Pelosi stood her ground, telling reporters that "the emperor has no clothes." With the violence in Iraq threatening to overshadow all other issues in the coming election season, each party claimed to possess the moral high ground in setting the rules for debate.Now, say what you want regarding the rightness or wrongness of Pelosi's full-court press.
"She apparently is so caught up in the partisan hatred for President Bush that her words are putting American lives at risk," said House Majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. "This nation cannot afford the luxury of her dangerous rhetoric."
Countered one Democratic leader: "Frankly, that's McCarthyism."
...
"Understand that when our kids are in harm's way, we are united -- it is one team, one fight. But they cannot say that anybody who criticizes their failures to be not supportive of our troops. It is the very support of the troops that provokes the candor that we must have about what's happening with this war, the cost in lives ... the cost in dollars to the taxpayer, and the cost in reputation to our country."
But can we please stop pretending that the Democrats are still the party of Clinton-esque jellyfish?
I still believe very firmly that no goal is more important in November than President Kerry. Nevertheless, the best thing we could do for our country is back Kerry up with Speaker Pelosi. We have genuinely progressive, outspoken voices in the party, and Pelosi is their leader either in name (for those in the House) or by example (for the rest of us).
Democrats. They're not just for flip-floppers any more.
(/) Roland X
And FYI, Kerry is winning.