Back to Work: Some Quick Shots

I have not blogged for a while, which had been very unlike me.

I have been consumed with thoughts of Gov. Spitzer, Barack Obama and race relations, the issue of Michigan and Florida, and the 5th anniversary of this insane war.

Oh, year gas prices, too. Saw $4 a gallon in New York on my way to a gig last week. And they have to pump their own. That was for premium---but who needs premium these days anyway? But what do I know, I still ask for a fill up 'unleaded'.

So, here are some quick shots:

Gov. Spitzer: $5500? $5500?? Wow, that's lots for an evening of nookie. Even so-called 'unsafe' sex. And, now you're a joke on YouTube, SNL, and Jay Leno. You had to go to the Mayflower Hotel? At least Bill Clinton had the good sense to do it in the White House, and be available in case the Red Phone rang at 3am.

Senator Barack Obama: This situation with his minister's comments had originally concerned me, and then I thought that there had to be SOME Gennifer Flowers/Howard Dean Scream moment in his race sooner or later. The Tony Rezko issue went nowhere, at least for now. So, my thinking is better now, than an October surprise. And the issue was bound to be race. The jury is still out on his speech, but he excels when he is speaking. He is being tested, and he will prove he is the real deal.

Michigan and Florida: Blame should be on the state legislatures in MI and FLA, and no where else. They knew the rules, and their residents should take their own reps to task. However, you cannot give the delegates of MI to Clinton---when Obama was not even on the ballot.

Iraq: Go to a Peace Vigil tonight. In 2003, when I attended the Peace Vigils in front of the Historic Courthouse in Flemington, the war was still popular. I was concerned that my opposition of the war, would impact my re-election to the Flemington Borough Council. It did not; I won. My regret is that I did not make a CitiesforPeace.Org motion to oppose the war back then.

My heart goes out to the thousands of families who have lost loved ones since 2003. My eyes are filled with tears for you, and I am hopeful that the next president brings the troops home soon.

Peace is patriotic.

The President's Final Days

8:50pm

I am at the Courier News about to watch the President's final State of the Union Address. I am part of their panel watching the president. The Secretary of the Interior is not there. He's at home watching this on TV, at home "carrying the football" in case of a national emergency.

9:05pm

All members of the Cabinet appear to wearing the same ties. Maybe they get a bulk discount, when they buy at the White House gift shop.

9:07pm

Barry Sullivan, announces the President of The United States to Madam Speaker. Second time that happened.

Bush is walking through the crowd, shaking hands, smacking backs, ruffling hair. Cheney: Red tie. Bush: Blue tie. Republicans and Democrats alike are cheering. Democrats that it's his last. Republicans perhaps glad he is going, too.

9:11pm

The President speaks. Note the hour. Wander if that's choreographed.

Economic stimulus package, job growth slower.

"Compete for votes, cooperate on results." Hmmm. Good line. Wonder who wrote that?

Funny line about the IRS taking checks and money orders. Democrats did not laugh. He calls for permanent tax cuts, promises to veto any bill that raises taxes.

9:20pm

Promises a balanced budget; "families must balance budgets so do governments." Of course, this is from a man who has OK'd spending 2 billion a month on a war that has put the nation in deep debt. Ironic.

"expanding consumer choice in health care". What does that mean? If people cannot afford healthcare, there is no choice.

Small business association health care. Good idea.

Education: No Child Left Behind. Unfunded mandate! And why schools, teachers, and parents want to see it retired, period.

Pell Grants expansion. Sounds like the same thing that Democrats offered 8 years ago that the 2001 Bush opposed as too expensive.

Rhetoric from a lame duck with low approval ratings. He leaves a legacy of failure, lack of accomplishments, and Republicans running from him around the country.

<--------Big smirk on Cheney's face.

9:26pm

He still cannot pronounce "nuclear" correctly: Calls for expansion of "nuclear" energy. Expand investment in research. Does not sound like a conservative to me.

Wants to ban human cloning. I support that, as long as it includes Bush's DNA.

9:32pm

Secure the borders. Build a fence. More border patrol agents. Calls for foreign workers to be able to come to America and work. Illegal immigration still a problem. Must be dealt with in a way the upholds our highest ideals.

Sets the stage for more nation building by giving examples of democracies emerging around the world.

Now he is on Iraq. Oh boy. Says the surge is working. [Sure, but not politically].

9:45pm

Killing is down, he says due to surge. [So, does not that mean it's time to come home?]. Cheers from Republicans, Democrats sit. Surge forces beginning to come home.

This is certainly one of the most shallow, cliche-filled State of the Union messages I have ever heard. 20,000 troops are coming home. Any further draw down will hurt progress he says. [However, with no bench marks, there is no way of knowing for sure when troops will come home.]

Well, this certainly is not the same Bush who said using the Cowboy attitude, "Bring'em On". He looks tied, beleaguered, and worn.

Calls for a democratic Palestinian state, once again.

Talking about Iran's nuclear program. Still cannot pronounce "nuclear".

He should have been impeached. Our bad.

9:58pm

Calls for liability protection for companies who have allowed the government to spy on Americans. Boo. Hiss.

"America opposes genocide in Sudan". That's going out in a limb!

Asks Congress to pass a wide range of new benefits for veterans. I heartily approve. He's winding up, because he is talking history about the framers ---"We The People". It's almost over. He is almost no longer the President. Just a few more months to 1.20.09.

He's done. Final one.

No Comment Needed.

"Make it a hundred [years]. That would be fine with me."
-- John McCain on how long the U.S. should have troops in Iraq

"It could easily be that, absolutely."
-- George W. Bush, when asked if the U.S. would have troops in Iraq for the next ten years."

We’re from the United States government. We’re here to help you.

It’s hard to believe the Democrats took control of Congress.

Last year, for the first time since 1994, the Democrats took control of both houses of Congress. I was confident that the war would be placed on a path of finally winding down. But, unfortunately, the president has continued to receive the funding he needs to continue his insane war policy. Democratic leaders Pelosi and Reid have been mostly powerless to achieve their agenda as they lack a veto-proof majority.

This week a new twist and turn occurred in the Iraq War that does not bode well at all: the New York Times headline read “U.S. Helps Turkey Hit Rebel Kurds In Iraq”. This is a firm reminder of how the Administration has not at all thought through all aspects of this war. It also is shades of exactly how the Viet Nam War became expanded in to Laos and Cambodia, as that war expanded in to the entire region beyond the borders of Viet Nam.

According to the Times article, “The United States is providing Turkey with real-time intelligence that has helped the Turkish military target a series of attacks this month against Kurdish separatists holed up in northern Iraq, including a large airstrike on Sunday, according to Pentagon officials.”

“Sunday's airstrikes provoked outrage in Baghdad”…Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional government, called the attack "a violation of Iraq's sovereignty." He blamed the U.S. military, which controls Iraqi airspace, for "allowing Turkish warplanes to cross the border.” And our “Allies” the Iraqi parliament “condemned the attacks”

“The American role in aiding Turkey, a NATO ally, could complicate U.S. diplomatic initiatives in Iraq, particularly efforts to push Iraqi political leaders to enact legislation aimed at promoting political reconciliation.”

Finally, "Turkey has threatened to mount a full-scale, cross-border incursion to clear out PKK camps in northern Iraq. That could effectively open a new front in the Iraq war and disrupt the flow of supplies to the U.S. military in Iraq, which receives 70 percent of its air cargo and a third of its fuel through Turkey.

A very strong argument can be made that our continued presence in Iraq continues to de-stabilize the region even further. Yup, the ‘surge’ is working just fine.

Iran, North Korea and Syria? Or France and the UK?

There is an article in the New York Times today that talks about how “New Jersey Keeps Its Execution Chamber ‘On Standby’”.

Talk about government waste and fraud.

It seems that the Department of Corrections keeps the execution chamber oiled, cranked up and ready for action ---should the state decide to off some one. Oh, yeah, the last time they used the chamber Kennedy was still President.

"The state still treats the eight men in the Capital Sentence Unit differently from those sentenced to life without parole. They have their own wing. They never interact with other prisoners. Each time a prisoner leaves his cell, two corrections officers must be there to escort him."

And since the state has had no executions since 1963, ---“the Department of Corrections has not had the necessary regulations in place to carry out an execution since 2004, and it has no plans to write new ones.”

Most of the world has abolished the death penalty. Who has not? Who does the state of New Jersey stand with on this issue?

North Korea. Iran. Iraq. Saudi Arabia. Libya. Syria. That’s who we stand with on this issue.

So, let’s help New Jersey join the civilized world. Call your state representative today.

Out of the mouths of babes...

"Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth."
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,


And is Rowling smart, or what?

The Hunterdon County Democrat newspaper runs a feature each and every week called “The Kids Page”. Most often they pose fairly innocuous questions to kids of middle school age and younger.

Such questions as “When there's tons of good food around, can you stop yourself from eating?” or “Describe a present you wanted NOTHING to do with. Why?”. Or the always popular “You'll never believe what my pet did!”.

Their answers appear with their name, grade and school. Parents and grandparents love that stuff.

Last week, however, the question asked was one that really surprised me, especially for the Democrat: “What do you think? Is President Bush doing a good job?”

Here’s what the youth of the very Republican Hunterdon County had to say about the president:

“No! The President lied to us when he said that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. He then sent troops looking got them and they didn’t find any! Thousands of troops have lost their lives in Iraq. President Bush needs to needs to pull the troops out."

JG, High Bridge Middle School, Grade 6

“President Bush is doing a bad job…we’re in a war that is killing a lot of people. Some people think the war is good because of what happened on Sept. 11. But it’s gone on for too long! In our weekly reader, I read that Bush is going to send many troops home by Christmas but I don’t think he’ll send as many as he said he would."

EL, Franklin Twp School, Grade 5.

“President Bush is doing a bad job. Why can’t he get everybody out of Iraq immediately? He needs to listen to other people! He needs to stop yapping and saying he going to everything and just do it immediately!”

CG, Three Bridges School, Grade 3

Like they say, "out of the mouth of babes"… Or something like that.

Bush Speaks; Iran Listens

An Iranian University Invites Bush to Speak

After the controversial appearance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University last week, an Iranian university yesterday invited President Bush to travel to Iran and speak on campus about a range of issues, including the Holocaust, terrorism, human rights and U.S. foreign policy, the Fars News Agency reported yesterday. (10/2, Washington Post).

Obviously, Ferdowsi University of Iran has never heard Bush speak. Or maybe they have, and this is their way of getting a first strike at the U.S.

Who wins the speech wars? Ahmadinejad or Bush? Their President or ours?

We’ll provide; you decide!

Here is what Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says:

• The Holocaust is a myth.

• The Jews as the sworn enemies of Islam. The hostility dates back to the time of Muhammad’s own treatment of the Jews in Medina.

• He wants Israel to be wiped out of the map or transferred to Europe.

• In his speech at the UN general assembly, he claimed that during his speech of some twenty odd minutes, a powerful light enveloped him and all participants were held transfixed unable to move their eyes.

• He believes that the earth is Allah’s and all people must either become believers of his brand of Islam or must perish as infidels najis (unclean) who by their very presence defile Allah’s earth.

All-righty, then.

Here is what our President George W. Bush says:

'Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream.'

'I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.'

'They misunderestimated me.'

'Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?'

"The only way we can win is to leave before the job is done." –

"This morning my administration released the budget numbers for fiscal 2006. These budget numbers are not just estimates; these are the actual results for the fiscal year that ended February the 30th."

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.

"I said I was looking for a book to read, Laura said you ought to try Camus. I also read three Shakespeares. ... I've got a eck-a-lec-tic reading list."

So, there you go readers! YOU decide: Who has the upper hand?
The President who is a moron? Or the President who is completely out of his mind?

Email me to let me know.

We're fighting in Iraq so that their people can enjoy free speech, too.

We enjoy freedom of speech here in America.

Even New Jersey students have the same right of protest we are trying to make sure the Iraqi people have.

This from AP newswire:

STUDENT PROTESTERS FREE TO WEAR HITLER YOUTH BUTTON

A federal judge in Newark has ruled two students who wished to protest a school-uniform requirement may indeed wear buttons featuring identically clad members of the Hitler Youth. The students had been threatened with suspension, but U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway, citing the Vietnam War-era case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, wrote that only if students' speech will "materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school" may they be punished for it. He rejected the school district's argument that an image of Hitler Youth was inherently abhorrent and disruptive, but ruled the boys cannot distribute the buttons to other students on school property.

Last weekend before Labor Day

This is the last weekend before Labor Day weekend, and I have been reading [sadly] about how the generals in Iraq expect American involvement well in to 2009. I find it repugnant the the American president taking office on January 20, 2009 will be saddled with this Administration's mistakes.

The troops on the ground in Iraq deserve so much better. Have a good holiday week with your family, and think of those in service overseas not with their families.

Objects in Mirror are More Evil Than They Appear

"Karl Rove, the adviser who masterminded President Bush’s two winning presidential campaigns, is resigning, the White House confirmed today." (JIM RUTENBERG, New York Times)

Well, it’s about time. It’s about seven years too late, but we guess it’s better late than never.

Rove engineered to the White House possibly the worst president ever. And brought a new low level of bare-knuckle politicking that continues to be a standard even in local elections.

He has failed this president and the nation on so many levels; it is hard to list them all here. The Iraq War. Spying on American citizens. The outing of a CIA operative. A march to an imperial presidency. The firing of federal prosecutors. A dozen or so impeachable offenses. A new term for negative politicking: Swift-boating.

This information garnered from Wikipedia says it all:

"In 1960, at the age of nine, Rove decided to support Richard Nixon. According to Rove, "There was a little girl across the street who was Catholic and found out I was for Nixon, and she was avidly for Kennedy. She put me down on the pavement and waled on me and gave me a bloody nose. I lost my first political battle."

Had only that little girl completed the job.

So, summing up Karl Rove, this quote from Woody Allen comes to mind as appropriate:

“His lack of education is more than compensated for by his keenly developed moral bankruptcy.”

Hugely disappointed with the Democrats?.....just who won back control in 2006?

Sixteen Senate Democrats, and Senator Joe Lieberman, an Independent, voted in lockstep with all 43 Senate Republicans late Friday evening in supporting an expanded surveillance bill that is virtually identical to the proposals written by the Bush administration.

Makes you ponder just who won control of Congress in 2006.

The bill, as written, does not contain any safeguards to ensure average Americans are not caught up in the surveillance activities. Additionally, the Senate put oversight of the surveillance process into the hands of the Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, and embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, granting the officials extraordinary powers to approve spying activities without any independent oversight or review.

The key points of the legislation allow the Bush administration to bypass the secret court set up nearly thirty years ago to authorize intelligence officials to conduct surveillance activities. The secret court will be permitted to review the approval process - but not until 120 days after the spying has already commenced.

And this piece from the Associated Press:

Senate Passes Bush Terrorism Spy Bill

Saturday 04 August 2007

Washington - The Senate, in a high-stakes showdown
over national security, voted late Friday to
temporarily give President Bush expanded authority to
eavesdrop on suspected foreign terrorists without
court warrants.

The House, meanwhile, rejected a Democratic
version of the bill.

Democratic leaders there were working on a plan to
bring up the Senate-passed measure and vote on it
Saturday in response to Bush's demand that Congress
give him expanded powers before leaving for vacation
this weekend.

The White House applauded the Senate vote and
urged the House to quickly follow suit.

The bill "will give our intelligence professionals
the essential tools they need to protect our nation,"
said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "It is urgent
that this legislation become law as quickly as
possible."

Senate Democrats reluctantly voted for a plan
largely crafted by the White House after Bush promised
to veto a stricter proposal that would have required a
court review to begin within 10 days.

The Senate bill gives Bush the expanded
eavesdropping authority for six months. The temporary
powers give Congress time to hammer out a more
comprehensive plan instead of rushing approval for a
permanent bill in the waning hours before lawmakers
begin their month-long break.

The Senate vote was 60-28. Both parties had agreed
to require 60 votes for passage.

Senate Republicans, aided by Director of National
Intelligence Mike McConnell, said the update to the
1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA,
would at least temporarily close gaps in the nation's
security system.

"Al-Qaida is not going on vacation this month,"
said Sen. Republican leader Mitch McConnell of
Kentucky. "And we can't either until we know we've
done our duty to the American people."

In the House, Democrats lost an effort to push a
proposal that called for stricter court oversight of
the way the government would ensure its spying would
not target Americans.

"The rule of law is still critical in this
country," Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., said before the
losing the mostly party-line 218-207 vote that fell
short of two-thirds majority needed for passage. "It
is exactly when the government thinks that it can be
the sole, fair arbiter that we most need a judicial
system to stand in and strike the balance."

"We can have security and our civil liberties,"
Tierney said.

Current law requires court review of government
surveillance of suspected terrorists in the United
States. It does not specifically address the
government's ability to intercept messages believed to
come from foreigners overseas.

The Bush administration began pressing for changes
to the law after a recent ruling by the special FISA
court that barred the government from eavesdropping on
foreign suspects whose messages were being routed
through U.S. communications carriers, including
Internet sites.

Democrats agreed the law should not restrict U.S.
spies from tapping in on foreign suspects. However,
they initially demanded the FISA court to review the
eavesdropping process before it begins to make sure
that Americans aren't targeted.

By the final vote, Senate Democrats had whittled
down that demand and approved a bill that largely
mirrored what the Bush administration wanted. It
requires:
Initial approval by Director of National Intelligence
Mike McConnell and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
The administration relented to Democrats leery of
Gonzales by adding McConnell to the oversight.
FISA Court review within 120 days. The final
Democratic plan had called for court review to begin
immediately and conclude within a month of the
surveillance starting
The law to expire in six months to give Congress time
to craft a more comprehensive plan. The White House
initially wanted the bill to be permanent.

Before the vote, Democrats excoriated the GOP
plan, which Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said
"provides a weak and practically nonexistent court
review."

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., angrily chastised his
colleagues for bending to the administration's will.

"The day we start deferring to someone who's not a
member of this body ... is a sad day for the U.S.
Senate," Feingold said. "We make the policy - not the
executive branch."

Likewise, civil liberties advocates said they were
outraged that Democratic-led Senate would side with
the White House.

"We're hugely disappointed with the Democrats,"
said Caroline Fredrickson, legislative director for
the American Civil Liberties Union. "The idea they let
themselves be manipulated into accepting the White
House proposal, certainly taking a great deal of it,
when they're in control - it's mind-boggling."

It was not immediately clear whether House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi would endorse the Senate bill after days
of rejecting White House offers.

"I hope that there are no attacks before we are
able to effectively update this important act," said
Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, top Republican on the House
Judiciary Committee.

Bush has said he would reject any bill that his
intelligence director deemed unable "to prevent an
attack on the country."

"We've worked hard and in good faith with the
Democrats to find a solution, but we are not going to
put our national security at risk," Bush said after
meeting with counterterror and homeland security
officials at FBI headquarters Friday morning. "Time is
short."

Presidents have authority to call Congress back in
session from a recess, but the last time it was used
was in 1948, by Harry Truman.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called the
administration plan "more likely to protect the
American people against terrorist attacks by those who
want to do us harm."

The Spin Doctors

I do read RedJersey every once in a while, just to see what the other side blogs on and on and on about. This week it is the Iraq war.

And FYI ---imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: Previously, they were "Red Generation", and now they are "RedJersey.net" ---trying desperately to model themselves after BlueJersey.

And, by the way, they are not “RedJersey.com”. RedJersey.com is a bicycle racing shop up in New Hampshire. And they probably get more hits than RedJersey.net.

Anyway, this post was recently on RedJersey, and it caught my attention:

Perceptions Can Change
By Eric Pasternack | July 25, 2007
The public opinion about the war may be changing. Back in May, a CBS/NY Times poll reported that only 23% of the public thought the war effort in Iraq was going well. Furthermore, 45% of respondents indicated that the war was going badly. These statistics stand in stark contrast to the latest CBS/NY Times poll where only 35% of people think the war is going badly while 29% percent think the war is going well.
This trend is encouraging. But it will also mean that the Democrats will increase their rhetoric and will stop at nothing to prevent success in Iraq.

“The trend is encouraging”? Less than 30% of the American public thinks the war effort is going well, and RedJersey cites that as trending in a positive direction?

And then RedJersey states that, “These statistics stand in stark contrast…" ---where in May a poll showed that 23% though the war was going well, and now 29% think the war is going well. That is what RedJersey calls “Stark contrast”?

OK, so they are bad at analyzing numbers. But RedJersey showed their real chutzpah when they questioned the patriotism of the Democrats in Congress with a statement like:

“But it will also mean that the Democrats will increase their rhetoric and will stop at nothing to prevent success in Iraq.”

The delusional assumption that the Democrats wish to prevent success in Iraq is offensive to every independent thinking resident of New Jersey. And Red Jersey owes our Congressional delegation an apology ---both the Ds and the Rs. While the members of our Congressional delegation may differ on their points if view on the war, neither side has ever questioned the other side's patriotism.

Success in Iraq is measured by your president’s own criteria:
Your president said we went in to Iraq because there were WMDs.
Current status: None.

Your president said we needed to oust Saddam Hussein.
Status: Hussein is dead.

Your president said we needed to establish democracy there.
Status: The Iraqi Parliament was elected earlier this year.

And now they are acting just like Congress ---- they are taking off for the summer.

The ultimate support of the troops in Iraq is to bring them home.

If RedJersey.net is going to put that kind of a ‘spin’ on public poll numbers about the war or the Democrats' patriotism ---then maybe they should point their URL to "RedJersey.com" ----and at least let their readership learn something about real ‘spinning’ ----in the form of information about cycling.

“Bush reopens White House press room after 11-month reconstruction.”

I read the news today, oh boy:

“Bush reopens White House press room
after 11-month reconstruction.”

Not really sure why it needed to be reopened. Bush does not say much. And the press corps never presses him for much. But it has been 11 months since the White House Press Corps was in the West Wing shouting questions.

And let’s see how things have changed in there in the last 11 months:

Eleven months ago, “… the antiquated old air conditioner….tended to leak from the ceiling vents when it was particularly overworked.”
√ Today, there is a new super-powered cooling system.

Eleven months ago, depending upon who you asked –Fox, Gallup or CNN --- pegged the president's approval ratings somewhere between between 37% and 40%.
√Today depending upon who you asked –the same sources have W hovering somewhere between 21% and 26%.

Eleven months ago, the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress.
√Today, the Democrats control both houses.

Eleven months ago every Republican in Congress firmly supported the president on his Iraq war policies.
√Today, more and more Republican members of Congress are leaving the president standing alone.

What has not changed in eleven months: This president’s insane irreversible stand on this war. More and more needless lives lost.

Some things never change.

Ending the war: Not complicated at all.

In E.J. Dionne's column today in the Star-Ledger, he advises left-wing Democrats [as if they are the ONLY ones to oppose this war and find problems with the President's failed war policies] to follow Barry Goldwater's advice from the 1960 Republican Convention and just "Grow up". Senator Goldwater back then was attempting to beat back “a rebellion against Richard M. Nixon, whom conservatives saw as selling out to liberals on various platform planks.” How much wiser the Republicans were in 1960, then in 2007. Had they only beat back Richard Nixon, he may have gone into historical oblivion much sooner.

Dionne says “The Democratic Party's progressive wing, furious at what it sees as the capitulation of its congressional leaders to President Bush on the Iraq war, should remember this history. The decision to drop withdrawal timelines from the Iraq supplemental appropriations bill is not a decisive defeat.” While not a ‘defeat’, it still sets back months and months the objective the Democrats were elected to do, which is end this war. The president certainly has no desire or plan to do that.

Dionne is suggesting that somehow progressive Democrats should learn a lesson from Goldwater, the doyen of the conservative movement, and simply “grow up.” They should not look at the House Democrats giving up on meaningful timetables and benchmarks as a major defeat. I must vehemently disagree. This is a problem of major proportions.

The Democrats in the House folded their tent went home. Not all Democrats. Speaker Pelosi and others did have the courage of their convictions and voted their conscience and did the right thing. All the Democratic NJ Members of Congress did the same, with the exception of Rep. Rob Andrews. The reasons given by Rep. Andrews were filled with political platitudes like “We do not have a veto-proof majority for that proposition.” or “There are two ways to end our involvement in Iraq's civil war. The first is to elect a new President who will accomplish this goal.” Both reasons, I fear, are not of any importance to the families waiting for their loved ones to return. Nor to the 200-300 more families who may suffer a devastating loss this summer, should the war continue.

But the rest of the Democrats let down the American people who overwhelmingly wish to see an end to America involvement in this war, period. The headline of Dionne’s editorial is “See you in September”. Unfortunately, there may very well be several hundred more soldiers dying during the summer in this horrible mistake of a war----those who will not make it to see their families in September. So, while many of us will be at the Jersey Shore, at community pools, and on vacation sometime this summer ----Congress now must wait an additional four months to September in order to deal with the next funding bill for the Iraqi war.

Dionne goes on to say that “Democrats, in short, have enough power to complicate the president's life, but not enough to impose their will.” This unfortunately, is very true.

However, I think that it is well worth making the president’s life more and more “complicated”, as long as more and more American lives are lost in Iraq.

That is, not “complicated”, at all.

Democrats fold to Mr. 28%: Not SMART

I cannot express how disappointed I am that the Democrats, in spite of their ascendancy to control of Congress in January, have folded their tent, and capitulated to “Mr. 28%”, ----voting for Iraq war funding without a set of specific, measurable, attainable, responsible, and time-tabled benchmarks for bringing the Iraqi people in control of their own nation, and bringing our troops home.

"Specific, measurable, attainable, responsible, and time-tabled". If you use the first letters of each of those words it spells SMART. The Democrats were not SMART here at all.

The Democrats, once again, have shown how completely without a backbone they can be. I do not think they could have achieved less had the Republicans remained in control of Congress.

On a positive note, I can say that that I am proud of the fact that most of the Democratic members of New Jersey Congressional delegation voted NO. Rep. Rob Andrews was the sole Democratic supporter of the President’s failed policies in Iraq from New Jersey.

I wish that the Democratic Party had the conscience and courage of their convictions, and put this issue to the President in the simplest way possible by declaring:

"Mr. President -- This is the funding bill for the troops in Iraq. It has all the funding you have asked for. The bill supports the troops, giving them what they need.

If you veto it, you are the only one responsible for not supporting the troops. The rest is up to you, and it is the way the Congress wishes to fund this war effort, with an understanding of specific, attainable, measurable, responsible, and time-tabled benchmarks for bringing the Iraqi people in control of their own nation, and bringing our troops home."

It is sad to see Democrats not supporting the point of view held by the vast majority of the American people----that which gave them the majority in Congress.