That was one crazy week in the 3rd District
Josh Feit at Slog catches this Brian Baird guest editorial in The Seattle Times regarding Iraq. Feit says at the end of his post, after quoting Baird's concerns about Iran possibly expanding its influence and the ghastly specter of fundamentalist terrorists gaining even more sway:
It's good that people are trying to consider all the angles. Baird now finds himself in a difficult political position with town hall meetings scheduled in his district next week. You'd think turnout will be fairly large, given the circumstances.
The crazy thing is that Baird's policy statements are, as Feit points out, very worth considering, even if we disagree with all or part of what he posits. But the right wing noise machine has made Baird their poster child over the last week, and combined with Hillary Clinton surrendering defense policy to the GOP it's enough to give any progressive heartburn.
The best thing Baird can do at this point is make his policy statements outside the noise machine. He didn't win any points for going on Lars Larson or Tucker Carlson, and he needs to be careful from this point on. Another well-publicized appearance with folks who are nothing more than Republican lap dogs could do him lasting political damage.
I don’t know what to do about Iraq. I editorialized against the war … repeatedly, and I think it’s the biggest foreign policy blunder in American history. However, I think Baird’s concerns have to be addressed before the U.S. leaves.I guess I know how Feit feels. I would add that with the right wing drumbeat sounding to attack Iran, to do so would seemingly add greater instability to the region and increase the mullah's hold on power in Iran. So if we want to talk about Iran, then perhaps Baird should also mention how short-sighted the neo-cons are being about policy.
It's good that people are trying to consider all the angles. Baird now finds himself in a difficult political position with town hall meetings scheduled in his district next week. You'd think turnout will be fairly large, given the circumstances.
The crazy thing is that Baird's policy statements are, as Feit points out, very worth considering, even if we disagree with all or part of what he posits. But the right wing noise machine has made Baird their poster child over the last week, and combined with Hillary Clinton surrendering defense policy to the GOP it's enough to give any progressive heartburn.
The best thing Baird can do at this point is make his policy statements outside the noise machine. He didn't win any points for going on Lars Larson or Tucker Carlson, and he needs to be careful from this point on. Another well-publicized appearance with folks who are nothing more than Republican lap dogs could do him lasting political damage.
