Wednesday, October 5th, 2005...6:01 am
Let’s Call it the Republican Leap
I don’t know how many of you remember, but way back in 1992, one of Bush the Elder’s campaign spokesmen suggested that Bill and Hilary Clinton were planning to invite Fidel Castro to the White House for dinner if the Democrats won the election that year. As unfounded as it was, Rush Limbaugh suggested that the truth was not important, because it was not “far from what can be imagined.” This logical construct leaves you with a lot of room to come up with all sorts of far fetched scenarios.
So, in that spirit, here is a note from the always level headed Sen. Jack W. Harper posted on Espresso Pundit:
According to the Associated Press article in the Arizona Republic on-line, Cindy Sheehan is urging Governor Napolitano to request that Arizona National Guard troops be withdrawn from Iraq. This would, of course, undermine the United States’ foreign policy in Iraq. The news of a “high-ranking official” such as a governor, calling for a withdrawal from Iraq, would incite the insurgents. Our troops in that country would further be in harms way.
I have spoken to a few of the members of the Arizona House Judiciary committee. The consensus is that the Governor should not pander to Ms. Sheehan, or run the risk of being impeached. Janet Napolitano has flirted with being impeached in her handling of the CoppeRx drug card. One pharmacy ended up with a sweet-heart deal that was different than they bid on.
The GOP-controlled legislature is drawing a line in the sand. If the Governor decides to side with anti-American groups and their contributor, George Soros, she will be available to work with them full time. We will remove her from office for treasonous actions.
State Senator Jack W. Harper
Setting aside the premise that somehow the insurgents at this point haven’t been “incited,” Harper’s main argument is on ground shakier than poorly set lime Jello. Let’s follow the logic: Sheehan has asked the Governor (not even officially) to withdraw the National Guard from Iraq. Because the Governor has been asked, she should be impeached. That is the only thing I can figure because there is no way in heck that the Governor is even going to seriously consider pulling the Guard from Iraq. It doesn’t even seem like she has the authority, since the troops are under the President when they get mobilized for this sort of action.
So, the Governor is asked to do something that she will not do, and doesn’t even have the authority to do. This is grounds for impeachment? These are the sorts of serious discussions that goes on in the judiciary committee?
Folks like Harper seem to think that anyone to their left is some sort of Marxist. Because of this, these sorts of leaps make perfect sense: she’s a Democrat, thus she must be on the phone with Cindy Sheehan all of the time, because Cindy Sheehan disagrees with me on the war, she’s a traitor, thus, Janet Napolitano is a traitor. Lovely.
This guy is on the judiciary committee. That committee runs our courts, right? God help us.
NB - I will be putting up a picture of the Captain America villain, Batroc the Leaper, on future posts about strange Republican logical leaps. I figure that since the Batroc character is French, this will irritate the Republicans even more.
Also, note the gratuitous swipe at George Soros. I’m glad to see that the Republicans are angry about these fat cats throwing their money around in our politics. So, they will all be on board for Clean Elections now, right?
10 Comments
October 5th, 2005 at 9:06 am
I agree with you that the Governor won’t withdraw the troops for both political and legal reasons, but personally I would love it if she did.
We have lost over 1900 American soldiers fighting Mr. Bush’s war, and the best outcome we can hope for is a stable, Islamic republic not so different from Iran (and probably with close ties to Tehran). Considering that this was the outcome we spent the 1980’s living in fear of (and why we supported Saddam during the Iran-Iraq war), it requires more of that Republican ‘logic’ to claim that we are anywhere close to a ‘victory’.
I just wonder if they will let female Iraqi citizens, who were doctors, lawyers and professors under Saddam’s brutal, but secular regime, even have the right to go to junior high school in the new Iraq.
October 5th, 2005 at 11:51 am
Not to disrespect your brother or my own fine state leg members but a lot of times it seems nitwits get into the state leg so of course we are going to have mindlessly stupid ideas like this pop up. A company of fools.
October 5th, 2005 at 12:40 pm
Ironically enough, I think you made a bit of a leap yourself in tearing into Sen. Harper’s letter.
You say “Sheehan has asked the Governor (not even officially) to withdraw the National Guard from Iraq. Because the Governor has been asked, she should be impeached.”
However, that doesn’t seem to be what Harper states at all. Harper suggests that were Gov. Napolitano to heed Sheehan and “request that Arizona National Guard troops be withdrawn from Iraq,” it would create an unfortunate political tool for the anti-US voices to use.
He says it plainly: “The news of a “high-ranking official” such as a governor, calling for a withdrawal from Iraq, would incite the insurgents.”
Nowhere is it suggested that Napolitano withdraw the troops, only to “request” that they be withdrawn. Regardless you seemed to harp on her inability to order the troops home.
It seems to me that you gave Harper’s words little more than a glance before you leapt off into your eager ranting.
Good job.
October 5th, 2005 at 8:28 pm
I am not such a pollyanna to think you need “grounds” for impeachment. I know that you can be impeached for whatever the right number of legislators think you can be impeached for.
Harper implies that he has had serious discussions about impeachment because Cindy Sheehan has asked her to call for the withdrawl of troops. Harper’s leap is that he is already discussing impeaching the Governor for something entirely conjectural, and very unlikely.
Elected officials are asked to do things all the time. Does that mean it is even going to happen? No. No matter how much of a boogeywoman the right has made Sheehan, it doesn’t mean she has a strong following among elected officials. Should we assume that everytime anyone asks an elected official to do something, that they will do it?
One has to wonder if he takes his responsibilities seriously if he will discuss impeachment with his colleagues, and publicize it, because of something so conjectural.
October 6th, 2005 at 9:20 am
No, that’s the beautiful part. One doesn’t have to wonder whether he will discuss impeachment because he stated his terms, so to speak.
I think Harper is clear that stakes will be raised to serious talk of impeachment–> if Gov. Napolitano calls for the Arizona National Guard to return home from Iraq. Not orders, not returns them herself, but makes a public call for their return.
Harper only warns Napolitano against publicly fanning the political flames by making such a call, cautioning her that to do so would be to flirt with impeachment.
Yes, Harper did make a serious leap, but not one of logic. He raised the stakes in so publicly opposing the war for Napolitano. Arguably this was, in fact, a hollow or over-furious threat directed at the governor, but that is irrelevant to the matter when following the logic.
October 6th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
And, as I am reminded nearly every day, logic has no place in the Arizona Legislature.
October 7th, 2005 at 3:24 am
Poor Tom…would you like a cookie?
Wait that came out wrong…It was sincere.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:33 pm
I love Batroc the Leaper. I hope you don’t mind if I shamelessly steal your idea on my own blog?
October 8th, 2005 at 12:19 am
Sure…go right ahead, man.zcw
March 8th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
[…] This isn’t the first time that Napolitano has been attacked for a position she might take. Back when they did this before, I called it the “Republican Leap.” Since they seem to be doing that again, I’m bringing back the official R-Cubed mascot for the Republican Leap, Batroc the Leaper. Now that Captain America is dead, Batroc is apparently free to do mischief all over the Arizona political scene. […]
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