Your quote of the day, courtesy of Walter Jones (R-NC)

[Greeby]

"If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied."

Rudyard Kipling, Epitaphs of the War. As quoted by Walter Jones (R-NC) at today's Democratic Policy Committee Hearing.

[me b zola]

1. I missed that...

That indeed is the quote if the day...maybe decade :shrug:

[Greeby]

2. kick for the evening crowd

:kick:

[Cha]

3. KNR! That's quite an evolution

for the poor monsieur French Fries.

[DemReadingDU]

4. Rep Jones is really coming around

Someone who is paying attention
K&R

[guinivere]

5. Another one begins to see the light.

:thumbsup:

[Jim Lane]

11. He's not just "beginning" to see the light.

Jones said more than a year ago that the war was a mistake. "If I had known then what I know today, I wouldn't have voted for that resolution. Absolutely not." -- from "US lawmakers regret voting for Iraq war", Middle East Online, April 8, 2005 (). He also said he wished that the "freedom fries" incident had never happened. ("French fries protester regrets war jibe", Guardian Unlimited, May 25, 2005 ())

Overall, he's still a conservative Republican. Let's recognize, though, that some conservatives are honest and will act on principle, even when it means defying a President of their own party.

There are plenty of Democrats (are you listening, Hillary?) who don't have the excuse of party loyalty but nevertheless still haven't caught up with Jones on the Iraq issue.

[jmowreader]

6. I expect Walter Jones to become the GOP Lieberman

The Lieberman we were stuck with voted with the Republicans often enough that we all thought he really was one.

I expect Walter Jones, should we take Congress, to side with the Democrats fairly often.

That is, if he doesn't just pack up his shit and move to our side of the aisle.

[Straight Shooter]

8. Jones is no Lieberman.

He's a Repub, that's for certain, but he's never sold out. He was duped and he was stupid, that's for certain, but he's never sold out.

He's kind of like the Repub version of Murtha, I suppose. Murtha is *cough* pro-life, but he has integrity in his positions and genuinely cares about the wellbeing of our troops. I think Jones and Murtha have both visited the troops in the hospital more than any other politician.

Jones has become personally involved with trying to help grieving families, too.

His "freedom fries" campaign was ignorant, but I don't think he'll ever sink to the level of capitulation that Lieberman has. Lieberman is still defending what cannot be defended.

[mmonk]

7. It means alot coming from him.

His district is very heavy military.

[tblue37]

9. A. E. Housman has a good one, too:

Here Dead Lie We Because We Did Not Choose

by A. E. Housman

Here dead lie we because we did not choose
To live and shame the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;
But young men think it is, and we were young.
(1936)

Some people mistakenly read this as a pro-war poem, because of the second line, but it is, of course, antiwar. The point is that if the dead soldiers had resisted and cried shame against warmongering politicians, they would have lived. It also implies the way that young men fall for what Wilfred Owen calls the Old Lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. They fell for the lie that they would bring shame on their country and themselves if they did not fight at the bidding of those who declare war for their own ends.

[ncteechur]

10. His father was a staunch dyed-in-the-wool democrat before he died.

Serve in the US House. When he retired, Martin Lancaster took his seat. Jones Jr. wanted to run but lost so he switched parties about 1994 (Gingrich bullshit) to get GOP money and support. Ran and unseated Lancaster (who is president of the NC community college system). Jones could very well switch parties since he has a history of doing that. I live in the same county as he but I don't live in his congessional district. However, I am going to email him and encourage him to switch parties. Who knows?

If others from NC are out there and I got part of the story wrong, please correct me.