{"id":26825,"date":"2007-09-13T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T05:00:08","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T05:00:08","slug":"absolute_cowardice_arrogance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/09\/13\/absolute_cowardice_arrogance\/","title":{"rendered":"Absolute Cowardice &#038; Arrogance"},"content":{"rendered":"<section>\n<p>RUSH: I have a piece here today from the American Thinker, Michael O\u2019Shea, who I think has done a brilliant job in putting into perspective just who congressional leaders today are. I just want to share some brief excerpts with you. The title of the piece is &#8216;Child\u2019s Play In Iraq,\u2019 and he starts out really interestingly with a quote. &#8221;I am reminded of the time I saw my 3-year-old daughter trying and failing to tie her shoes. She got angry. Still, she kept trying. &#8216;This is difficult,\u2019 she concluded. &#8216;But I like difficult.&#8221; A child grittier than Congressional leaders, spunkier than people twenty times her age. She\u2019s Bill Gates\u2019 daughter, but that\u2019s immaterial. Her mother Melinda wrote those words, but that\u2019s immaterial, too. What matters is what Melinda Gates also said to other philanthropists about starting the Gates Foundation. &#8216;It turns out that her parents like difficult, too. And I suspect that you all like difficult, which is why you\u2019ve devoted your lives to solving some of the world\u2019s toughest problems.\u2019 That\u2019s what Congressmen are elected to do: solve some of America\u2019s &#8212; and therefore the world\u2019s &#8212; toughest problems. But Congressmen prefer childish ways instead and so play: play statesmen, play leader. Listening to leaders in Congress one would imagine that, like a child, they still believe in the stork: Iraq, which they voted to liberate from Saddam\u2019s rule, would go from tyranny to ally against terrorism in four-tenths of a decade. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125120.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\" width=\"307\" height=\"345\" class=\"alignright\"\/>&#8216;Which it might well have, had Iran, Syria, Al Qaeda not intervened. Iran, Syria, Al Qaeda &#8212; threats all, threats each to peace in the Middle East and the world long before Operation Iraqi Freedom &#8212; rushing to Iraq to cripple Iraq; and Congressional leaders now say, &#8216;Have at it.\u2019 We attacked Iraq when it invaded Kuwait and the world applauded: we defend Iraq from foreigners invading it and the world, Senate and House leaders included, spits in our face. But much of that world at least is not two-faced; it didn\u2019t back regime change in Iraq as American policy under George W\u2019s predecessor, authorize action under W himself, approve hundreds of billions to oust Saddam and start rebuilding his country, approve every general charged with directing the Iraqi campaign, hear testimony under oath from those generals themselves on Iraq\u2019s problems and progress &#8212; and then, bludgeoned with blogs, bail.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>That is what they did. &#8216;In starting philanthropy, Melinda Gates wrote: &#8216;We knew what we stood for.\u2019 Other than re-election, what do Congressional leaders stand for? As important: What can they withstand? Mr. and Mrs. Gates believe &#8216;Ultimately, all people, no matter where they live, deserve a chance to live a healthy, productive life.\u2019 Congressional leaders would amend that to exclude Iraqis to whom we\u2019ve given our word. <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Leaders frequently tout their business backgrounds as signs they\u2019re savvy, then display astounding ignorance of the struggles all businesses &#8212; including Microsoft &#8212; meet just to keep getting ahead. As if iPods wondrously appeared with nary a Newton among its ancestors, IBM never stumbled, Mercedes never goofed, Kodak never almost croaked, Xerox has the entire globe copying only it, the Big Three are still big and still three, AT&amp;amp;T didn\u2019t have to be disemboweled to be reborn. Sports isn\u2019t without scars either. Becoming a champ is nowhere near as hard as staying a champ, as Packers and [the Fort\u2019iners] and Jets and Cowboys painfully know &#8212; and, unlike Iraq, they have game films and scouting reports and player profiles and rules everyone obeys or they\u2019re out. Terrorists don\u2019t play fair; neither do Congressional leaders who, when it comes to Iraq, could teach jihadists tricks on sighing to the heavens while slitting throats. Male leaders must have missed labor room or passed out; females leaders must have hired surrogate moms: none seems to recall that birth is painful and child-raising is not non-stop glee. Despite billions in the bank and fame Congressional leaders can only envy and do, Bill and Melinda Gates met hard knocks: &#8216;Our foundation works hard to think through problems carefully, but it\u2019s simply impossible to get our strategies exactly right in the beginning.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Robert Gates would say the same, and he\u2019s not even kin. Don Rumsfeld would, too, and did, withdrawing American troops when he thought Iraqis were ready to handle more on their own and finding they were not. Yet. Any leader who\u2019s actually led and not just sweet-talked knows what &#8216;sweat equity\u2019 means: life is tough, business is tough, football is tough, and they all have regulations: terrorists have none. The military is adamant on lessons learned: and it learns. Name one lesson Congressional leaders have learned other than to emote before C-SPAN cameras. Which Congressional leader could be this blunt? &#8216;The list of lessons Bill and I have learned since we started is just about as long as the list of mistakes we\u2019ve made. And we\u2019re still making mistakes and learning lessons every day.\u2019 Who in Congress would dare be this frank? &#8216;Seeing where we missed something can be humbling, but it helps us understand how we can be more innovative the next time. We try to bring that spirit of learning and changing to all our work.\u2019 Look at Congressional leaders one by one: who among them has convictions as deep as Bin Laden\u2019s? Who among them, like Bin Laden, is unwavering no matter what? Jihadists and US troops have one thing in common and one thing alone: they\u2019re willing to sacrifice themselves for something greater than themselves.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p>Can congressional leaders come close to that? &#8216;Bin Laden sacrifices everything he has &#8212; wealth, health &#8212; for his beliefs. Belief: that\u2019s Bin Laden\u2019s power. You can see it in his eyes. And Congressional leaders? Beliefs that deep? Eyes that steady, firm? How many thousand Iraqis will join Al Qaeda when Al Qaeda in Iraq rules over Iraq? Any Congressional leader who can\u2019t see that Iraqis are dying to live free, that Iraqi security forces are killed serving their country, that Iraq\u2019s politicians need help and American politicians could give it that the world has looked to America because America has honored its word and stood by its allies no matter what,\u2019 any congressman who cannot see those things on his own &#8216;has a jihad of his own. And there\u2019ll be no virgins stroking when all\u2019s said and done,\u2019 for congressional leaders. This is one of the best pieces I have read to put into proper perspective the absolute cowardice, the arrogance of the left. They are always demanding Bush admit mistakes. They never admit making mistakes at all! They have all the answers. They have no belief. They have no staying power. They have no sense of commitment, no sense of honor. They cannot be trusted. Even after they vote for all the things that we make promises to, to our allies and the people of Iraq, they are the first to cut-and-run &#8212; and they claim they are what\u2019s best for the country, and they couldn\u2019t be more wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RUSH: I have a piece here today from the American Thinker, Michael O\u2019Shea, who I think has done a brilliant job in putting into perspective just who congressional leaders today are. I just want to share some brief excerpts with you. The title of the piece is &#8216;Child\u2019s Play In Iraq,\u2019 and he starts out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Absolute Cowardice &amp; Arrogance - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2007\/09\/13\/absolute_cowardice_arrogance\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Absolute Cowardice &amp; Arrogance - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: I have a piece here today from the American Thinker, Michael O\u2019Shea, who I think has done a brilliant job in putting into perspective just who congressional leaders today are. 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