Lots of folks have had a public Come to Jesus moment in the last year or two about Iraq — or rather, how they spoke or voted about it in 2002 / 2003. There are pundits and bloggers and congress-critters and presidential hopefuls all over the place, each anxious to distance him or herself from the ill-fated Mesopotamian Adventure.
I was for it before I was against it.
I was never for it.
I was for it but the execution was botched.
I was for it but only as a last resort.
This collective self-abasement is a political Starbucks frenzy; gotta have one of these!
The truth is that the majority of people in this country — including its elected leaders — supported the Iraq War at one point… and the majority now do not. Are Democrats planning to publicly pillory and / or require self-flagellation and bare feet on coals to get beyond what most folks now see as an unmitigated disaster?
At nearly every stop in New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton, the junior senator from New York, has been greeted warmly but has been met by skeptical voters asking pointedly about her 2002 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq. On Sunday in Nashua, one person told her that her explanation “doesn’t fly,” while another asked why she did not simply say that the vote was a mistake.
Yet Mrs. Clinton’s refusal to use clear, categorical phrases — “I’m sorry” or “I made a mistake” — has created an opening for Mr. Obama and another rival, former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who has openly apologized for his identical 2002 vote.
Prostration might do the trick, but since there really are no saints in politics, why would anyone bother trying to keep his or her feet dry whilst waltzing verbally across the Euphrates?
You forgot:
I was for it, the execution was botched, but I stillam for it, we really need to figure out where we went wrong and fix it.
~EdT.
Yup — people are certainly saying that. There’s even an ever-smaller minority that thinks we’re doing just fine and dandy over there — but those folks haven’t a hope of clearing this hurdle with the left (or with me, frankly).
I’m not sure any amount of groveling would do it, actually.
Seems to me that we should stop asking pols to tell us what we want to hear and ask them to tell us what they believe.
If Hillary believes that she made the correct vote based on the information at hand, so be it, end of story.
I think that it’s the very strong antiwar sentiment of the Democratic base/activists that’s the source of this demand for an apology. And given the conflict between the demands of the base and the more diverse beliefs of the public, I don’t think we will see any honesty on Iraq any time soon.
FYI: I’ve been against the Iraq War for the last 4 years. I’m also supporting Hillary and not expecting an apology
More people are pointing out the unequal treatment in this NYT article.
The current media darling reminds voters and Clinton uses talking points. when in truth they are both putting their talking points out there.
From the begining, I said that there were no WMDs, no portable bio-labs, no links to al-Qaeda, these administration statements are lies, these supporters are anti-Muslim jingoists, this occupation would be a bloody disaster - and provided links to educate people.
Now the same scenario is playing out leading to an attack on Iran.
I was never for it. If Hilly had voted against it in the beginning, her chances of becoming Prez in the future, would have been nil. She has learned to waffle , much
like Bill.
Bush went to war by lying to the military and the American public. There are lies, and
there are damned lies. Bush be damned and all the lemmings that followed him.
I was for it then and still am convinced we can win. It will be tough and I think the resolve of us the American public is more important than ever.
Easter — the spin machines have barely started the first cycles! I’m shocked… shocked… that anyone would be so unsubtle so soon.
Polimom - plse re-read what I said. Nowhere did I mention that things were going just peachy - that is most definitely not the case. However, I supported the action at the beginning, and I still think it was the right thing to do. We just aren’t going about doing it the right way - and that is something that can (and must) be fixed.
In other words, I stand by what I believe, regardless of how popular said belief is. I would be far more supportive of someone like that (even someone who was opposed from the beginning) than I would be of those whose ‘convictions’ change with the direction of the prevailing political winds.
~EdT.
Wind shifts direction, and so does 66% of Congress…
As a front blew through Washington, causing the direction of the wind to change, a whole slew of members of Congress scrambled to follow suit. Most prominent were those who have Presidential aspirations in ‘08, who could be easily identified by their…
Oops. Ed, I was using your comment as another way one might be thinking about the war, not trying to address your position personally. And the few who “think it’s going fine” was yet another…