Today's Political Thought

This morning, Congressguy John Murtha (D-PA) gave an emotional speech in which he called for the immediate pullout of U.S. troops in Iraq. Murtha is a Democrat but he's also a highly-decorated veteran with a history of supporting U.S. military action, so his position is not something that can be dismissed lightly. If nothing else, he provides a certain amount of moral cover for those who've backed the war in the past and wish to quietly move away from that position. Here's a link to the text of what he said and here's a link to a partial video.

Yesterday, I posted here that I thought the Bush strategy on how to defend itself against charges of lying was not an effective one. For some reason, about a dozen correspondents read that piece as if I'd written, "We must surrender in Iraq and admit we were wrong to ever think that Saddam Hussein had to go." I don't believe any part of that. Truth to tell, I don't know what to do about Iraq and we should all be glad I don't have to decide. I just think what's going on there now is a disaster with no light at the end of any proverbial tunnel and that we have to do something other than what we're doing. That a guy like Murtha thinks we oughta withdraw (a.s.a.p.) is worthy of attention. It hasn't completely convinced me but I'll bet it'll convince another 1-2% of the American people. And that, in turn, will convince a few more members of Congress who are up for re-election next year.