Got a Clue

Here at the Forkes Report, we can only envy the popularity of the Huffington Post. (sigh …)

Arianna was on Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough (and John Ridley and Mika Brzezinski), discussing the big news: the latest Republicans to break ranks with President Bush over the war in Iraq.
- Just a brief tangent: I like Joe Scarborough and his Morning Joe, which comes on at 3 a.m. in California. It's a daily program for me during the week. Sometimes – especially with John Ridley – it gets silly and testosterone heavy, but despite his thoroughly conservative credentials, Joe is more of a centrist than anything else. And he can be funny and entertaining. Don’t tell Joe I wrote this, but if he ran for president, I would consider voting for him.

Chuck Hagel has always been against the war – in fact he came right up to the line of supporting impeachment recently – but now we have Richard Luger, and Pete Domenici proclaiming the president’s “plan” in Iraq is not working. No kidding … what was the clue?

The bloodiest weekend in months – years – in Iraq? Or the polls, which indicate 75% of Americans think it’s way past time to get out? Maybe their own constituents who let it be known their jobs were on the line if the continued to support the president’s “plan.” Or maybe the polls that state most Americans think the president and vice president should be impeached? In Dick Cheney’s case, 75% think he should be impeached. Okay, lying to get our troops into an illegal war doesn’t rise to the level of lying about getting a blow job in the White House – I mean, having consensual sex in the White House is just beyond all measures of right and wrong, good and evil – but still, the will of the people is: Impeach Bush and Cheney – Cheney first.

Congressman (and Democrat presidential hopeful) Dennis Kucinich has put forth a bill of impeachment of the Vice President and Kucinich was on Morning Joe as well, talking specifically about the possibility of that impeachment. Interesting note: Kucinich was one of the 23 Democrats in Congress who voted to look into impeaching President Clinton back in 1998.

Now, to save their political careers more than anything else, Republicans are turning away from the president’s war in Iraq. Now, after 3,600 American men and women have been killed and tens of thousands now on the rolls of the Veterans Administration health services. Should we applaud them for publicly stating what many insiders claim has been the view of these Republicans for a long, long time? I don’t think so. I applaud Ron Paul and Chuck Hagle for being against it from the beginning.

But this is why the Democrats in Congress didn’t push back harder against the president with the defense appropriation bill was vetoed by the president; they knew many of their Republican colleagues were going to jump the fence soon anyway. But maybe, had they pushed the issue, explained it in real terms two months ago, the Democrats could have passed their appropriations bill with an over ride vote of the veto. The Democrats have been rather cowardly, despite their majority in Congress, so should we applaud them? I don’t think so, they’ve been disappointing.

Still, if they fall in line with Kucinich’s impeachment bill, they can redeem themselves.
- Just a brief tangent: Dennis Kucinich got married soon after his bid for the White House. He married the lovely Elizabeth Harper, 31 years younger than the congressman and at least a few inches taller too. Man, maybe there’s hope for short fat guys like me …

Colleen, are you reading this?