5/30/07
I want to write about something that has been on my mind for a little while, now. Last week, Democrats across the nation were incensed by the alleged "capitulation" by Congressional Dems to W regarding the War in Iraq. Keith Olberman even did one of his Special Comments on the subject.
The gist of the arguement that they make is this: The People elected the Democrats to end the War, and by bowing to W's will they are ignoring The Will of the People, and throwing away their Mandate.
The problem with this is twofold. One, the real losers in any game of chicken between the White House and the Congress would have been the troops in Iraq. The President showed the nation, by refusing to sign the original bill passed by the Democrats, that he was willing to play with the lives of the soldiers (in case the fact that they were over in Iraq in the first place wasn't proof enough of this fact). The Democrats, on the other hand, by ending the game by sending a much more relaxed bill, showed that they were not. If putting the lives of the soldiers before your own political gain is a sign of political weakness, then I for one am glad that my party is weak. It's called sympathy, and it's what seperates us from them.
Two - the American people had their opportunity to end the War. They knew exactly what they were doing when they re-elected Bush in 2004. They could have put an end to the whole madness right then, but they chose the path we are on, now. Another Bush term meant four more years of War - that fact was made crystal clear to everyone the whole election cycle. The mid-term elections may have put the breaks on the Republican War Machine, but they can not be expected to undo the '04 Presidential Campaign. Bush IS the Chief Executive, after all, and he IS Commander in Chief of the Armed Services. Those facts are no more easy for me to swallow than they are for the next guy, but they are the truth. And if the American People learn one thing from this whole experience, it is this: if you want the War over, you have another shot to end it next fall. Don't blow it again.
I want to write about something that has been on my mind for a little while, now. Last week, Democrats across the nation were incensed by the alleged "capitulation" by Congressional Dems to W regarding the War in Iraq. Keith Olberman even did one of his Special Comments on the subject.
The gist of the arguement that they make is this: The People elected the Democrats to end the War, and by bowing to W's will they are ignoring The Will of the People, and throwing away their Mandate.
The problem with this is twofold. One, the real losers in any game of chicken between the White House and the Congress would have been the troops in Iraq. The President showed the nation, by refusing to sign the original bill passed by the Democrats, that he was willing to play with the lives of the soldiers (in case the fact that they were over in Iraq in the first place wasn't proof enough of this fact). The Democrats, on the other hand, by ending the game by sending a much more relaxed bill, showed that they were not. If putting the lives of the soldiers before your own political gain is a sign of political weakness, then I for one am glad that my party is weak. It's called sympathy, and it's what seperates us from them.
Two - the American people had their opportunity to end the War. They knew exactly what they were doing when they re-elected Bush in 2004. They could have put an end to the whole madness right then, but they chose the path we are on, now. Another Bush term meant four more years of War - that fact was made crystal clear to everyone the whole election cycle. The mid-term elections may have put the breaks on the Republican War Machine, but they can not be expected to undo the '04 Presidential Campaign. Bush IS the Chief Executive, after all, and he IS Commander in Chief of the Armed Services. Those facts are no more easy for me to swallow than they are for the next guy, but they are the truth. And if the American People learn one thing from this whole experience, it is this: if you want the War over, you have another shot to end it next fall. Don't blow it again.
posted by k - L - g at 4:48 AM
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