Use less hot water: buy a low-flow shower head
GOP Pot Calling Dem Kettle Black
I found myself screaming at the PC monitor again this morning as I read CNN’s article that Bush reiterated his threat to veto the latest war funding bill. That’s not what upset me. No one is surprised that Bush refuses to sign anything that calls for troop withdrawal. My problem is how the (GOP) hypocrits continue to say it’s the Democrats who are using the troops for their own political machinations. This from the party that blew up Iraq, hired its friends to rebuild it and deployed U.S. troops to be construction site security guards while Halliburton and other private contractors fill their coffers. Yes, our politicians (both sides) are using our military for political gain. Absolutely. But the huge difference is:
Democrats are willing to save lives for their political gain; and Republicans are willing to kill for it.
Guess which side I’m on . . .
And while Republicans call Democrats on the carpet for not sending needed funds to our troops, remember the President is the one vetoing the funding bill while insisting that the troops stay in Iraq as long as he damn well pleases. It’s his war at everyone else’s expense!
But let’s be practical a moment and look at this thing in Iraq from a different perspective. Private corporations working abroad consistently hire private security when they are undertaking construction in unsafe areas. In Iraq, however, U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill, while the corporations making money hand over fist continue to overcharge for reconstruction, while also using sub-grade materials and poor construction standards. It’s been recently reported that the White House has well-exaggerated the extent of progress of the Iraq reconstruction. And while we discuss all this controversy over the second Presidential veto during Bush’s reign of terror, let’s not forget that the latest financial tally on this thing Bush started in Iraq is now at $500 billion.
The GOP has nothing to be proud of here. They should be quiet and take their medicine. It’s not the Democratic Congress who’s pushing for a timetable. It’s us. The voters, the citizens, the bosses of government (according to the Constitution Bush likes to use as the Official White House Toilet Paper).
Bush will veto this bill because, despite every lie that comes out of the White House, the biggest is this rhetoric that there’s some “new strategy” in Iraq. There isn’t. He’s still “staying the course” which translates to “being a stubborn and immoral jackass.” New strategy? What’s new? Oh yes, terrorism is up 25% and our troops are dying faster, and the GOP continues to moralize while doing the very thing they pretend to find morally offensive.
Iraq is an infinite loop of chaos and instability caused by Bush, Cheney and their dwindling neocon supporters. This infinite loop serves the GOP well because it sustains the rhetoric of this great terror threat from which we must be protected. Because Bush and his neocon friends control through fear, there’s little incentive for them to break out of this cycle of terror in Iraq. Because their buddies at Halliburton and other GOP corporations are making huge profits during the Iraq “reconstruction,” there’s little incentive to break out of the cycle of terror in Iraq. Bush has imprisoned U.S. troops in Iraq because he refuses any attempt at setting a timetable for troop withdrawal, any attempt to break out of the cycle. And if the Democrat-controlled Congress refuses to send funding to Iraq, Bush and his supporters will scream at the “immoral lack of support for our troops.” Brilliant — another chance to call Democrats immoral and so, there’s little incentive to break out of the cycle of terror in Iraq. Infinite loop!
Two things have to happen to break out of this cycle in Iraq because Bush will not change:
- First, more Americans need to see through the GOP rhetoric. Demanding a timetable on a war funding bill — the only recourse Congress has — is not a lack of support for our troops. It’s a lack of faith in the President and his failed project in Iraq.
- Second, Democrats in Congress need to forget about their political careers and do what’s right and maybe they’ll still have a political career after it’s over; if not, they will have at least for a short time done the right thing. Meaning: they need to cut funding for this “war in Iraq.” It’s a no-win situation regardless, so someone has to have the guts to say “no more.” This President has held this country and our military hostage in Iraq long enough. There can be no more U.S. occupation in Iraq without U.S. funding.
Harsh but true. Of course, I’d rather see Republicans in Congress do the right thing and vote to overturn the President’s veto. Now, that would be something: politicians listening to the people, rather than the self-interested President. It would be a bright day for the GOP and our our country. That would really be something.