Paul From Minneapolis

Monday, November 14, 2005

"I do believe that Iraq poses an imminent threat, but I also believe that after September 11th, that question is increasingly outdated."

So said Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., on October 10, 2002 (via Captain's Quarters).

Everybody seems to be focusing on Rockefeller saying the threat was imminent, and that's understandable, that focus, since it is a description W never used.

But I'm more interested in the second half of the statement - how the question is "increasingly outdated."

Because it's exactly what I think, and always thought. And it comes very close to being the argument I wish W had made from the beginning. At least, made more explicitly; I believe he was trying to make it in his way all along.

And here's what gets me about a guy like Jay, atwittering on these days that he was misled into the war, he never would have supported it had he only known how full of lies W was:

The question of imminence was "outdated," Jay. Irrelevant. Remember? The nature of the threat, the overarching situation and what we should put up with from an asshole like Hussein went much, much deeper than that, after 9-11. Remember, Jay? Jay? Remember?

Of course, it's always possible that Jay really, deeply, truly believes that Hussein had totally, throughly disarmed, psychologically as well as tactically; and never, ever intended to pursue these kinds of weapons ever again. And it was only the lies of warmonger W that kept Jay from seeing how silly he was to perceive Hussein, even with his 12 years of lies and payments to terrorists and hostings of really quite militant Popular Islamic Conferences and all such side issues, as a threat in a larger sense that we could not ignore anymore.

Can you imagine how bad Jay must feel, if that's the case? I mean, poor Hussein - and poor Jay! To have the lies of W lead to such deep misunderstanding, and to keep apart these two fine men who really should have been - dammit, yes, friends!

Is it too late? It may be. That's the tragedy here. Even a gift, a token - an occasional chair for a rape room; a three-pack of size 48 Jockey® shorts - might be insufficient at this point...

Chris Wallace: "But you voted, sir, and aren't you responsible for your vote?"

Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va.: "No."