No, he's one of the rare breed of politicians with backbone, who values doing right over being popular, and all he's done is speak truth in the face of American imperialist power.
He's a damn traitor.
No, he's an apostle of peace.
The debate about Rep. McDermott (D-Seattle) continues, but one thing is certain: He is, for better or worse, a man unafraid to speak his mind. The Stranger caught up with him in Seattle on October 11, the day after his own House of Representatives ignored his peace pleas and joined the Senate in voting to pass a resolution authorizing President Bush to use force against Iraq.
Why did you go to Iraq?
We decided to go partly to see the humanitarian crisis, and also to get a feel for what was happening there. We wanted to give out the message that this is for real, that not everyone was interested in going to war.
What has been the reaction to your trip?
There were a bunch of different reactions. The administration told us they didn't want us to go, but they didn't give us any good reason why we shouldn't go. I would say, by and large, the response from members of Congress has been pretty supportive. Even some Republicans, like Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), said, "I'm glad you went, though I couldn't go." There were an awful lot of people who were uneasy about it, though, uneasy about not appearing to support the president, about being made to appear not caring about terrorism. Still, just today, in the two-block walk from my office to Nordstrom, I had eight people tell me they were glad I went.
Why were you opposed to the Iraq resolution, which passed the House 296-133?
Well, it was an unlawful delegation of Congressional power. In the first article of the constitution, the power to declare war is put in the hands of Congress, so I thought we should not be voting for this. If the president has a case, he ought to make it to Congress, but there was never a case made. Second, there is no imminent danger. They're misleading the public, attempting to mislead Congress. The reports that Tony Blair and the president put out, that's just some rehashing and repackaging of material we've known about for 10 or 12 years. Ask yourself why all this is happening now. It's an attempt to divert the attention of the American people off the economy and the terrible shape it's in. Also, there's clearly an awful lot of evidence that suggests that this is about oil. The second-largest oil reserves in the world would be entirely in American hands after this invasion.
Now that the resolution has passed, is war inevitable?
I'm both hopeful and worried. It's really worrisome to see all the time and energy put into the war effort. I mean, when you do war games and all kinds of things that appear to be preparing for war, there comes a time when it's pretty hard to maintain the fiction that you're not going to do something.
