Obey the Ventriloquist

Forgive me for sounding skeptical, but I somehow doubt that Rep. Obey has our best interests in mind when he says this kind of thing:

"And if you don't like the cost, then shut down the war."

My home-state representative obviously has some ideological wires crossed here.

Representative Obey, if your intent is to offset the cost of the war with a tax increase, I'm not the first to say that I most definitely support that. We should sacrifice, we should put the money down where its needed, and we shouldn't leave our kids (or your kids, so in effect, me) holding the bill for it. That said...

Its obvious through your partisan posturing that you have exactly no intent whatsoever of creating any kind of support - monetary or otherwise - for a war that you don't personally agree with. You have no intention of allowing any bills out of committee if those bills don't include a few pages worth of pander to the democratic dogma that defines your base.

So why would I, even for a second, imagine that you're trying to raise money for the war?

Mr. Obey, please stop trying to make Iraq fail. This is more important than your next election. If the consensus among reasonable people is that an American withdrawal would be disastrous, then the only thing to do is to get behind this war effort and push as hard as you can, with every tool you have, to get the right things done.

Our goals should not be divergent along party lines at this point. We should be trying as Americans to do what our sacred honor demands, mindful of the financial cost and mindful of the human cost of doing so. Honor demands that we deliver on our promises - whether you yourself participated in making them or not - that we will help the Iraqi people win their liberty.

Log your objections to the war if you must. When you're done, start making this effort a bipartisan one so we don't hurt future generations by letting party politics interfere with what is incontrovertibly, unequivocally right: rebuilding Iraq so a free nation can begin it's life.

To do this, we need the funds to run the operations that to date have been meeting with success. We need funds to ensure that our soldiers are protected from their enemies in the course of their duties. We need funds to provide medical care to the wounded. We need funds so that our soldiers can continue to bring the Iraqis up to speed. Taking away the money will not stop this war. It will only kill soldiers and damage our efforts by alienating our soldiers from the Iraqis they are working so hard to protect and teach.

If we need to, lets create a tax so that this nation can be at war together, and so that we will have the funds we need to do a good job. Let's pay for it now so our kids don't pay for it later. But how dare you suggest that we pay, then say from the other side of your mouth that you won't let this money get to where it needs to go.