Time to Take a Stand

The great Helen Thomas has a column out today that cuts right to the chase and tells Democrats in no uncertain terms that they need to start calling for a withdrawal of military forces from Iraq or face the prospect of remaining forever a minority party in Washington. Here at the Generik Brand, we couldn't agree more. With the numbers growing day by day (37% approval for the administration's handling of the war, 58% disapproval), it should be a slam-dunk cinch for the opposition party to start demanding a withdrawal of our troops, or, at the very least, some answers from the motherfucking bloodthirsty chickenhawk bastards folks in charge. It's been sickening for us to have to listen to the tortured mewlings of Joe Lieberman and Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton (and too many others) as they try to rationalize their stance of supporting Preznit Bring 'Em On's war. During the '04 election, we were convinced (and remain so) that if Kerry had come out strongly against the war -- the way Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich did -- that he would have been successful in his quest.

Here are just a few quotes from the estimable Ms. Thomas:

"Would the Republicans have hesitated to challenge the Democrats if the shoe were on the other foot? Did the opposition party give President Clinton any slack while he was in office?

"What is the logic of Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Joseph Biden, D-Del., and other so-called moderate Democrats still backing the unprovoked war in Iraq when they know they were sold a bill of goods?

"Both Clinton and Biden are presumed presidential contenders in 2008. That leaves Democratic voters -- many of whom are anti-war -- with no choice if either wins the party nomination.

"Can Biden and Clinton give young men and women any valid reason why they should lay down their lives in a war that we didn't have to fight in the first place?"

This is very much like a discussion that has been going on over at fellow BARBARian Shystee's blog (which itself was carried over from a conversation at Digby's) for a few days now. On the one hand, it seems like now is the time to go after the Republicans and try to regain the majority in DC by electing Democrats in '06 and '08; on the other hand, how, in good conscience, can those of us who have opposed the war since before it even started vote for Dems who want to continue to send troops over there to fight and die for a lie? How can we vote for Dems who are still skipping down the garden path, holding hands with Preznit Yellow Streak? The argument that "we have to keep getting our kids killed so that the kids who have already been killed will not have died in vain" holds no water here (and has already been dealt with on this site in the recent past). It's time that we, the people, let our elected representatives know that we expect them to follow our lead and end the bloodshed in a timely manner -- and stop perpetuating the travesty that Bush and his neocon cabal have foisted upon us and the rest of the world.

(Thanks to Pete for the Helen Thomas link.)