Accidental Blogger

Why not?  At least Clooney has the intestinal fortitude to say what he believes.

"I am a liberal. And I make no apologies for it. Hell, I’m proud of it.

Too many people run away from the label. They whisper it like you’d whisper "I’m a Nazi." Like it’s dirty word. But turn away from saying "I’m a liberal" and it’s like you’re turning away from saying that blacks should be allowed to sit in the front of the bus, that women should be able to vote and get paid the same as a man, that McCarthy was wrong, that Vietnam was a mistake. And that Saddam Hussein had no ties to al-Qaeda and had nothing to do with 9/11.

This is an incredibly polarized time (wonder how that happened?). But I find that, more and more, people are trying to find things we can agree on. And, for me, one of the things we absolutely need to agree on is the idea that we’re all allowed to question authority. We have to agree that it’s not unpatriotic to hold our leaders accountable and to speak out.

The fear of (being) criticized can be paralyzing. Just look at the way so many Democrats caved in the run up to the war. In 2003, a lot of us were saying, where is the link between Saddam and bin Laden? What does Iraq have to do with 9/11? We knew it was bullshit. Which is why it drives me crazy to hear all these Democrats saying, "We were misled." It makes me want to shout, "Fuck you, you weren’t misled. You were afraid of being called unpatriotic."

And the elected Democrats in congress?  They are still running away from the truth, from questioning a corrupt leadership, looking for the nearest hole to hide in whenever it is time to take a stand.

"Democrats distanced themselves Monday from Wisconsin Sen. Russell Feingold’s effort to censure President Bush over domestic spying, maneuvering to prevent a vote that could alienate swing voters. A day of tough talk between Feingold and Vice President Dick Cheney ended with Senate leaders sending the matter to the Judiciary Committee.  Republicans dared Democrats to vote for the proposal.

Feingold’s fellow Democrats said they understood his frustration, but they held back overt support for the resolution. Several said they wanted first to see the Senate Intelligence Committee finish an investigation of the warrantless wiretapping program that Bush authorized as part of his war on terrorism.

Asked whether he would vote for the resolution, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada declined to endorse it and said he hadn’t read it.  Feingold’s censure resolution drew empathy but no outright support from House Democraticleader Nancy Pelosi of California. Pelosi "understands Sen. Feingold’s frustration that the facts about the NSA domestic surveillance program have not been disclosed appropriately to Congress," her office said in a statement. "Both the House and the Senate must fully investigate the program and assign responsibility for any laws that may have been broken."

The Democrats are still mouthing idiotic criticisms like "not enough troops", "tactical mistakes" etc. about Iraq, instead of saying outright that it was a morally reprehensible and wrong war.  And that in spite of this. What are they scared of?  Do you see a viable presidential candidate for 2008 in this bunch?