I am sure that the articles will come pouring into OpEdNews.com by all the talented and wonderful political writers who submit every day here. I have nothing to compete with those well-reasoned articles that will come forward. Nor do I have the time to explain, justify, or rationalize what has happened. There really isn’t anything to explain, justify, or rationalize. All I am feeling right now is rage.
The situation is this: The Democrats proclaim themselves to be anti-war yet continue to pass legislation that allows war to continue. That’s all there is to it. And the picture posted on DailyKos right now parodying the General Petraeus MoveOn ad says it all. Congress has betrayed us.
What’s even more stunning, and this comes from a red state, is that in my home state of Indiana one of the two Republican Senators to vote “nay” came from this red pro-Iraq War “Support the Troops” state. The senator I refer to is a very respectable leader and a member of the Republican Party that I am glad to see leading this country. He understands foreign policy better than the majority of our elected officials and has proven that fact today. His name is Richard Lugar.
You would have thought that the other Senate Democrat Evan Bayh would have voted “nay” too because the Democrats are anti-war and would like to not see “military instruments” used in Iran. You would be wrong.
And so, I have a dilemma here. The Democrat I expected to trust is for operations in Iran. The Republican who I respect but not necessarily support is breaking with his party and voting against operations. He understands like Hagel does that we are in a war in Afghanistan and Iraq and cannot start a third war. That is ludicrous! Plus, Iran is so much bigger than Iraq and has more people and the terrain is so different. We are asking for a bloody defeat here and Lugar recognizes that we need to be cautious and not take action at this point. Because my Democratic Senator failed to recognize what Lugar did, I will be calling him and informing him that he made a mistake.
Evan Bayh has been a spineless, hapless, gutless Democrat today. Twenty-nine Senate Democrats were spineless, hapless, gutless leaders today.
As Webb characterized the amendment, “Cheney’s fondest pipe dream” may have just been realized. That doesn’t matter though. We aren’t trying to impeach him. We are holding him and others in this administration accountable in other ways.
You know what? Let's call Lugar and Hagel and thank them for breaking with their party. Thank them for being leaders and having the courage to stand up for us. Let's not take their vote for granted. If we are going to chide them when they do us wrong, let's call in and say thank you for sticking up for us when Democratic leaders failed.
(Side note, in the House, it was like deja vu all over again with House Democrats drinking the Republican condemn MoveOn.org kool-aid. Guess what my Democratic Congressman did? He voted for it.)
