A Suggestion for Democrats

The Democratic leaders need to understand that rhetoric like that of Senators Joe Biden, Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton is not what their party wants to hear:

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) reason that success in Iraq at this point is too important for the country. Washington Post

The very Democrats that have complained that Bush has never defined his strategy for Iraq and has no benchmarks for success, are now claiming the importance of achieving it, but have not themselves attempted to define success.

From the WaPo article above an argument is made that Democrats who voted for the war now cling to the belief that we must stay the course in Iraq. "Clearly Democrats are not united in what is the critique of what we're doing there and what is the answer to what we do next," said Steve Elmendorf, a senior party strategist whose former boss, then-House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), voted in 2002 to authorize the invasion of Iraq. "The difficulty of coming to a unified position is that for a lot of people who voted for it, they have to decide whether they can admit that they were misled."

I have a suggestion for the Democrats described by Senator Gephardt. First, re-read the Constitution to familiarize yourselves with whom the responsible party is for declaring war. They will learn that - Article I, Section 8 specifies that Congress alone must "declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water."

Next, they should re-read their oath of office - I, Loyal Citizen of the Republic, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

Finally, they should contemplate the obvious conflict between having sworn to uphold the Constitution in their capacity of office holders in Congress and the abandonment of that duty they committed when they voted to give the authority to go to war in Iraq to the president. If and when they are able to admit to shirking their responsibility, they should reassess their position on the war based on its legal and moral issues and not its impact on their political careers.

Once they have admitted to having made a mistake they can take action to correct it. If they continue to deny their responsibility, they should not be considered seriously for any office.