Biden and Specter Light Up The Show In Washington
How much talk there is these days and how little courage. Democrats have been pushing the Bush White House hard to come up with a plan to leave Iraq but keep a powerful presence in the Persian Gulf.
Most of them have been cruising the waters of what I call “Middleville.” Middleville is the place where the opposition complains without genuine defiance and strength. Middleville is the safe haven of following the herd without offering really gutsy reasoning, without willing to stick your neck out to make a point.
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Joe Biden of Delaware are two great exceptions.
The man from Pennsylvania charged that President Bush is not the sole decider on Iraq, as the President has suggested. Yesterday, Specter said, I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole decider.” He added, “The decider is a shared and joint responsibility.” Specter’s statement was indicative of a growing anger by members of both parties that the President, who rejected the Independent report on Iraq, is surging forward into the civil war in that country.
Joe Biden, who announces for President today, was ahead of the curve months ago by demanding a full review of our strategy in Iraq. In fact, Biden was the only Senator to suggest a division of the government in Iraq, not by geography, but by three separate entities, Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd. Biden proposed that last Spring, way before the public rage over the conduct of the war.
For sheer courage, no one gets close to Arlen Specter in the United States Senate. For insight and clarity, Joe Biden is a leader among leaders.
There is a lot of hot air in Washington these days, but the two Senators from our region are lighting up emotional fires. That is what service is all about, especially when times are tough and young Americans are dying on a controversial battlefield.
The quest
