Bad Jim, Very Bad
So, what do you think of Democrat Jim Matheson’s vote with the mostly GOP minority on last night’s House Democrats’ war spending bill? You know, the one that includes a set troop withdrawal beginning Oct. 1 and ending in March?
Methinks our Blue Dog Jim may have picked the wrong vote this time with which to sidle up to Utah’s conservatives. I mean, this isn’t abortion. Or gun control. Or even a vote to hand off a big corridor of Washington County open space to greedy developers.
This is the freakin,’ endless, losing proposition of a war. You know, the quagmire. You know, the place where the center no longer holds, and our troops are returning for their second and third tours of duty.
This is the war that according to a new poll, 55 percent of Americans believe is no longer winnable. And that 56 percent believe, along with the Democratic majority in Congress, must come to an end with a dedicated troop withdrawal.
And where military leaders testified just yesterday that George W. Bush’s troop surge is working, it’s really working. Except they aren’t counting suicide bombings among the casualties that would show otherwise. (Another indication that the brass is just a couple of cards short of a full deck on this deal.)
Our Blue Dog Rep. is old enough to remember Vietnam. Americans learned something from that protracted and ugly mess. They haven’t forgotten. I think they’re telling people like Matheson that Iraq is looking like a shocking sequel. They’d rather not stay for the ending.
Bad Jim, very bad. What the hell are you thinking?!
April 26th, 2007 at 10:14 am
“What the hell are you thinking?” There’s the problem, there is no thought involved. Only he can know why he voted the way he did.
Congressman Dennis Kuccinch has spoken out against the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq from the outset. He went against the popular opinion and his own party because he thought it out. He did find weapons of mass destruction right there in Cleveland — homelessness, ignorance, poverty, racism…..
Dennis’ courage is monumental. Matheson’s courage is minimental.
Bill Moyer’s special last night on PBS was very revealing. I hope you all saw it or will make a point of seeing it. It should make even Matheson think. Uh, well maybe not.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:25 am
I`m in complete agreement with Larry O. I thought Vietnam was a once in a lifetime nightmare, never to be repeated. The situation in Iraq could strech into infinity…Bush can`t even articulate what “victory” is. Maybe because there is none to be had.
Thinking of this has raised my blood pressure a good 20 points. Time to go to LaCrema for a glass of pinot noir.
Cheers, RB
April 26th, 2007 at 10:27 am
I almost agree with Larry O’, but, I believe there was a lot of thinking in Matheson’s office leading up to this vote.
I think it’s sad that the collected Matheson brain-trust chose this as another moment to stab the faithful, yet long suffering, party base in the back, especially when he’s been so good on Veteran, active duty, body and vehicle armor and most other military issues.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Like many right-wingers, Jim Matheson has never served in the military. I don’t think he understands what’s happening. By June, the US Army will be fully committed in Iraq. That means, not capable of doing anything else. We have no strategic reserve, and only one brigade watching the DMZ in Korea. This is beyond irresponsible.
President Bush still has no plan for successfully occupying Iraq, much less reconstructing their political system and economy. The forces we are deploying are not enough to secure a country of 25 million, but more than we can afford to send.
General Petraeus is improvising, and so far has only promised us more American casualties. Iraqi civilian deaths are mounting month by month as we increase the level of violence in Baghdad. The fourth anniversary of “mission accomplished” is on Tuesday.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
If you did not see the Bill Moyers special, “Selling the War,” last night and don’t see it repeated - BUY THE DVD. I put up with ads on TV and radio and claim they never make me buy anything, but here is proof that they work.
The Bush administration, with exaggeration, deception, and outright lies sold the necessity of the war to Congress, the press, the American people, and even to Great Britain. This has to be the greatest triumph ever of Madison Avenue.
Those in the media who asked questions and got readily available answers that proved the madness of going forward were marginalized, shunned, and had their patriotism questioned over and over.
One of the chief archtects of this blitz of misinformation, the face of evil incarnate, Vice President Cheney, is speaking today at BYU to “inspire” graduates there. I have never been so ashamed of my church as I am this day, but I am also ashamed of the American public, the press, and people like Matheson, who still think this is a war to be won. It should never have begun, so we must get out of there now, as Muslims all over the Middle East want us to do!
April 26th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
He could easily be voting what he truly believes, and believing what Sen. Lieberman is preaching (see the Senator’s op-ed in today’s Washington Post) about the need to persevere for victory in Iraq, and why he thinks that’s still possible.
I’m sure Matheson also clearly understands that he is a Democrat elected from a Republican-majority district, and that his votes on key issues must not reflect a left-wing mentality. You all could be extremely right that he has misread feelings about the war, even in Utah, but I think generally he has reflected his core values in his votes, and his core values have resonated with his constituents, regardless of party affiliation.
April 26th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I would not want to read Sen. Lieberman’s “preaching.” I’ve had too much of preaching. The Washington Post and the New York Times both bought into the conspiracy to decept us, by the way. The Times has since seen the error of its ways and no longer supports the war. Don’t know about the Post, because I don’t read that paper.
As for Matheson not wanting to reflect a “left-wing mentality,” he should be able to reflect a view of the reality of a war that was misconceived and has gone downhill from there. If someone in Congress just votes all the time in agreement with the majority party from his state, does he even have his own brain? And if a Republican like Chuck Hagel can reflect a “left-wing mentality,” then Matheson as a Democrat should have the guts to do so, too. Up until recently, the Democrats have shown an absence of guts altogether.
After all, even in bright red Utah a majority of people no longer support the war.
Finally, msteele, this is not about misreading “feelings,” it is about not getting all fuzzy in the feelings department, talking vaguely about “core values” and forgetting that foreign policy should be based on cold, hard facts.
A U.S. Congressman, no matter whom, should represent doing the right thing based on correct information readily available to him and his staff as you say, “regardless of party affiliation.”
April 26th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Matheson has been tough on the war. He called on Rumsfeld to resign. He voted against the surge. And, he was consistent throughout his campaign in saying that he would not support a specific deadline for withdrawal of the troops.
Jim Matheson is a Democrat, an independent thinker, an advocate for Utah and his constituents, and a man who can be trusted to keep his word.
As a Democrat, I am proud to support Jim Matheson and thank him for actually doing what he said he would do — even if I disagree.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Anne,
You make some reasonable points, but I think it’s still true that he voted the way he sees things, and other reasonable, thinking people have deep misgivings about the wisdom of setting a timetable. Todd was much more effective in expressing why he supports Matheson–I wish I’d let him go first. Although I’m a Republican, I support Matheson for many of the same reasons as Todd.
I can see from this discussion why moderates have difficulty getting re-elected: never pure enough for the base of their own party, never quite good enough for the base of the other party.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
I was actually kind of excited to move to a state that had a Democratic rep - and I actually live in his district. Then…I found he was not Democratic at all. I think he must have said he was just to get to run against whoever he wanted to replace. I will have to ask my native Utahan friend to see if that is so. He is so not even close to being a Democrat as far as I can see. However, occasionally he makes sense, so I guess he beats the alternative. In the year I’ve lived here, I think he’s gone “against the grain” once. Maybe.
April 27th, 2007 at 6:45 am
I agree with Todd. Jim has *always* said he would oppose any “time certain language” … so his vote came as no surprise to me, and therefore I didn’t have to come unglued over it.
I understand his voting because I do live in his district… the southern Utah part of his district… and I’m here to tell you, the people who live in these Southern Utah Counties are just getting used to the idea of a Democrat. I think he treads very carefully on his votes because the majority of people down here still support the war and think that George Bush is a good man, inspired by God. I don’t think that the vast majority of Utah liberals really *get* what we deal with down here in very bright red Southern Utah.
April 30th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I totally gave up on Jim when he voted for the Military and Commissions Act of 2006 — that thing that strips us of habeas corpus if we are ever deemed enemy combatants, which could mean any U.S. citizen that opposes Bu$hCo.
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:56 am
“Our Blue Dog Rep. is old enough to remember Vietnam. Americans learned something from that protracted and ugly mess. They haven’t forgotten. I think they’re telling people like Matheson that Iraq is looking like a shocking sequel.”
While doing some research the other day I was looking at some newspapers from 1965, and there was a quote from McNamara, the Sec. of Defense: The US is no longer losing the war. Sounds all too familiar.