Thursday, February 01, 2007

Our Lame-assed Senate

OK, I'm starting to get a little fed up with our new Democratic Senate "majority". As a result of some amazing victories in the recent election, the Democrats came roaring into power this year amid much fanfare and ballyhoo.

I wasn't even completely sure what "ballyhoo" meant, so I looked it up on Dictionary.com and found out that it can mean a "sensational or clamorous advertising or publicity" or a "noisy shouting or uproar".

Great, so we ballyhooed a bunch of Democrats into former Republican seats in the Senate, and now we'll finally get to work on ending our direct involvement in that stupid, bloody, wasteful war in Iraq.

Except...they don't seem to actually WANT to do that.

These idiots, and I use the term "idiots" equally and without political prejudice because I'm waiting to see if the Senate manages to accomplish ANYTHING AT ALL with their newfound political power...these idiots somehow seem to think that voting on a NON-GODDAMNED-BINDING resolution to call for reducing US involvement in Iraq is a lot better than Senator Dodd's plan for REAL change in our Iraq policy that was unceremoniously tossed out like a used Kleenex by our elected officials.

Jesus, are they completely brain dead?

Chris Dodd and Senator Feingold have come out and said they weren't going to support the weak-assed Warner-Levin resolution, which is about as useful as teats on a boar hog. Good on them. Let it fail miserably and maybe the rest of the Senate will see that the ONLY good resolution is a resolution that actually DOES SOMETHING!

Now THAT would be reason for some ballyhooing.

Markos has a nice overview at DailyKOS, reposted here in it's entirety:
Is there anything more pathetic than Senators fighting tooth and nail over wording over a non-binding resolution that does absolutely nothing?

Well, Feingold is done playing that silly game.
I oppose the weak Warner-Levin resolution as currently written because it misunderstands the situation in Iraq and shortchanges our national security interests. The resolution rejects redeploying U.S. troops and supports moving a misguided military strategy from one part of Iraq to another. The American people have rejected the President’s Iraq strategy and it’s time for Congress to end our military involvement in this war. We must redeploy our troops from Iraq so that we can focus on the global threats that face us.

Yesterday, Feingold introduced the Iraq Redeployment Act of 2007. Feingold’s bill would force the President to safely redeploy U.S. troops out of Iraq by prohibiting further funding of military operations in Iraq six months after enactment.
Dodd will also oppose the useless Warner-Levin amendment.
Dodd, D-Conn., became the second Democrat to say he would vote against the measure. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wisc., is also against the bill, which is expected to be debated in the Senate next week.

Dodd's central argument was that a non-binding resolution is meaningless.
This complicates Reid's efforts to get to 60 votes, and it's a good thing. Kill this piece of crap dead.

What's the point of a useless amendment? Is Reid really that desperate to give Jon Stewart more material for the Daily Show.

Reid should introduce BINDING legislation. Let the Republicans vote against it. It'll give us grist to use in the 2008 elections. The American people didn't elect a Democratic Congress to waste time passing useless, non-binding resolutions that Bush can easily (and gleefully) ignore.

A successful non-binding resolution will be no more useful in ending this disastrous war than a failed binding one. So let's make a real statement on the war, not empty platitudes and rhetoric.

9 comments:

CT Bob said...

Mike - you're right, of course...but knowing that doesn't mean I won't get pissed off and shout about it now and again.

Believe me, it really helps to vent occasionally.

Connecticut Man1 said...

I knew exactly what I heard from most of them. I had no delusions that the fight had only begun. But it is our "job" to continue to push this agenda.

If it comes down to a 2008 presidential election being fought on whether to stay or go from Iraq... Dems will be in no better position to win than the Repubs. That would truely be a sad state of affairs.

Anonymous said...

Even more important, I think, than ending the Iraq occupation is preventing the upcoming war with Iran. An interesting post on what the Democrats can and should do can be found here:

http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2007/02/time-has-run-out-and-choice-is-yours.html

Anonymous said...

I agree that we have to face the fact W is going to war with Iran. I am stunned that people don't realize we are as close as we were during the Cuban missile crisis. Congress needs to neuter this lame-duck president and his deadeye little troll vp NOW!!!!
UptownNYChick

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear, Bob!

Frankly, I was a little disgusted at the huge cheers that Hillary Clinton got today for her, "If we're not out by 2009, I'll get us out of Iraq" pledge.

The goalposts are now set at 2009?!??! What the fuck.

Obama continues to lack substance, IMO.

And so one of the reasons, I think, that Dodd exceeded expectations today when it comes down to actual substance is that he clearly and vociferously talked about doing something REAL in the Senate to stop escalation now. He blasted the useless non-binding resolution and it was great.

fuzzyturtle said...

O RLY?

sorry had to say that with the pic and all.

and yea, they've got no balls. That's a damn shame :(

we're never gonna get out of that mess at this rate.

PS IF you haven't seen "my country my country", see it. it's like a knife thru the heart

CT Bob said...

heh heh...I forgot the "O RLY" in my title, and it's too late to change it now (any links to the article are based on the wording of the headline).

Anonymous said...

Thank Dodd.

Anonymous said...

I love how Dodd threatened the credit card companies...who...after years of pillaging the pocket books of most Americans -- are surely shaking in their shoes! Amazing.