Should there be an English proficiency test .............

...... for Conservatives?

For a crowd that wants everyone in the United States to speak only English, the Neo-Cons have some curious gaps in their command of the language.

As a retired military member, I am reasonably familiar with the operation called a surge. Obviously, nobody in the West Wing nor any of their cheering section have bothered to look the word up in any set of operational definitions. A surge is a temporary increase in strength within a defined theater of operations.

Prior to execution, the following elements must be agreed by all stakeholders:
1. The number and mission of the augmenting forces.
2. Arrival date of forces.
3. Departure date of deployed personnel.

The force strength at the end of the redeployment must be equal to that in existance at the start of the surge.

If none of these criteria are met, as in Iraq, the term to describe the operation is: escalation.

I was in an Air Force uniform when LBJ announced that the 50,000 troops being sent to augment existing forces in Vietnam were not an escalation. There was also a lot of talk about the necessity that the South Vietnamese forces should gradually become able to defend themselves.

Doesn't ANYbody on the right side of the political spectrum ever come up with a new idea?