Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Look at who voted for the IWR?? OMG!

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:24 AM
Original message
Look at who voted for the IWR?? OMG!
Wayne Allard (R-CO)
George Allen (R-VA)
Max Baucus (D-MT)
Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Bob Bennett (R-UT)
Joe Biden (D-DE)
Kit Bond (R-MO)
John Breaux (D-LA)
Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Jim Bunning (R-KY)
Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Jean Carnahan (D-MO)
Tom Carper (D-DE)
Max Cleland (D-GA)
Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Thad Cochran (R-MS)
Susan Collins (R-ME)
Larry Craig (R-ID)
Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Tom Daschle (D-SD)
Mike DeWine (R-OH)
Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Pete Domenici (R-NM)
Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
John Edwards (D-NC)
John Ensign (R-NV)
Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL)
Bill Frist (R-TN)
Phil Gramm (R-TX)
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Jesse Helms (R-NC)
Fritz Hollings (D-SC)
Tim Hutchinson (R-AR)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Tim Johnson(D-SD)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Herb Kohl (D-WI)
Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
Joe Lieberman (D-CT)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Richard Lugar (R-IN)
John McCain (R-AZ)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Zell Miller (D-GA)
Frank Murkowski (R-AK)
Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Don Nickles (R-OK)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Robert Smith (R-NH)
Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Craig Thomas (R-WY)
Fred Thompson (R-TN)
Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
Robert Torricelli (D-NJ)
George Voinovich (R-OH)
John Warner (R-VA)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Resolution_to_Authorize_the_Use_of_United_States_Armed_Forces_Against_Iraq

OMG! Max Cleland voted for the IWR! Traiter! :sarcasm:

Come on, folks. The IWR is done and over. Can't be undone. It's in the past. Many of those who voted for it now regret their vote and even more are working to end the war and bring our troops home. There are some decent folks on that list and I'm not going to condemn them for this vote. I think it's safe to say that rather than bitching about their vote let's support those who are working to end this horrible war.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
OPERATIONMINDCRIME Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:28 AM
Response to Original message
1. Absolutely Agree. I Can Understand Completely While They Voted The Way They Had.
The only acceptable and justified complaints in my opinion are towards those who did so and still refuse to admit that in retrospect and with today's knowledge they should've voted differently.

But I hear ya, and agree.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tabasco Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 03:07 PM
Response to Reply #1
68. Me too. Extremely bad judgment and/or moral cowardice.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
indepat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:30 AM
Response to Original message
2. Some decent, but not very wise, folks who were duped into and aided what would obviously follow
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
waiting for hope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:30 AM
Response to Original message
3. Amen!
:applause:

I was wrong.

Almost three years ago we went into Iraq to remove what we were told -- and what many of us believed and argued -- was a threat to America. But in fact we now know that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction when our forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The intelligence was deeply flawed and, in some cases, manipulated to fit a political agenda.

It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake. It has been hard to say these words because those who didn't make a mistake -- the men and women of our armed forces and their families -- have performed heroically and paid a dear price.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2005/11/13/john-edwards-i-was-w_n_10562.html?p=8


I am willing to forgive....especially John Edwards!


Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Straight Shooter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:47 AM
Response to Reply #3
19. Edwards, apparently, has not learned from his mistakes. Please see this thread.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x33466

Or go directly to the Jan. 23, 2007, article:

http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/world/?content_id=5400

"Iran is serious about its threats," former US Senator John Edwards has told an audience in Israel.

"The challenges in your own backyard – represent an unprecedented threat to the world and Israel," the candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination told the Herzliya Conference, referring mainly to the Iranian threat.

In his speech, Edwards criticised the United States' previous indifference to the Iranian issue, saying they have not done enough to deal with the threat.

Hinting to possible military action, Edwards stressed that "in order to ensure Iran never gets nuclear weapons, all options must remain on table." ...

(more at article)

I don't know if he is posturing, but he's adding fuel to the fire that bush is trying to light in the increasingly belligerent rhetoric against Iran.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:31 AM
Response to Original message
4. Who knew the admin would sink so low as to lie to everyone?
I bought it for awhile, naive and silly me.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
wryter2000 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:34 AM
Response to Reply #4
7. As Al Franken says,
"I believed Colin Powell."

I think you have to look at the consequences if Bush had been telling the truth about WMD, etc. I didn't know the depth of his dishonesty until Joe Wilson came out with his NYT piece, and that was most of a year after IWR.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
babylonsister Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:52 AM
Response to Reply #7
23. Powell was my tipping point, too. I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Wilson
for clarifying what was going on though it made me crazy angry and sad because I then knew I'd have to be really selective in who I could trust, for the rest of my life.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
jedicord Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:38 AM
Response to Reply #4
12. The 2003 SOTU proved to me they were indeed capable of lying.
My biggest question is: How did a peon like me know he was lying and our friggin' representatives didn't even expend the energy to ensure he was telling the truth?
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:42 AM
Response to Reply #4
15. I couldn't imagine anyone lying in order to go war...
It was incomprehensible to me back in '02 and '03. The only thing I really knew for sure was there was enough doubt to not rush into war.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
wryter2000 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:31 AM
Response to Original message
5. Agreed, however...
They had better disavow their votes now, with no equivocation. If they're still standing by their votes, they're not getting mine.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mike_c Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:33 AM
Response to Original message
6. first, they showed TERRIBLE leadership, and second...
Edited on Thu Jan-25-07 11:35 AM by mike_c
...they did indeed betray the best interests of America. Do you think that past acts of patriotic bravery, like Cleland's, insulates them from the consequences of later betrayals?

I don't.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:36 AM
Response to Original message
8. What Hillary Clinton says about her vote...
Clinton took responsibility for voting for the war in 2002, saying “there’ve been a lot of mistakes made by everybody, including those of us in the Congress but placed the responsibility for the current state of Iraq firmly on the Bush administration.

“Nobody is more heartsick about the policy in Iraq than I am,” she said. “I am just devastated at the incompetence and arrogance of the administration in pursuing this policy based on the authority that I and others granted the president.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16773978/

Of course there are some who will never be satisfied with this.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
adigal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 12:51 PM
Response to Reply #8
34. those of US
She will never speak in the singular pronoun "I"
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #34
35. So when she said 'us' that didn't include her in that?
:wtf:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
tabasco Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 03:12 PM
Response to Reply #35
69. Yeah, what a stand-up gal!
:sarcasm:

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
TahitiNut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:36 AM
Response to Original message
9. Neither Levin nor Stabenow (both Michigan Senators) voted for it.
Edited on Thu Jan-25-07 11:39 AM by TahitiNut
Stabenow is hardly a peacenik or liberal. Michigan has one of the largest populations of immigrant Iraqis in the country ... arguably anti-Saddam in the extreme.

If they "got it" then ANYBODY should have "gotten it." I have no patience for those who voted 'Yea.' None. Zip. Nada. Even Cleland.

On top of that, not a single Democratic Michigan Representative voted for it. None. Despite a very large Muslim population.

MILLIONS of us KNEW that the 'case' was total hogwash. There was never I time I had the slightest doubt. None.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
skipos Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 12:04 PM
Response to Reply #9
28. I live in MI, and I didn't get it.
I believed Powell. I wasn't for the war, but I wasn't totally against it. Trusting my government is a mistake I won't make again.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:38 AM
Response to Original message
10. It doesn't define someone now
but can be in the awareness file so to speak. To say it's completely irrelevant I think is wrong.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:40 AM
Response to Reply #10
13. I never said it was irrelevant...
I said it's in the past and can't be undone. It matters to a point, IMO, but I won't let that vote hold back support for those I like such as Hillary Clinton, Max Cleland, John Kerry and others.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
allthatjazz Donating Member (55 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:38 AM
Response to Original message
11. Major kudos for those who voted against
* Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
* Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
* Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
* Robert Byrd (D-WV)
* Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)
* Jon Corzine (D-NJ)
* Kent Conrad (D-ND)
* Mark Dayton (D-MN)
* Dick Durbin (D-IL)
* Russ Feingold (D-WI)
* Bob Graham (D-FL)
* Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
* Jim Jeffords (I-VT)
* Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
* Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
* Carl Levin (D-MI)
* Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
* Patty Murray (D-WA)
* Jack Reed (D-RI)
* Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
* Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
* Paul Wellstone (D-MN)
* Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bdamomma Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:43 AM
Response to Reply #11
16. barbara boxer mentioned how relieved she was not to vote
for the war yesterday during her talk about the resolution. I am glad I have two senators who did not vote for it RI.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
originalpckelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:41 AM
Response to Original message
14. I remember what was really going on. That was about the elections.
Edited on Thu Jan-25-07 11:43 AM by originalpckelly
The Republicans put our people in a tough place by bringing up a vote on the IWR before an election, and I know they would have exploited it, but we wouldn't have been morally responsible for this.

They weren't just duped, they made a political decision to give Bush war powers. They made a political decision to send 3,000+ people to deaths.

And now they are playing politics by keeping them there. I'm sickened, as anyone else should be.

If they had only listened to the thousands of protesters. If they had only listened to the long list of former government officials who opposed Iraq.

Well, more than 3,000 Americans would still be alive, and countless Iraqis.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bdamomma Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:45 AM
Response to Reply #14
18. we were all duped, this adminstration must be impeached.
they are a threat to all of us.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Egnever Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #18
32. No we weren't
If you have the ability to go back in the archives here to the time of the IRAQ vote I think you will find it pretty clear that we were not all duped.

You may have been but I sure as hell wasn't. I was in the streets protesting the IWR before the vote went down. I was on the phone and writing letters to my reps imploring them to look at all of the lies.

Sorry but no we were not all duped.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
bdamomma Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:28 PM
Response to Reply #32
45. ok point taken, our voices were not heard by these thugs
by millions of people here and abroad to stop this illegal war, I also did protest the Iraq invasion.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
underpants Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #14
22. + it is revisionist history (though they still shouldn't have voted for it)
all the talk was about how Bush still had to go to the UN so this wasn't really a vote for war (see the title of the act :eyes: ) PLUS anyone who wanted to run for POTUS had to vote yes at least that is what all the advisors told them.

All of that is just excuse-would a young John Kerry have voted for this?? No of course not.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Individualist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #14
25. They knew what they were doing
Edited on Thu Jan-25-07 11:56 AM by notsodumbhillbilly
The "if we knew now what we knew then" excuse is a lie. Try as they may, the Lady Macbeths can't wash the blood off their hands.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
MoJoWorkin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:45 AM
Response to Original message
17. Sorry, but I don't think anyone who voted for the resolution should
be considered for the Presidency. I am no rocket scientist, and I knew Bush was lying from the start. I worked in Jean Carnahan's local office here in MO as a volunteer, and BEGGED her at the time NOT to vote for the IWR, to no avail.
If those who voted for IWR gave the excuse that "I was duped," then they are not wise enough in judgment to be President. If they were "coerced" then they are not trustworthy nor have enough backbone to be President. If they were afraid of being called unpatriotic and wouldn't be re-elected, then tough---sometimes principle must come above re-election. If they thought we should go to war, then I want nothing to do with them, as they don't share my values.
I ONLY want someone who saw thru them in the beginning--- Al Gore, Howard Dean, Dick Durbin, Boxer, etc. those who stood up and were counted at the time.

I may have to hold my nose and vote for someone who voted for the IWR, but I sure as hell hope not!!!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
allthatjazz Donating Member (55 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:52 AM
Response to Reply #17
24. Well said MoJo!
I also prefer someone with a little foresight.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
pocoloco Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:47 AM
Response to Original message
20. The vote is done and over!
And so are a hell of a lot of dead people, dead and over!

The information was out there! Didn't you listen to Webb's response?

Everyone knew what was going to happen. If they were fooled they have no business representing the American People!!

You gonna trust these assholes with your vote??

Fuck'em All!!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #20
21. Yes, and it can't be undone...
Yes, they made a mistake in their votes no matter their reasons, but many on that list are working to end the war and at the very least trying to slow the bush regime down from sacrificing any more lives.

I don't see the point in holding on to a grudge that doesn't benefit those who have already died. IMO, time to move on, look forward and end this horrid war.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Swamp Rat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:55 AM
Response to Original message
26. I can't believe Max Cleland voted for it.
:(
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
teriyaki jones Donating Member (336 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 11:58 AM
Response to Original message
27. I've always been proud of my Senator . . .
Dick Durbin, for voting against it. The great state of Illinois rocks with Durbin AND Obama representing us!

But my congressional rep, "Dem" Melissa Bean, is a tragic disappointment.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SOS Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 12:10 PM
Response to Original message
29. It's not "done and over"
It's Republican ammunition.
They hammered Kerry unmercifully on his yes vote, even to this day.
Here's how the NYT covered Kerry's announcement in today's NYT:

"After being taunted in the 2004 race as being equivocal on the war in Iraq, he had emerged as one of his party’s leading opponents to the war, and had renounced his original support for the war resolution that caused him so many problems in the 2004 election...including his often troubled efforts to explain his changing views on the war in Iraq. Most famously, he said that he had voted for an $87 billion war appropriation “before I voted against it,” a piece of videotape that Republicans quickly turned into a defining caricature of him."

He's not running and this news is 3 years old. Yet there it is.

The same tactics used against Kerry will be used against any yes-voter running for President.

1952 Truman: "The war, and the dismissal of MacArthur, helped to make Truman so unpopular that he was defeated in the New Hampshire primary and was forced to cancel his reelection campaign."
1968 Humphrey: "At home Humphrey staunchly defended administration policies in Vietnam, and thereby alienated many of his former liberal supporters."
2004 Kerry: "He voted for it before he was against it"

Hawkish Democrats, in times of unpopular war, lose.




Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
JohnnyLib2 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 12:25 PM
Response to Original message
30. Unless Biden runs, there are NO no-vote candidates, right?

And some candidates weren't in office, etc., etc. I say we look forward. :shrug:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LSK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:11 PM
Response to Reply #30
36. Dennis Kucinich voted NO in the house vote
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
JohnnyLib2 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 08:58 PM
Response to Reply #36
70. Thanks, my oversight.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
allthatjazz Donating Member (55 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:12 PM
Response to Reply #30
37. Biden voted for IWR n/t
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Egnever Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 12:26 PM
Response to Original message
31. Sorry but this vote showed true colors IMHO
That vote clearly pointed out those that were willing to go along because it was politically expedient and those willing to vote based on reality and damn the consequences. I am looking for representatives that are willing to stand up for what they believe in,regardless of what the sheeple are told to think at the time.

There was plenty of evidence at the time that bush was hell bent on invading Iraq and that he would use any pretense he could no mater how flimsy to go about it. Anyone who says they voted for that because they thought bush was going to be reasonable is sorely laking in judgment IMHO.

I was paying attention at When all this started and the evidence that a majority of bushes "evidence" was a sham was already easily available before that vote. The people that voted for it either didn't take the time to do their homework when it would clearly affect thousands of american and iraqi lives or they chose to ignore the evidence that it was all a sham for political benefit.

I am not interested in having a rep that will bend to whatever he thinks will keep him in office no mater how wrong it is or how much potential damage it will cause.

You can choose to pretend that vote wasn't a travesty if you wish but don't try to tell me to forget it cause you think the people that voted for it are nice guys.

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 12:49 PM
Response to Original message
33. The vote was political. Those who voted for it didn't make a "mistake".
They cast their lot with BushCo and his war for purely political reasons with an eye on the polls of the time.

They believed, at the time, it was "smart politics" to do so. They weren't "deceived" by the "intelligence", they were deceived in thinking that the war would prove "victorious" and that their votes for it would be advantageous.

They gambled, they lost.

Unfortunately, in doing so, thousands of lives were also lost with their approval.

Their "duh, I wuz fooled" defense and their belated mea culpas, now that it's politically advantageous, speak to their character as much as their original votes.



Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SaveElmer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #33
39. Prove it...
Show me any evidence that 28 members of the Democratic caucus were purposely throwing the lives of American Soldiers away in pursuit of political gain...

Show me how Max Cleland decided he could cast away the lives of American soldiers after what he had been through in VietNam...

Show me the same for John Kerry...

How about Tom Harkin...


This is a charge the left can make without a SHRED of evidence to back it up... and have everyone genuflect at their feet for making it...

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LSK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:20 PM
Response to Reply #39
40. are you kidding? there was an election one month after the vote
:shrug:

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SaveElmer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:22 PM
Response to Reply #40
42. That is proof?
C'mon show me evidence if you can...

Not all of the 28 Yes votes were up for election in 2002...


Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LSK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:32 PM
Response to Reply #42
47. from Fiasco:
One of those voting for it was a successor to Sam Nunn as a Georgia Democrat: Max Cleland, who was in a tight campaign for reelection in which his challenger, Saxby Chambliss, was running commercials that showed images of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and implied that Cleland wasn't standing up to them. Despite his misgivings, Cleland felt under intense political pressure to go with the administration. "It was obvious that if I voted against the resolution that I would be dead meat in the race, just handing them a victory," he said in 2005. Even so, he now considers his prowar choice "the worst vote I cast."

Waiting to vote, Cleland looked over and saw Byrd, who had been in the Senate for forty-four years. "I knew he had been through the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. I knew he wanted me to show some political courage."

Cleland's name was called. "Aye," he said. He glanced again at Byrd who, he recalled, "got up and walked away."

Despite his vote for the war, the next month Cleland lost his Senate race by a margin of 53 percent to 46 percent, in part because of a statewide controversy over the Confederate battle flag that helped get out the rural white vote. He said he took it harder than being blown up by a hand grenade in Vietnam. "I went down -- physically, mentally, emotionally -- down into the deepest, darkest hole of my life," he recalled. "I had several moments when I just didn't want to live."

He began attending group therapy sessions every Tuesday afternoon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in northwest Washington, DC, where he had been medically retired from the military on Christmas Eve 1968. "I wound up back at Walter Reed! I look down the hall, and it's like Salvador Dali is painting my llife. Thirty-seven years later, and i have another president creating a Vietnam. Kids are dying, getting blown up -- that's me." Sitting in his office overlooking Farragut Square in downtown Washington long after the start of the war, he propped himself sideways in his armchair, pushing the stump of his right arm into the side of the chair. "I see these young Iraq veterans, missing legs and arms and eyes. They are so brave. They have no idea what is down the road for them."

http://yglesias.tpmcafe.com/blog/yglesias/2006/aug/07/thomas_ricks_on_max_cleland

Take that to mean whatever you want.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SaveElmer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:38 PM
Response to Reply #47
50. Thanks for coming up with something...
I have read Fiasco, and I think the author is leaving alot of Cleland's reasoning out...he is stating a political fact, but Cleland also belived that he was making the correct vote as subsequent interviews and his floor statement make clear!

And the second point about him feeling it was the worst vote he cast is true, but he believes this because he belives he was sold a bil lof goods by the Bush administration...which is accurate...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LSK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:41 PM
Response to Reply #50
53. will you concede that at least part of his decision was politically motivated?
I think we are trying to simplify all this too much and there were many factors involved with most of the Senators for this vote.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:46 PM
Response to Reply #53
55. I do think it was a combination of factors...
The patriotism mentality, politics, emotional need to strike back and so on. I don't think it's any one thing that contributed to people like Harkin, Clinton, Cleland and others voting as they did.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SaveElmer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:52 PM
Response to Reply #53
60. Senators were certainly under intense political pressure...
But I don't think there is any evidence that they voted for the IWR for political reasons...it certainly is possible absent any evidence that they did...I am just saying that making a blanket charge of that nature without evidence is irresponsible...and unfair.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:44 PM
Response to Reply #42
54. Those bodies didn't get where they are because they weren't sent to Iraq.
Still waiting for your explanation of the motives of the senators who voted for the slaughter.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:21 PM
Response to Reply #39
41. Prove otherwise.
I'll stand by my assessment of their motives and their ethics.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SaveElmer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:24 PM
Response to Reply #41
43. I don't have to...you made the charge...
Show me some kind of evidence that Max Cleland was playing politics with the lives of American Soldiers...anything you have...other than your own prejudice on the matter...
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #43
46. The evidence is buried in graveyards.
Not only of the GI's sent to fight in a war started by a flagwaving idiot but the stooges who voted for it.

So, why don't you explain Cleland's and the others reasoning behind backing the war. Unless you believe that they were irretrievably stupid, and/or incredibly gullible, I can come up with no other satisfactory or believable option.

Perhaps you can but, perhaps, your prejudices get in the way.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SaveElmer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:35 PM
Response to Reply #46
48. So it's a bullshit charge that you cannot prove...
Not at all surprising...

I would advise you to take a look at the floor statements of Sen. Cleland and the rest to see what their reasoning is...its all laid out there, and is all online...if you are truly interested

Start at www.thomas.gov
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Egnever Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:47 PM
Response to Reply #48
56. I have read their excuses when they made that vote
And to a man I find them sorely lacking. The truth was out there in plain view for anyone to see at the time. They chose to ignore it.

I don't find the excuse of mass hysteria from 9-11 to be sufficient. In fact I prefer a representative that will remain calm and cool headed in the face of a heated situation if anything this vote proves many of them can not remain so.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
HughBeaumont Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:49 PM
Response to Reply #33
57. The "Duh, I wuz fooled" defense is flat out BULLSHIT.
People. He's a BUSH. He lies, he cheats, he steals (apologies to Eddie Guerrero, RIP). Anyone who rolls with him ALSO lies, cheats and steals. "War as a last resort" my ACE. This guy wanted to start a war with Iraq from the moment the 2000 theft was sealed.

Pretend - JUST pretend . . . this is the 2002-3 Congress and NO falsified information whatsoever had even been put on the table yet.

Let's just say the idea, just the idea, to aggresively attack a country; that, in 13 years after their nation had been ravaged by sanctions and on/off bombing, posed NO threat to the United States and had NOTHING AT ALL to do with 9/11, was merely PRESENTED.

Now, without one lie by the Bewsh Administration on the table: Is it a great idea and a positive means of tax dollars to attack Iraq?

IS IT a great idea to bomb an already resource-depleted sovereign nation that has never ONCE attacked an American citizen?

Can any one of those congresspersons logically tell me that this would be BETTER for national security to attack a nation that did absolutely nothing to us?

If the Congress thought "YES" to all of the above questions before the "Urayn-yum . . . from (echo effect) AFRICA . .a .. .a" speech was given, then they absolutely are to be HELD ACCOUNTABLE for taking these bloodthirsty berzerkers and whatever lies they conjured up to justify their hegemonic oil-grab seriously. Even before the bullshit hit the charts, it was a consideration that pandered to the neo-cons all so they wouldn't be perceived as "WEAK ON TERRISM!" by the Pukes. Totally SPINELESS.

23 other Senators were "lied to" as well, but I don't see a "YEA" next to their name on that issue. What's the difference between them and Mrs. Clinton?

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Tierra_y_Libertad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:51 PM
Response to Reply #57
59. The differnce is they voted ethics instead of polls.
An all too rare quality among politicians.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
HughBeaumont Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 03:03 PM
Response to Reply #59
66. And should that qaulity arise, they mysteriously die in accidents.
Edited on Thu Jan-25-07 03:04 PM by HughBeaumont
That's exaggeration, but still. ;)
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LSK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:14 PM
Response to Original message
38. some facts
There were no inspectors in Iraq at the time of the vote. Hans Blix was allowed in AFTER it.

The Congress was given a very cherry picked NIE that has still yet to be fully released. It was kept under lock and key and even Congressmen were not given much chance to read it.

The election was one month away and the country was still in 9/11 reflex mode and Bush was quite popular at that time.

Floor speeches from Senators can be found at this link: http://www.thomas.gov/home/r107query.html

Search your favorite Senator and use the date range of October 1 - 10, 2002.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Egnever Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:37 PM
Response to Reply #38
49. Your facts are wrong
Iraq agrees to weapons inspections
September 17, 2002 Posted: 3:26 AM EDT (0726 GMT)


http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/09/16/iraq.un.letter/

U.S. shuns Iraqi offer to allow weapons inspectors
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 | 7:46 PM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/09/17/iraq_reax020917.html



Senate approves Iraq war resolution
Administration applauds vote
Friday, October 11, 2002 Posted: 12:35 PM EDT (1635 GMT

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/10/11/iraq.us/

While it is true that no inspectors actually hit the ground until after the vote. That was not because Saddam refused them it was because bush did. This was one of the glaring obvious signs that something was rotten in bushes plans. He did not want the evidence that there were no weapons.

Your "facts" Ignore the events leading up to the IWR. Its convenient spin of the reality of the time but it was glaringly obvious that bush did not want the truth when it came to Iraq he wanted his spun version of it to prevail. Anyone paying attention to reality at the time and not just the propaganda being thrown around by the WH and all the talking head boobs smelled the BS coming from this administration a mile away.

Choosing to ignore the realities of what was going on at the time to make excuses for these senators is disgusting IMHO. They played politics with american lives thats the bottom line and they should never be trusted to be put in that position again.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
LSK Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:49 PM
Response to Reply #49
58. not quite
Edited on Thu Jan-25-07 01:50 PM by LSK
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/iraq_11-18-02.html

Nov. 18, 2002, 1:55pm EST
U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTORS ARRIVE IN IRAQ

Opening the latest chapter in a decade-long effort to disarm Iraq, a team of top United Nations weapons officials and logistics experts arrived in Baghdad Monday to lay the groundwork for the resumption of international inspections for the first time in four years.

-------

So at the time of the vote, there was a black hole of intelligence as to what Saddam actually had. During 2003, Hans Blix was well on his way to proving he had nothing, but that was after the vote.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Egnever Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 02:00 PM
Response to Reply #58
61. Once again
While it is true that the inspectors did not hit the ground till after the vote. He had already expressed his willingness for unrestricted inspections. If I was standing on the floor and being asked to cast a vote that would had the potential to kill thousands of Innocent people I wouldn't have been able in good conscience to vote to enable that killing until the facts were much clearer.

Bush timed this vote specifically to force it at election time and did everything in his power to avoid anyone the ability to make that vote with anything remotely resembling credible intelligence.

Laying down for that deserves nothing but scorn.

See the links in my previous post. I was here at the time I read all the debunked administration evidence before the vote, that info was freely available to anyone that made the effort to look. The senators that voted for this didn't make that effort.

Worse they ignored thousands of emails pointing out that evidence and now want to try and pretend that none of it was out there. Sorry I remember it very clearly and the excuse that they were somehow justified in this vote because bush didn't let the inspectors in is ludicrous.



Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 02:14 PM
Response to Reply #61
63. Well, I wasn't a part of DU then...
not sure if that's even an adequate excuse or not. I remember at the time being very unsure of the claims about Iraq. I didn't like bush at all, but it was incomprehensible that anyone would lie this country into war.

I was still pretty angry about 9/11 and crying over it. I'd watch a speech by either bush or someone else talking about this 'evidence' and I'd be almost convinced. Then I'd either read or hear Hans Blix saying Iraq didn't have any WMD. Next was Powell and his UN speech. I was almost fully convinced right there, but there was still enough doubt to not want this country to rush into war.

Considering how I felt at the time it's understandable, IMO, why some voted yes on the IWR. They were giving bush the authority to go to war and didn't believe they would be betrayed in such a way. Bush said 'it was a last resort' and they believed him. I do believe there were a lot of factors that came into play in addition to what I mention.

Many people, politicians included, still trusted their government. I was one of those. Even as much as I didn't like bush, I didn't for one second believe he would lie and cherry pick the evidence to bolster his claim. Much of that didn't come out until afterward. Also, bush's approval ratings were just about through the roof. 80 or 85% if I remember right.

Majority of the American people supported this war and now years later majority believe it was a mistake. Majority of Americans now want the troops brought home and bush is ignoring them by continuing on with his war.

Politicians do listen to the people. Most of them know that the American people want this thing to end and they are working toward that. They also listened to them as far as the IWR goes.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Egnever Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 02:34 PM
Response to Reply #63
64. Oh I don't really blame
Americans in general. There absolutely was a push for this war from every angle imaginable. It was a Very lonely feeling at the time knowing that it was all bullshit and screaming that out loud anywhere and everywhere you could only to be shouted down by the majority.

It had the sobering effect on me at the time of making me realize what a propaganda tool our media truly is. They had the reports debunking all of shrubs claims or the majority of them going into all of this and they chose not to give them the coverage they deserved. You had to dig for the facts and most americans are just too busy with their lives to do the digging.

Senators on the other hand have no Excuse. It is their jobs to make decisions for the american people based on careful consideration of the issues. I don't find the fact that they are willing to go with the American public comforting when the American public is so easily manipulated by the corporate interests currently running this country.

I certainly don't give them a pass for that vote based on the fact they are willing to call it a mistake now that the american public has given them a pass to do so.

Kerry, Edwards, Lieberman, all of them at the time of the last presidential elections were asked countless times if they thought their vote was a mistake long after the evidence that it was all BS was clearly out there for the world to see and still they resisted saying yes it was a mistake. Some of them still resist it.

Too many of them are having to be or have been dragged to admitting how wrong it was. Thats not leadership.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
geardaddy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:27 PM
Response to Original message
44. MN's two dem senators voted no.
Paul Wellstone (D-MN) - No
Mark Dayton (D-MN) - No
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
qanda Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:39 PM
Response to Original message
51. It will NEVER be over for me
In fact, the more I think about it the more angry I get. My son was five at the beginning of this fiasco and was making his own signs against the Iraq War. How these idiots in Congress didn't know more than my five year old is beyond me, but I will not forget what they did.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
moondust Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 01:41 PM
Response to Original message
52. The IWR was predicated on falsehoods.
As such it should be declared invalid and repealed immediately.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
in_cog_ni_to Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 02:01 PM
Response to Original message
62. Right. They ALL now know they were LIED to. They ALL need to say 'the word'
"We were LIED to and would never have voted for the IWR and I am sorry I did. If I knew then what I know now, I NEVER would have voted for it." Hillary is having a hard time saying that. WHY? Is she trying to look 'tough of terror?' or what?:(

Those votes still piss me off. I knew the cabal was lying. Why didn't they? I DO support those who are trying to get us out of that hellhole, but their putting us there in the first place was a HUGE error in judgement, IMCPO.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Proud2BAmurkin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 02:36 PM
Response to Original message
65. K and R
:kick:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Nutmegger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jan-25-07 03:07 PM
Response to Original message
67. IT WILL NEVER BE OVER!
I will always look at the IWR and remind myself who voted for this trash (and who had spine and didn't). You posting this is akin to Scalia saying that we should get over election 2000.

Never forget!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Sat May 04th 2024, 01:44 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC