Just listening to Weekend Edition on Nice Polite Republicans. Ever so mild mannered Scot Simon gently questioned Sen. John Kyl on the Iraq war. Was it the right decision to invade?
Kyl, of course, thinks all of that is water under the bridge. He pointed out the he won his re-election by a whoppin TEN POINTS because of his Stong Support For St. John's Surge. And then he said, (paraphrased):
It's not hard to stand up for what you believe in... Americans in the latest Gallup Poll, by a margin of 2-1 support staying in Iraq until it's stable.
Now, this was news to me. A sea change in America's support of Iraq that I had heard of nowhere else. And Kyl emphasized that this was a JUST RELEASED poll.
Kyl, of course, repeated this statistic. And Simon did not challenge him (of course).
I suspected that Kyl, despite his strong, proven character, might be a lying sack of shit. I visited Gallup and got this:
3/13/08
Americans are as divided today as they have been since last September about the United States' troop presence in Iraq: 41% favor setting a timetable for gradually pulling out of Iraq while 35% want to maintain troops there until the situation improves. Only 18% of Americans favor an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops.
Chastened, I vowed never to question the Friend of St. John ever again.
http://www.gallup.com/...