““Well, in fact, in the Democratic Party at that time, the smart
political decision, as so many of my colleagues did, was to come out and
say ‘Terrible mistake, shouldn’t have done it,’ and you know blame the
Bush administration,” she said.”
At what point was that reconsideration going on? So many of your constituents (and I mean those from across the country) called for you to make the courageous decision when the war drum started beating. And we did, and do, and always will, blame the Bush Administration - it was their feckin’ fault! And if you are elected, Hillary, are you going to make the political decision to send Americans back into Iraq, or the smart decision to stay out?
Well, over here, we got a woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and there was not a liberal in the country who was not anxious to dance on her grave when she finally died. As we noted with Sarah Palin, being female does not a great progressive President make. If that is the price for a female President in the short term, forget it, I’m not interested.
As for the fact that 9/11 was in her state, first off, what the fuck does that have to do with Iraq? Stop perpetuating Republican lies. And secondly, did you not notice that the overwhelming response of her constituents was “hell no, not in our name”. So no, I am not remotely prepared to give her a pass on that basis.
I would have given her a pass on the basis that it was the post 9/11 atmosphere and everything was a bit crazy then, a bit toxic for anyone who opposed perpetual war. Of course, that is exactly the environment in which great leaders can be forged, or politicians can go along to get along, and many, many Dems unfortunately did the latter. But in Hillary’s case, she continued to support the war for far longer than most, and she has continued to be very much in favour of entangling America’s military in further misadventures.
So thanks but no thanks. She is perfectly competent to be President, but if she gets it, she will pursue policies with which I profoundly disagree, and she may prove downright dangerous for the world.
I agree. I think he’s terrific and he’s dynamic enough. I saw him rip apart Governor McDonald of Virginia. He didn’t mince words. I think he’s pretty damned terrific myself and I am not so convinced Hillary is the best person for the job or unbeatable. Remember 2008.
Why on earth would you have wanted Hillary over Obama, given her hawkish approach to foreign affairs, her neoliberal economics and her silence on social issues? What on earth might have led you to the delusion that she would not have been even less in tune with your beliefs than Obama is?
The Bush doctrine was that - “if you’re harboring terrorists in your country, we’re going to get you” or something to that effect.
They literally used 9/11 to justify the war in Iraq, citing weapons of mass destruction, etc.
9/11 was still fresh in everyone’s minds - so much so - that a lot of the Dems did not want to be accused of not being tough on terrorism (hence the Patriot Act btw). I still remember the news coverage of Hillary & Bill at ground zero, days after - trying to provide whatever solace they could to the first responders.
I don’t blame Hillary for having that in the back of her mind when this vote was taken. Her people were directly affected. I’m not saying it was the right thing to do - because at the time, I personally thought we’d be the laughing stock of the world (or at least judged harshly) if those WMD’s weren’t there… but I don’t know what I would have done if I represented all of those folks still hurting & wanting justice of some kind.
Yay! Good to hear! I saw him on a Sunday show once where he was fantastic and another time where he just seemed sleepy. So maybe that one time was just a fluke.
I’m not someone who regularly uses profanity, but to your comment I say Fuckin’ A. HRC is a woman who was recognized by her Wellesley classmates in 1969 as the woman who could the first president. Anyone who has read her bios (not necessarily memoirs) will pick up on that too based on her very early brilliance. I agree with everything you said especially the difficulty of apologizing, backtracking, whatever you want to call it, because opponents from either party are waiting to pounce.
“Well, in fact, in the Democratic Party at that time, the smart political decision, as so many of my colleagues did, was to come out and say ‘Terrible mistake, shouldn’t have done it,’ and you know blame the Bush administration,” she said.
Often overt messages hide a covert inside, and when that happens, the covert message is the stronger one. In this case, she’s reminding us–not so subtly-- that she had a lot of Democratic company, so her reason for not admitting her mistake is a bit holier than theirs would be.
Very hard to say to people “We made the wrong decisions, and now you are all suffering for it.”
The Iraq mission was a very hard one for our soldiers. Yeah, and even harder for the people of Iraq, I know.
To face them, and say, “You’re here on a mistake, and you can’t leave now because we broke the Iraqi government, and we need to try to replace it.”
That’s frikken harsh. I believe Hillary when she says she couldn’t bring herself to just do that.
Now, she’s saying the war was a mistake, period. We don’t have soldiers fighting there anymore, so nobody is on the ground saying, “Gee, if it is a mistake, why am I here?”
I personally have great admiration for Hillary, and how she has devoted herself to serving this country. She’s given a lot, and she’d always a target for scorn from both the right and left.
Once in a while she drops a groaner, but I think that is because she isn’t quite as cynical as some of us are used to, and just doing the pivot and point doesn’t come naturally to her.
Vote for the Iraq War Resolution was Dems 29 (Senate) and 82 (House) for 111. Forgive me. And I never said 100 Senators but I guess you missed that in a rush to make your defense of Hillary.
It was a vote based on a lie. Congress and the American people were lied to to justify a invading Iraq. The minute you find out that it was a lie you come and say it. Keeping faith with the troops is not lying to them and coming up with some BS excuse as to why you can’t admit it was a mistake and a terrible one at that.
The question is not why she didn’t renounce her vote earlier, but why did she vote to go into Iraq in the first place? There was a huge amount of information out there and in front of her that debunked the Bush claims, both of weapons of mass destruction and any implication that Saddam Hussein was behind 9-11. There was also massive intelligence that Saddam was no friend to al Qaeda.
Her dismissive, “I was wrong, plain and simple,” is to me a kick in the face to those who suffered there and continue to suffer with injuries, and a body blow to those families who lost loved ones.
She wasn’t “wrong,” she was trying to enhance her military image in order to be President of the United States. There were plenty of Democrats who voted against the war. Let’s ask them, and their advisors, why they took the vote they did.
Could she play off a more transparent pander? And who is this statement actually supposed to impress? The RW already hates her with a passion, she could be to the right of Michelle Bachman and they would still hate/distrust her. I also thought most independents (and not the Tea Party types that now call themselves that) already think the war was a mistake so are no longer war cheerleaders.
Overall, I think this statement makes her look craven.
