Pete Stark's statement on the floor of the House during the unsuccessful override vote on the S-CHIP bill stirred the passions of many on this site. His comments were a breath of fresh air and a point-blank in your face assertion of the fundamental immorality and hypocrisy of the Bush Administration and the GOP.
"You don't have money to fund the war or children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement. This bill would provide healthcare for 10 million children and unlike the President's own kids, these children can't see a doctor or receive necessary care. [...]
But President Bush's statements about children's health shouldn't be taken any more seriously than his lies about the war in Iraq. The truth is that Bush just likes to blow things up. In Iraq, in the United States and in Congress."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
Now the GOP is all up in arms and they want Stark to issue an apology or retraction. I don't think any apology is necessary here. The President lied to get us into this war and thousands have died as a result. He has continued to lie about the conditions on the ground to justify the killing of more people. Almost all of his generals have rejected the current policy as a disaster. A sane man would listen, but not George W. Bush. As a recent biography revealed, Bush is more interested in preserving his place in history than in saving lives. The war is now about his ego and how he will be remembered, and the only way he will be remembered well is if a Democratic President continues his policy of occupation and cleans up his mess. When there is no serious policy objective that could have been achieved by invasion and occupation and none that can be achieved today by staying indefinitely, then Bush is in fact sending people to die to protect his own ego, or as Pete Stark would say, for his own amusement.
I urge Congressman Stark to stick to his guns and not issue an apology, retraction, clarfication etc. as Dick Durbin did (unnecessarily so). It would undermine the very point we're trying to make to the DC establishment. Bush's policy is fundamentally immoral and does not serve the national interest. The DC Establishment should not continue to go along with this charade but develop a sense of indignation about how they are being played like novices at a sleazy car dealership. There are real consequences for these DC parlor games, and the Establishment (the Media, the GOP, Liebercrats et. al.) will not come to terms with those costs because they are partly responsible for allowing this policy to continue. So they change the subject, act holier and more principled than the rest of us, and make it look like the anti-war movement is dangerous when we're the ones trying to stop the insanity.
Enough is enough. Stand your ground, Pete Stark. End the war. End the torture. Restore the Constitution.