War? What War?

"Netroots Nation" comes down with amnesia

by Justin Raimondo, August 21, 2009

"....."What’s truly striking in Greenberg’s poll is the degree to which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen off the progressive radar. I attended the first YearlyKos convention, in 2006, and have kept up with later ones, and it’s safe to say that while people who attended those gatherings couldn’t stand George W. Bush in general, their feelings were particularly intense when it came to opposing the war in Iraq. It animated their activism; they hated the war, and they hated Bush for starting it. They weren’t that fond of the fighting in Afghanistan, either.

"Now, with Obama in the White House, all that has changed. Greenberg presented respondents with a list of policy priorities and asked, ‘Please indicate which two you think progressive activists should be focusing their attention and efforts on the most.’ The winner was passing comprehensive health care reform, with 60 percent, and number two was passing ‘green energy policies that address environmental concerns,’ with 22 percent. Tied for eighth place, named by just eight percent of respondents, was ‘working to end our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.’"

It gets worse: when Greenberg queried attendees as to which issues "you personally spend the most time advancing," "working to end our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan" came in eleventh place – dead last, with a mere 1%......

"I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it" – Digby’s advice to her progressive confreres applies to domestic policy, but is null and void when it comes to the vital issue of war and peace. That’s what progressives are afraid to discover, or acknowledge: when it comes to the wars in Afghanistan and beyond, he doesn’t agree with them, he doesn’t want to disengage, and nothing short of harrying him as Lyndon Baines Johnson was harried out of office, will make him cut short our futile Afghan crusade, or nix the coming confrontation with Iran. Or, I should say: he doesn’t agree with their former selves, as they were back in the Bush era. However, now that Obama has inherited – and expanded – his predecessor’s wars, they embrace the War Party as if they were old friends. As they are, indeed …."