Yes and No, Tom McMahon

Executive director of the Democratic party Tom McMahon is sending Democratic supporters an embarrassing e-mail.

In the e-mail, McMahon attacks House minority leader John Boehner for labeling critics of Bush's Iraq policy as terrorist symphathizers. Fair enough. Boehner is doing that, just like Bush & his administration have been doing that since the White House started pushing the invasion. And it's sleazy. It should stop.

But the "Democrats good, Republicans bad" portion of the e-mail is sort of pathetic, and it's a good example of why voters who try to pay attention to political debates often stop trying pretty fast.

McMahon writes:

Why are Republicans scared of a debate on America's top issue? And why can't they stand up to the Democrats on the current situation in Iraq?

Because it wasn't the Democratic Party that led us into a war on false pretenses. Democrats didn't alienate our global allies by ignoring diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful resolution. Democrats didn't reject the advice of our military leaders, who recommended we change the course. And Democrats didn't decide to put more of our troops in harm/s way to interfere in a bloody civil war with no end in sight.

The Democrats didn't start this war, but we're working to end it -- and the House resolution is an important first step to changing the course and bringing our brave men and women home.

Gee. While it's true that the Democrats in Congress in 2002 & 2003 didn't lead us into war or alienate our global allies or reject the advice of our military leaders, it's also true that with rare exceptions like Russ Feingold they didn't do squat to stop any of it. They all voted to give Bush the authority to invade Iraq at his discretion. They didn't challenge any of the lousy evidence used to support the decision to invade. They didn't ask hard questions. So Bush quarterbacked the Iraq debacle, but most of the Dems in Congress were standing on the sidelines with towels and Gatorade at the ready, cheering the team on.

It's fine to point out that the invasion was always a bad idea. It's fine to oppose the troop surge. It's not fine to pretend that you were knocked over the head and locked in the closet during the year before and after the invasion. Taking responsibility for your wartime mistakes (Tom McMahon, Hilary Clinton) is about more than "taking reponsibility" while pointing your finger at the White House and pretending you were out of town when that shit went down. Taking responsibility is about admitting you were wrong and responsibly trying to fix it.

Send me an e-mail about that, Tom McMahon, and I'll gladly read it.