Terry Everett Does Bait and Switch on Space Weapons Debate

House Republican from Alabama, Terry Everett Promised A Future Debate on Space Weapons....and now promises to debate space intelligence instead. Can't we call false promises a form of abusive rhetoric?
read this Space News report from June of 2005.



Here's what he said in 2005;

......Floor debate on the appropriations bill also featured an amendment seeking to ban the deployment of ground- and space-based anti-satellite weapons as well as research and development on those systems. The amendment, offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), also called on Bush to negotiate an international treaty banning such weapons.
Kucinich, a former presidential candidate who has offered similar legislation in the past, expressed concern during floor debate that recent rhetoric from senior Air Force officers indicates that the service hopes to move aggressively towards fielding anti-satellite weapons.
“Our largest possible adversaries, China and Russia, have agreed [to] a global ban on space weapons,” Kucinich said. “Yet moving forward with plans to weaponize space would most certainly create an arms race in space, and it would certainly be counterproductive to the national security of the United States to give potential adversaries reason to accelerate development of space weapons technology.”
However, Kucinich’s amendment was ruled out of order after Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, objected to it on the grounds that an appropriations bill cannot change current law.
Doug Gordon, a spokesman for Kucinich, said that the congressman was aware that the amendment could not be included with the bill, but chose to offer it on the floor as a way to draw attention to the issue. Kucinich plans to work on building more support for the legislation amongst his colleagues, Gordon said.
Theresa Hitchens, vice president of the Center for Defense Information, a think tank here, commended Kucinich for raising the issue on the floor. But sufficient debate has not taken place yet on Capitol Hill to bring the issue to the attention of enough members to pass the legislation, said Hitchens, a vocal advocate against space weapons.
Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, has promised during hearings earlier this year to begin briefings and hearings on the topic this year, which may help to raise its profile on Capitol Hill, she said.
By JEREMY SINGER
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 27 June 2005
02:18 pm ET
Comments: jsinger@space.com

Here's what he's saying now that he's elected.

'As chairman of the House Armed Services Committee on Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Congressman Everett is tasked with leading the first national debate on space control and the protection of valuable space assets. The United States depends greatly on activities conducted hundreds and thousands of miles in orbit through constellations of satellites and their ground stations back on earth. Yet, for all their sophistication, these cutting-edge systems which make our lives much easier and our country safer are also vulnerable to enemy attack.

Congressman Everett recognizes this threat and seeks to take action to prevent chaos at home and on the high-tech battlefield. Our military, especially our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, depend on space every moment of the day. Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites guide munitions, aircraft and vehicles through the theater of battle. Other satellite systems enable our war fighters with real-time communications, intelligence, and weather monitoring capabilities. Our space assets provide national policy makers critical intelligence necessary for ensuring compliance with arms control treaties, tracking weapons proliferation activities, and monitoring disaster relief operations." (House of Reps website, November 20th 2006)

Notice the switch from promising to talk about Americans' grave concerns about hideous space lazers and other invisible killing machines over our heads, to promising to talk about how wonderful intelligence satelites and gps positioning devices, all of which have been used for years without major need for debate,and then strongly implying that we need space weapons to defend these robots against attack.

That's a false promise combined with a bait and switch device. You offer to sell heffers and you deliver goats.

Proper response: "Sir, speaking before Cucinich, you promised us a debate on the control of space weapons over a year ago, and now you are saying you are "tasked" (by who?) to discuss control over space intelligence, which is not an issue, and clearly implying that you already know the answer to the debate on space weapons, that we need them to defend our space technology. What kind of debate is it when you already have the answer?"

War Hero Attacked by Chickenhawks

War Hero John Murtha Under Attack From Chickenhawks


As the first of our Raunchy Rhetoric Report (from the Stupidity Factor Series), we present a recent case of abusive rhetoric by the White House. We call this technique "False Similitude."

This is when you find one feature of the "victim" that is similar or the same as someone who has already been demonized by previous abusive rhetoric, such as saying Ted Turner is an Adolph Hitler because he has a mustache.

From CNN REPORT (November 18th, 2006)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House accused a senior House Democrat -- and a decorated Vietnam veteran -- who called for a swift withdrawal from Iraq of advocating surrender, comparing him to anti-war filmmaker Michael Moore.

In a broadside issued Thursday night, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said that it is "baffling that [Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha] is endorsing the policy positions of Michael Moore and the extreme liberal wing of the Democratic party."

McClellan called Murtha, a retired Marine colonel who earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam, "a respected veteran and politician who has a record of supporting America."

But McClellan added, "The eve of an historic democratic election in Iraq is not the time to surrender to the terrorists."

A senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Murtha had supported the resolution that authorized the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

But Thursday he called the Bush administration's management of the conflict "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion," and said the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is "uniting the enemy against us." (Watch Murtha's take on 'flawed policy wrapped in illusion' -- 8:11)

"It's time to bring the troops home," he said, noting that a withdrawal would take about six months to complete. (Read more on his statement)

He also took a swipe at Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush, who have accused Democratic critics of playing politics during a war.

"I like guys who've never been there who criticize us who've been there," Murtha said. "I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and sent people to war and then don't like to hear suggestions that what may need to be done."

Cheney avoided military service during the 1960's Vietnam era with a series of draft deferments, and Bush served stateside in the National Guard during Vietnam.

Murtha was wounded twice in Vietnam.

White House Counselor Dan Bartlett called Murtha's position "out of the mainstream of his own party," and said that "immediate withdrawal would be, as one general on the ground put it, a recipe for disaster."

Bartlett also called Murtha's reference to Cheney's draft deferments "unfair" and "beside the point," noting there is a long list of wartime presidents who served ably without military experience."

A response here would be, "Sir, first you make a false similitude between an award winning film maker you have demonized, and the senior house democrat, based on one opinion that they share, and in fact share with 54% of the American people, most of whom have never seen a Michael Moore movie. Ted Turner has a mustache, but that doesn't make him Hitler. Then you make a false similitude between Bush and several real presidents based on the common experience of not going to war. If you could provide that list, which is actually pretty short, you would see that the other presidents were actually elected to office and are dissimilar in countless ways. Their success and good judgment in war does not excuse Bush's incompetence. That's like saying "Me and Jesus both wear sandals, so I must be the Son of God." (The article continues..)

Not all Democrats are lining up behind Murtha.

Fellow veteran Sen. John Kerry, who also voted for the Iraq resolution, disagrees with Murtha's call for a swift withdrawal, arguing instead for a phased withdrawal linked "to the success of the election."

But Kerry, who lost to Bush in last year's election, blasted the administration, saying that it was engaging in scare tactics by equating criticism of the war to encouraging the insurgency. (Read interview)

Nearly 2,100 American troops have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein -- a war that top U.S. officials said was needed to strip Iraq of illicit stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and efforts to produce a nuclear bomb.

No such weapons have turned up since Hussein's government collapsed in April 2003.

(In fact one new biological weapon did show up in Iraq,a powder that causes Acute Hemmoraging Conjunctivitis, and is now being used against U.S. citizens who are considered dissident.)


Of Current Interest (from same article)

Divide over the war
Public support for the conflict has dropped sharply over the last few months. Only 35 percent of those surveyed in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll published Monday supported the Bush administration's handling of the conflict, and 54 percent said the invasion was a mistake.

The poll also found that 19 percent of Americans want to see the troops come home now, and 33 percent said they wanted them home within a year. Only 38 percent said they should remain "as long as needed."

Republicans in the House said the United States was making progress in the conflict, with Iraqis voting in October to ratify a new constitution and elections for a permanent parliament scheduled in December.

CNN's Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh contributed to this report.