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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September 6, 2007 7:16 AM
On Iraq, What's More Disgusting: Being Lied To, Or Hearing the Truth?
If you read the news very carefully, you can see exactly what is going on inside the Washington debate over the Iraq War. One party is lying, and one party is telling the truth - but which ones are doing what may surprise you (or, perhaps, not).
First, the lie, otherwise known as the Innocent Bystander Fable.
In a story headlined "Democrats Retreat on War End," The Politico notes that congressional Democrats are - once again - moving towards endorsing a legislative effort to cut the most unpopular president in contemporary American history a blank check to continue the most unpopular war in contemporary American history. Within this story, comes the lie to justify it all:
"The strategic shift is certain to anger some war critics, but it reflects the reality that Democrats lack the votes to force President Bush's hand. 'We are trying to manage expectations that we can't end the war today or next week or next month,' said one Democrat involved in the discussions. 'We have to make sure everyone understands that.'" (emphasis added)
Anyone who has read the U.S. Constitution knows this is a fabrication. Congress has the power of the purse, meaning it has the ultimate veto over the war. Democrats control both chambers of Congress, meaning they have the ultimate veto over the war. If they chose not to schedule a vote to give Bush a blank check, the war would end. The whole idea that they "can't end the war" is the highest form of dishonesty. It is the Innocent Bystander Fable - the oft-repeated lie where Democrats claim they are powerless even though they control an entire branch of the government, and their public efforts to try "to make sure everyone understands" the lie as truth is just another insult in a long string of insults (the latest of which is the one where Democrats have the audacity to suddenly portray a non-binding bill by Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar that Democrats themselves had previously called "toothless" as now - without any change at all - supposedly a heroic bill that ends the war).
How about the honesty? That comes from the Republicans. Here's what a top Senate GOP leadership aide told Roll Call about the Iraq War:
"Our strategy in Iraq, in the short term, causes a lot of pain, but in the long term, prevents a lot of problems for the party." (emphasis added)
Wow. I mean...wow. The Republican Party is now on record admitting that even though the war is "caus[ing] a lot of pain" (ie. American casualties, Iraqi casualties will refuse to support ending, weakened American national security, etc.), it will nonetheless stonewall efforts to end the war specifically because continuing the war indefinitely "prevents a lot of problems for the party." GOP operatives may try to spin their way out of that one post facto - but no amount of spin can change such a crystal clear direct quote like that.
I can't tell what's more disgusting: Being lied to by Democrats about their supposed powerlessness, or having the GOP tell the American people the war must continue and American troops must continue getting killed, all because it is supposedly good for the Republican Party's political fortunes. What I can say is this: It is clear that less than a year after a national election that saw the American people demand an end to the war, both parties are going out of their way to continue it - because to folks in Washington, D.C., no matter how many people die, the whole tragic affair is all just a big game.
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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
Why worry at this point? Joshua Holland has just pointed out that Democratically Controlled Congress Stands on the Brink of Irrelevance on Iraq. But then again, most Democrats are nothing but a bunch of rollover DUMB DOGS !
P.S.: Speaking of dogs, in Sirota's earlier post, maxpayne and NebraskaNathan brought up an interesting reference to a movie "Air Bud".
maxpayne :
Anyone remember the movie "Air Bud"? First there was a basketball coach with a "strict leader" attitude always preaching that "we're in it to win". Luckily, the dog got him fired by exposing his ABUSES against a team player to the school who immediately replaced him with a generous and nurturant coach named Arthur Chaney, himself once a basketball player. The best thing about the new coach was he made it a priority to getting team members to look at basketball as a sport, not as a mere winning contest. Moreover, he put forth team spirit above relying on one team member to run the show. The sad truth is America could use more Arthur Chaneys these days as their leaders.
Like Arthur Chaney who told the judge to let Buddy decide who he wants to be with, I say let the troops first get the chance to truly decide the next course of action and let them decide what winning is really all about. The troops are old enough, worn out, and have had more than enough to answer by now.
P.S.: Notice that Pelosi, Reid, DLC, etc ... are also involved in the "win at all costs" ideology just like the Bush/Limbaughians in the GOP. One would expect that after decades of losing like this the Democrats would put principle and team spirit above power grabbing via money grubbing, playing politics, and pandering to win at all costs.
Posted on August 16, 2007 11:20
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Nebraska Nathan :
max, "Air Bud" was cool. The ending scene you described I'd like to add to it. The custody dispute of Buddy the dog was decided in court. Josh (the kid) and his community could be looked at as the American people and I'd even add the troops. Norm, the criminal bully, could be looked at as the rightwing GOP. If I could compare the Democrats to the dog, let's move through the end and here's the scene. When Norm tries to threaten Buddy to come right over, the dog TEARS up the newspaper and immediately returns to shows his gratitude to Josh. In sharp contrast, every time Bush/GOP threaten the Democrats issue after issue, be it tax cuts for the wealthy, Iraq war funding, bankruptcy, wiretapping, abortion, etc ..., the Democrats roll over and allow Bush/GOP to FUCK and RAPE them ! It sure goes to show that dogs can be a whole lot braver than the Democrats who are better off running a floral shop as waltc pointed out in another post.
By the way, no matter the issue, when it comes to backstabbing, the GOP sneers and does it while the Democrats snivel and do it. The GOP is so disgusting but at least I'd know what they got coming against us. The Democrats may look less disgusting but you can't tell what they've got coming against us. Talk about having a tough time in hell choosing between the two evils !
The high-water mark for congressional opposition was last spring.
Hope y'all enjoyed it.
Why should the Democratic leadership care what the American people want? its not like the Democrats are going throw out the bums. Democrats don't primary incompetents and frauds - they vote them back in.
As seen in this year alone, the D.C. Democrats have repeatedly lied and betrayed their base on numerous issues and what does the base do? send them more money and make excuses for their betrayals. What little outrage there is quickly silenced by the cheerleading party hacks.
Then take a look at the leaders of the party. Reid and Pelosi, both cartoonish looking individuals that would be at home in a Batman cartoon. Reid looks and talks like a mortician, he's so bad he makes Ben Stein look a like motivational speaker. And grandma Pelosi is such a wimp she freaks out when questioned by Matthews. Hardly the person to lead any sort of charge against Bush.
BTW even if we get a Democratic preznit, there will be no withdraw from Iraq. The Democrats just don't have the spine.
...and why is EVERYone so quiet about the Brits "cutting & running" out of Basra/Iraq?
...as if I didn't know.
"Democratically controlled" is a figment of the imagination. OK the Dems controlled the Senate organization. However, the Senate is split 49 - 49 with 2 independents. Joe Liebermann votes with the GOP on the war, so there is no "Democratic control" on the Iraq issue. It is all fiction. Control of the the purse is a broad instrument. I think Congress need to cut off funds to force a negotiation over Iraq. However, the votes are not there because the Dems DO NOT control congress on this issue and they certainly do not have the 60 votes to end filibuster or 67 to override.
While I do appreciate that you are correct when you say that congress can stop the war simply by not bringing up the bill to fund it again, you always need to consider the consequences of that move as well.
1) if the dem leadership doesn't have the votes even to pass a bill that has a timetable or something then it is undemocratic to simply not allow a vote on the matter. Do we want them to simply be like the repugs and refuse to play because they can't win. It is another matter if they can pass a bill with teeth and then keep sending it back up to the president and making him veto it over and over and over again. Until that time the bottom line is we need more democrats especially in the senate.
2) done your way ie simply not bringing up a bill and therefore "not supporting the troops" the democrats will be savaged every day by the president and every republican and every media outlet all the way up to the election with story after story about what the the troops are going without. It won't be true but it won't matter. If 70% of americans at one time believed the Iraq had attacked us on 9/11 do you think the democrats can weather that onslaught? Don't be naive. And Bush will never be the one to pull out the troops because he wants to be able to say see if we had just stayed a little longer it would all have worked out and blame it on the next president. That is what he does.
Or are you one who thinks that the best thing for this country is to let the repugs run it so badly into the ground that we can never recover and finally we will get good representives? No, sorry the last 7 years have shown me how much damage can be done by them in a very short time and I will do everything I can to stop them ever getting control again.
bornagaindemocrat
bornagaindemocrat writes:
>Or are you one who thinks that the best thing for this country is to let the repugs run it so badly into the ground that we can never recover and finally we will get good representives?
The "lesser of two evils" argument has already been run into the ground not only with the Democratic base, but with nearly everyone to the left of Reagan. I voted Gore and Kerry in 2000 and 2004, and I would do it again, given the fact that Nader was a narcissistic fool. On the other hand, I have already decided that I will simply NOT vote in 2008. If that gives control to the GOP, so be it.
Let the victors (we agree that the GOP seem to do it more efficiently, so it might as well be them) destroy the country. It is already, I think, quite irreversible.
The two party system in our country engenders this "lesser of two evils" fiction, in which Democrats routinely make a pact with the Devil and we, the base, feel obliged to accept it. In my view, it is past time for the American military-industrial hegemony to unravel, and with exponential speed. It will be better for the world in the end, if not our children.
Would I rather have a two-party system than a militia-driven, one party oligarchy. At this point, it doesn't really matter. "Bring it on," says Bush. At this point, I agree. Hypocrisy is hypocrisy, and the Dems have gone way over the top. My anger too is over the top, and I don't think I stand alone: My preference is that the Dems should finally and irrevocably self-destruct. Let it be so.
Michael - I'm more afraid of you and those like you than I am of Republicans. You are signing America over to the thugs and the Christofascists without a whimper of protest.
I'm every bit as angry as you are, and yes, I'm damned angry at the seemingly spineless Democrats who let Chimpy and his posse of thieves and warmongering chickenhawks run roughshod over them every day.
However, I am NOT willing to let them have my country without a fight. I email my representatives and the leaders in the House and the Senate and TELL them what I want: the immediate impeachment of both Bush and Cheney. I support my candidate of choice for the 2008 election, John Edwards, whom I believe at least gives us a chance to recover our democracy - and our sanity.
It is you we need to fear. Don't give up, Michael. Fight them.
I am disgusted, too. We're way past the "throw-them-all-out" stage. If the American people don't wake up and take back our country, we'll have to start all over again from scratch, soon!
Its funny during the Clinton years when the GOP was still a minority party it had no problem fucking with the Democratic majority and making their lives hell.
Its called making do with with what you got and not whining that "our majority isn't big enough, yadda, yadda". Look the Dems will never have a super majority, there are districts and states you won't win period.
And another thing, the Democratic leadership is fucking stupid and craven beyond belief. Reid and Pelosi both have a track record of accomodating Bush. Not to mention Reid supporting Lieberman during his fight with Lamont. They are not the people you want leading the party. Both will continue to derail the Democratic party until they are removed from power.
Today the Democrats could easily make Bush's life hell. All they need to do is send him one bill after another with a time-table for withdraw attached. Then get your folks on the same page and get good spokesholes out in front of the press. Give pols like Webb air time to rip apart freakface McConnell and the GOP warmongers. Then repeat every time Bush vetoes the bill.
Oh yeah and throttle stupid fucks like Beinhart and any shithead from the Brookings Institute. Make it clear to them STFU or go join Goldberg at the LA times.
In the end you have to put the fucking onus on junior, you can't do it by playing defense, thats just letting Bush define the rules of the game and he's kicking your ass.
"By the way, no matter the issue, when it comes to backstabbing, the GOP sneers and does it while the Democrats snivel and do it." - Frederick Johnson
That would likely be a great reason 50+ % of eligible voters don't vote or even register to vote. If someone says that they weren't able to make it to registering because of their work, the real reason lies in the pathetic nature of both major parties backstabbing their voters and drowning out independent parties not the person who didn't vote.
Sorry but if you don't vote then you have no business living in a democracy. It is not a right it is a responsibility and things would be very different in this country if people voted at the rates they chat on blogs. I live in an extremely wealthy community and they vote at rates undreamed of in middle class and poor neighborhoods because they know what that does for them(70% turnout in off year elections and 90% in presidential elections and that is with 100% registration). I only hear that it does no good to vote from those who don't know any better.
Like I said I am a born-again-democrat and ever since the 2000 election when the Supreme court illegally installed Bush as president and there wasn't a peep from the american people I vowed to vote in every single election- no matter what. My children deserve to know that I didn't give up without a fight.
I see all the usual suspects and a lot of new comers are responding to this incendiary subject. Although I seldom disagree with DS and have the greatest admiration for his work I am a great believer in the truth and I feel the above assertion is far from the truth. Thanks to Lieberman, who will no doubt go into the next Jewish Bible as a savior of Israel equivalent to the woman who murdered her host in the old testament accordingly saving Israel, our soldiers will continue being murdered until he relents and votes with the democratic party, which will be never on the war. He should be removed from the democratic party no matter the consequences, because he is going to cause them to lose in 08 if he is not stopped. He is buying time for Israel at America's expense. That said, for the retards who are reading this and don't get it, the Democrats do not have the votes to cut off funding for the war while he votes GOP. Everything the Demos said quoted in this blog is true because of this. I am a great believer in the truth and won't swallow the opposite for anyone. We need a change of system or we will continue to be the dupes of the Bushes and Clintons of the world until hell freezes over. 70% of the people in this country are disenfranchised by this representative corporatist dictatorship we are living under. If you want some solutions go online to Amazon or Barnes and Nobel and buy Parity Democracy, how to level the economic playing field. There is to be found a blueprint for an ideal democracy. Understanding what democracy is really about is the first step toward freeing yourselves from this abyss of evil that America has become.
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