a cry for help

While Dick Cheney and every White House flunky (yes, that includes you, Joe Lieberman) continue to malign those that advocate for open debate on—and redirection of—administration Iraq policy, claiming it somehow undermines the troops or hurts morale, what could inspire the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Peter Pace, to basically walk up to Capitol Hill and beg for more debate?

There's no doubt in my mind that the dialogue here in Washington strengthens our democracy. Period.

Yes, that’s a quote from General Pace, talking specifically about the debate over the resolutions before Congress that express disapproval of the Bush escalation—so, what is he doing? Well, if this were someone else, I might just say that he was stating the obvious, but we are talking about good soldier Peter Pace, the same Peter Pace that just a few months ago claimed that Donald Rumsfeld’s leadership was inspired by god (!).

Well, here’s what I think—I think that Pace is the “good” soldier, so he can’t bring himself to openly contradict the administration that gave him his chairmanship, but I also think he knows he is helping preside over a disaster that is not only a losing strategy, but a policy that is rapidly destroying the military to which he has devoted his whole life. I think saying that dialogue “strengthens democracy,” is as close as Gen. Pace can get to saying to Congress: Jane, stop this crazy thing!

It’s a cry for help. Pace can’t come right out and say, “Please, for the love of all that is holy, do something!” but he can encourage dialogue/debate/dissent on a war that is being run by ideologues that have never fired a shot in anger (no, quails and rich friends don’t count, Dick). He wants the Senators and Representatives to exercise their constitutional right to take control, to do something, to stop the Bush/Cheney treadmill to oblivion.

That’s how I see it. I think I’ve spent enough time reading between the lines of government-speak to say that I see it correctly. I hope that some of our elected representatives are savvy enough to see it the same way.


(The Jetsons is the property of Hanna-Barbera Studios.)