Political Courage

Barack Obama joined John Edwards on Monday in going after Hillary Clinton’s support for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Obama said of Hillary that she voted in 2002 for the Iraq resolution (also written by Senator Lieberman) to give President Bush the power to invade Iraq. He said the Kyl-Lieberman amendment does virtually the same thing as to Iran. He said: “And her willingness to once again extend to the president the benefit of the doubt I think indicates that she hasn’t fully learned some of the lessons that we saw back in 2002.”

I tend to agree with him though, Obama never showed up for the vote. He said of that the vote was not close and while campaigning one has to make decisions on when he will show up for the vote. He said he put out a clear statement of his opposition to the amendment. Fair enough, though it sounds a little cunning and wanting it both ways, which quite frankly has been the criticism of Obama up to this point from progressives. Edwards on the other hand (who does not have the ability to vote) did oppose it from the inception and said: “You’ve got George Bush out there rattling his saber about going to war in Iran. The last thing we need to do is give that guy any authority on the first step to move forward. So, I do differ with Senator Clinton about this,” said Edwards on The Ed Schultz Radio Show.

All this talk reminded me of my political hero Paul Wellstone. Almost five years ago (October 25, 2002) Paul Wellstone was taken from us in a tragic plane crash (that took his wife and three others with them). Wellstone was a progressive maverick and to date some have said, "the only 1960's radical ever to be elected to the Senate." During the 2002 election season Wellstone was in the political fight of his life against now Senator Norm Coleman. Instead of caving to the saber rattling going on over Iraq and the inevitability of war, Wellstone stood up to the Senate in what he said "in politics, I believe it is always best to do what is right."

Below is a clip on the type of politician Wellstone was and a clip of a speech he makes on Iraq in October, 2002. He argues why we should not be giving President Bush the ability to go into Iraq (nevermind Iran) in the midst of a heated campaign. During this time I was recovering from a terrible car accident (on hiatus from law school) and thinking about joining Mr. Wellstone's campaign for the final two weeks, especially after hearing this speech. I planned on attending the anti-war rally in Washington on Saturday and then going to Minnesota by Monday, but I never got there. Wellstone died in a plane crash on Friday, the 25th, a day I will never forget. Politics is a dirty game, but Wellstone elevated it to what Bobby Kennedy called an "honorable profession." He was remarkeable and today (five years later) most of our elected officials cannot muster up this kind of courage though nearly the entire American apparatus supported this war. Where have you gone Paul Wellstone?