Call me irresponsible.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, and a few of their remaining loyalists in the Congress, have labeled the charges that they cooked the pre-Iraq invasion intelligence "irresponsible." I just want to say, there's nothing more responsible in the American system to debate issues of national security, war and peace. It would be irresponsible to hold back, as we all did when the administration was getting the benefit of the doubt from almost everybody. Besides, I don't believe this administration is qualified to chide others on the quality of their responsibility. They've taken precious little of it for their obvious mistakes. If they didn't distort the intelligence, there is only one conclusion--ignorance and stupidity.

The greatness of our country does not derive from our uses of power, or any level of perfection. We have made many mistakes. If we are great, it is because we tend to correct our mistakes. The sooner we begin the process of correcting the current crop, the better.