The eerie calm of consensus — it is disturbing to say the least. The president wants to send more troops into Iraq, the leading Republican candidate for 2008, John McCain is touting an increase as well, and many Democrats — a party elected to the majority because America is tired of the slow upward tick of the body count in Iraq — either follow along or remain silent.
I mean, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid is on board and the leading Democratic contenders for 2008 — Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — seem willing to keep their yaps shut.
As Daniel Froomkin says on his Washington Post White House Briefing blog, “Where’s the outrage over escalation?“
Keith Olbermann, of course, offers outrage. Thankfully someone is.
Steve Gilliard’s News Blog also offers outrage.
The strategy smacks of a mix of bravado, stubbornness and ego. Robert Parry calls it a last-ditch effort by the president to salvage his crumbling legacy — and if it is, how does he jibe his willingness to send more American soldiers into harms’ way so that he might be viewed positively by some unborn historian in a future century?
How does he sleep at night? I couldn’t if I were him.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 