Ted Kennedy: Jackass

I saw a recording of Kennedy's statement. Calling him a Jackass is an insult to Jackasses world wide. (But I couldn't put anything ruder in the title.)

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, called the war a "quagmire" that had been "consistently and grossly mismanaged" by Mr. Rumsfeld. He also accused the defense secretary of making a series of misleading comments before and during the war.

"In baseball, it's three strikes you're out," Mr. Kennedy said. "Isn't it time for you to resign?"

The question that pops immediately into my mind is "Senator, by your own criteria, shouldn't you have left years ago?"

Of course the NYT couldn't bother and quote Rumsfeld's rejection on Kennedy's characterization of Iraq. But Reuters does have the complete exchange.

"This war has been consistently and grossly mismanaged," Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, told Rumsfeld. "And we are now in a seemingly intractable quagmire."

"Our troops are dying. And there really is no end in sight. And the American people, I believe, deserve leadership worthy of the sacrifices that our fighting forces have made, and they deserve the real facts. And I regret to say that I don't believe that you have provided either," Kennedy added.

"Well, that is quite a statement," Rumsfeld, flanked by top U.S. commanders, responded. "First let me say that there isn't a person at this table who agrees with you that we're in a quagmire and that there's no end in sight."

"The suggestion by you that people -- me or others -- are painting a rosy picture is false," Rumsfeld.

"The fact is from the beginning of this we have recognized that this is a tough business, that it is difficult, that it is dangerous, and that it is not predictable," Rumsfeld added.

Wonder why Teddy is so grumpy? Probably just politics as usual.