SEN. BOXER & THE WINGNUTS

Gasbag radio is abuzz with indignation over the following unremarkable exchange Sen. Boxer had with Secretary Rice (from Lexis-Nexis):

BOXER: Only you know who you are listening to. And you wonder why there is a dark cloud of skepticism and pessimism over the nation. I think people are right to be skeptical after listening to some of the things that have been said by your administration. For example, October 19, '05, you came before this committee to discuss, in your words, how we assure victory in Iraq. And you said the following, in answer to Senator Feingold: "I have no doubt that as the Iraqi security forces get better -- and they are getting better and are holding territory, and they are doing the things with minimal help -- we are going to be able to bring down the level of our forces. I have no doubt" -- I want to reiterate -- "I have no doubt that that's going to happen in a reasonable time frame." You had no doubt. Not a doubt. And last night, the president's announcement of an escalation is a total rebuke of your confident pronouncement. Now, the issue is who pays the price. Who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old and my grandchild is too young. You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families. And I just want to bring us back to that fact.

[snip]

RICE: And let me just say, I fully understand the sacrifice that the American people are making, and especially the sacrifice that our soldiers are making, men and women in uniform. I visit them. I know what they're going through. I talk to their families. I see it. I could never and I can never do anything to replace any of those lost men and women in uniform, or the diplomats, some of whom...

BOXER: Madam Secretary, please, I know you feel terrible about it. That's not the point. I was making the case as to who pays the price for your decisions. And the fact that this administration would move forward with this escalation with no clue as to the further price that we're going to pay militarily -- we certainly know the numbers, billions of dollars that we can't spend here in this country -- I find really appalling that there's not even enough time taken to figure out what the casualties would be.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Rice then goes on to make this howler:

RICE: Well, Senator, I think it'd be highly unlikely for the military to tell the president: We expect X number of casualties because of this augmentation of the forces.


The gasbags are upset because of Boxer's factual claim that Rice doesn't have any family members in harm's way and they spin this as a nasty personal attack on Rice. In GasbagWorld, Boxer was insinuating that Rice was a closet lesbian.

The broader point that many GOP officials who support this fiasco aren't terribly concerned about U.S. casualties is supported by statements made by them.