Lots of folks have had a public Come to Jesus moment in the last year or two about Iraq — or rather, how they spoke or voted about it in 2002 / 2003. There are pundits and bloggers and congress-critters and presidential hopefuls all over the place, each anxious to distance him or herself from the ill-fated Mesopotamian Adventure.
I was for it before I was against it.
I was never for it.
I was for it but the execution was botched.
I was for it but only as a last resort.
This collective self-abasement is a political Starbucks frenzy; gotta have one of these!
The truth is that the majority of people in this country — including its elected leaders — supported the Iraq War at one point… and the majority now do not. Are Democrats planning to publicly pillory and / or require self-flagellation and bare feet on coals to get beyond what most folks now see as an unmitigated disaster?
Evidently so:
At nearly every stop in New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton, the junior senator from New York, has been greeted warmly but has been met by skeptical voters asking pointedly about her 2002 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq. On Sunday in Nashua, one person told her that her explanation “doesn’t fly,” while another asked why she did not simply say that the vote was a mistake.
Yet Mrs. Clinton’s refusal to use clear, categorical phrases — “I’m sorry” or “I made a mistake” — has created an opening for Mr. Obama and another rival, former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who has openly apologized for his identical 2002 vote.
Prostration might do the trick, but since there really are no saints in politics, why would anyone bother trying to keep his or her feet dry whilst waltzing verbally across the Euphrates?
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