Although I've never blogged much, if anything, about Sen Hillary Clinton (D-NY), no one who knows me would be especially surprised to hear me say that I don't think much of her. But I have to give her her due with regard to her comments after returning from her recent trip to Iraq:

"Not one polling place was shut down or overrun and the fact that you have these suicide bombers now, wreaking such hatred and violence while people pray, is to me, an indication of their failure," [Sen Clinton] said.

"The results of the election are a strong rebuke to those who did not believe that the Iraqi people would take this opportunity to demonstrate their own commitment to their own future."

Some of my compatriots on the Right will (and probably already have) snark at her for assuming this position because she views it as politically expedient. I think that tack is small-minded, mean-spirited, and politically counter-productive.

If the Senator and possible 2008 Presidential candidate takes (what I believe to be) the correct position on Iraq, I for one am not going to second-guess her motivations. Quite frankly, I don't care why she made the above statement in favor of our efforts in Iraq. The important point is that she is helping us move the debate to a more productive position, where we can focus on something else, whether that "something else" is some other aspect of Iraq, Social Security reform, or any of the other important issues of the day.

Gloat time is over, folks. President Bush won the election way back in November. The Iraqi elections were successfully held last month. I view all this harping and gloating the same way I view the ridiculous dances when football players get a sack, score a touchdown, etc. You did your job, just what you were supposed to do, and all that dancing just makes you look silly.

Thank you, Sen Clinton. You did your job, and you've come down on the right side of this issue. You're helping us, both Left and Right, move forward in our discussions on the many important topics before us. I hope that your comments will help push the other leaders in your party to accept reality and move forward, rather than trying to find anything that they can use as a tool to attack their political opponents. Many of us on the Right stand willing to engage you on the next issue, now that, to some degree, we've put this one behind us.