Thanksgiving Hiatus & Afghanistan

I took the Thanksgiving week off from blogging and twitter to enjoy time with family, friends, and fowls (turkey!). As the hiatus ends there's a lot to catch up on. And even more to talk about in the weeks ahead. Health care, Afghanistan, jobs, Christmas, and more. Tonight, Barack Obama is scheduled to speak to the nation about Afghanistan. How Republicans and Democrats respond to his speech will heavily impact 2010. One Republican has already come out against the President and in favor of withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Saying it’s time for Republicans to do more than “take pot shots at ACORN,” freshman Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz will call on President Barack Obama on Monday to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan.

Chaffetz’s push for a troop withdrawal — to be unveiled in a speech at the Hinckley Institute of Politics in Salt Lake City — runs counter to the position of House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and other leading Republicans in Congress. But it also reflects the divisions within the conference about the question of Afghanistan. Chaffetz told POLITICO the issue “has been probably the most difficult one as a freshman in the minority.”

How many other Republicans will line up with libertarians like Ron Paul and Jason Chaffetz in opposition to the Afghanistan surge proposed by President Obama? Something to watch for in the coming weeks.