Watch Those Voting Records
Michelle Richmond has summed up the move that made me lose respect for Hillary Clinton–when she voted for the War in Iraq. Like Richmond, I can’t get past it.
I remember being stunned at the support for military action against Iraq in Congress and the Senate [following 9/11]. When the resolution passed in 2002, I felt as though all of Washington was living in some weird post 9/11 version of Oz, where no one questioned George W. Bush’s motives, and no one dared pull aside the curtain for fear of exposing the true nature of the inept little wizard; they took it for granted that, because the U.S. had been attacked, the wizard spoke for all of us. If they had doubts, most of them kept those doubts to themselves. To me, the massive support for military action among powerful Democrats was an unforgivable case of cowardly politics. Because no matter how one feels or felt about Saddam Hussein, any rational course of thought would lead one to the conclusion that launching a “preemptive” (i.e. unprovoked) attack against a relatively secular Muslim nation–especially at a time when religious fanatics had killed thousands of Americans and were vowing to kill thousands more–could never end up well.
… And Hillary Clinton supported that maneuver. As much as I support her vision for health care and education, I can’t come to terms with her vote on Iraq in 2002. Because the Iraq war is the ugliest and dumbest thing our country has done in a long time.
Read more of Richmond’s Why I Believe in Barack Obama here.
