A Disgusting Day

The debate in the House and the Senate today on Iraq should shame the nation. Instead of actually discussing the failed strategies that have caused the deaths of 2,500 soldiers and the wounding of several thousands more, what we saw today was a political stunt, outlined in a talking points memo that asked Republican lawmakers to conflate Iraq with 9-11 and paint Democrats as weak and wavering.

We actually had debate in Congress on a resolution NOT to set a timetable for troop withdrawal. Can you imagine? What other debates to assure that things won't happen will we see? A debate on NOT fixing the rising cost of healthcare? A debate on NOT funding No Child Left Behind? A debate on NOT inspecting containers at the ports? What is the point on a debate to NOT do something? Rep. McGovern?

"We will not be having a real debate on Iraq today," said Jim McGovern. "It will be a pretend debate, one that will have absolutely no effect on U.S. policy."

I have a question for Republican legislators. Go back to your homes tonight. Tell your children that you used our men and women in the Armed Forces as political props to stifle dissent and hang on to Congress in November. Tell them how you've left them without equipment, without a mission strategy, without support.

I ask you, how can you look your children in the face after you explain all that?

UPDATE: How much do Republicans hate the troops? They want to give amnesty to insurgents that have murdered US troops (and only the ones who murdered Americans, not the ones who've murdered other Iraqis), an idea that so incensed the Prime Minister (at least publicly) that the aide who mentioned it had to resign? To be honest, there's something to be said for solving the problem through the political process, but it flies in the face of everything Republicans supposedly stand for, to never negotiate with terrorists, to "smoke 'em out of their holes," to never send them a positive message. How can one party be so two-faced? You say the word "amnesty" in regard to the immigration debate and you have no repsect for the law. And immigrants never killed Americans with malicious intent.

There's a trend line here. The White House backed warlords in Somalia who had slaughtered US troops in the Black Hawk Down incident. Now the Senate has no problem giving amnesty to guerrillas. Yet they still call Democrats the party of cut-and-run.

What the fuck are we doing in Iraq?

I have to sit down, the topsy-turviness of this is giving me a headache...