A Sensible Veto
September 12, 2007
Schwarzenegger Vetoes Vote on Troops in Iraq
By REGAN MORRIS
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12 — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill today that would have allowed Californians to vote on whether or not “the president should end the United States occupation of Iraq.”
The governor explained his decision by saying that Iraq policy was “not a state issue” and that the symbolic vote would carry no weight. The vote would have had no affect on the deployment of United States troops, whether or not from California. If Californians want to send Washington a message about Iraq, Mr. Schwarzenegger said, they can do so at the polls without an Iraq advisory question. California, he said moved its presidential primary up to Feb. 5 from June to allow the state a greater say in selecting presidential candidates.
“All Californians have the right and the means to speak their mind on matters of such national importance,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said in his veto. “There is no louder message Californians can send to Washington on the Iraq war than who should lead our nation.”
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The governor makes sense, at least to me. We are way past easy symbolism on this matter. Jane Fonda didn't get us out of Vietnam by encouraging feel-good initiatives on the state ballot.
She got out and spoke her piece, personally. She paid a price she is not yet altogether through paying and she did it for something she believed.
Incredibly, in both the character of this president and the characterization of this war, we are, for the most part, too busy at the mall or taking in the auto show to make our positions known.
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