Bob of 55-40 returns to the plate, after yesterday’s strikeout. On the points:
1. Bob responds by saying he needn’t provide support for his allegations because… I’m unwilling and unable to be satisfied by any such documentation. That’s convenient.
2. Bob argues that General Petraeus forfeited his “immunity from criticism” by testifying before Congress:
Petraeus is on active duty fighting a war. Any minute he spends doing PR for Bushwacker-in-chief is a minute away from his post. Petraeus’s Congressional flackimony was thoroughly debunked before he ever even arrived at the Capitol to give it. In my opinion, leaving your post to be a political flack forfeits your supposed immunity from criticism.
a. Again, Bob provides no support for his allegation that the testimony provided by General Petreaus was “thoroughly debunked.” But as we learned in point 1, Bob doesn’t need to support any of his allegations.
b. Bob alleges that the testimony provided by General Petreaus was “debunked before he ever even arrived at the Capitol to give it.” It’s not clear exactly how this happened, or who exactly is in possession of a flux-capacitor… but I suppose time travel is as immaterial to the supposed debunking as supporting documentation is for proving points. In fact, I bet Bob has already read and debunked this post, prior to my publishing it.
c. Bob alleges that General Petraeus is guilty of “leaving [his] post” and thus deserves criticism. Perhaps Bob was unaware of the fact that General Petraeus was mandated by Congress to testify:
H.R. 2206 — SEC 1314. (b)(3) TESTIMONY BEFORE CONGRESS — Prior to the submission of the President’s second report on September 15, 2007, and at a time to be agreed upon by the leadership of the Congress and the Administration, the United States Ambassador to Iraq and the Commander, Multi-National Forces Iraq will be made available to testify in open and closed sessions before the relevant committees of the Congress.
3. Bob concedes that he indeed does not understand the Vets vs Kerry / MoveOn.org comparison:
It’s not integral to my point, so I’ll give you that one.
How generous of you, Bob.
It’s comforting to know that, despite what we think of the war in Iraq, we can all come together in supporting our brave men and women in uniform. Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, and all those in-between — we all stand behind our military, pray that they are successful in their mission, and want them to return home safe, as quickly as possible.
I agree with Radley Balko’s 