He has to assume no one is paying attention. Otherwise, there's no way Joe Lieberman could maintain his record of dissembling, prevarication and misrepresentation he's been peddling about Iraq for the past four years.
His new statements flatly contradict his old ones. He tells us things are finally turning around — but he said that a year ago, and two years ago. He has no credibility left.
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Among the senator's more ingratiating habits is his constant name-dropping. Listen the next time he's on a Sunday-morning talk show how often he mentions his agreement with former media darling John McCain. Now his affections have moved on to Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the recently promoted leader of U.S. forces in Iraq. The mere mention of McCain or Petraeus is apparently supposed to put the sheen of credibility on even the most outrageous statement.
But his biggest offense is seeking to end debate on the most bitterly divisive issue in a generation. "General Petraeus says he will be able to see whether his plan is succeeding by the end of the summer. Let us declare a truce in the Washington war until then. For the next six months, let us instead come together around a constructive legislative agenda for our security, " he says.
Just sit back and see what happens, he says — let people continue dying, let the country continue to spend billions of dollars each month. It's a profoundly unserious proposition to ask that Americans, four years into what was promised to be a quick and easy victory, would suddenly stop questioning just what in the world we're accomplishing over there. It defies every instinct of a democratic society.
(via fdl)