Gary Hart on the silent opposition

There is an old timey saying that if you have one finger pointed at the person you are blaming, you've got three fingers pointed at yourself. Much of the anti-war energy and opinion of the Democratic Party has been justifiably focused on pinning down Bush and the cadre of group thinkers that ushered us into Outhouse Iraq. But we are far past the stage when simply focusing on past bungles suffices as a reasonable political stance, or course of action. Democrats must demand more from their leaders. If you are cleaning up a mess, it's usually best to start with your own side ofthe street.

Gary Hart is the first Democrat I have read to convict the silent opposition party:

History will deal with George W. Bush and the neoconservatives who misled a mighty nation into a flawed war that is draining the finest military in the world, diverting Guard and reserve forces that should be on the front line of homeland defense, shredding international alliances that prevailed in two world wars and the Cold War, accumulating staggering deficits, misdirecting revenue from education to rebuilding Iraqi buildings we've blown up, and weakening America's national security.

But what will history say about an opposition party that stands silent while all this goes on? My generation of Democrats jumped on the hot stove of Vietnam and now, with its members in positions of responsibility, it is afraid of jumping on any political stove. In their leaders, the American people look for strength, determination and self-confidence, but they also look for courage, wisdom, judgment and, in times of moral crisis, the willingness to say: "I was wrong."