Bloody Tuesday
23 May 2007 12:54 am by Taylor Marsh
Well that was ugly.
Ms. Pelosi made clear that if money for the war was going to be provided
without a timeline for withdrawal, it would be without her personal support.
“I would never vote for such a thing,” Ms. Pelosi said as she
entered the office of Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, to
put the final touches on the $120 billion proposal.
What happened is really simple.
Democrats were going down, because we didn’t have the votes. They had two choices,
neither one easy, with one less bloody emotionally. Either send Bush a bill he
wouldn’t like and get another veto. Or send Bush a bill they knew he’d sign,
but many Democrats couldn’t support, in order to get the funding in place before
the Memorial Day recess.
The ghost of Vietnam reared her ugly head and the shadow she cast put everyone
in the dark and took their courage in the cold. It’s amazing that a thirty year
old curse can come back to freeze you in your tracks.
Jim Moran says, “It was a concession to reality.”
Not my reality, that’s for sure. Because when something is wrong it’s simply
wrong. Nothing is more wrong than this war.
Rahm Emanuel said, “I view this as the beginning of the end of the
president’s policy on Iraq.” Wherever he’s sitting I want that
view, because I just don’t see it that way today.
There is no doubt that Democrats pushed this process and won some tough victories,
getting votes on Reid-Feingold, as well as the McGovern bill. However, in the
end it came down to Bush is going to veto it anyway, because we don’t have
the votes, so sending another bill to get vetoed will only bring on charges
that we don’t support the troops. We’ll live to fight another day.
It will take a new generation of Democratic members of both the Senate and
the House to shed that pernicious curse; a haunting from another war era. A generation of people for whom Vietnam
is last century’s war, with the accusations that come from that time finally killed from age and through the bravery of people who can stand and take a punch. Then take another. As good as our leaders are today, and we’ve got some good ones, many still haven’t shaken the legacy of Vietnam, with others just not up to the job they’ve got. It will take a generation of fearless leaders who are not held hostage by
dead voices of long ago actors who still haunt the halls of Congress because of votes past, reminding the
current crop that behind every principled loss is actually a hero; with the person standing up for
something just to get it done the real coward. By the time people get to Congress they’re supposed to know these differences on their own.
While this dance goes on between lesser men and women, the build up in Iraq goes on. With reports of 200,000 troops by year end, this isn’t
ending anytime soon. We’ve got the largest base on planet earth now being built
in Iraq. Hey, but we’ve always got September. The Republicans can choke on September, which is their date, not mine. Anyone with half a brain knows they’re all just buying time. However, their doing it with American blood, which I cannot abide.
Dateline is July. Target is the Defense Appropriations bill.
A lot can happen when you give people with power and sloppy impulse control
time. Surge turns into an escalation, which turns into a build up, then before you know it the presidential election rolls around.
But at least Tuesday is over.
One thing left for Democrats in Congress to do: VOTE NO on the bill. Nothing less will do.
