The Sun-Sentinel is a quality newspaper a bit north of here. It has a justly deserved reputation as being pretty conservative editorially, and even in some of its political coverage. (A long-time state political reporter just got reassigned for being too overtly Republican, showing both that there’s a tilt, and that the place has some standards.)
So it’s interesting that the Sun-Sentinel editorial page, which I gather has been a big cheerleader for the Iraq war, is now not only vehemently against the Iraq war, but trying to suggest it was always against it. That’s right: the war is now so unpopular that former backers are obfuscating their prior support.
Incidentally, the paper’s April 7 editorial is real strong stuff. Here’s how it starts:
Three years, 19 days. And counting.
More than 2,300 Americans killed. More than 16,000 wounded, many of them maimed for life. And then there are the tens of thousands of Iraqi victims.
Almost $400 billion spent so far, followed by another $330 million every day.
These are the tangible costs of the Iraq war. There are other costs that are harder to measure precisely, but they are many and they are mounting. It can be strongly argued that they are largely the fault of a president who is stubborn, intractable, dogmatic, exclusionary and intellectually dishonest, and who appears reluctant to operate outside his inner circle.
Democrats (and Republicans) take note.
This is a test post due to some template changes.
This is hopefully a key turning point in public sentiment. With Bush’s approval rating down to 36%, it is clear that the moderate Republicans are jumping ship. This is due primarily to the war in Iraq. People are finally coming to their senses and realizing that Bush is a complete idiot and that the war was a mistake. We need more right-leaning papers to express this. Only when public sentiment has completely shifted against the war will we be able to bring our soldiers home.