News of the death of Libyan strongman Mommar Gadhafi spread through Capitol Hill Thursday and brought mostly relief, some skepticism and bad news for Republicans who saw another opportunity to criticize President Barack Obama slip away.
“Every time a despot falls we lose a chance to nail Obama for foreign policy failures,” grumbled a GOP staff member for the Senate foreign relations committee. “With bin Laden gone and now Gadhafi, we’re running out of fodder on foreign policy issues.”
While the death of Gadhafi isn’t seen as a political boon for Obama with voters it could give him some relief from the pounding he took on Capitol Hill for involving the United States in the rebel uprising in Libya.
“The second guessers will be quiet for a while, that’s for sure,” said an aide to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Over in Speaker John Boehner‘s office, the mood was somber.
“Damnit, it never helps when this kind of thing happens on Obama’s watch,” said a senior aide. “Democrats aren’t supposed to have these kinds of successes. This is Republican territory.”
Publicly, however, Boehner offered praise for news of Gadhafi’s death.
“This is a turning point for the Libyan people’s pursuit of freedom,” the House Speaker said. “Now it is time for Libya’s Transitional National Council to show the world that it will respect the rights of all Libyans, guide the nation to democracy, and work with the international coalition and its neighbors to secure Libya’s borders and any weapons and weapons materials.”
Still Republicans couched their praises without any direct link to U.S. involvement with the rebels inLibya.
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4 thoughts on “Republicans cautious in glee over Gadhafi’s death”
Looks more like they murdered him after his capture. Anyone else see the video of Gadhafi captured alive?
Another CIA operative silenced forever.
Barack Obama, putting the “execute” back into “executive”. What irony, Obama’s huge successes occur where RepubliCONs can’t impede his actions. Thank God the party of “NO” didn’t get to vote on killing Bin Laden or al-Qaḏḏāfī.
Thanks, NeonDog, for getting the special characters right. Watching journalists (in English) try to spell Moammar’s surname has been high entertainment for twenty years.
J.
It’s partisanship at its worst when the opposing party looks upon the offing of a dictatorial monster such as Ghadafi as lost opportunity to continue their bashing of any sitting president, regardless if it’s Obama.
The American people are being ripped off dearly by both parties in order to effect regime change wherever they see fit on planet earth. So when some success comes our way, it’s sour grapes. What a bunch of opportunistic losers. / : |
Carl Nemo **==
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