Every now and then Joe Klein gets one right, and he's in fine form (for him) in yesterday's column, What It Really Means to Support the Troops. I encourage you to follow the link and read the whole piece (which, to be sure, isn't all good, but at this point I'm willing to tip my hat to Joe Klein when he gets it mostly right).
Highlights beneath the fold...
The piece takes a look at the rhetoric of those who denounce criticism of Bush's escalation as somehow undermining our troops and aiding the enemy. He takes a few swipes at McCain, but his primary target is Lieberman (Independent Demagogue - Connecticut).
In the initial debate on Iraq war resolutions last week, Lieberman was at it again. The notably mild Warner-Levin resolution of disapproval would "discourage our troops and hearten our enemies," he said. A day later, I asked Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska about politicians--not Lieberman specifically--who made such statements. "They're despicable," he said, in a decidedly unsenatorial tone. "Those sorts of statements are the last refuge of a scoundrel. They suggest a lack of patriotism on the part of people like me and John Warner and Carl Levin. They hurt our democracy."
Ouch! Klein deserves big points just for putting that Hagel quote out there. Nice one. Lieberman is a scoundrel who is hurting our democracy! How's that for framing?
And since Lieberman seems to be doing everything possible to shed his former D-label (it boggles my mind that this asswipe was actually on the Democratic ticket just a few short years ago), Klein furnishes him with another one:
Lieberman's honorable, if mistaken, support for the war has curdled into demagoguery.
Oh yeah. You're a demogogue, Lieberman, and even Joe Klein can see it. (Note how Klein can't help referring to support for the war as "honorable" -- trying to cover his own ass with regard to some of his earlier pro-war statements, I suspect.)
Klein loses his way a bit in the middle, citing the belief held by some of our soldiers that opposing the surge means opposing the troops, but failing to note that others among our troops are themselves opposed to the surge. But he finishes strong:
We are not on the brink of anything except a long hard slog. I suspect Lieberman understands this but is hyping the mission for dramatic effect. If so, he is raising unfair expectations for the troops and the nation. I'd say that comes pretty damn close to undermining the mission.
Since we duly criticize Klein when he all too frequently gets it wrong, it's only fair to clap a little when he gets it right. And damn, look at that Hagel quote again! Go, Chuck!