I was much less skeptical than some other people when I learned that Walter Jones, one of the GOP congressmen behind the move to have the fried spuds in the House cafeteria renamed "freedom fries," had turned against the Iraq war. Well, now there's this:

A Republican congressman who voted for the Iraq war said Sunday that "we've done about as much as we can do" in the country and that the reason for invading Iraq has proven false.

Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina will be among the lawmakers introducing legislation this week calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops in Iraq.

"When I look at the number of men and women who have been killed -- it's almost 1,700 now, in addition to close to 12,000 have been severely wounded -- and I just feel that the reason of going in for weapons of mass destruction, the ability of the Iraqis to make a nuclear weapon, that's all been proven that it was never there," Jones said on ABC's "This Week." ...

If nothing else, remember that the press often treats our side's ideas and arguments as a joke unless it can find a Republican who agrees with them. Think, for instance, about the press's utter unwillingness to discuss the extreme positions of past and current filibustered Bush judicial nominees, and the greater willingness to talk about John Bolton, who, unlike those nominees, has Republican opposition (George Voinovich and also, sub rosa, Colin Powell, whom the press counts as a Republican even if his fellow Republicans don't). So sneer at Jones if you must, but I'm pleased.

(And no, I can't believe Jones is really in sync with the majority of his heavily military district -- though if you can show me a poll that says a majority of troops and their families are now anti-war, I'll admit I was wrong.)