Letters to the Editor
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Iraq
To be fair, I don't believe Clinton thought she was authorizing Bush to go to war when and the way he did. As she said in her October, 2002 speech, "If we were to attack Iraq now, alone or with few allies, it would set a precedent that could come back to haunt us…
To be fair, I find it hard to give HRC a pass on this one. Especially since she hasn't given me the impression that she has learned from the experience. Take Kyle Libermann for example. I recently listened to one of her floor speeches on the Iraq war resolution , and it seemed to me to be larded with passages that could be used either to claim credit for success or avoid blame for failure.
More vigorous opposition to this resolution might have meant that it was reduced in scope and some damage limited. So willingness to vote no does matter, even if you are the minority. The bottom line is that she and a bunch of other democrats yielded thier authority to the president. Her decision was to let the president decide.
The Congress handed a loaded gun to Bush, and said, make sure you shoot the right people. Saying afterwords, that you didn't think he would pull the trigger, or that he shot the wrong people is beside the point.
All the other Iraq War vote candidates (Biden, Dodd, Edwards) are gone now except for Hillary and McCain.
I agree that it's a shame Hillary can't get a do-over and start again. I'd start by firing Mark Penn and probably Bill. Yes, she has seeds of greatness inside her, and we've seen flashes of that now and then. But the buck stops with her. What she and her campaign has done or not done is her responsibility.
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Hillary Clinton's journey on Iraq
Due respect to the author, I find your comments condescending to Senator Clinton as she was one of many who were duped by this so-called president. She and those who authorized the war did so on behalf of what they conceived to be a threat right on the heals of 9/11/01.. To somehow segregate Senator Clinton from the other forty Senators is rather bias. I don't think apologies end war. When Senator Clinton becomes President, she will right the wrong Bush created. To say anymore would undermine the families of our troops who truly believe their sons and daughters are fighting to help a country who knew nothing other then a mass murderer. It matters what you say, more then a vote. Perhaps you might consider those families and support their beliefs and should you feel the need for further reconciliation, go to Senate.org and see ALL those who cast their vote as Senator Clinton did. Enough! We are five years past and the complainers are Obama fans. Consider this; Obama attends a Church with his children to hear a preacher condemn America. Obama refuses to wear a flag pin on his lapel and won't place his hand over his heart to pledge allegiance to America. Whom do you find patriotic? It's a no brainer.
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Media
It's the media who loves news anniversaries. They can produce a story with little effort.
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An Easy Answer to That
I have to wonder, why a this Wright got so much attention, but Obama's press conference last week with all the retired generals who disagreed with our invasion Iraq, got very little attention in the press.
-- bernbart
Well, because it didn't follow the MSM script of trying to scare the crap out of and thus cow middle America through nonsense-generated scandal.
As for Hillary vis-a-vis Iraq. She got hoodwinked like a lot of smart people. That she did was sad but forgivable. People make mistakes, and a true mark of character is that you learn from it and move on.
Then she voted for Kyl-Lieberman and proved that her Iraq vote was NOT a mistake: It was her policy.
That's why there will be no apology.
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Why Hillary voted for the Iraq resolution
As someone who's against the Iraq War I understand why HRC voted for the resolution. The answer is obvious if you looked at how Kerry, Biden, and Dodd voted, all who harboured presidential ambition, and if Obama was in the Senate then I doubted he would voted against it either. Sure, there were those who voted against it but all were aware they have no real chance running for president.
The fact HRC is a woman interested in being president force her to vote in favor, not to mention she was a senator from New York where 9/11 occurred. As for apologizing the fact she is a woman also limited her option as she position herself for the center. To quote Geraldins Ferrara Obama was lucky he was not in the Senate then. Now you can fault her for not being precient or principle enough, but to demonize her for that is really expect perfection which will only result in disillusion when Obama became president.
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As a naive, callow, gullible Obamaton myself...
...Let me just say:
"For every Obama supporter I consider an Obamaton (they're out there), there are many others who decided with integrity that they simply could not support Clinton because of that Iraq vote and her failure to adequately lament it."
Well, there you go, Joan. You've skillfully identified the exactly two kinds of people who support Obama. We're either brainwashed idiot children or we're people who would be Hillary supporters if not for her inability to say sorry for playing an active role in launching a murderous war. It certainly couldn't be that a good many of us are thoughtful, informed adults who have weighed the pros and cons of each candidate and come to the conclusion that Obama would clearly make a better Democratic nominee (and president) than Clinton.
Could I please ask all of the bitter Clinton supporters to stop harping on the tired old false narrative that Obama is a silver-tongued emperor with no clothes and that all us stupid "Obamatons" have just been caught up in a hysteria as if we were teenage girls screaming over the Beatles in '64? Because if you won't, we might just have to point out the absurdity and emptiness of claims such as "35 years of experience". 35 years of experience? Well, gee, if you get to count being the wife of the president and time spent working at a corporate law firm, it sounds like ANYTHING post undergrad should get to count. So Obama should get to claim everything from being president of the Harvard Law Review onward. That's over 20 years. Not bad. Oh, and by the way, if we count his years in the Illinois State Senate, he's got much MORE legislative experience than her.
Honestly, I don't hate Hillary, and think she'd make a decent president (much better than McCain, of course). But I am sick of Obama supporters being charicatured in this way. We have legitimate reasons to be both enthusiastic about and supportive of Obama, and to be disappointed in Clinton.