The progress being made in our 4 1/2 year war of terror on Iraq is phenomenal. So impressive are our recent gains that the “top tier” Democratic candidates who have lined up in competition to become the heirs of this great struggle for freedom, for Middle Eastern democracy, for oil and gas rights for western corporations and of course for lucrative contracts in arms sales and private security for campaign contributors, last night went way out on a limb and declared their goal of removing our troops from the quagmire in Mesopotamia by the end of their first term in office in 2013.

Despite their boldness, they did not report whether or not they could guarantee the colonization of Mars, a cure for cancer, or flying pigs within that time frame.

The Congress of the United States of America, a legislative body established by the American Constitution over two centuries ago has declared itself to be toothless, spineless and ultimately meaningless. Yesterday they condemned a reputable political organization for running a completely truthful newspaper ad and voted to declare the military of a sovereign nation a terrorist organization in order to present their Fuhrer with a gift wrapped excuse for his next adventure.

They were asked by Bush’s Defense Secretary for an additional 190 billion ($190,000,000,000) dollars to continue their criminal enterprises in Iraq and Afghanistan and despite the fact that a sizable majority of the people of our country want to end this war, the cowardly swine will approve it. That will bring the total publicly reported expenditures to 800 billion dollars ($800,000,000,000). Most of this has been spent, squandered, swindled, bamboozled away since our chief arrogant little asswipe stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declared that the mission had been accomplished.

Hell, they sacked one of our principle Generals at the outset of this insanity for declaring that the war would cost as much as 25 billion when Rumsfeld and Cheney’s various staff were reporting that it could be done for seven billion which would be financed through the sale of, get this,Iraqi Oil.

Congress will of course, make another face saving gesture and ask for full progress reports, which will be dutifully drawn up by the neocon advertising/marketing/propaganda staff in the white House and fed to an “ass kissing little chicken shit” general for presentation to our parliament of gutless wonders and we will continue, down the same path following some vague vanishing point into a future where the only things that are certain are the deaths of thousands more of our troops and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. 

Since our current crop of wars of empire are progressing so swimmingly (as planned at the highest levels) they now are preparing to embroil us in another war with Iran and this time they plan to pull out all the stops and use the nukes that they have been slathering over all these long years.

Last week on television, I witnessed a room full of mostly young college students sit pacifically and watch passively as a half dozen hired goons brutalized another student with Tasers, for speaking. For Speaking.

I felt that I was seeing a vision of America’s future.

No matter what this criminal government and their corporate masters do, no matter what the excess, no matter what the crime, no matter what horrors they commit in our name the people of this country are sitting, sitting as acquiescently as that room full of meek children, sitting and cowering in the face of authority.

America in the first decade of the twenty first century is beginning to look a lot like Germany in the third decade of the last century and I’m beginning to be relieved that this is my last decade.

Bob Higgins
Worldwide Sawdust

A little humor to start your Thursday… According to the WaPo, Bush has finally answered his question,”Is our children learning?:

“Childrens do learn,” he said Wednesday.

  The setting was, yes, an education event where the president was taking credit for rising test scores and promoting congressional renewal of his signature education law.

Come to think of it, maybe it's not so funny after all. I should have said “pathetic”. Won't someone please think of the childrens!?!  Happy Thursday, everybody! 

Am I being harsh? Perhaps. Maybe it's just the first expression that came to mind. 

If you're a Vermonter, you probably already know about Sen. Leahy caving in to the right-wing noise machine's phony righteous indignation and voting to condemn MoveOn.org's NYT ad that (perish the thought!) General Westmoreland Petraeus might not actually be so on  the level in regards to Iraq.

Well, as you now know, the Continuing Resolution that would extend fiscal year 2007 spending at the same levels for 7 weeks into fiscal year 2008 has just passed. And yes, there is Iraq money in there. The MoveOn condemnation was an amendment to that bill. So they stuck it on a must-pass bill, and sadly, Welch and many others didn't attempt to kill the amendment as far as I know. Not good. Welch voted for the bill.

But there's something else at stake here. You might have remembered not too long ago, Mr. Welch signing on to a letter to Bush written by the Congressional Progressive Caucus that stated, among other things…

We are writing to inform you that we will only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.

Ok, am I nitpicking because we're only talking about 7 weeks in 2008? Perhaps. But interestingly enough, as AfterDowningStreet reports, Tuesday the caucus also released a press statement similar to the letter to Bush, with this particular statement:

“We will oppose any bills or amendments brought to the House floor henceforth that pertain specifically to bringing our troops and military contractors home, but do not include in their text a clear timeline and date certain for the redeployment of U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq.”

And as ADS points out:

This new version adds contractors but deletes “all.” No longer must it be all troops, but it must include (some) contractors. No longer is the deadline January 2009; it could be any deadline as long as there is one. It still says “redeploy” although it also says “bringing…home”. But the major change is this one: the new statement SAYS NOTHING ABOUT OPPOSING BILLS TO FUND THE OCCUPATION. As long as such bills do not “pertain specifically to bringing our troops and military contractors home” (and what are the chances of that?) members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who have not signed the letter above are free, under this new policy position, to vote money for genocide.

Now, I haven't been as much of a hardass on Welch as others have been, probably because I didn't have very high expectations to begin with, coupled with a 'wait-and-see' approach. But I don't like what I'm seeing here. 

So is the caucus now blinking? And what does Congressman Welch feel about this? What about “No more blank checks. We must end this war.” (Welch Press Release, 2/13/2007). Welch has played it safe for too long, and I've told him so, at the BBQ this summer.  He knows damn well that he would not feel the repercussions in VT if he had joined his other courageous colleagues (Blumenauer, Clay, Ellison, Filner, Frank (MA), Hinchey, Kucinich, Lee, McDermott, Paul, Payne, Waters, Watson, Woolsey) in voting against this bill. What he fails to realize is that we're not looking for safety; now more than ever we need someone to, as Putney Swope once said, “Don't rock the boat, sink it!”

Now, I'm still not in the “crucify Welch” camp just yet, and I've never been a fanboy, either. But this kind of thing is not exactly going to get me looking unfavorably at the “primary challenge” if it indeed rears it's head. I don't know, maybe Welch needs just a little more prodding. Something else to remember, from the article:

Let's be clear with the 83 Congress Members who have signed the letter: a new position does not release you from existing commitments. If you have signed this letter, you cannot vote for a bill that funds the occupation without ending it, whether or not that bill pertains specifically to anything at all or doesn't. Most of the signers have already gone back on their word and need to hear from us right away.

Welch needs to hear from you right away, too. Drop him a note and tell him to step it up, and to stick with what he signed onto in that letter. Vermonters should expect more from their leaders.