When Bush casts his veto, the Dems must hold their course and refuse to fund the Iraq Bush experiment until their requirements are met. Bush will have to give in. This is a standoff the Dems can win.
The Dems should stay the course when it comes to refusing to fund the occupation. Money fuels the war machine. Period. Shut it off and Bush can veto all he wants, but the war will have to come to a halt. This is not a Mexican standoff. The congress has every right to block funding of Bush's war. Bush can squawk and whine, threaten and blame, call names and accuse, but he does not have the power to keep funding the war. That is the power, perhaps the only power the Dems have to do what they should do-- obey the will of the people and stop this damned war.
There will be weak, cowardly Dem legislators who will try to persuade congress to compromise. There is no compromise when it comes to giving up the power of the purse. Giving Bush his budget, even a portion of it, is defeat, failure, and a total violation of the the trust the voters placed in the congress when they put the Democrats in office.
When Bush vetos the current bill, I would hope that the Dems are ready with an onslaught of spin, to counter the right wing spin. But they must also hold their ground. Bush has a choice; accept funding with limits, deadlines and requirements or lose the funding for the war.
If the Dems allow a nickel of new money to be released, they will fail.
The leaders of the military have been playing all along as members of the Bush team-- the ones who have not been fired, anyway. They have been historically incompetent failures and losers. It is time they start being responsive to the people's representatives-- the members of congress.
Congress funds the military. While Grover Norquist wants to starve government so it is small enough to drown it in a bathtub, maybe we should look at starving the military so they face the fact that they are accountable to the people of the US, not just the criminal in the Whitehouse.
Yes, we need to support our troops, but when you know a soldier is being led to sure death, defenseless, without leadership, you don't just feed him a meal and say you're doing your job support the soldier, unless you're a fool. You do what you can to rescue the soldier, even if it means he goes without a meal. That's what the Dems are doin and should keep on doing. They need to follow the right wing mantra and stay the course on blocking funds for Iraq until deadlines and minimal training and safety requirements are met for the troops.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
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A few declarations.
-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
-My articles express my personal opinion, not the opinion of this website.
I'm not sure what to make of it. I think the Democrats must also want war -- but it's very unpleasing to think that. Thing is, they can just refuse to pass on funds which do anything other than bring troops home and fund their medical care. They can filibuster if needed -- this is very straightforward.
As for popular support and the right bad-mouthing them, they already showed gains in the last election by an anti-war and anti-Bush stand, and more people are against those now than before, and see through the right wing propaganda. So what do they have to fear? That's why I keep seeing them as wanting the war -- they can't be stupid enough not see the support they have in stopping it.
And the corporatists behind the 'racket' which is war? Their money won't help them win the next electionif the people won't vote for them, but even many in the corporate camp are turning against it -- they see it's not working: they can only take so many golden eggs before the goose dies.
Alright -- I know many of them are disconnected from reality and crazy, but are all of them? This is what I have a hard time getting. Caligula may have brought back chests of shells from Briton and thought it was wonderful, but the Roman senate knew better, and they put an end to him. Just how crazy IS the right wing? How many idiots can STILL buy this 'support the troops' crap?
Where do the Democrats think they're going? Even mild-mannered gangsters don't want to commit suicide. Did the commies poison the water in Washington so that all of their brains have become disfunctional? Why are they trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? I can't make any sense of this. This is just nuts.
by
Blue Pilgrim (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 997 comments)
on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 12:48:08 PM
people here seem to have a talent of developing self- deceit. Dems and Repugs are the same. They only serve different puppetmasters and sometimes one person serves two or several puppetmasters; that is all. Just look at their faces without listening to their crap. The driving forces there are two and both irrational: greed and .. feeling of belonging. That is a white Dem will like the white Repug ALWAYS more than, say, Jesse Jackson or Barak Obama. It is embedded, For decades we, the people avoided politics and as a result scum filled the void. They all are scum ( with some exceptions, of course, like Kucinich, for instance). But even for those who are not scum it is tough because the pressure to be one is enormous. Scum listens to the puppetmasters and ... also works for itself. So.. we only can pray that the puppetmasters kind off are rational people and to continue to exploit us they do not need extremists. It had always been that way. Only the marionettes were not that ugly and not that expensive like our so- called reps now.
by
Mark Sashine (50 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3453 comments)
on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 1:37:43 PM
.....maybe they're stalling around to give every chance for the new oil deal to be signed? When you boil it all down they all serve the same master...and it aint us.
by
mike wygant (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 287 comments)
on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 3:43:43 PM
...and not to DUBYA, any of his other flunkies and lackies, the lamestream media, or any of the myriad of spin alchemists who are trying to get them to cry "uncle" over this issue. If the Democrats want to show for the first time in recent memory that they have at least TWO BALLS in congress, this is the time and place to show.
How can the right still continue to bang the drum with same old, tired, "if the Democrats do ______, they aren't supporting the troops?"
They wore out that right a LOOOOOONG time ago! They wore out that right when they used every resource at their disposal to spin the 9/11 "attacks" into war mongers' gold. They wore out that right when they outed Valerie Plame. They wore out that right when they used Pat Tillman as a poster child for "patriotism"; using his death to market a war with which he did not agree. They wore out that welcome when they said things like, "they'll greet us as liberators," "the war is in its last throes," and the ever popular, "Mission:Accomplished." Finally, they wore out that right with the sad state of Walter Reed and it's infamous building 18.
The right has no more ammunition. They are grasping at threadbare arguments. They are trotting out the same shit over and over. The Democrats ABSOLUTELY MUST STAND FIRM!
This is one American citizen who will applaud congress for truly supporting our troops, and getting them the fuck out of a middle of someone else's civil war! Anything less out of then only shows they are worthy of all the derision that has ever been placed on them. Anything less shows that they haven't garnered a spine. Anything less means that America can rest assured we'll stay mired in this mess until at least the end of DUBYA's regime.
It's past time for the Democrats to worry about polls. It's high time they do the right thing! The blood on DUBYA's hands needs to remain on his hands. It's time for congress to wash its hands of any blood that may be on them for supporting the lies and spin in the first place!
Blessed be! Pappy
by
Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments)
on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 1:37:51 PM
Correction: WE must FORCE the Dems to 'stay the course'!!
NONE of them -under orders form Pelosi- will show any courage UNLESS their Constituents FORCE them to represent us! Before we can muster ENOUGH constituents, though - we have to overcome the Corporate-Owned-Media Blackout! Ordinary working people watch the evening news on CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox.... and they are thinking: "somebody should impeach those bastards" - BUT THEY ARE TOTALLY UNAWARE THAT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF US WORKING TO DO JUST THAT - because BushCo had Colin Powells son, Michael, head of the FCC, 'fix' that by creating the MONOPOLY. Remember? (for 'doubters': how many 'mainstream media' channels did you see doing "breaking news" about Kucinich taking the Cheney Impeachment to the House Judicial Committee?) ....or any news?
Nancy-aipac's-pet-Pelosi is going to protect and support the PNAC/AIPAC agenda. (PERIOD!) So are any of the candidates -Dem OR Republican- that manage to pass the 'vetting' of b-o-t-h Party Machines, those 'chosen' politicians who profit via AIPAC, etc, and all the Corporate Bribery they covet. (Americans should realize by now that the only 'differences' between Dems and Repubs are the superficial issues) We are given a "choice" of Candidates that are APPROVED AND FINANCED by the CORPORATIONS which control the USA - and which are out for the profits that World Domination will bring them.
It makes me very sad to hear Dems 'blame' Repubs... & vice-versa, this PNAC agenda for Endless Wars for World Domination is NOT 'Republican'. More and more Republicans are discovering the TRUTH about PNAC and the hi-jacking of their Party. PNAC strategy thrives on dividing the citizenry. Thay WANT us fighting and blaming each other... and we need to STOP that, to take a step back and realize that WE ARE ALL BEING USED BY THE PNAC bunch! Especially the Republicans - many of whom have inadvertantly contributed to the hi-jacking of their Party through their loyalty and disbelief that it could happen to the GOP.
Whichever Party 'wins' the election doesn't matter to the Corporations who BUY THEM ALL - it only matters to those politicians who are fighting for top-dog position under that Corporate Power - to them it is a question of their Personal Careers and all they can profit from by obtaining that coveted place in the sun! (and never mind the millions of campaign spending - most of it is cycled back into the Corporations that contribute them, anyway.)
I have described our political system as a Two-Headed-Snake, and I have failed to find a better description. The PNAC-Corporations are the Body, the Dems & Repubs are the Two Heads.
America's only Hope is that the heads will eat each other.
Are you seriously claiming that the Dems are in any sense
"refusing to fund the occupation"? They have unequivocally promised NOT to defund the occupation. Both the House & Senate bills in March funded the occupation, and the new bill does as well.
In other words, the Dems have clearly stated that they won't defund the occupation -- but you're urging them to "stay the course in refusing to fund" it. You're urging them to stay on a course that they are not on, have never been on, and have promised not to be on.
by
Richard Mynick (2 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 1168 comments)
on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 1:50:16 AM
I do agree that they COULD WIN by refusing the funding but they WON'T because so far the dummicraps have only proven they are a bunch of ball-less cowards. So it is my belief that they will eventually cave in and continue to fund this moronic war which will only further prove once again that they are HALF of the problem in the US DUOPOLY.
by
BenMarbleMD (22 articles, 0 quicklinks, 202 diaries, 293 comments)
on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 8:44:11 AM
SEC. 1904 (e) After the conclusion of the redeployment specified in subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary of Defense may not deploy or maintain members of the Armed Forces in Iraq for any purpose other than the following:
(1) Protecting American diplomatic facilities and American citizens, including members of the United States Armed Forces.
(2) Serving in roles consistent with customary diplomatic positions.
(3) Engaging in targeted special actions limited in duration and scope to killing or capturing members of al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations with global reach.
(4) Training and equipping members of the Iraqi Security Forces.
by
Blue Pilgrim (0 articles, 3 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 997 comments)
on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 12:01:10 PM
Bush in all his arrogance has notified the congress that he will veto the bill.
Why doesn't the congress notify his excellency that this will be the ONLY budget bill they will be submitting, therefore if he vetos then HE is shutting down the military.
If that were to happen and Bush is stupid enough to veto them I am sure enough repugs would jump on board to override the veto.
If they didn't, bring the troops home now and start the removal procedures.
I really don't see the problem here.
by
E Z Rider (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Saturday, April 28, 2007 at 2:37:59 PM
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