JERRY McNERNEY CLARIFIES HIS IRAQ POSITION

Last night we talked about Democrats who who have gone over to the Greed Zone and been razzled and dazzled by the Bush Regime's siren song of military success. Republican-in-Democrat's clothing Tim Mahoney (FL) and Brian Baird (WA) seem lost to the cause of reason and a few days ago, highly respected blogger Babaloo wondered aloud whether Netroots hero Jerry McNerney (D-CA) hadn't also drank the Kool Aid. Returning from a trip to Baghdad he issued a confusing statement.

After visiting Iraq last month and visiting with Petraeus, McNerney said signs of progress led him to decide he’ll be a little more flexible about when troops should be brought home. “I’m more willing to work with finding a way forward to accommodate what the generals are saying,” McNerney said.

Reading it made me wonder if McNerney was jetlagged or drugged when he said it. Today he issued a clarification.

I am firmly in favor of withdrawing troops on a timeline that includes both a definite start date and a definite end date ("date certain") and uses clearly-defined benchmarks. I am not in favor of an "open-ended" timeline for withdrawal, as some members of Congress have proposed recently.

Jerry urged Americans to carefully read The War As We Saw It, an Op-Ed that appeared in Sunday's NY Times, written by 7 military men stationed in Iraq which puts all the Bush Regime propaganda efforts to the lie.

Jerry's blog has his full explanation and he sent the following note to the Blue America community:

Thank you to everyone at FDL, Crooks & Liars and DWT for always taking the time to let me know your concerns about Iraq and many of the other difficult issues facing us as Americans. You stood behind me when I ran for Congress against Richard Pombo and I hope you'll stand behind me now as the debate on the war heats up again in Congress.

As soon as I get a chance, I would enjoy live-blogging again with all of you and Howie on Blue America. In the meantime, if you have thoughts you would like to share with me and our community, please post a comment on my blog or privately to the "Contact Us" section of our campaign web site.

UPDATE: BABALOO SAYS SHE'S RELIEVED. IF SHE IS, WE ALL ARE

Babaloo, who was instrumental in helping Jerry gather netroots support for his race originally, called on him to clarify his stand. She's looked it over and says she's relieved.


IS McNERNEY SCHIZOPHRENIC? DID THEY GIVE HIM SOME KIND OF DRUG IN THE GREED ZONE?

This from today's Washington Post:

Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), who made waves when he returned from Iraq by saying he was willing to be more flexible on troop withdrawal timelines, issued a statement to constituents "setting the record straight."

"I am firmly in favor of withdrawing troops on a timeline that includes both a definite start date and a definite end date," he wrote on his Web site.

But in an interview yesterday, McNerney made clear his views have shifted since returning from Iraq. He said Democrats should be willing to negotiate with the generals in Iraq over just how much more time they might need. And, he said, Democrats should move beyond their confrontational approach, away from tough-minded, partisan withdrawal resolutions, to be more conciliatory with Republicans who might also be looking for a way out of the war.

"We should sit down with Republicans, see what would be acceptable to them to end the war and present it to the president, start negotiating from the beginning," he said, adding, "I don't know what the [Democratic] leadership is thinking. Sometimes they've done things that are beyond me."

He doesn't accept that the Bush Regime is the enemy.