Democrats: The Iraq Occupation Will Continue

I share Marc's grave disappointment in the Democratic Party's leading presidential candidates (Clinton, Obama, and Edwards,) who will not pledge to end our occupation of Iraq. This is a national disgrace and a failure of leadership. It also raises the possibility of a third party anti-war candidate garnering substantial support, as Eugene McCarthy did in 1967 when a similar domestic political situation existed in regard to the Vietnam War. In that year, the leading Democratic Party candidate, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, would not distance himself from Lyndon Johnson''s war policies. Richard Nixon was elected president pledging to end the war. It finally ended in defeat for the United States, but not until Nixon's second term. Is history set to repeat itself?

PHOTO: The "Co-ops" in the Fire Island Pines, an example of the poor planning in that community. Beachfront development has taken place seemingly with no regard to preserving the dunes, the only protection that barrier islands have from storms.

Jim