Fellow DU'ers...will you join me today in holding our leaders accountable?

[Clarkie1]

Poll question: Fellow DU'ers...will you join me today in holding our leaders accountable?

Will you join me today in pledging to support a candidate who had the courage to stand up to the Bush administration and spoke against the blank check for war that was the IWR?

Your choice may be Obama, Gore, Clark, Richarson, Kucinich, or some other, but will you join me today in pledging to hold our leaders accountable? Will you pledge with me today to support a candidate who has the political courage of a Teddy Kennedy, and who has demonstrated by their past actions that the care more about doing what is right for America than in doing what is politically expedient for themselves?

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KING: You called Iraq the overriding issue. You voted to go there or not?

KENNEDY: No. The best vote I cast in the United States Senate was...

KING: The best?

KENNEDY: The best vote, best vote I cast in the United States Senate (INAUDIBLE).

KING: In your life?

KENNEDY: Absolutely.

KING: Was not to go to Iraq?

KENNEDY: Yes, not to go to Iraq.

KING: Why did you vote against?

KENNEDY: Well, I'm on the Armed Services Committee and I was inclined to support the administration when we started the hearings in the Armed Services Committee. And, it was enormously interesting to me that those that had been -- that were in the armed forces that had served in combat were universally opposed to going.

I mean we had Wes Clark testify in opposition to going to war at that time. You had General Zinni. You had General (INAUDIBLE). You had General Nash. You had the series of different military officials, a number of whom had been involved in the Gulf I War, others involved in Kosovo and had distinguished records in Vietnam, battle-hardened combat military figures. And, virtually all of them said no, this is not going to work and they virtually identified...

KING: And that's what moved you?

KENNEDY: And that really was -- influenced me to the greatest degree. And the second point that influenced me was in the time that we were having the briefings and these were classified. They've been declassified now. Secretary Rumsfeld came up and said "There are weapons of mass destruction north, south, east and west of Baghdad." This was his testimony in the Armed Services Committee.

And at that time Senator Levin, who is an enormously gifted, talented member of the Armed Services Committee said, "Well, we're now providing this information to the inspectors aren't we?" This is just before the war. "Oh, yes, we're providing that." "But are they finding anything?" "No."

Because the answer was because they're moving things, because when we tell the team they're all infiltrated by Saddam's people and they're leaking that so that's the reason we're not finding anything.

They started giving all the places where we said there were places and they still couldn't find any. And at the end of now, history will show we never gave any information to the inspection team at all.

But I kept saying, "Well, if they're not finding any of the weapons of mass destruction, where is the imminent threat to the United States security?" It didn't make sense.

There were probably eight Senators on the Friday before the Thursday we voted on it. It got up to 23. I think if that had gone on another -- we had waited another ten days, I think you may have had a different story.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/20/lkl.01.html

[The Count]

1. You bet. My stomach still churns thinking of my 2004 vote.

I voted for two craven politicians and they wiped their asses with my vote in the end. NEVER AGAIN!

[ellenfl]

2. i REALLY don't want to vote for hillary but

i will if i have to. she's part of the political machine and i don't like that. so far, i am leaning towards edwards, mainly because of his work on poverty and workers' rights, but we shall see.

i love teddy the k.

ellen fl

[noamnety]

3. I already pledged

(see sig)

[Clarkie1]

4. kick. nt

[Clark2008]

5. What I want to know is why did Kennedy and Graham and all

the other Dems on the Senate Armed Services Committee listen to Clark, Zinni and Nash and refuse to vote the IWR out of committee EXCEPT John Edwards?

And now Edwards wants my vote?

Boggles my mind.

:kick:

[Luckyduck]

6. K&R

:applause:

[invictus]

7. I will only vote for an anti-war candidate.

I pledge that I will only vote -- in both the Democratic primary and the general election -- for candidates who opposed the invasion of Iraq and pledge not to attack Iran. That effectively rules out Clinton, Edwards, and Kerry. I will probably vote for Wes Clark if he runs. If not, I will probably check out Obama.

[Apollo11]

8. GORE - OBAMA 2008

Both are on the record as publicly criticizing the Bu$h-Cheney policy of pre-emptive war back in 2002 - when it mattered most.


Let's all find ways to show our support for Al Gore! :)

Read Rolling Stone magazine: WHY GORE SHOULD RUN -- AND HOW HE CAN WIN
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/13248532/why_gore_should_run__and_how_he_can_win

Get ready for Al Gore's next book - The Assault on Reason - out in May!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600877.html

Visit the following pro-Gore websites:
www.algore.com
www.algore.org
www.draftgore.com - Sign the petition! :)
www.draftgore2008.org
www.patriotsforgore.com

:kick:

[Adelante]

9. YES

I've really hardened this time around especially with a war on Iran at our doorstep. They should suspend running for president, it's not like time is too short for it, and stop the next war.

[Kablooie]

10. Yep. I don't want a president that caved on something they knew was wrong.

on something as serious as a starting a preemptive war with nearly no
evidence.

At the time I thought the evidence they had seemed so insignificant that
I couldn't imagine them voting for war. Metal tubes? Some contact with one
Al Quaida guy in the past? Some indecipherable photos with a vague explanation
of what it was.

This was the best evidence they had so I was really shocked when they voted
to go to war. I remember screaming in the car, "NO! You Idiots! " when I heard that on the
radio.

I'm sure going to avoid the war voters.