The Disappointment And The Fury

Like many progressives, I'm extremely disappointed with Congress' capitulation on Thursday to the President on funding for the war in Iraq. My disappointment has morphed into fury as I think about how the Democratic Party once again refused to do what's right, and instead chose a political maneuver that only serves to protect them from criticism from the White House. Well, President Bush will criticize them anyway, and the Democrats have merely confirmed their role in Washington as cowardly doormats. Too many of them fell for the bogus argument that not supporting funding means not supporting the troops – an intellectually bogus assertion which I addressed previously.

Of course, being from Massachusetts, I have no quibble with our Congressional delegation. They all voted No on the bill. However, many other Democrats in both the Senate and House chose to give the President what he wanted – a bill with no timetables for withdrawal. Many of these Democrats are truly Democrats in name only and instead would be more accurately described as Republican-lite. How can we possibly trust this cadre of Democrats when it comes to standing up to the White House in the future? Answer: We can't.

Over the years, I've given money to the Democratic Party. Admittedly, it hasn't been a lot of money, but it was some. Shame on me. I've been duped and I should have known better. Well, I won't be repeating that mistake in order to support a party that has no courage, no convictions, and no sense of right and wrong. I can't wait to get that next tele-marketing call from the DNC. The person on the other end of the line won't be a policy maker, but he or she will get an earful anyway.

This whole episode confirms my belief that this country is totally screwed and that there's no way back. It's quite depressing actually. Big corporations own America and its policies. From oil to finance, our government simply acts as their servants rather than the servants of those who actually elected them, and there doesn't appear to be a single candidate out there who is ready to address that situation. As I said, it's quite depressing.