photo-op, but never stands behind them when it comes to providing the armor necessary to fight in Iraq, or the benefits promised when they return home.

The spiritual leader of the group was none other than Senator Max Cleland, who was savegly attacked by a Republican noise machine as being soft on terror despite leaving limbs on the battlefield. Senator Cleland kicked off the event by promising that any time a Republican disparages the service of those who served honorably in any number of previous or current wars/conflicts, there was now a “band of brothers” ready to return fire. It’s always inspiring to watch Senator Cleland speak; here is some video and photos from his introduction.

I’m not even going to dignify that with a response, what I want to know is if there was actually any one there at this press conference. At the one and only time anyone applauded, it sounded like about 4 or 5 people were in attendance. If you go to the DNC blog, you can see some pictures. I’m not familiar with the layout in DC, but if I am correct, there was no one in attendance. My proof is that in the pictures, there are multiple backgrounds, Washington Memorial in one, Capital building in the others. That would lead me to believe that they got a panoramic view of the surroundings. But there are no spectators!

No one came out to see this grand display of Democratic hawkishness. Another clumsy photo stunt by the Democrats. You want the American people to think you’re tough on terror, stop getting between Bush and the terrorists. Every chance you get, you put another obstacle in the way of us winning this war and defeating the terrorists. Gimmicks and photo stunts will do nothing but make your selves look like the hacks you really are.