John's Blog

I don't have much patience when I hear Hillary Clinton say that "if she had known in 2002 what she knows now about Iraqi weaponry, she would never have voted for the Senate resolution authorizing force." But this rather conveniently ignores that not everybody accepted the Bush administrations' full-court press, and there were plenty of indications at the time that the disinformation being presented was tainted evidence to justify the preznut's policy. She fears being painted as a "flip-flopping Democrat" but winds up sounding much like the last Democratic standard-bearer, and we all know how well that worked out! Better to admit an obvious mistake than to cling to a position whose origin was probably a politically motivated decision to increase her centrist or right wing appeal. She attempts to play both sides of the isle, as Bill did so successfully many times. But even he found that only went so far as he attempted to dance around the impeachment minefield.

She clings to her decision not to apologize as a badge of honor, as if emphasizing that she has the toughness (and stubbornness, apparently) to be Commander In Chief. But in my mind, it just reminds me that our legislative branch decided to roll over and disregard their oversight responsibilities during that crucial process of going to war. Ironically, the Senate did that again this week by failing to consider the non-binding resolution to oppose the troop surge. Senator Byrd probably put it best when he said "The United States Senate, the greatest deliberative body in the whole world, is probably the only place in America not debating the war".

I suppose I should be happy that at least some form of dialog is occurring over an increasingly unpopular and unwinnable war. But the absence of real debate, and more importantly, absence of real action by using the excuse that we're afraid to send the wrong message to our troops isn't something that's easy to accept. Our actions over the last few years such as putting fewer boots on the ground than needed, and underfunding armor, as well as other needed supplies and services certainly can't be something we should be proud of. Our inaction in dealing with our current quandary sends a message that's loud and clear, ("We don't care about your sacrifice, we don't care about your pain") and that's certainly less respectful than they deserve. It's time for both sides to stop looking at what will provide the best sound-bite in the next election, and let's bring this unnecessary war to an end.

Tags: Iraq, politics, pointless rambling