Considering that I've long considered myself staunchly liberal, this is deeply troubling. I'm one of the few women today who consistently calls herself a feminist; I believe in gay marriage; in fact I'm a former employee of the ACLU. I'm the kind of liberal who still has a visceral gut reaction upon being told by someone who voted for and still staunchly supports GWBush (though this gut reaction is usually for about 2 seconds, and I make a special effort to listen to the person's argument). I absolutely do not agree with the man's style of leadership, the man's policies, the man's attitudes, or his outlook towards the world.
And yet, I find myself deeply troubled by the level of vitriol leveled against longtime Democrat Joe Lieberman. While there are, I'm sure, numerous other allegations against Lieberman, the main source of angst seems to be his previous and ongoing support for the Iraq war.
If, this indeed is a symbol of the new message of the Democrat party, a specifically anti-Iraqi war message, to the detriment of all the other issues like environmentalism, poverty, wages, and equality, then the Democratic party is doomed in 2008.
All I hear from many anti-war activists is that we have to pull out of Iraq. Ok so we pull out of Iraq; now what? We're just going to leave, after helping foment a civil war in someone else's country? What better, realistic, alternatives for the region are there? Yes, a good number don't want us there, and we've done some BAD stuff there, but really, how much better would it be if we just left now? If we pulled out now, wouldn't we be leaving the unstable moderate Iraqi government at the mercy of Sadr and religious fanatics in the mold of the Taliban?
I don't agree how with how we got suckered into the war. I think every bad mistake that could have been made, was, and still is being made. But now that we're there, we have to still there until the job is done.
I think the Iraqi war is important; so important, that if voting Democrat means pulling out of Iraq, and voting Republican means staying in, I may have to vote Republican for the first time in my life.
So does that make me a traitor for standing up for what I believe in? I don't think it does because otherwise, you're just proving Republican / conservative allegations that Democratic liberals are only open-minded to those who think like them.
UPDATE: Wow. I have to say that I am shocked at how quickly accusations of "troll" and "Republican operative" are being leveled at me. Thank you to the ones who are attempting to engage civil discourse. I posted this because I was hoping to be convinced with solid arguments that I shouldn't vote Republican. But rather then thoughtful discussion, I've been attacked for who I am.
I hate, hate, absolutely HATE what the Bush administration is doing to this country. The environment is being screwed up, civil liberties are disappearing, and Americans are becoming the bogeymen of the world.
But the situation is not as dire as it is in Iraq. Have any of you ever even been a country recovering from war, or in the middle of a war? Do you understand what it is to live in absolute fear, absolute terror, that there is no NOTHING you can do if someone beats down your door and rapes you and your entire family? Yes, that is perhaps, the situation in Iraq now, but how is it going to get better if we leave? If the Republicans stay in control, yes, I lose civil liberties, but at least I'm not going to watch my entire family murdered before my eyes. How can you simply leave and lose what influence you have on the situation?
I DON'T WANT TO VOTE REPUBLICAN. I still feel queasy saying that I'm even considering it. But the issues are more important then any party affiliation. I would prefer to see Democrats take back control, because we could turn this whole mess around. I think we can do better without Bush's cowboy mentality, and I truly believe that we can wield American power for the greater good. But I have yet to be convinced that that would be done by leaving Iraq.
So this is what I'm asking. Convince me. Because I have yet to be convinced.
And yes, I am relatively new to dailykos. But I've been blogging for awhile. Google my name and you'll see who I am.