Anti-Escalation Bill on Beacon Hill

I got an email today from MoveOn.org Political Action announcing that state Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick) and Senator Karen Spilka (D-Framingham) have introduced legislation opposing the escalation in Iraq. The move is apparently part of a larger effort to get state legislatures to pass resolutions opposing troop increases, and they wanted to make sure that everyone contacts their legislators in support of the bill. There's more information about the effort at the Progressive States Network.

I'm not sure that the statehouse is the right place to have a debate on troop levels, but with Republicans in the Senate blocking debate on the war there, maybe it's just important for us to have a debate somewhere. I have not seen or read the resolution, but I'm sure it can't be anything more than symbolic since the state legislature has no jurisdiction over the armed forces. Normally, I'm skeptical of these sorts of symbolic gestures -- particularly since the President seems disinclined to alter course no matter who is opposed to him. Still, in this case I'm wondering if a vote of no confidence at the state level (not in Massachusetts, perhaps, but elsewhere) would bring some pressure on Congress to end the war sooner rather than later.

I hope Spilka and Linsky's bill gets a fair hearing on Beacon Hill.