# Dem lawmakers being "slimed in the Green Zone" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 31, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625 "2007-08-31T15:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/1 "2007-08-31T15:46:43Z")
From [WaPo:](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/30/AR2007083001848.html?hpid=topnews) > [@](#): > > The sheets of paper seemed to be everywhere the lawmakers went in the Green Zone, distributed to Iraqi officials, U.S. officials and uniformed military of no particular rank. So when Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) asked a soldier last weekend just what he was holding, the congressman was taken aback to find out. > > In the soldier’s hand was a thumbnail biography, distributed before each of the congressmen’s meetings in Baghdad, which let meeting participants such as that soldier know where each of the lawmakers stands on the war. “Moran on Iraq policy,” read one section, going on to cite some the congressman’s most incendiary statements, such as, “This has been the worst foreign policy fiasco in American history.” > > The bio of Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.) – “TAU (rhymes with ‘now’)-sher,” the bio helpfully relates – was no less pointed, even if she once supported the war and has taken heat from liberal Bay Area constituents who remain wary of her position. “Our forces are caught in the middle of an escalating sectarian conflict in Iraq, with no end in sight,” the bio quotes. > > “This is beyond parsing. This is being slimed in the Green Zone,” Tauscher said of her bio. > > \ > > It was the bio sheets that seemed to annoy the members of Congress the most. Just who assembled them is not clear. E-mails to U.S. Central Command’s public affairs office in Baghdad this week went unanswered. > > “I had never seen that in the past. That’s new,” said Porter, who was on his fourth trip to Iraq. “Now I want to see what they’re saying about me,” he added, when he learned of the contents of his travel companions’ rap sheets. > > For one, the quotations appeared to be selected to divide the visitors into those who are with the war effort and those who are against. For another, they were not exactly accurate. Under “latest Iraq vote,” Tauscher’s bio noted that she had voted in favor of legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days of the bill’s enactment. > > She did vote that way – in May. On Aug. 2, Tauscher voted in favor of her own bill, which mandates that troops be granted a leave from combat at least as long as their last combat deployment before being shipped back to Iraq. That vote might have been a little too popular with the soldiers she was meeting, Tauscher said. Images if the flyers [here.](http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/31/codel-bios-iraq) :mad: Who the **fuck** is behind this?! ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/2 "2007-08-31T15:50:12Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] From [WaPo:](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/30/AR2007083001848.html?hpid=topnews) Images if the flyers [here.](http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/31/codel-bios-iraq) :mad: Who the **fuck** is behind this?! [/QUOTE] How awful. I’m sure that those congresspeople would never ever spin somebody’s record to make them look bad. Or spin their own records to make themselves look good. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/3 "2007-08-31T16:10:49Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] From [WaPo:](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/30/AR2007083001848.html?hpid=topnews) Images if the flyers [here.](http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/31/codel-bios-iraq) :mad: Who the **fuck** is behind this?! [/QUOTE] My god. Publications that distort a politician’s record to make that politician look bad? I have never, ever heard of such a vile tactic in the history of mankind. Who could have conceived of doing such a thing? This is truly a new depth of low, and I mean low. I know there are some things wrong with our society, by one thing I have always counted on is politicians describing themselves and their opponents fairly and without rancor. If that’s gone now, then the terrorists have already won. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/4 "2007-08-31T16:26:56Z")
You know what, if this was an election year and these flyers were being sent to their constituents, I’d be fine with it. But what the fuck? What purpose does this stunt serve? To make the people around them hostile so they don’t get any honest interaction with the troops or Iraqi officials? If the goal was to brief the people the congresscritters would be interacting with on who this critter is and how they stand on the Iraq war issue, then the bios should have been honest and accurate, showing good and bad. The only outcome I’m able to see of this particular stunt is to distort the abilities of the lawmakers to get a good read on the actual situation. What good is that? Whose interests does it advance, and how? Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/5 "2007-08-31T16:29:37Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] My god. Publications that distort a politician’s record to make that politician look bad? [/QUOTE] I would certainly hope taxpayer money isn’t being used to print up these shit sheets. That would be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/6 "2007-08-31T16:38:40Z")
Aww isn’t that sweet. Rove left em a going away present. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/7 "2007-08-31T16:47:00Z")
Two separate issues here: 1. The bios showing how they voted. This is interesting. You are telling the soldier, sailor, airman or marine just what type of Congress Critter you are talking to. While this could be a good thing (“Watch your words around Michael Moore, since he will selectively edit you to fit his ends”) it could also cause problems, (“Sorry Congresseman, given your public statements I have desire to talk to you.”) If a Congressman makes comments about how the war is lost, I think that those serving have a right to know that. If someone is going through the effort to pull it all together to make it easy - fine. The risk is keeping it up to date. Who knows WHEN these sheets were put together. Conspiracy or incompetency? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/8 "2007-08-31T16:55:51Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] My god. Publications that distort a politician’s record to make that politician look bad? I have never, ever heard of such a vile tactic in the history of mankind. Who could have conceived of doing such a thing? [/QUOTE] Considering the ferocity with which Republicans have condemned criticism of the Iraq war as being demoralizing to our troops, you would think this concern over morale would extend to not collecting the most negative statements from debate on the war and passing them out among the soldiers. I think trying to score political points by distributing obvious propaganda to the soldiers is unacceptable. Leave them alone and let them do their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/9 "2007-08-31T17:05:45Z")
But its not illegal! That’s the important point here, that you hysterical lefties keep missing, its not illegal! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/10 "2007-08-31T17:08:16Z")
I guess I’m not really following what the scandal is. I can see it’s a little odd for someone – who knows who – to compile a bio on VIPs when they could have provided them themselves, but personally I wouldn’t be indignant if I went on a trip to Iraq and someone passed around quotes of what I’ve said about the war on the Dope. I generally try to choose my words carefully so that they represent my own views, so as long as I’m quoted accurately, I have nothing to be embarrassed about. I couldn’t read the link to Moran’s bio, but I don’t see anything in Tauscher’s that I’d be ashamed or angry about if the folks I’m meet with knew about. If a PFC came up to me and said, “Look here, **Ravenman** , I’m busting my ass and risking my life for my country and this mission, and I just read that you think we all ought to be pulled out of Iraq before the job is done!” I’d say I respect the job he’s doing and thank him for his service, but I don’t agree that something good is going to come out of continuing to fight a war that wasn’t necessary in the first place. Surely members of Congress can have the same approach. For all those Democrats who complain about Democratic politicians not having enough spine to stand up for their beliefs, for once I agree with you. I think Moran and Tauscher come out of this looking like they don’t stand behind their anti-war statements. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/11 "2007-08-31T17:25:49Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] I guess I’m not really following what the scandal is. [/QUOTE] Me neither. Did whoever printed the sheets make up those quotes, or are they actual quotes? I don’t see either of the two Congresspeople claiming they never said those things. Now, is it selective quotation? Probably. But politicians are routinely held under a microscope for what they say. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/12 "2007-08-31T17:28:55Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] I would certainly hope taxpayer money isn’t being used to print up these shit sheets. That would be wrong. [/QUOTE] If they thought you knew what your money should be spent on, they would have let you keep it. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/13 "2007-08-31T17:32:38Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] I would certainly hope taxpayer money isn’t being used to print up these shit sheets. That would be wrong. [/QUOTE] Its paper and toner. The cost is next to nothing. This could be one guy in the unit running the laserwriter one night, printing a couple thousand pages. They burn that much cash idling the Hummer waiting for the CongressCritter to “talk to the troops.” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/14 "2007-08-31T17:58:22Z")
If the bio sheets accurately reflect the positions that those Congresspeople have taken on the war, then i really have no problem with it. Members of Congress should be willing to explain and justify their policy positions to the American people, and it shouldn’t matter if the Americans in question are troops serving in Iraq. The politicians’ votes and comments are a matter of public record, and i see no harm in having those votes and comments made available to the troops I happen to agree with Rep. Moran that “This has been the worst foreign policy fiasco in American history.” I also agree with Rep. Tauscher that “Our forces are [or were, at the time of the comment] caught in the middle of an escalating sectarian conflict in Iraq, with no end in sight.” And if i were a Congressperson, i like to think that i’d have the integrity and intelligence to explain _why_ i believe those things, and also to explain that my critique of American foreign policy in no way diminished my respect for the job American troops are doing in Iraq. I guess i’d be a bit more troubled if the bio sheets used such selective quotations that they deliberately and maliciously misrepresented the Representatives’ views on the troops or the war, but even then i think that Congresscritters are in a position to fight their own battles on this issue, and to counter distorted information with information of their own. The people distributing these leaflets are probably scumbags desperately trying to retain the last shred (if it still exists) of Republican credibility on foreign policy matters, but i don’t think that what they’re doing is much to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/15 "2007-08-31T18:22:56Z")
[QUOTE=Algher] Its paper and toner. The cost is next to nothing. [/QUOTE] Next to nothing is not the same as nothing, which is what the government _should_ be spending on partisan partisan smearing. If you give the Republicans a paper clip, they’ll soon be expropriating B-1 bombers. I don’t want to pay for their fucking B-1s, and I shouldn’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/16 "2007-08-31T18:35:56Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] How awful. I’m sure that those congresspeople would never ever spin somebody’s record to make them look bad. Or spin their own records to make themselves look good. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] This is almost certainly the work of someone in the U.S. armed forces, which are **supposed** to be nonpartisan and apolitical. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/17 "2007-08-31T18:36:36Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Next to nothing is not the same as nothing, which is what the government _should_ be spending on partisan partisan smearing. If you give the Republicans a paper clip, they’ll soon be expropriating B-1 bombers. I don’t want to pay for their fucking B-1s, and I shouldn’t have to. [/QUOTE] I haven’t seen anything on this that says partisan smearing, I see a collection of accurate quotes about politicians visiting the military. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/18 "2007-08-31T18:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] This is almost certainly the work of someone in the U.S. armed forces, which are **supposed** to be nonpartisan and apolitical. [/QUOTE] Why is it almost certainly the work of someone in the armed forces? I would suspect that there are plenty of civilian types from the administration handling the comings and goings of the various Congresscritters. No? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/19 "2007-08-31T18:51:30Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] This is almost certainly the work of someone in the U.S. armed forces, which are **supposed** to be nonpartisan and apolitical. [/QUOTE] I read one of the sheets. It has their town, religion, committee assignments, and recent votes and quotes regarding the Iraq War. While one of those was out of date, nobody has stated that these are not accurate (i.e. they support the war). So - if this is an official military function: How is passing around briefing sheets a partisan attack? I would like to see the equivalent sheet on a Republican or a better arguement that the sheets inaccuratley portrayed the attitudes and feelings of the specific members of congress before I make a judgement. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625/20 "2007-08-31T19:25:17Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] If the bio sheets accurately reflect the positions that those Congresspeople have taken on the war, then i really have no problem with it. Members of Congress should be willing to explain and justify their policy positions to the American people, and it shouldn’t matter if the Americans in question are troops serving in Iraq. The politicians’ votes and comments are a matter of public record, and i see no harm in having those votes and comments made available to the troops [/QUOTE] This is pretty much my view. I’ll add, too, that based on my own military experience, I’d begin hostile towards **any** politician whose presence was making my task more difficult, giving my command reasons to flail about stupid shit, or anything of that nature. Expecting troops to like having Congresscritters coming to look at them at work is wishful thinking, I believe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dem-lawmakers-being-slimed-in-the-green-zone/417625.md?page=2)