As a group, politicians seem especially proud of their inability to change one's mind. They call it "consistency" even when so much has changed that their old opinions border on lunacy. Thus it was somewhat surprising when Oregon's conservative Republican senator Gordon Smith took the congressional podium yesterday and said this:
"I, for one, am at the end of my rope when it comes to supporting a policy that has our soldiers patrolling the same streets in the same way being blown up by the same bombs day after day," said Smith. "That is absurd. It may even be criminal. I cannot support that anymore."
Full story.
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Calling policy "criminal" is a very big deal in politics. Of course, Democrats who oppose Smith will say he is bending with the wind, but Smith has demonstrated before that he is a man of conscience. I didn't vote for him but I respect him. Oregon politicians can be fiercely independent.
1 comment:
I have always thought Smith a decent man. Don't share his party or positions most of the time, but I've always thought him a decent man. I think he's doing as he thinks right, and not for votes, necessarily. I actually would not mind seeing him win in 2008. I think he's more principled than any of the dems except DeFazio, perhaps.
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