There's no reason we should have to guess about this. If the president wants to go to war, he should get a declaration of war. Not an "authorization of force" six months before the fact, but a declaration of war a few days before the invasion. Not only is that what the constitution requires, but it also means that members of Congress can no longer play games about what their vote really meant. After all, a declaration of war can hardly be misinterpreted.
- Kevin Drum
Exactly ... but, we again will gloss over this fact, even though it is an important aspect of the problem.
Anyway, I found a quote by Edward R. Murrow that is appropriate to the President's Veteran Day's speech as well as all his minions who are going back on attack by continuing the lie that they (the Democrats, liberals, war critics, the Easter Bunny, etc.) are the problem, even though, uh yeah, "we" (but hey, everyone agreed with us! so this means you too! ... not really true, even without taking into consideration that incomplete materials shown to Congress) were wrong about WMDs. This in part includes critics (on torture etc.) like Andrew Sullivan who continue to deny that "lie" is the right word -- but starting to struggle with the proper wordplay to explain why. At any rate ...
We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is this? Not really his. He didn't create the situation of fear; he merely exploited it and rather successfully. Cassius was right: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves."
The junior senator of course claimed that "they" (the commies etc.) were the one who gave aid and comfort. He argued that bully tactics, exaggerations, witch hunts and simple lies were necessary for our freedom though, of course, he would not quite describe it quite that way. And, today, President Bush and his allies did not create the fear ... though it must be noted that they inflamed it and in various cases did create some of it out of mostly full cloth ("no doubt" evidence regarding Iraq).
And, surely those who do this sort of thing are to blame more than those who accept it, including the press and government officials, without the right amount of caution and cynicism. In fact, in the process, being accessories to the crime. Nonetheless, the fault must in part -- especially in a republic like ours -- be so placed. This is in part because "ourselves" is more likely to be saved and reformed. Clearly, Bush et. al. have no desire to do so, even as it is an ever more uphill battle to stay the course.
Some hang on though. For instance, one person told me that non-citizens do not have any constitutional claims against our government, though the government might be "generous" and supply some rights to these individuals. This is after I noted that what is at stake is torture and mistreatment. Such generosity! Twenty million people are in this country who are non-citizens, and many people still would not find the claim of this individual to be too outrageous.
"Our stars" ache for such material, don't they?