Senator Rockefeller And Lack Of Personal Responsibility

I'm often asked by friends if I want to "get into politics". It's a subtle suggestion that I should stop writing about it and start getting involved in a more direct way. When I see the behavior of other politicians, however, I can't help but think that these are people that I don't really want to work with on daily basis.

Case in point is Senator Jay Rockefeller. Senator Rockefeller was interviewed by Chris Wallace. You can read the exchange at Power Line, and reaction at Captain's Quarters and Just One Minute. I highly suggest you read all the details there, but the quick summary is that Senator Rockefeller seems to have no regard for taking responsibility of his actions.

From Oct 2002:

There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years. And that may happen sooner if he can obtain access to enriched uranium from foreign sources -- something that is not that difficult in the current world. We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction.

and

At this point, America’s best opportunity to move the United Nations and Iraq to a peaceful resolution of this crisis is by making clear the U.S. is prepared to act on our own, if necessary, as one nation, indivisible. Sometimes the rest of the world looks to America not just for the diversity of our debate, or the vitality of our ideals, but for the firm resolve that the world’s leader must demonstrate if intractable global problems are to be solved.

These aren't quotes of President Bush, though I imagine if you told 1000 people that they were, 99% of them would agree with you. So what is Senator Rockefeller saying now?

WALLACE: But you voted, sir, and aren't you responsible for your vote?

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: No.

WALLACE: You're not?

SEN. ROCKEFELLER: No. I'm responsible for my vote, but I'd appreciate it if you'd get serious about this subject, with all due respect. We authorized him to continue working with the United Nations, and then if that failed, authorized him to use force to enforce the sanctions. We did not send 150,000 troops or 135,000 troops. It was his decision made probably two days after 9/11 that he was going to invade Iraq. That we did not have a part of, and, yes, we had bad intelligence, and when we learned about it, I went down to the floor and said I would never have voted for this thing.

This exchange shows why some people are just not cut out to be leaders. He freely admits he had access to mountains of intelligence and, after careful review, came to the same conclusion that President Bush did. When the intelligence turned out to be incorrect, he wishes he could go back and change what he decided. Being a leader is not about agonizing over past decision when you get new information. Being a leader is about acting in the most appropriate manner with the information you have available at the time. Being a leader is having the faith and confidence to make difficult decisions and acting when actions are needed.

I am glad to see this continued strategy of "Bush tricked us!" by the Democrats is being questioned by the media. I'm sure it won't get the attention of a good sex scandal, but it's a start at least.