If You Break It, You Own It - Hillary's vote for the war is the defining issue for me

[Martin Eden]

84. Political calculation, hubris, and betrayal

It was still the post 9/11 political environment, and Bush had not yet spent his political capital. Prominent Democrats like John Kerry and Hillary Clinton must have known GW was feeding the public a line of BS, but they stuck their finger in the political winds and calculated they needed to be "tough" on national security. I suspect they also shared the hubris of so many who thought the US had the right and the wherewithal to impose our will through military force. In that regard, they were on board with the neocon agenda.

I would not however go so far to state these Democrats leaders wanted perpetual chaos and war to feed the MIC. But I will say they betrayed the American people whom they were sworn to serve. More than ever we needed strong Democratic leaders who were smart enough to assess the situation and courageous enough to call out lies and liars for what they were. The stakes (in terms of real consequences for human lives and for our country) were about as high as they ever come, and far too many Democrats (nearly half) failed miserably to stand up when we needed them the most.

I was especially disappointed in John Kerry, who rose to prominence as the leader of Vietnam Vets against the War. I refused to support him in the 2004 Democratic primary, just as I refused to support Clinton & Biden in 2008 and Clinton now. I still went to Ohio to GOTV for Kerry in the general, because Bush had to be stopped.

I think those who support Hillary Clinton today either don't understand what went down in 2002-2003, or they are willfully blinding themselves to it. She is still a hawk. I do not trust her in matters of war and peace, or reigning in the power of her Wall Street friends. Add her vagueness on fracking & Keystone, that makes three strikes.

But, as I said, voting for the IWR was a disqualifier by itself.