Han Solo: "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"If you listen to Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) it may be time to skip the country. I hear Guam is lovely this time of year. Why? The impending doom to be delivered by a nefarious villain -- a villain whose disastrous plans would indiscriminately destroy the American way of life as we know it. Fuck Osama. Fuck Al-Qaeda. This is the real deal. So, who is this nefarious villain? That's right, you got it -- healthcare reform.

Today, Rep. Virginia Foxx stood up in the chambers and had the following to say:

"Everywhere I go in my district, people tell me they are frightened. ... I share that fear, and I believe they should be fearful. And I believe the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this room -- this very room -- and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax increase bill masquerading as a health care bill. I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country."

Here's the video:

When the press asked Republican Minority Leader Jon Boehner about Foxx's statements, replied by saying, "Members are entitled to their own opinions." When pressed about whether her discourse helps the debate he responded with, "This is the part where you guys get the old Boehner shrug."

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The far left soldier's eyes are quite poignant. What does he see?President Obama has had no lack of criticism from the right, and it would appear he need do little more than think critically to incur its wrath. The president is facing increasing pressure from Republicans to heed General Stanley McChrystal's request for 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the American public are increasingly unsupportive of the war effort. From June to September the percentage of those who think U.S./NATO troops in Afghanistan should stay until the country is stable, has dropped from 57% to 50% while those in favor of withdrawal has in increased from 38% to 43%. The decision to approach Afghanistan with either a counterterrorism or counterinsurgency strategy is being described as the first major test for Obama.

This decision is obviously a non-issue for Republicans, who would have begun deployment of the 40,000 requested troops yesterday if not sooner. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is "deeply troubled, however, by reports that the White House is delaying action on the General's request for more troops and questioning its strategy after the president endorsed 'an integrated civilian-military counterinsurgency strategy' six months ago." The GOP often cites the post-surge success in Iraq and the Democrats disapproval of that plan. The Democrats are supposedly 'playing politics' with the war.

First off, it is overwhelmingly in the White House's as well as Democrats' favor to follow, in lock-step, McChrystal's troop demands. Why? Because potential political backlash from unhappy Democrats pales in comparison to the Republican backlash if Obama reneges on his counterinsurgency promise. Come midterm elections, Democrats are far from voting the opposing party in the event of a troop build-up. Most are still infatuated with their fearless, Nobel prize winning leader. On the other hand, Republicans (71% support keeping troops) and independents (51% support) would likely kick a fit. Democrats who won by narrow margins in historically red districts would likely not be re-elected, possibly weakening or dismantling their majority in the House. So, to all of those who think deliberation is 'playing politics,' sorry, you're wrong.

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