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I want to come clean.
As an Obama supporter, I have to accept what Barack has already said, that allowing a contributor of his to simultaneously purchase an adjacent lot to his new home was a "boneheaded" thing to do and "a mistake". It's disappointing to me to have to acknowledge his bad judgment here, but I accept it. The fact that he is forthright about his own mistake here helps a little bit. But it was a mistake, and he knows it, and I know it.
I have read dozens of threads on this mistake over the past few days, raining thunderous condemnation and furious insults upon Obama. People who literally hate Obama because of this issue. Or at least they sure act like they do.
I have also read dozens of threads about another mistake recently, one that some people don't seem to think was so bad at all.
Of course, I'm referring to Hillary's vote for the "Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq".
You might remember it. Or maybe you don't. I've read so many posts lately that say Hillary's vote to authorize the use for military force in Iraq "doesn't matter."
"It wasn't a mistake," they say.
"Who cares? It's old news."
"It's not important."
Really?
I'm not surprised when conservatives minimize the damage of war. It's what they do. It's why we'll never get out of Iraq while there's a Republican in the White House. But I never fail to be surprised when I see that same sort of minimization on DU.
I think we're just so disconnected from the actual consequences of the war in this country that the numbers we hear (and we rarely hear them anymore) are meaningless. What's 29,038 wounded but a number? Or 3,943 soldiers dead? Just a number. What if it was twice that amount? Or twenty times? Would it make a difference? The numbers of Iraqi dead due to our invasion are approaching 90,000, about 22 times the number of our own dead soldiers.
You can't express the anguish all these numbers represent. You'd need a million novels to do it. And each one would rip you up inside, to your core.
Everyone makes mistakes. Some are bigger than others. Given the tremendous amount of tears and angst and posts devoted to Obama's home buying mistake, and the continued shrugs and denials regarding Hillary's, I've begun to wonder where our priorities really are here anymore. So go ahead and answer, which mistake was worse?
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