John Walsh in Worcester Telegram:
Never before in my memory have the two major parties so sullied themselves and so obviously betrayed the American people as they have by voting for the war in Iraq and supporting it since. True, George W. Bush and his neocon advisers took the lead in lying to the people. But at every step of the way the Democratic Party went along with a war based on lies and deceit, a war that has killed or maimed tens of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
As the saying goes: Bush lied. Democrats complied. Thousands died.
Let us recall that the vote to go to war was taken in October 2002, when the midterm elections were only weeks away. Looking at the votes on the war, which 22 Democrats and 1 Republican opposed — much to their credit — many of the Democratic pro-war votes were cast either by those with tight races ahead, like Max Cleland and Tom Daschle, or else those with presidential ambitions, like Kerry, Edwards, Clinton, Lieberman, Biden and others. (Cleland and Daschle lost anyway — deservedly so.) Of course these worthies contend that Bush successfully deceived them.
But that confession is an admission of incompetence since millions around the world saw through Bush’s lies and so did 23 Senators. But deception is not the likely explanation; ambition is. If Ted Kennedy knew better, then is it believable that his close colleague, John Kerry, and others did not?
And every single senatorial vote was crucial on that day of infamy. If only 11 others had joined the 23 nays in a strong stand against being stampeded into war if they sustained a filibuster, we would not be in Iraq today. What greater issue is there than war? But these senators joined their Republican counterparts and put their careers and ambitions ahead of the fate of untold thousands of innocents.
What manner of men and women are these?
More here.