New Jersey Got It Right - Nancy Didn't

The New Jersey state legislators today enacted a prohibition against the death penalty, even for the most heinous of murders. I salute them for their actions. Polling in the state indicated that a substantial majority of the people polled still wanted the death penalty for the worst offenders, but the legislative body, under the control of NJ Democrats, stuck with total elimination of the death penalty in the state.


I suspect that there are those of you reading this who are aghast and/or surprised at me casting my lot with the Democrats of New Jersey, but I've expressed my opposition to the death penalty in a previous post as well, just shortly after two New York State Troopers were killed. (See "Death and Life" - April 25, 2007).

Now if we could only give an unborn child the same protection as we're giving to convicted murderers, then our position on the sanctity of life becomes a great deal more logical.

Logic, however, must be an elusive concept for Speaker Pelosi. Outwitted, outFoxed (eat your heart out TF) and out-maneuvered at every turn, she resorted today to saying the "...Republicans like this war ..." Later, in an effort to recant and show remorse, she clarified her statement to say that she meant to say that "...they just support this war."

Imagine that. There are some Americans out there who support our troops and our objectives.

All sarcasm aside, here's where I think she and the rest of the Democrats have miscalculated. They misread their victory in the last election. Rather than an overwhelming desire to just quit and get out, the majority of Americans want the damn thing over, but they want it over with our objectives met.

So what does "objectives met" really mean? Though I hate to use such a simplistic characterization, for many of us I suspect it may be a simple matter of pride in our country; a belief that we went there as liberators not conquerors, and we'll leave when the Iraqi's are ready to take control. The surge would not be working if local tribal leaders were not cooperating in many areas, such as Al Anbar province. As would likely be the case in most countries, they would like us out of there as quickly as possible and will be only too happy to let us know when they think they're ready to assume full control.

In an effort to maintain my "glass is half-full" outlook on life, I believe that we'll begin to see the number of troops start to diminish as early as the spring of '08. If the politicians in Iraq can get their work done, we could see significant reductions in troop numbers in Iraq by summer. If the Iraqi politicians fail in their duty to their country and take their two month break next summer without accomplishing anything, then it will be time to start winnowing down the number of troops - regardless of the military situation on the ground.

As far as Speaker Pelosi is concerned, I know she misspoke herself, and even her clarification was lacking in tact, but she did not mean to infer that Republicans "like the war". There are those who would echo her initial sentiments with no reluctance at all, but most of us see it for what it was - a mistake.

I just wish she weren't such an apt apostle of the Peter Principle.