The Bizarre Relationship between Jane Harman & Joe Klein

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics: Soapblox California - Front Page]

If you check out the Quick Hits Section on the front page, you'll see one QH about Joe Klein and Jane Harman, and another about Atrios declaring himself the wanker of the day.  All very good, but what does that mean? Well, it's the case that truly illustrates that, well, dday was right:  Jane Harman has changed over the past year and a half or so. And for that, we owe a debt of gratitude to Marcy Winograd.

So, um, what is all this insider jibberish? Flip it!
Well, I think we should first posit that Joe Klein (aka Joke Line, author of Primary Colors and current columnist at Time Magazine) has absolutely no journalistic credibility. There, now that's out of the way.  On 5/25, Joke Line reported this quote from Rep. Harman:

But I flew into Baghdad on a troop transport with 150 kids, heading into the field. To vote against this bill was to vote against giving them the equipment, the armor they need. I couldn't do that. (Swamperiffic 5/25/07)

Now, the only trouble, as Booman pointed out is that Jane Harman actually voted against the funding resolution. So, on 5/26, Klein puts up this voicemail message from Harman:

I apologize for not calling to tell you that I changed my mind. Your account of our conversation was accurate and I stand by what I said to you. We were faced with two miserable choices. I had those kids on the C-130 [deploying to Iraq] in my mind, but I also had to consider the overwhelming opposition to this war in my district--and, in the end, my responsibility was to the people I represent.

So, somehow Harman had the responsibility to notify Klein of her decision to change her mind? How pathetic is this that a) Harman felt the need to apologize to Klein and b) that Klein didn't bother to f'ing check the roll call. Yeah, that's really hard. And oh, by the way, Harman also joined Jerry McNerney and Pete Stark in voting against the rule to bring the vote to the floor.

But, that being said, that quote is really interesting. It is essentially an admission that Harman was out of line with her constituency and is now working to get back in line. Now, I reject her premise that a vote against was a vote to deny the troops anything. A vote against was a call for Bush to bring the troops home. The Pentagon has plenty of money to withdraw our troops safely, and leaders like Rep. Woolsey have authored measures too grant additional funds to fully fund the withdrawal.  It's long past time to get out and quit playing patriotic games with the lives of our troops. That the mission was flawed says nothing about the talents of our troops. They are still the best in the world. But even the best fighting force in the world is no match for poor planning and the rejection of facts.