The silence and complicity of Congress is stunning. The way that Congress has allowed Bush and his Executive Branch to usurp its power over this war willfully is a blatant insult to our democracy and the American people. That the silence and complicity is intentional and not just a result of Congress trusting the Bush administration to "do the right thing" is even more insulting to this so-called free nation we Americans live in.
The Congress' hearings with Petraeus/Crocker were yet another example to add to the potpourri of instances where Congress has outright failed America and its people.
The questions asked by Republicans were virtually all along the lines of being able to continue the "mission" or occupation of Iraq with full support and what America needed to do or think in order to support the operations
If they were from Democrats, it was even worse. The Democrats, seeking to continue their insidious electoral plan to come off as a purely anti-war party despite their acceptance of campaign contributions from defense contractors, their support of military contractors over in the Middle East, and their refusal to filibuster and stop funding of the Iraq war, asked questions that outright betrayed all the knowledge that Americans have of this war.
Transcripts of the event show that the Democrats were pushing Iraq as a "mistake." They were blaming the Iraqis for the situation that America is in because apparently when a country violates the sovereignty of another nation, kills millions of Iraqis, obliterates records its culture and history, and destroys that nation's infrastructure, it is that country's fault for all the problems the violator is incurring as a result of the policies the violator carried out.
It's like taking candy from a baby and then yelling at the baby, "Why is your candy all gone?"
Sadly, the line that Iraq was a "mistake" and the Iraqis are making it difficult for us to withdraw is how they plan to come off as anti-war this election season. They have no plans to become any stronger in their opposition to the war.
Those we can't count on to end this war (Republicans) and those we think we can count on (Democrats) have failed us. The Bush administration's actions in connection to this Iraq war should have every member of Congress talking about taking action on impeachment. Unfortunately, even people like Dennis Kucinich, who were highly vocal about impeachment, have gone silent.
Our expectations have been lowered so much that when Joe Biden was joshing or cajoling Petraeus and Crocker at the hearing it was magnificent to many so-called liberals in the blogosphere even though he did not signal he would be filibustering funding for the Iraq war or advocating that the House move on impeachment.
One man, Robert Wexler, a Democrat from Florida, shined in the hearing. He did his job. He asked for questions from his constituents to be asked at the Petraeus/Crocker hearing prior to it and acted upon the comments/questions he received from his constituents.
This is now the only Democrat worth sending money to for his future re-election or just for his WexlerWantsHearings.com campaign, which is a campaign for impeachment hearings.
Every other Democrat is a waste of money that could be used to keep us from entering a state of total poverty. Save it. And especially save the money you wish to send to Obama or Clinton.
Transcript of Wexler's heroic and moving exchange with Petraeus follows:
TRANSCRIPT
Congressman Wexler:
Thank you. General Petraeus, last week in anticipation of this hearing I sent an urgent e-mail asking my constituents and other Americans: if they were serving on this committee, what is the one question they would pose to you.
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