What about Afghanistan?

We should never have invaded Iraq. President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Sen. McCain, Sen. Lieberman et. al. lied to us. In my state, Sen. Kennedy and Congressman Capuano had the courage to oppose their lies. Very few of our leaders will be shown to have been truthful in the post-9/11 hysteria that gripped the country. It was a terrible error to abandon Afghanistan for the Iraq sideshow, and now a new President is stuck with the wingnut's mess. Despite my initial enthusiasm for our Afghanistan invasion, it was tempered after the disaster at Tora Bora. And now the solution is to engage in another surge? More troops? I am beginning to believe that we should abandon the ground.

Frank Rich's column in the October 11, 2009 New York Times is a persuasive journey through the Bush years. Make no mistake: this fiasco is not the result of President Obama's actions, but it is his and our problem. Those who are actually responsible can safely lob their criticism from the sidelines, but it is important that they were repudiated in the last election. The president should find a way to remind America of that fact.

On the Nobel Prize: Just Say Congrats

Republican leaders and their media proxies are incensed that President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. Commentary from the Right continues to meander a predictable course, as the wing-nuts somehow find a way to use this prestigious award to challenge the integrity of the 44th President. Perhaps it is true that the Prize was awarded to distinguish Mr. Obama for the accomplishment of being someone other than the last occupant of the White House. So what?

Of all the comments I've read and heard over the last 24 hour news cycle, my favorite comes from a voice of the minority party, quoted from the New York Times today:

"One recognition of the tricky politics the award presents came from Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican who is considering challenging Mr. Obama in 2012.

“I know there’s going to be some people who are saying ‘Was it based on good intentions and thoughts, or is it going to be based on results?’ ” Mr. Pawlenty said on his weekly radio show on WCCO in Minneapolis. “But I think the appropriate response, or an appropriate response, is when anybody wins a Nobel Prize, you know that is a very noteworthy development and designation and award, and I think the proper response is to say congratulations.”

SNL is famous for wicked send-ups of our Presidents. In this tradition, the 10/03/09 show presented a classic.