Jim McDermott on Justice 2008     

Well it’s been interesting

 It’s been a long time since I went to Baghdad and Basra.

Hey look at that eagle!

I often see eagles from this window.

Baghdad Jim I am, and will forever be, since then.

The media has stopped calling

I’ve been blacked out  

No more TV

No interviews.  You would have thought…

Why’s that?

What did I say to cause such offence?

I said there’d be no WMD, well they didn’t find any, and

I said Bush would make up a story to justify Iraq, and

I was right, going into Iraq was based on, oh well, let’s no go there.

It doesn’t pay to be right it seems.

That picture is out of true.

Lopsided. I’ll straighten it.

See that bamboo picture over there.

Bamboo bends: “the Buddhist ideal of a public servant”

Someone with strong ideals who can compromise without

Betrayal

Of course if the media would accept that our trip to Iraq was legit

There would be consequences, maybe, just maybe!?

Over 4,000 dead in the military shows there

Have been consequences, right?

I was born and raised in Chicago.

Some say I’m an Irish politician with the gift of the gab.

I think I’m a typical American with American values.

In politics I’m flexible, up to a point. 

I’ve always spoken up for freedom, ironic isn’t it?

Now it comes out that my trip was paid for by Saddam.

This Al-Hanooti guy they indicted, why now?

Seems like he spread his money around, gave some to

Bush, was photographed with Hillary.

What’s going on?

 This comes out now?

Could it be to hang around Hillary’s neck if she’s the Candidate?

But I don’t regret going. 

As the majority now agree, that war

Was a mistake and if I could have done more to stop it

I would have.

Then there’s the $1.1M I’ve had to pay off Congressman Boehner to wrap

Up that ten-year vendetta.  One point one

Million dollars in judgment

Boehner’s legal fees!

They were twice what I paid.  Was

I short changed by my legal team?!

Makes you think?

A million is a cheap price to pay for a

principle: freedom of speech.

I didn’t bend like bamboo that time. 

So Newt and Boehner were morally wrong; but

I pay a fine.  That’s interesting isn’t it?

If I’d had that tape read into the Congressional Record, all would have been fine.

But giving it to the press, who would have thought?

So what’s next for Baghdad Jim.

I want to get Healthcare sorted out next year.

Obama? Hillary? How will I vote?

I’ll do what I think’s best for the country.

Dick Russell, based on a fund-raising event at Rick Steve's Europe Through The Back Door in Edmonds, WA