Brown at URI

Not to assume too much, but it seems to me that RI Secretary of State and candidate for U.S. Senate Matt Brown is like his fellow state Democrats in that he hasn't had to speak to or wrangle with anybody with strongly conflicting views in far too long. I mean, think about this:

"I think it [pulling out of Iraq] is the best thing that we can do to help stabilize the situation in Iraq, given how badly the Bush administration has fouled it up," Brown said. "I do think that the root problem in Iraq is a political problem. It's an ancient, bitter conflict between the Shiites and the Sunnis ... Those groups are not going to solve their political differences as they know that our men and women are there to fight their fights for them."

So, to "stabilize" relations between these two religious groups that have been at each others' throats in a part of the world in which violence still carries a Dark Ages tint, we must allow them to fight their own fights. Of course, one could suggest that the reason the problem is a political one — as opposed to, say, a genocidal one — is precisely because the U.S. and coalition forces are around, but then again, not a few people on Brown's side of the aisle actually gave credence to Saddam's election returns.

And then there's this bit of boldness relying on ignorance:

Brown also discussed the problems facing college students in the state of Rhode Island. "I think the people are getting out of school because of the bad decisions that have come out of Washington. It is just very hard to make ends meet," Brown said. "From the cost of health care, to finding a good job, to paying off your college loans, we desperately need new leadership."

Busy as they are, I'd suggest that RI's collegiate youth needn't look so far as Washington to explain their difficulty making ends meet. In what Machiavellian class, I wonder, do they teach politicians to help create a problem and then to blame it on somebody else?