The Carpetbagger Report
The education of Rep. Walter Jones
It was one of those silly examples that captured the absurdity of Republican politics perfectly. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) was frustrated that France was opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, so he thought it'd be a poignant gesture to change the name of "french fries" to "freedom fries" in the House dining hall. It was one of those silly examples that captured the absurdity of Republican politics perfectly. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) was frustrated that France was opposed to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, so he thought it'd be a poignant gesture to change the name of "french fries" to "freedom fries" in the House dining hall.
After a press conference to announce the move, Jones, highlighting the level of class and dignity we've come to expect from congressional Republicans, told the Washington Post, "This isn't a political or publicity stunt. We feel sincere as to what we've done. This isn't going to change the debate or course of the world. It's a gesture just to say to the French, 'Up yours!'"
That was March 2003. Jones, to his credit, has learned a lot since then.
Ask him about it now, and he lays his cheek in his left hand, a habit he repeats dozens of times a day when lost in thought or sadness.
"I wish it had never happened," Jones said.
As it happens, it's not the only thing Jones has changed his mind about.
Jones now says we went to war "with no justification." He has challenged the Bush administration, quizzing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other presidential advisers in public hearings. He has lined the hallway outside his office with "the faces of the fallen."
Jones represents the state's most military congressional district, running from Camp Lejeune along the coast through Cherry Point, up to the Outer Banks.
"If we were given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration, to commit the authority to send boys, and in some instances girls, to go into Iraq, that is wrong," Jones said. "Congress must be told the truth."
True to form, the more Jones follows his conscience, the more he's ostracized by his party. He's fallen out of favor with the White House and Tom DeLay, especially after Jones broke party ranks to join Dems in demanding improvements to the House ethics rules.
But it's Jones' attitude towards the war in Iraq that shows the most dramatic evolution. In April, in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Jones really lit into Richard Perle, the Pentagon adviser who provided the Bush administration with brainpower for the Iraq war.
Jones, who said he has signed more than 900 condolence letters to kin of fallen soldiers, pronounced himself "incensed" with Perle. "It is just amazing to me how we as a Congress were told we had to remove this man … but the reason we were given was not accurate," Jones told Perle at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Jones said the administration should "apologize for the misinformation that was given. To me there should be somebody who is large enough to say 'We've made a mistake.' I've not heard that yet." […]
Perle wasn't about to provide the apology Jones sought. He disavowed any responsibility for his confident prewar assertions about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, heaping the blame instead on "appalling incompetence" at the CIA. "There is reason to believe that we were sucked into an ill-conceived initial attack aimed at Saddam himself by double agents planted by the regime. And as we now know the estimate of Saddam's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction was substantially wrong."
Jones, nearly in tears as he held up Perle's testimony, glared at the witness. "I went to a Marine's funeral who left a wife and three children, twins he never saw, and I'll tell you, I apologize, Mr. Chairman, but I am just incensed with this statement."
There's hope for some of these guys yet. Now, if only Jones were the rule instead of the exception.
After a press conference to announce the move, Jones, highlighting the level of class and dignity we've come to expect from congressional Republicans, told the Washington Post, "This isn't a political or publicity stunt. We feel sincere as to what we've done. This isn't going to change the debate or course of the world. It's a gesture just to say to the French, 'Up yours!'"
That was March 2003. Jones, to his credit, has learned a lot since then.
Ask him about it now, and he lays his cheek in his left hand, a habit he repeats dozens of times a day when lost in thought or sadness.
"I wish it had never happened," Jones said.
As it happens, it's not the only thing Jones has changed his mind about.
Jones now says we went to war "with no justification." He has challenged the Bush administration, quizzing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other presidential advisers in public hearings. He has lined the hallway outside his office with "the faces of the fallen."
Jones represents the state's most military congressional district, running from Camp Lejeune along the coast through Cherry Point, up to the Outer Banks.
"If we were given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration, to commit the authority to send boys, and in some instances girls, to go into Iraq, that is wrong," Jones said. "Congress must be told the truth."
True to form, the more Jones follows his conscience, the more he's ostracized by his party. He's fallen out of favor with the White House and Tom DeLay, especially after Jones broke party ranks to join Dems in demanding improvements to the House ethics rules.
But it's Jones' attitude towards the war in Iraq that shows the most dramatic evolution. In April, in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Jones really lit into Richard Perle, the Pentagon adviser who provided the Bush administration with brainpower for the Iraq war.
Jones, who said he has signed more than 900 condolence letters to kin of fallen soldiers, pronounced himself "incensed" with Perle. "It is just amazing to me how we as a Congress were told we had to remove this man … but the reason we were given was not accurate," Jones told Perle at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Jones said the administration should "apologize for the misinformation that was given. To me there should be somebody who is large enough to say 'We've made a mistake.' I've not heard that yet." […]
Perle wasn't about to provide the apology Jones sought. He disavowed any responsibility for his confident prewar assertions about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, heaping the blame instead on "appalling incompetence" at the CIA. "There is reason to believe that we were sucked into an ill-conceived initial attack aimed at Saddam himself by double agents planted by the regime. And as we now know the estimate of Saddam's stockpile of weapons of mass destruction was substantially wrong."
Jones, nearly in tears as he held up Perle's testimony, glared at the witness. "I went to a Marine's funeral who left a wife and three children, twins he never saw, and I'll tell you, I apologize, Mr. Chairman, but I am just incensed with this statement."
There's hope for some of these guys yet. Now, if only Jones were the rule instead of the exception….
You admire this jerk?