The Cowardly Lions of Congress

It isn't often that I agree with rightwingers but those people who called anti-war Democrats in Congress cowards might have been onto something. There are a few exceptions, Russ Feingold comes to mind, but most Congressional Democrats are proving to be cowards. Given the chance to fight to end the Iraq War most anti-war congressmen are rolling over like whipped puppies and giving Bush every fucking thing he wants on the war.

Some, like Dick Durbin (via Kos), will approve additional funding for the war while attaching "conditions," like that hasn't already been tried and ignored. Like Jerry McNerney, they say they will only vote support for the war in exchange for an empty promise to consider about withdrawal in the Spring.

Brian Baird is an interesting case. I don't believe him when he explains that a couple Powerpoint presentations by gung-ho Marines safely hiding out in the Green Zone caused the scales to fall from his eyes and showed him that the Iraq War is hunky-dory. More likely, Baird intends to do the unjustifiable, vote continued support for a war he has opposed and continues to oppose, and being a gullible dork seems like as good a fig leaf as any.

The truth is that the Congressional Democratic caucus is rife with cynical cowards. They know the war is doomed and believe if it continues unabated into 2008 Republicans will lose in a landslide. They are afraid if they can force withdrawal now Democrats will be blamed for the lose in Iraq. So the war must continue. As for the thousand or so American servicemembers who will die? They will say they voted the money to "support the troops" but they really don't give a rat's ass if the troops continue dying for this mistake.