It's kinda sad. He's got his story and he's sticking to it.
Congressman Jerry McNerney did a live chat over at FDL in response to the firestorm of criticism he's brought down on himself with his remarks about the "progress" in Iraq that he saw on his recent tour of the Green Zone.
If listening to repetition of an MSM talking point is your idea of a good time, then follow me over the fold for the ugly details.
Here's the talking point:
in order to force that withdrawal we need to have a veto-proof majority so that we can overrule President Bush. That’s why sympathetic Republicans are key to beginning a withdrawal from Iraq and bringing our troops home. We don’t yet have that veto-proof majority – but we need to get there.
I truly believe that the best and soonest way to end this tragic war is to work with open-minded Republicans to find an acceptable end date. That’s what I believe, and that’s what I will fight for.
He was asked over and over again who those Republicans were. He never answered, simply did not respond in any way, shape or form. It's like he never heard the question. He simply repeated the "work with" crappe, which in my mind qualifies it as a talking point.
He made, by my count, 22 comments. Here's the breakdown:
6 substantive non-TP discussion (msgs #7,26,169,198,219,257) 6 talking point repetitions (msgs #34,41,69,89,141,169) 2 VA filler (msgs #105,227) 3 chitchat/buttkissing (msgs #19,59,132) 5 thank yous (msgs #242,263,293,319,325)
Strangely, the most telling part of the chat to me was this response to a question about the VA:
This is off topic, but this is very important to me. I joined the Veterans Affairs committee because I wanted to do everything I could to make sure the vets have what they need. I have visited the VA facilities in my district, formed a veterans advisory board (we met Tuesday and have a strong agenda), and have met with Secretary Nicholson in his office to argue to keep the Livermore office open. My staff knows this important to me ....
It's clear from the length of that response in contrast to all the others, and the tone, and the fact that he leaped on it like a drowning man clutching a life preserver, that he had already said what he thought would get him whatever he could get out of the "conversation" and was just looking to run out the clock at that point.
It's funny to watch someone rope-a-dope and try to run out the clock on a "live chat". Or it would be funny if we weren't talking about a guy who stole our money and then turned his back on us.
IMHO, take it for what it's worth, Congressman McNerney is at the least insufficiently shrill, possibly not very bright and definitely not what he was advertised when we dropped progressive cash on him through ActBlue. Perhaps he needs an ActPurple page? Anyone see it differently?