Gordon Smith, staring electoral defeat in 2008 in the face, starts making sense on Iraq. It goes to show that you can't really count on "sensible Republicans" to save the country. Instead, when progressive forces look strong enough to seriously threaten GOP politicians they'll start acting more sensibly. Which is certainly a good thing, but simply shows the need to keep pressing the attack as hard as possible. Meanwhile, it'd be nice if more Democrats could bring themselves to at least meet the minimal Gordon Smith standard of political and substantive wisdom.
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Smith off the Bus
10 Dec 2006 12:03 pm
Comments (2)
Smith is probably testing a line for Saint John McCain (™ Atrios), in addition to sensing (as I believe somebody on Daily Kos said) The Ghost of the Future Lincoln Chafee hovering.
The line is that what we SHOULD do is make more progress in whatever the heck we're doing there, which we COULD do if the Right People were in charge, but regrettably, they aren't, so we'll just have to bail and face disaster unless we hand over power to the Right People in 2008.
The idea is that anti-war voters will hear, "We should bail," and war financiers will hear, "We should spend even more lives and money and the great reward will come, at least for those of us who matter."
From his floor speech: "To fight an insurgency often takes a decade or more. It takes more troops than we have committed. It takes clearing, holding, and building so that the people there see the value of what we are doing... [But we] have cleared and left, and the insurgents have come back.... I believe we need to figure out how to fight the war on terror and to do it right. So either we clear and hold and build, or let's go home... So let's cut and run, or cut and walk, or let us fight the war on terror more intelligently than we have... I will be looking for every opportunity to clear, build, hold, and win or how to bring our troops home."
Comments closed December 24, 2006.
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Heads in the Sand
"Gordon Smith, staring electoral defeat in 2008 in the face ...."
If the Dems can find someone to challenge him. Kitzhaber would be the best candidate, but doesn't seem interested. Bradbury is probably the most realistic choice, but lacks charisma. DeFazio may not want to chance it either.
If Smith wasn't up for reelection in 2008, he wouldn't be making any sense at all right now. It's pure cold blooded political calculation. Smith is a slimeball. Always has been.
Posted by mkultra | December 10, 2006 1:33 PM