Jeff Greenfield on Sheehan: Questions, smeshtons, nothing to see here.

[Inland]

He said that there wasn't much impact because in all wars, there are people with losses asking questions. Even in WWII, there must have been wounded and widows and gold star mothers who asked why the war.

He was right, as far as he went, but he skipped the salient point:

In WWII, the people who had questions were given a pretty damn good set of answers. Questions were the same, but the answers were different.

In Iraq, the hawks get the same questions that are posed in every war, and spend all their time and energy making up reasons why the question or questioner is illegitimate and should be ignored. They are political, they are against Bush, they are with Moveon, we already answered it, this isn't the time for blame, what's YOUR solution, you didn't ask any questions to Clinton about Kosovo.

Then there is the non-answer answer, like Bush gave yesterday: "She thinks we should pull out right away, I disagree." Well, if not today, when? "When we are done". Done with what?

Questions are always the same, because despite what the neocons believe, wars in a democracy have to be justified to the people. The answers are different, because some wars don't make the grade because they aren't justifiable. We are in a war that will not or cannot be justified.