Downing Street Memo

Philly Future's featured blog, Pax Romano (and some other bloggers), have been talking about the Downing Street Memo. I haven't looked into it carefully myself so I'm hesitant to say much, but if accurate, it looks like sure evidence the US government knowing mislead the American public about the reasons why we went to war in Iraq.

It's always good to have evidence that you are right, but one thing I have learned is that being right doesn't mean a darn thing. Cassandra (from the Iliad) was right. My mother was frequently (and annoyingly) right. I am right when I tell my youngest child to eat more fruit. No one wants to hear it.

Trying to make this an effective campaign issue is difficult. As seen in the recent IssuesPA poll, people tend not to trust the government so it is hardly news to discover our officials are corrupt or liars. Nor would this be the first time the government has lied about why we are going in to combat. We are in this mess and we need to figure out a good "exit strategy" that doesn't leave everyone involved worse than they were when started. You don't see any political messages on the Gold Star Mothers website, and if anyone has a right to be roiling mad about why kids are dying in Iraq it is them.

Let's read the Downing Street Memo, digest it, remember it, and then figure out how to elect people who won't do something similar.