Democrats Drop the Ball--Again

As you know, the Feingold-Reid bill to kill the occupation, didn't make it out of committee. A disappointment to be sure, but more disheartening are the democratic senators that voted against the measure. Most of the dems who've been saying they are "anti-war" walk their talk. Please call the offending senators and tell them what you think.I feel heartsick. Greg Sargent at TPM writes it up and presents us with the hall of shame; the dems that dropped the ball:

Against:
Baucus (MT)
Bayh (IN)
Bingaman (NM)
Carper (DE)
Casey (PA)
Conrad (ND)
Dorgan (ND)
Landrieu (LA)
Levin (MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (AR)
McCaskill (MO)
Bill Nelson (FL)
Ben Nelson (NE)
Pryor (AR)
Reed (RI)
Rockefeller (WV)
Salazar (CO)
Tester (MT)
Webb (VA)

For:
Akaka (HI)
Biden (DE)
Boxer (CA)
Byrd (WV)
Cantwell (WA)
Cardin (MD)
Clinton (NY)
Dodd (CT)
Durbin (IL)
Feingold (WI)
Feinstein (CA)
Harkin (IA)
Inouye (HI)
Kennedy (MA)
Kerry (MA)
Klobuchar (MN)
Kohl (WI)
Lautenberg (NJ)
Leahy (VT)
Menendez (NJ)
Mikulski (MD)
Murray (WA)
Obama (IL)
Reid (NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (NY)
Stabenow (MI)
Whitehouse (RI)
Wyden (OR)

Not Voting:
Brown (OH)
Johnson (SD)

BTW, why was Sherrod Brown out of commission?

A note to buoy my spirits from reader Nefarious Leslie:Hi Hopey. mcjoan says:

The Feingold-Reid Amendment failed this morning, 29-67. Twenty-nine of our Democratic Senators does comprise a majority of the majority party, and is a significant bump from the 11 senators who are actual cosponsors of the bill. It also sent the strong message that many Dems, including the presidential contenders, endorse the idea of cutting funding in principle.

But the result means that we still have a lot of work to do.

I like to think of it the way she does, only because it’s less depressing and focuses on moving forward.-Nefarious Leslie

Thanks NL, that helps with the sting.

Doan's Bitter Pill

For those that missed it I wanted to share my adventures in snark. Lurita Doan, bushie-alzheimeresque-troll at the GSA, had a moment of paranoia after yesterdays hearing and with the mic still on told an aide,“Take my water, and my glasses. I don’t want them to track my fingerprints, they’ve got me totally paranoid.
”

My comment:
I have turned over Lurita’s eyeglasses and drinking glass in a plastic bag to the left-wing of the FBI. Hopefully, they will match her fingerprints to bullet casings found in Dallas, 1963.

Ask not what your paranoia can do to you , but what you can do to your paranoia.

Comment by Doan's Little Pill

Biden Bust Out

Joe Biden raises his voice on the senate floor. I do like hearing the democrats say something of substance, especially about the war. problem is they never follow through.Biden says, "Why are we there?" it's a question no one in power is answering because the answer is OIL. Permanent bases, America troops as a security force for oil companies, a new Iraqi oil privatazation deal, and stilll no one in power will say so. Good rant Joe, self-serving for your presidential run, but you're still posturing Sir. Put up or shut up.

Al Franken's Run

I'm not the biggest Al Franken fan but I do indeed like his message and would vote for him to replace Norm Coleman in Minnesota. Give his announcement for Senate a look.

Open Letter to the Senate

I have just emailed this to my Senators. Please take any part of it or write your own and send it. Send it to your Senators today.

Dear Senators Boxer and Feinstein,

My request as an American , a voter, a USAF service-connected disabled veteran, the spouse of an active duty USAF officer and constituent is that you and the other 98 senators go to the nearest VA hospital, or Walter Reed, or Bethesda and look those broken souls in the eye. Explain to them why you can't take a more principled stand on their behalf. Then tell these soldiers, marines and airman that if they wait another two years, there might be enough funding to help with their problems.
Then I want you and your duly elected colleagues to go to the nearest military base and look those kids, and the parents who must leave their kids, and tell them why you can’t do anything to prevent their deployment to Iraq. Then tell them if they are still alive in two years, you might be able to help them then.
Next, I would like you to go visit some widows, widowers and family members, part of the one percent of the American people actually sacrificing, and tell them you would have really liked to have taken a stand to prevent their loved one from dying, but you couldn’t figure out a way to do that and get re-elected. Tell them you are sorry that in two years their loved ones will still be dead, but only then you will try to keep someone else’s kid, parent, spouse, from getting killed.
Finally, I want you to face the American people with respect to the resolution against the escalation of the war, and follow Chuck Hagel's advice, “I want 100 senators to look in that camera and tell your people back home what you think. Don’t hide anymore.”

This hand wringing on the part of those of you in power is unconscionable. As you posture, people die. It’s that simple.

Sincerely,
(my name)or yours

Please contact your senators and congressperson. Thank you.

Be One of the 1%

This is old news now since it happened more than a week ago but the Blackhawk helicopter crash that occurred on January 20th where twelve servicemembers were killed really affected me.

If you read here you know I'm married to a USAF physician who is a CCAT team(Critical Care Air Transport) member. One of the people that died was Colonel Brian Allgood an orthopedic surgeon. Certainly that Dr. Allgood was in the medical corp hits close to home, but the awful irony of the highest ranking death to date being someone there to impart healing stops me cold. Equally upsetting was the death of Command Sergeant Marilyn Gabbard, the first woman promoted to the rank of Command Sergeant Major in the history of the Army. My emotional reaction is manifold, Cmd.Sgt.Maj.Gabbard being a military woman like myself, is one dimension and the loss of a physician, like my husband another. The other ten losses are no less tragic and my heart goes out to the family and friends of all who were lost.

I do not agree with this occupation. Three quarters of the American public concur that the US needs to leave Iraq. Two thirds of active duty military also want out but do not have a choice, they just continue to do their jobs. The highest ranking officer, 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who refused a second trip to Iraq, is now on trial. The people that serve need your help.

I cannot entreat anyone to have a personal stake in the loss of life that is now and will continue to mount as this illegal war/occupation continues, but look at the faces of the nearly 3,100 lost your government has shoved down the memory hole and withheld from public view. The lives the media scantly covered and George Bush refused to let you see return home. Then replace the face of someone whose died with the face of a loved one. Imagine yourself as part of the one percent and then contact your Senator. war

I Hear You Senator Feingold

Two minutes of Russ Feingold (WI-D) explaining the hearing process on Iraq getting underway inside the beltway.