It also helps me to spot potential traps for Democrats, as well as identify right-wing issues that will require a test of wills, and backbone by our party. While it is comical to hear them eat their own, as in the case of Mike Huckabee, hearing this world-view is scary.
One trap I fear the leadership of our party may already be falling into is the whole "the surge is working" line. It troubles me that many within our party might be willing to say that something is working that was wrong as soon as incompetence took over, and despite all of that it should be continued.
Have the lessons of the past not sunk in? Most of us in the grassroots remember that were it not for gross incompetence, the 9-11 attacks might have been avoided. Then, after it happened instead of pooling our resources, and resolve to not only depose the Taliban but capture Osama bin Laden and try to bring stability to that country, our leaders "Cut and Ran" to Iraq. Most of us remember how our attention was diverted from that noble mission against bin Laden, by at best horrible incompetence and at worst downright dishonesty, to a country that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks. I mean, Saddam was a horrible person but we used the doctrine of pre-emptive strike on the basis of intelligence that was flat wrong to attack him.
I submit, and will continue to submit to anyone that will listen that this war with Iraq was flat out wrong to begin with. We have wasted almost 4000 young lives, and what will be over a trillion dollars of our treasure on this, Bush's Folly. When the neo-cons in the Bush Administration pulled his strings and surrendered like the chickenhawks they are to Osama bin Laden, let him run free to constantly snub his nose at the families of the victims of his crimes with his video tapes, and ran foolishly away into their own personal money making scheme, this war "War on Terror" was lost for all Americans who aren't raking in the war dollars.
It was lost for our troops, who valiently fought without proper planning and equipment at the whim of a madman, who refused raise their pay, and even provide adequate facilities for them to heal in. American taxpayers lost, because our money has been snatched from our pockets and re-distributed upwards to corporate profiteers, the least patriotic among us. The world lost because they could no longer look to American as an inspiring example of freedom, truth and justice.
Which begs me to ask, How can the Republican Party claim to be "Conservative"? They have been constant enablers of this lunacy. They say we can't spare a few billion to insure our own children when they keep this misguided policy brought about by a failed vision of the world eating up hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars? How can they ever with a straight face claim to espouse "Conservatism", or spending restraint when they have squandered more than we have ever dreamed?
We simply can't fall into the trap that "the surge is working" and we need to invest more lives and hundreds of billions of dollars into Iraq. This is all failed rhetoric from a failed policy, from a failed administration that set our country back decades.
I would like to commend John Edwards for casting away the failed "War on Terror" lingo. I hope many of you will consider that he wants to end combat missions in Iraq, and has an awesome plan to be smarter in dealing with Terrorism. No matter who you support the plain and simple fact of the matter is that we need somone who can lead PAST the "War on Terror" line and come up with real solutions to this problem, and a real foreign policy.
We simply can't fall into the trap of saying we were wrong to begin with when we weren't.
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