More Real Talk on Morning Joe
Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group
MSNBC’s Morning Joe remains a vital mainstream forum for prominent voices that question the status quo in Afghanistan. This morning the show demonstrated its ongoing commitment to keeping the decade-long war in the public eye with a solid dose of straight talk from former governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell, the Pulitzer prize winning former editor of Newsweek Jon Meacham, and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA).
Rep. McGovern provided several of the highlights. Here’s a preview to whet the appetite, from McGovern to those politicians who demand that the country stay committed to a 10-year-old counterproductive war and wave the flag of fiscal responsibility with one hand while putting the $120 billion annual cost on the national credit card with the other:
“Here’s the deal. To those that want to stay: if you want to stay, pay for it. Go to the American people and say, pay for it. And, yes, it would raise your taxes. A few years back the late congressman John Murtha and former congressman Dave Obey and I introduced a bill to call for a war tax…You would’ve thought we’d ran over a puppy the way people expressed their outrage over the fact that we were talking about raising taxes. Why should our soldiers and their families be the only ones to sacrifice in times of war? If we’re going to go to war, we all need to sacrifice. And if we’re not willing to pay for it we ought not to go. I don’t think we should be there. I think we should get out. But if you want to stay, at least have the guts to say we need to pay for it.”
Unfortunately, intestinal fortitude, while in great supply among the troops risking their lives in Afghanistan, is seriously lacking among those in Washington tasked with ensuring that their sacrifice is justified by the national interests at stake.
Gov. Rendell asked Rep. McGovern why policymakers don’t “strengthen our backs when we see that 70% of the people want out?” The answer is that they are afraid. Washington’s primary concern is not whether the current strategy is succeeding or failing, or whether a trillion dollar war does more to strengthen or weaken national security, but whether speaking out against what is widely understood to be a failed war policy will endanger their chances in the next election.
Thankfully, there is a growing number of representatives in Congress, from both parties, whose political courage warrants the public trust that’s been placed in them. Last Friday, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) and Rep. McGovern, two vital members of this group, announced that they will introduce legislation requiring the president to provide Congress with a plan, timetable, and completion date for transferring military operations to the Afghan government. Let’s hope that their example, and growing demands to end the war from two-thirds of the American public, will help stiffen the spines of their congressional colleagues.
