Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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May 24, 2007 7:57 PM
We Gave Them Our Hearts, They Gave Him A Blank Check
It is a dark day in our nation's history. That sounds melodramatic - but it is true. Today America watched a Democratic Party kick them square in the teeth - all in order to continue the most unpopular war in a generation at the request of the most unpopular president in a generation at a time polls show a larger percentage of the public thinks America is going in the wrong direction than ever recorded in polling history.
The numbers are not pretty. First, 216 House Democrats cast the key vote to send a blank check Iraq War funding bill over to the Senate. As I reported at the beginning of the day and as the Associated Press now confirms, the vote on the rule was the vote that made it happen. As the AP said: "In a highly unusual maneuver, House Democratic leaders crafted a procedure that allowed their rank and file to oppose money for the war, then step aside so Republicans could advance it." Nauseating.
In the Senate, we saw lots of promises and tough talk from senators telling us they were going to do everything they could to stop the blank check. Some of them bragged that they were going to vote against the bill - as if that was the ultimate sign of heroics. Then, not a single senator found the backbone to stand up to filibuster the bill a la Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. To quote the Big Lebowski, "These men are cowards," because apparently, Senate club etiquette comes even before the lives of our troops.
The blank check sailed through the upper chamber on a vote of 80-14 with 38 Democrats (the majority of the party) voting yes. In all, at a time when 82 percent of Americans tell pollsters they want Congress to either approve funds for the war with strict conditions or cut off all funding immediately, 90 percent of House and Senate Democrats combined voted to give George W. Bush a blank check.
The worst part of it all was the overt efforts to deceive the public - as if we're all just a bunch of morons. House Democrats have the nerve to continue to insist the blank check they helped ram through the House was all the Republicans doing, and that a sham vote on a GOP amendment today - which most Democrats opposed for show - was the real vote for the war. But, again, as the AP reported, it was their parliamentary motion - passed so quickly and under the devious pretenses of mundane procedural necessity - that showed their calculated complicity. Now, tonight, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is actually sending out fundraising emails claiming "the House just passed legislation that will go to the White House that includes critical issues Democrats have been fighting for including canceling the President's blank check in Iraq." Beyond nauseating.
I'm not a purist nor am I a "pox on both their houses" kind of guy. I have worked to elect Democratic politicians and I supported Democratic leaders when they pushed an Iraq funding bill that included binding language to end the war. But what happened today was perhaps the most stunning travesty I've seen in a decade working in Democratic politics. A Democratic Party that six months ago was elected on a promise to end the war first tried to hide their complicity in continuing the war in the House, and then gave a few token speeches as the blank check sailed through the Senate club. And it all happened, as the New York Times reported today, because these Democrats believed criticism from President Bush - the man who polls show is the most unpopular president in three decades - "seemed more politically threatening to them than the anger Democrats knew they would draw from the left."
Democratic politicians, Capitol Hill staff, political consultants and all their lobbyist friends sitting comfortably tonight in their Northwest Washington homes believe the public thinks Democrats are "weak" because they don't more strongly support leaving American troops to be killed or maimed in the middle of a bloody civil war in a country half way around the globe that had no WMD and had nothing to do with 9/11. What they seem unable - or unwilling - to realize is that the public has believed Democrats are weak not because some in the party have opposed the war, but because many in the party refuse to wield the power the public entrusts them with on all sorts of issues. At least on Iraq - the biggest issue of the day - the public's perception has proven right. As I wrote to one congressional lawmaker in an e-mail correspondence we had today: "The spoils go to those who use the power they are entrusted with, while infamy goes to those who squander it."
In the movie "Say Anything," John Cusack famously laments after being dumped that "I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen." The American people gave Democrats their heart in November 2006. In return, Democrats gave George Bush a blank check in May 2007. We gave them our heart, they gave him a blank check. That will make May 24, 2007 a dark day generations to come will look back on - a day when Democrats in Washington not only continued a war they promised to end, but happily went on record declaring that they believe in their hearts that government's role is to ignore the will of the American people.
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Discussion
Well, it was your boys Brown, Webb and Tester voting YEA now wasn't it? Clinton and Obama were NAY.
Just saying, "populism" obviously isn't the cure-all.
The only reason Hillary and Obama voted No is because they are running for president and a "Yea" would have wiped them out at the polls. As it stands the "no" votes required no political backbone whatsover, they were safe votes with no cost.
Hence nothing to do with "populism" but with triangulation.
As for Tester and Webb and so called stalwarts like Feingold - fuck them. They showed us their true colors today, corrupt, bloodless little men of no consequence, worthy only of mockery.
Obama and Clinton waited until The $97 billion dollar Iraq War Funding Bill had passed before they cast their self serving votes against it..
These are the two leading Democratic Candidates who want to Lead Our Nation..
Where's the leadership in hiding in the shadows until this obscene stupid bill passes to cast two meaningless nay votes..?
Sadly things are degrading at Edwards.com as well being the Blog section is run largely by Republicans who vote down the most hard hitting ground breaking posts with only three votes while a blog being posted takes ten votes..
We know the White House has an attack section for the purpose of perverting and assaulting liberal or progressive or even Democratic blog sites...
It has been reported at Huffington post for the Immigration Bill debacle but I knew this section of Rove sycophant goons existed quite a while back..
The landscape for free speech and free thought and a free exchange of ideas is looking worse everyday here in America..
Bush has perverted every agency and principle of our nation and many are still not aware just how bad it really is..
Now with the Demo-rats betraying all those who waited so long to elect them so as to save our nation and change things it looks even worse..
We may really see the fall of our nation as the worlds leading super power due to the Democrats failure to enforce The Constitution and our laws and long held values..and separation of powers under the three equal branches and civilian control of the military now too it seems..
Well it was fun while it lasted..
The Democratic leadership has betrayed us and now we are truly voiceless and leaderless..!
No longer citizens but tax paying
pre-incarcerates only..!
So, i just read on the NY Times that the minimum wage increase was part of the war funding deal. I find that incredibly depressing.
You're not a pox-on-both-their-houses guy, David? God I'd like to find SOME redeeming quality to Democrats, also. But for instance, take my local "liberal" Democratic Congresswoman. She's famous for her face-lifts that have made her look like a grinning reptile, and the first item on the front page of her website brags that she was selected to read the Pledge of Allegiance on the floor of Congress, by golly. She wrote me letters about boogeyman Saddam that sounded like the worst war-mongering Bush-sycophant Republican. And her solution to our addiction to foreign oil? Buy a 6-pack of flourescent light bulbs! I have just about fucking had it.
All I know is..the anti-war coalitions better be friggin pissed..because I am. They sold us out for a few pieces of silver. This is bat guano folks. I don't care how you slice or dice it. David is right.
If you want to see some sickening crap go over to Huffpost and Dkos. The D.C. establishment has sent its minions to post various excuses by Democratic reps.
At Dkos, the old hag Boxer and Allen have reared their ugly heads. Whats interesting is that most folks kissed Boxer's and Allen's ass instead torching them.
Excuse me people! These folks are taking you for a ride. Why didn't any Democrat filibuster the bill?
Ask the hag Boxer, or Kerry or Kennedy who have lifetime seats why they didn't step up? they have no excuse, none.
Then at Huffpost that fat bastard and sellout Murtha is awash in complements and asskissing by sycophantic democrats. Murtha deserves only scorn and mockery.
Personally like some at Dkos have speculated, I believe this was all planned from the beginning. They suckered us from the get go. Think about it,
the Democrats collude with Bush and K Street on a immigration bill in secret and a trade bill as well. This wasn't a accident, the party leaders and many of the rank and file congressmen had decided to systematically betray the American people. So they worked in secret crafting two bills aimed at destroying the working and middle-class. One from the inside and one from the outside so to speak.
Then as cover for both of these betrayals of the American people they capitulate on the Iraq war funding. Which distracts the people from the on-comming double whammy of trade and immigration.
BTW many rank and file Repubs feel the same way as you folks do. Ordinary people across the country sense that our pols are out of control.
The question is: What do we do about it, because its quite apparent that congress is a tool of the president and WallStreet and there is no representation left for us.
Walt, I'm as disgusted as you sound. I have unsubscribed from the DCCC this evening, and I will never again vote a straight Democratic ticket as I have though out my voting life. From now on - though I'll never be able to vote Republican, especially after this administration - I will vote Green, Independent, or Socialist if the candidate can earn my trust. I think any Democrat will have to work almost as hard as a Republican to earn my trust.
If they send me a fund raising envelope, I think they're going to get it back with fake money in exchange for their fake vote.
I am enraged. I put considerable time and money into organizing and helping elect a Democrat. OK, we got rid or a rather slimy Republican, but I expected better than this. What to do? massive public protest. Let Democrats know this is the number one imperative on the agenda. Organize ourselves to let Congresspeople know progressives are prepared to jump ship unless we get some serious action. I'm serious.
"In a highly unusual maneuver, House Democratic leaders crafted a procedure that allowed their rank and file to oppose money for the war, then step aside so Republicans could advance it."
Question: Was the min. wage business in the last two versions of the "emergency" supplemental? If it wasn't, that would pretty much be a smoking gun, wouldn't it? Not that we need it to know what went on here.
This looks to me to be deception planned well in advance, complete stagecraft to fool idiots on all sides. If you're in the House and you want to vote against further funding of this war (as opposed to playing along with the lie), you had to vote NO on everything: NO on the first federal mininum wage increase in more than a decade, NO on increased veterans and military health care, NO on Gulf Coast hurricaine recovery and children's health care. If you voted NO only on the war funding but YES on the other funding, it went through as a YES on all of it and your vote against the war was COMPLETE BULLSHIT.
Do I have this right?
That's not the half of it! We have just repeated the very same mistake made by the Athenians in the Sicilian campaign. We have placed too much of our too-small military force in one place and bogged them down with unfamiliar tactics, terrain, and missions.
The result of the Sicilian campaign?--The total destruction of a superior Athenian army by a bunch of arrogantly dismissed "barbarians" (cf. the Iraqi militias) with minimal direction from a Spartan commander (cf. Iran). Read Kagan's best-seller *The Peloponnesian War* for details.
While you're at it, you might want to review the fate of Varus at Teutoberg Forest (three entire legions plus auxiliaries) and more recently that of Gordon in Khartoom. Yes, it could happen here and very likely will, if we don't learn from history.
I suppose the monkey and its heavy don't read much history. Certainly not military history. That's just a little detail on the way to the Corporate State.
Mr. Sirota, If you were an antiwar activist in Louise Slaughter's district, what would you do this week? What demands would you make that might actually be binding on her?
I wonder how many of these comments were written by Republicans.
Perry - I'm sure as hell no Republican, but I don't know how long I can stay a Democrat. I'm asking a real question above - do I understand what these people did correctly? I would honestly appreciate correction or confirmation as needed. Thanks
Dave Robinson
daverobinsonworks@yahoo.com
Brooklyn NY
Stand Up with us every Wed. night at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn for Peace and Impeachment - email me for details.
Howdy, Dave.
I think you got it right.
The Democrats have finally shown America what Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh have always said.... when faced with a hard choice the Democrats will always run in the opposite direction with their tails between their legs and somehow fashion a statement to make it look positive. I do not see a whole lot of difference between the Bush Machine and this batch of cowardly democrats. I am truly ashamed of my voting record. At least with a Republican you already know where they stand and they follow through on what they say they will do, no matter how Draconian. Shame on Pelosi and Reid. You are truly cowards not deserving of even one ounce of my respect. Please resign immediately!
Perry
How many more troops and Iraqis do you want to die Mr. Kool-aid drinker?
Here's the thing most of us here are don't like being lied and betrayed by the REPS WE ELECTED! The Democratic reps just shafted us on the war and are about to do it on trade and immigration which will gut the working and middle-class.
Why did the Democrats vote in support of the U.S. launching a war against Iraq back in 2002? How many Democrats have renounced that vote, or ever explained their vote? Damned few. I think the Democrats knew long before that vote that Iraq had no involvement in 9/11, had no WMD, and was no threat to the U.S. So why did they vote to support the war? We can all speculate. Perhaps Aipac told the Dems that if they didn't vote for the war, no more money. Maybe the oil corporations said the same. One thing is for sure: not one Democrat voted to launch this war against Iraq because they truly believed that an attack on the U.S. by Iraq was imminent. Each Dem had a monetary and self-serving reason for their vote, and each Dem who voted for the war showed that they do not care about this country.
Remember, Hillary's biggest mea culpa was only that maybe she had been deceived in some way by Bush. That's it. She's never renounced the vote to launch a war of aggression against an essentially unarmed desperately poor third world nation. Kerry's explanation, as we all recall, was equally ludicrous.
And now the Dems vote for neverending war. Why? Is it because the oil companies have promised Dems and Repubs a percentage of everything they steal? Maybe.
Or is it because Dems and Repubs have agreed to beef up the troops in Iraq to 200,000, plus bringing in half the naval armada, to launch an attack on Iran, so they steal Iran's oil too? In other words, don't get disheartened yet because it may turn out that the Dems aren't so much weak as they are murderous and barbaric. I vote for the latter. I think the Dems support for neverending war reflects their primary commitment to the Bush dictatorship and everything it represents. Hillary wants to be the next dictator, to launch wars of aggression against other basically unarmed and extremely poor third world nations.
So, what to do? Launch an independent movement to elect Feingold President. Hillary and Obama, by waiting until this motion passed then weakly voting against it, have shown themselves to be spineless and fundamentally dishonest. We need new leadership in the House and Senate.
The least everyone can do is to send e-mails, make phone calls, send letters every day to your Dems telling them that you will work to have them thrown out of office because of this vote.
Fire the Republi-lites!
Support populist candidates.
If they don't get through the primaries, start a write-in campaign.
It's about time we had a voters' rebellion against these yahoos!
Contribute only to individual candidates, not to the DCCC, DSCC, DNC, DLC. Screw those ass holes. Let them go find jobs elsewhere.
I wasn't planning to vote for Max Bacchus anyway.
How does Jag for senate sound?
I'm a hard-core conservative who likely has nothing in common with you save this: persons in government are no longer responsive to voters. You must feel betrayed by this incomprehensible slap in the face the dems just wacked you with, but conservatives have been dealing with this for years.
Both sides need to look past the little picture and realize that something is terribly wrong in our country where it appears that the two parties are no longer democrat and republican but rather "elected to office" and "not elected to office". And we, the unelected all, are being told to go to hell! Wake up, people!
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