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Truth and reconcilliation on Iraq

Dennis Kucinich, who I still think is a huge part of the future of the Democratic Party despite his loss in 2004, has suggested a Truth and Reconciliation commission of sorts to get to the heart of how the US military ended up in Iraq. I'm not big on the theory of psychological closure, but I agree with him that there is no way the US is going to be able to get past Iraq psychologically until all of the skeletons are out of the closet, closure or no.

As Jonathan Schwarz suggests here, the Democrats are split on whether they should go after the big Necropublican fish on this or whether they should simply try to end the war without considering how it began. This should not be allowed to happen - if lies started the war, then they must be revealed and those that started them must be fingered.

Dennis was/is a visionary. Sadly underappreciated.

I do hope he has a real say in the Party going forward.

The issue he raises is a tough one. While I think it needs to happen, I believe it has to be approached cautiously. If the Dem's focus too much on it, they'll be painted as seeking seats, simply for revenge.

I think they need to position themselves as the "doing the right thing" party...meaning, getting things done in a way that Americans see a difference, while persuing Kucinich's ideas, quietly.

It is a difficult situation that the Dems are in. If they go after the Republicans too hard, they will be charged with "playing politics", one of the Republicans favorite comebacks. (As if they don't play politics 24/7.) And if they don't go after some of the more egregious waste and "error" of the Bush Administration they will be viewed as simply part of the same machine that either created or was created by, the Republicans.

I would prefer that they follow Kucinich's lead and go for punishment for those that should be punished, but that does not mean run straight to the top and go for impeachment, deserved or not. As we saw not that long ago, an impeachment tends to blot out everything else, and I would hate to see things like the no-bid contracts not get investigated because of it. Go for the bread-and-butter stuff and save the circuses for John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

They do a better job of it anyway.

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