1115.org

From a GQ interview with Senator Chuck Hagel:

GQ: Do you wish you’d voted differently in October of 2002, when Congress had a chance to authorize or not authorize the invasion?

Hagel: Have you read that resolution?

GQ: I have.

Hagel: It’s not quite the way it’s been framed by a lot of people, as a resolution to go to war. That’s not quite what the resolution said.

GQ: It said, “to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq.”

Hagel: In the event that all other options failed. So it’s not as simple as “I voted for the war.” That wasn’t the resolution.

I’ve only been saying this since 2002. It’s amazing how spin and shorthand manage to completely obscure what’s written in black and white. And what did Hagel get for taking the time to note this and other points? A kiss from Big Time:

Newsweek: So you don’t think Senator Hagel-and now you dodged completely responding to his comments—but they’re not helpful to the cause and to the mission?

Dick Cheney: Let’s say I believe firmly in Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican. But it’s very hard sometimes to adhere to that where Chuck Hagel is involved.

I’m sure Hagel lost a monocle over this.