Capitulating to the Party of Surrender: The Dems Help Bush Pull Domestic Political Victory From the Jaws of Defeat
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
There is no question that the GOP is the party of surrender. Terrorists don’t need a timeline to know that Bush and Cheney began putting America in a position of weakness and vulnerability – both militarily and economically – when the mad king and his Rasputin – along with Svengali Rove -- ginned up a propaganda campaign to scare Congress into permitting them to make the strategically devastating error of invading Iraq.
But the Democratic leadership on the Hill reacts by doing the opposite of Teddy Roosevelt’s dictum: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Since the 2006 elections, the Dem honchos have been speaking loudly and carrying a little stick.
They claim that they don’t have the votes to override a veto. But they do have the votes to keep passing a bill that Bush will veto, effectively bringing the war in Iraq to a close because funding will run out.
They can end the war in Iraq, but they are scared of being labeled with "losing the war." And this is a scarlet letter that they fear cannot be worn in a superpower nation that sees itself as the entitled righteous victor in any war that it starts, no matter how faulty the premise or counterproductive to our real national security that war may be.
So the death continues, of young men and women – many who are patriotic enough to believe that the lies told to them by the Bush Administration are true. Young women, like 19-year-old Katie Soenksen of Davenport Iowa, fresh out of high school, one of our GIs killed earlier this month in Iraq:
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Why is it that so many Democratic leaders of recent years served honorably in combat during Vietnam – as did John Kerry – but the likes of Bush, Cheney and Rove cravenly made sure that they would never be sent to fight in the war that they supported safely from the comfort of an armchair in the United States? Why is it that Democratic leaders, on the other hand, back down and show their weakness when the combat cowards of the GOP bark loudly as they steer the ship of state into an iceberg?
The endgame for the war in Iraq is like playing musical chairs. The Bush Republicans know that the only thing that counts is who is seated in the last remaining chair when the music stops. They will trip you, gouge your eyes, elbow you, whatever it takes to makes sure they are sitting in it when the game is over.
Meanwhile, the Democratic leaders will take the abuse and apologize for being in the way, as the Republicans thug their butts into the seat of power.
In the end, the Democratic leadership on the Hill has lost the post-2006 election battle over Iraq.
By dropping the timeline, Bush – whose polls are reaching the bottom of the Grand Canyon – has pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, because the Dem leaders are inherently weak when it comes to political confrontation.
They think, no doubt, that they will make Bush, Cheney, Rove and Gonzales die the death of a thousand cuts through investigations. But Bush holds the power over the Federal Courts and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. And Rove is going to stay by his side.
No, what the Dem leaders have done in capitulating to a ruinous war that is profoundly damaging to our national security is to give Bush a political win when they had him on the ropes.
Once Bush signs a war-funding bill with no timelines, he can once again say the Democrats are partners in his little fiasco. As the war continues to deteriorate, he can rightfully say that they sent him a bill to continue pursuing the war, which is what they now plan to do. The Dem leaders are now, once again, complicit enablers of the horrifying failure known as the Iraq War.
They have restored the mantle of power and credibility to Bush, just when the rug was about to be pulled out from under him.
Furthermore, now Bush can possibly start downsizing our forces in Iraq next year, after increasing them this year, and make it appear as if he is de-escalating the war just before the 2008 elections. Bush will then look like the one who gets the credit for troop withdrawal, and the Democrats will suffer severely at the polls.
And then there's the Iran wild card. No doubt, the Dems would fall in line if Bush and Cheney nuke Iran after some sort of "Gulf of Tonkin" incident. And we'd have another glowing post-9/11 Bush "mantle of leadership" media pile on.
Anyway you look at it, the move of the Democrats on the Hill to remove a timeline for withdrawal from the war funding bill is a blow to our national security, a death warrant for more GIs, and a politically naïve strategy.
Americans respect bold, unflinching leadership. The Republicans have used propaganda and theatrics to project that image for much of the Bush Administration.
The Democrats seem bent on projecting weak, timid leadership, which doesn’t sell well at the voting booth.
The abandonment of principle and what is best for the national security of America by the Democrats is a losing move all around.
As a result, there will be more GIs like Katie Soenksen dying over the Memorial Day weekend and beyond. Our national defense will continue to deteriorate and our vulnerability will continue to increase.
And the Dems are losing their shot to recapture the White House and hold onto the Congress in 2008.
The only way that they can reverse the political gift that they are giving to the Republican Party is to grow a spine. Words don’t matter; actions do.
But we’ve been waiting seven years for that.
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
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Dems capitulating?
One thing that so many seem to be missing is that the Democrats have widened the discussion on Iraq. Though the benchmarks may be weak they are now being talked about by a wide swath of the public. Let's face it, if the Democrats had a veto proof majority, things would be very different. Instead of just complaining, bombard Republican politicians offices telling them to vote for timelines next time the vote comes up. Them them to support the troops and bring them home. Is it productive to constantly attack the Democrats when you know they want the troops home but in reality their hands are tied? Even David Brooks has defended them.
We Either End The Iraq War Or It'll Be The End Of Us
"But Congress keeps funding it?"
"Forget Congress. It's up to us."
"But how?"
"Troops out now, same as before.".
We're Being Played
This is by design.
Simple.
The vast majority of people want out of Iraq and we really don't care at this point how.
We know the oil is important, but maybe not as important as our fortune, honor and the lives of our best.
The so-called representatives of the people are not only not stopping this illegal murder of thousands of people and holding those accountable by impeaching, putting them on trial and if found convicted dealt the proper punishment, they are contributing to the slaughter.
They want us to believe that somehow more war is getting us closer to peace.
They think we're total fucking idiots.
Consider ... this vote is to splinter the Democratic vote by driving them to fringe parties. The Republicans regain the WH. The only thing that may save the WH for the Democrats in 08' elections is a populars surge if Gore should run and that's if he runs not as an independent.
And with the rightful anger at the Democrats that might be a very smart move for Gore to run as an Independent.
Snits
Good God, you all sound like a bunch of teenagers having snits! "The Democrats are cowards; the Democrats backed down; the battle is lost, both parties are the same," etc. It's like reading a bad comic book.
Republicans stick together when they encounter setbacks. We attack our leaders and jump ship. We will never defeat them if we don't grow up.
BuzzFlash shows integrity, conscience
Rank and file Democrats should feel free to criticize party leaders when criticism is due. We're human beings and citizens first, and members of a given political party second (or third, fourth, fifth, etc.)
Thankfully most grassroots Democrats don't align themselves with political strategists. If we did, we wouldn't be very effective citizens.
Historian Howard Zinn offered the most coherent take on the subject in his article for The Progressive, "
Are We Politicians or Citizens?"
Zinn says, "When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not to fall in meekly behind them."
Zinn continues, "We who protest the war are not politicians. We are citizens. Whatever politicians may do, let them first feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not for what is winnable, in a shamefully timorous Congress."
http://www.progressive.org/mag_zinn0507
The folks at BuzzFlash have acted responsibly in rightly criticizing those Democrats who capitulated.
Mark Twain once said, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."
We should support the decisions of Democrats when they deserve it, and correct them when they don't.
Grassroots Democrats aren't the toadies of the party leadership. The politicians work for us. When they don't listen to their base, we shouldn't passively fall in line but work to bring the leadership back in line and help the party regain its soul and conscience.
Every day the Iraq occupation continues, human lives are lost unnecessarily. At least one soldier alive in Iraq today won't be breathing by this time tomorrow -- maybe many more than one.
Why can't war-supporting members of Congress take in the full meaning of this? We hear they're being "tactical" and "strategic."
Those are cold, clinical terms for what is, in fact, enabling needless death, maiming and an endless drain on the national treasury. For example:
So far around 3,500 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq, and countless Iraqi civilians have been killed.
Around 50,508 U.S. soldiers have suffered non-mortal wounds in the "global war on terror" in Iraq and Afghanistan according to The Department of Veterans Affairs.
An MSNBC report says the monetary cost of the Iraq war "grows by at least $200 million each and every day." The same report says, "Even if the U.S. exits Iraq within another three years, total direct and indirect costs to U.S. taxpayers will likely by more than $400 billion, and one estimate puts the total economic impact at up to $2 trillion."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11880954/
The occupation of Iraq, instead of helping "fight terrorism" actually takes resources away from protecting the country and the world. Most experts not allied with the Bush administration agree that Iraq isn't, and never was, a key front in the so-called "war on terror."
But the "war" supporters, even the allegedly reluctant ones with their ice-in-the-veins focus on tactics, strategy and political expedience, can't absorb the significance of unnecessary death and dismemberment.
Unnecessary. Preventable.
Irreplaceable human beings -- who might have lived to see their children grow up -- will die in Iraq while politicians quibble over how their vote on the war might impact their own personal political fortunes.
By this time tomorrow, how many more will have died or been seriously wounded? The blood of those irreplaceble dead and injured will be on the hands of every supporter of, and everyone who equivocates about, this easily preventable "war."
Thankfully, we have conscientious citizens, including the folks at BuzzFlash, who refuse to equivocate when it comes to this travesty. Their editorial was much-needed commentary.
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Am I the only rational thinking human being on the planet?
(please excuse the language)
THESE MOTHER FUCKERS!
All of them can kiss this man's ass!
Worthless as "tits on a boar".
I cannot believe these sub-human pig's.
It's like the ol' "hot potato", nobody want's to grab hold of it for fear of being burned.
Well it's a lot hotter in Hell....
Fuckin shame...this country is.....
OCCUPY D.C. AND FORCE THEM TO END THE WAR!
Now that the Democrats in Congress have proven themselves to be just as corrupt as the enabling Republicans, it is time for WE THE PEOPLE to exercise our Constitutional rights to assemble in Washington, D.C. and in particular in front of and around the White House, Congressional buildings, the Supreme Court and the Pentagon.
We have the right to assemble and indefinitely occupy our government buildings, shut them down, and order our representatives in the government and the military to end the illegal occupation in Iraq.
If we do not march on D.C. soon, then WE THE PEOPLE will own the war too!
This holiday weekend looks like a very good time to start our peaceful assembly and occupation to show them that they are not the boss of us, we are the boss of them!
Get a grip man...
No one cares for your shit...
Vote Republican next time. :D :D :D
Losing The War
On account of troops out now? Sorry, they got it upside-down, because troops out now is a win, not a loss. Losing is staying the course plus or minus a surge or two, while winning is no war no more, nowhere, never, not even one.
Capitulating....
Once again, the Dems have shown how readily they can be bamboozled. First, Monica Goodling hoodwinks them into granting her immunity in exchange for...nothing, while her goody-two-shoes stay spotlessly clean. Then they allow themselves to be bullied - lest they be seen as not supporting the troops - into passing a war-funding bill on almost a pure party-line vote. The Repubs get everything they want without leaving any of their fingerprints and, come the September reckoning, can both blame the Dems and divorce themselves from Bush when the "surge" fails.
All this in one day. They're left looking like Wile E. Coyote after one of his too-clever devices blows up in his face, while Rove and the Repubs fly by going "Meep-meep!"
and then there's this ...
This might be a play by the system to keep the Republicans in power. If the Democrats are weakened by this betrayal it could swing enough votes to the Green or Libertarian Party and the Repukes retain the WH.
Game - set - match.
Scammed by Both Parties
There is enough evidence readily available to destroy the entire Republican Party. I'm just an ordinary citizen and I can provide links to evidence of crimes that would keep investigators busy for the next 20 years. We've heard testimony that convicts our top leaders of crimes that make one cringe. Yet nothing will happen. No convictions. No change. No nothing.
Why? The answer is simple.
If the Republican Party were to fall an opposition party would take it's place and all of the other parties have more credibility than both the Republicans and Democrats put together.
We can't have that, or rather "they" can't have that. With only two major parties control over us is easy. Hence there will be no accountability. The criminals will remain free and we will remain in bondage to a system that is corrupted beyond repair.
capitulating
Let's see now ... Dems capitulate over Iraq funding to the murdering monkey; millions of names have been stolen from private data bases all over the country by the Total Information Awareness freaks; spying continues over the phones and Internet giving Bush the info he needs to blackmail members of Congress; Dept. of Justice proved to be taken over by the Neocons and Repugs, as well as rigging the votes in national elections; and the religiously insane think we're still a democracy and that we're still #1, whatever the fuck that means. Here's the facts:
* The quality of life in America is 9th compared to the rest of the world by the United Nations.
* The Health Care system in the U.S. is ranked 37th in the world by the WHO.
* 47% of the population will get some kind of cancer in their lifetime compared to 14% when my Mother got it in the late 60s.
* Our education system is raked 11th world wide.
But, we are number one in military/industrial complex business! The Corporate/fascists/Neocons have won. I'm not saying we can't take it back, but what there is to take back, if we do take it back, will not be even close to what it used to be. Put the blame on Repugs and call every one of them the traitors that they are. But, they're not as treacherous as the Democratic Leadership Council who sold out the common people and people in uniform by capitulating on this Iraq Bill. Yeah, blame them.
Let's see what they say when the future economic collapse does materialize, and see how the religiously insane and the other Bush supporters will explain it. Screw the 50s, I wish I was back in the 60s.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See what's free at AOL.com.
theres only one party
Neither Dems nor Repubs exist any more. The entire government is run by private money.
War in general and the Iraq war in particular make lots and lots of money for the corporate interests that pull the strings in DC. Not just the usual kinds of war profiteering either, for instance, literally truck loads of cash are unaccounted for, Construction is often substandard and overcharged, work is billed and never completed or even started using "security" as an excuse. Its like a corrupt police force giving the crooks the keys to the bank.
They don't call Congress the "millionaires club" for nothing. Why in the world would the Dems want that kind of cash flow to end? The first bill was smoke and mirrors. They hoped we'd give them an "A" for effort but "ya gotta support the troops", is their lame (but widely believed) reason for cutting out the timelines.
EXCUSE ME?
The troops aren't being supported and never were being supported by these supplimental appropriations. The troops weren't even issued body armor fer crisakes! And the cripples who arive home endure rats and roaches in underfunded military hospitals! Support the troops? Great idea when are they gonna start!
"We gotta support Haliburton et al" is what they mean. I know people who own a lot of Haliburton stock and Exxon-Mobil stock and they have become rich since the Iraq war. When have lives ever trumped profit in the long run.
Want to change things?
Do it yourselves!
No political party in power is remotely motivated to change how the world is run...Ever!
The time to end this war is now...
This war has been immoral and illegal since day one. The time to end it is Now! Not next year, not in the fall, not next spring. Today, not next month or next week. Now.
We need to demand that our representatives start showing a little courage and stop being complicit in Bush's crimes.
End the war now.
That's my rant.
Some further reading if you're interested:
"Top-Ten Reasons to Get out of Iraq. Now!" - click here
It's Time to leave the party and scare them don't you think?
As I sit here choking down the bile while el chimpo prattles in the rose garden making his excuses... I am so angry over the continued capitulation of the Democrats to Bush that I could scream.
So the only answer I can honestly come up with is to give it right back to them.
Every Democrat in America who disagrees with this should re-register as an Independent. And stay that way forever.
Make them work for our votes and quit taking us for granted.
No matter what party they come from.
And if we all leave and re register en masse this month it will blow their minds and truly get their attention.... the way we WANT them to BEFORE the next election.
So what do you say?
Are you ready to re-register?
It is so very easy to do these days...
Too much work
Just vote Republican.
THAT would be suicide. I
THAT would be suicide. I would rather you did that.
Bitter End
Thirty years. Thirty years since we got the hell out of Vietnam. It may has well have been 30 centuries ago for all of the collective memories of the American people. We were lied to going into that War, it was illegal, immoral and unjust. We paid a terrible price. For those who stood up and got us out there was no glory no thanks, only ridicule and blame. After the first Gulf War the popular saying was “We got over the stigma of Vietnam” as if it were a bad loss in a football game. Now we have been lied to again and are in the middle of another fiasco/bloodbath. Those who are culpable are steadfast in their atrocities. Those who have the mind to get us out do not have the heart. For their lack thereof they are ridiculed and blamed.
Let us go past the immediate and look into the future. Were every effort made to extinguish the fires set by the madman in the White House and these proved successful what then? The charade that got us in is still playing in the minds of many. Indeed the talking heads in the Corporate News Media still treat this War of Aggression as a legitimate undertaking. Other than the few that we are there is little talk of punishing the perpetrators of this Crime. There’s not even a majority opinion that this is a Crime. This abomination is destined to be a continuing disaster of Biblical proportions. If the right thing were done those doing it would not be praised for their courage but vilified for their cowardice as was done in the case of Vietnam.
This Crime is the work of George W. Bush. He has never taken responsibility for anything in his life. If this Crime were ended without the acknowledgment of his responsibility no lesson would be learned. The could have won, should have won, this is someone else’s fault stigma would be born by those who stepped in and stopped this Holocaust. This must play out to the bitter end, future generations must not repeat this catastrophe.
You are absolutely right: Stand Down
As sad as it may sound you are absolutely right. I agree completely and have stood down to let it play out. My activities are all centered around surviving in a world without our "wonderful" supply system in America, because it is going to break down when our country breaks down. And that has got to be the end of this scenario.
Meanwhile, re register independent and let the chips fall to those stubborn people who want to continue life long war.
I am 55 years old and sick to death of living in a WAR NATION.
We are not a free nation at all. We are a nation of madmen, conscripting our futures to the imperialist goals of the rich. I won't fight for that.
Go back to measuring drapes...
Pelosi should go back to measuring drapes. :D
This is so good -- Finally, a civic lesson for liberals and democrats and the limits of power despite the empty promises of the congress.
Remember 6 for 06 - What bills exactly that this congress passed that is now law? Remember the 100 hours and this is now May 24th.
Vote Republican next time. :D
They passed everything
And then YOUR SIDE stood down for the override or blocked the bills with PORK PORK PORK, THAT STUFF YOU LOVE SO MUCH.
I say stand down and let the nation fall into chaos. Then you will miss us. You are too stupid to govern. Unless you can sell your fascism; at which time the world would have to coalesce against the USA to survive.
And we would remain stood down for the fight.
good way to rid ourselves of republicans.
Demopublicans
The Democrats are showing that they are little different than the Republicans. Pelosi is my member of Congress and I am now ready to let her to be a full-time grandmother from Baltimore.
She has backed down on ending the war and ethics reform and she is working with Dear Leader on more "free trade" agreements. The war is killing our soldiers, the ethical sewer in DC is killing our democracy and "free trade" is killing our economy. All are horrible for our nation's future and security.
I wouldn't vote Republican even if they were the only candidates on the ballot. I am no longer a reliable Democratic vote. There are other parties with reasonable candidates that deserve our consideration. Many of the current crop of pols in DC are showing us that they don't deserve another term, that includes Democrats.
Known quantity
Vote Republican - They are a known quantity and have bigger kahunas. They stand their ground.
Yes, they stand their ground.
but only when that ground is a pile of fascism.
If it is a Liberal free state they go to work to destroy it.
Welcome to fascist America fascist.
Don't vote republican unless you admire Hitler.
Stupid Nutsack
How much "kahunas" does it take stand in the road and let a Mack truck run you down? Lots I wager though it doesn't change the fact that you'll be a lump of mangled and broken meat afterwards.
Keep voting Republican, Zorro you dumb fuck, and watch out for the military-industrial plutocratic truck racing in your (and our) direction.
Courage without wisdom and intelligence brings only the certitude of swift destruction at the hands of those who may lack courage but are far wiser and well informed. It doesn't take courage to lure someone else into the path of the oncoming disaster while sitting comfortably on the sidelines in a lovely gated community sipping sherry with the money masters.
On a personal side note, zorro, I'd love to meet you in a dark alley and see just how much by way of "kahunas" YOU have, as opposed to your political masters. I'd even be happy to whoop you without the need for weaponry, instead taking the greater pleasure in pounding you down with my own flesh. Moreover if you possessed any of these "kahunas" to which you so blithely referred your dumb ass would be somewhere in the middle east with our brave soldiers trying not get your ass shot off, instead of inanely spewing gutless bullshit on a message board.
Weak little prick. You deserve to be trampled under and wastefully used by your corrupted soothe-saying task masters, which they will gladly do...especially if it is a potentially profitable endeavour. You are worth nothing to them as long as you vote their way, pay up when ordered, and don't dare to think for yourself.
----- ----- -----
As to the topic of this particular discussion, are we really surprised at the Demo-cowards? They are just as sold-out as the Rethugs. But hey, if nothing else it has proven entertaining to watch the Democrat faithful twist and contort themselves to ridiculous ends in the hope that the Dems might in some way or at some point actually stand up to the powers that be. As if. Could have told you that on November 3rd of 2006, but none would have listened, being far to drunk on the phyrric victory and overcome by a false self-soothing hope.
Free country - Last time I checked
Vote Republican -- You can't go wrong.
The Democrats lied to you. :D
I will spew anything I want it is my right.
Dumb ass thug you are...You're pissed because you lost AGAIN! but this time there was no cheating involved. Your own people cheated you. :D
Well, I have to agree with you on two things
1) Pelosi should go back to measuring drapes.
Heh, heh. I quit watching network news years ago as a good liberal but I caught that on a Crooks & Liars clip. I think there can be cross-party agreement that was pretty amazing. Is there some neo-sari-chic fashion thing going on with rich Californians?
2) Yes, the Democrats are worthless. I think we can all agree on that now. They drowned in the Rubicon, hammered the last nail in the party's coffin -- pick your slogan for whatever suicide they committed this week.
I have a feeling we _greatly_ disagree on the separation of powers. It is my understanding the constitution says Congress passes the laws. The Executive branch merely executes them. You'd have to show me where signing statements and declarations are listed.
I said Pelosi couldn't be trusted
After she became Minority Leader and refused to acknowledge Cynthia McKinney as a member of her own Caucus, much less restore the woman's House seniority, when Pelosi already done it for other returning members.
She's no better than if Harold Ford Jr., got the Minority Leader position. Of course he was postering for a shot at the Senate, but still...
She can go back to San Francisco and hang drapes as well as be a grandmother on Nob Hill. I hope she gets a primary challenge from Matt Gonzalez or Gavin Newsome - because of this stunt, she's weakened her hold on that Congressional seat.
Phil and Sala Burton are turning over in their graves at this.
And Senate Majority Leader Harry "keeping my Powder dry" Reid just went down for the count. Poke a fork in him - he's done and overcooked...
The Christian Progressive Liberal
Vote Republican = Death
Only masturbating trolls would tell someone to "vote republican".
Remember the adage that Bush forgot,
"Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."
VOTE GREEN.
as a wasted vote seems to be the outcome of voting Democratic last November.
Regardless, however bad it gets and whatever you do,
please remember,
FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS EVER VOTE REPUBLICAN