David Sirota: What They Said, and When They Said It

[marmar]

from the SF Chronicle, via CommonDreams:


Published on Friday, January 19, 2007 by the San Francisco Chronicle
What They Said, and When They Said It
by David Sirota

In 2005, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards said about his vote for war in Iraq: "I was wrong I take responsibility."
This statement, so simple, has been all too rare from politicians and leading media voices. Instead, as the war rages on -- a war itself originally based on lies -- our political arena still teems with icons more interested in hiding the truth. That's no small matter. As the saying goes, the first step to recovery is admitting the problem. Sadly, though, the flip side is also true -- refusing to admit a problem will perpetuate that problem indefinitely.

President Bush said just two months ago that "we've never been for stay the course." This, when for the last three years he has batted down any questions about his Iraq policy by saying "stay the course."

Similarly, consider U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Independent-Conn.). Facing a difficult Democratic primary challenge, Lieberman said of Iraq in July that "the sooner we are out the better," and that, by the end of 2006, he would support efforts to "begin to draw down significant numbers of American troops." He later said that "no one wants to end the war in Iraq more than I do and bring our troops home." But weeks after being re-elected, Lieberman is now leading the charge for military escalation, sending a letter to President Bush last week saying, " strongly encourage you to send additional American troops to Iraq."

Pundits and news analysts are employed to expose this sort of nonsense so that our democratic discourse -- and the policy choices that come out of it -- are grounded in fact. But that has not happened. Instead, we have seen a furious stampede by the most prominent media figures to cover their own hides with either more lies, or more out-of-the mainstream bluster.

Time Magazine's Joe Klein, for instance, last week claimed he has "been opposed to the Iraq war ever since 2002." Readers were expected to forget about his nationally televised declaration in late February 2003 -- the critical days just before the invasion was ordered.

"War may well be the right decision at this point," Klein told NBC's Tim Russert. "In fact, I think it probably is." .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0119-25.htm

[David Dunham]

1. Sirota should concentrate on helping Dems win in 08. Don't rehash the past.

Sirota dwells too much in the past. Voters in 08 will care about the then state of the world, not what someone said in 2003.