Blogs and the Iraq war debate

Many of the politics oriented blogs are split clearly along conservative-liberal lines. The "debate" is often shrill and even more often predictable. That is, predictable depending on the leanings of the particular blogger.

Here's an example of some clear-thinking blogging that discusses the issue of whether President Bush should attend funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq. Many of the liberal bloggers are claiming he should. On the other hand, Balloon Juice takes the issue in hand and discusses it fully and rationally. This is the way blogs should be.

The research clearly shows that no US president has ever done much in the way of attending military funerals.

"According to the Johnson Library, LBJ attended two funerals for soldiers who died during the Vietnam War. The first funeral was for Captain Albert Smith, son of White House correspondent Merriman Smith, which was held February 28, 1966. The second was for Major General Keith R. Ware, held September 17, 1968. LBJ had met Ware while visiting Vietnam."

Mmm.... two funerals out of some 50,000 deaths. Nixon never attended any funerals for those killed in Vietnam. Now, if President Bush (or any other president, for that matter) attended military funerals, he would immediately be criticized as a grand-standing, heartless politician trying to cash in on the publicity. You can't win.