No More Excuses. No More Politics. First Order of Congress Next Month: END THIS GOD DAMNED WAR!

[David Zephyr]

Memo to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid: No more bullshit. No more playing it safe. The entire country is disappointed in Congress BECAUSE you've not done your job and our soldiers and Marines are still dying every day. ENOUGH!

Cindy Sheehan may actually be on to something after all. Politicians are usually way behind the curve when it comes to public opinion...and the public wants this war over.

If Senator Warner can muster it up to say to Bush "start bringing them home by Christmas" then, by God, the Democrats had best find some backbone and stop this war.

What part of ENOUGH does Pelosi and Reid not understand.

Here's hoping that John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich turn up the heat on their own party.

The Democrats are failing our troops right now who counted on them to bring them home.

Failing.

[unhappycamper]

1. k&r #1. n/t

[babylonsister]

2. Hear, hear!! nt

[David Zephyr]

25. Really!

When the Democrats all get back to D.C. they need to be united on one thing: ending the war.

[Roland99]

36. Mega Dittos!

;)

[madokie]

3. Its not just for our Soldiers and Marines, its the Iraqi too

I love them also

[David Zephyr]

9. And they want us out, too.

Yes.

[madokie]

11. bless their hearts. I hope they realize that most of us do too

[Mnemosyne]

29. I hope so too, madokie.

:hug:

[datadiva]

4. Well said! n/t

[BeHereNow]

5. Amen David Zepher.

Enough is ENOUGH!
These pathetic fuckers know what we suffered
for years.
They KNOW we were counting on them-
they have done NOTHING to stop the maddess.

Kick the fucking bums out.

BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!

BHN

[David Zephyr]

22. Exactly. The American people are expecting the Dems to end the war.

Pelosi & Reid need to use the powers that they have.

[kimmerspixelated]

6. AND WHILE WE HAVE THEIR

ATTENTION...IMPEACH THE WAR CRIMINALS BEFORE THEY GET US IN IRAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pwb]

7. What about Mitch McConnell and the 60 vote filibuster.

Warner and Specter are all talk. You blame the democrats but what republicans have helped? How do you defeat the filibuster without republicans joining us? stay focused.

[unhappycamper]

10. I think it's 60 votes for cloture. IIRC, it's 67 to make it veto proof. n/t

[David Zephyr]

13. 11 GOP Senators already have expressed desire to begin an exit.

Here's 11 GOP Senators who've already said we need to begin exiting!

1.) Senator Hagel
2.) Senator Coleman
3.) Senator Smith
4.) Senator Snowe
5.) Senator Collins
6.) Senator Sununu
7.) Senator Brownback
8.) Senator Warner
9.) Senator Voinovich
10.) Senator Lott
11.) Senator Lugar

And the mood among GOP members in the House of Representatives is paranoia about '08 because they are all up for re-election and they know the mood of the country.

And don't forget that a group of Republicans from Congress met with Stephen Hadley and told him he had only until September.

It's time for Pelosi & Reid to bring this back up and in a very, very big way. It only takes courage.

September is here. First order of Congress, as I headlined: End this god damned war.

[rateyes]

33. Here's the deal...

Reid and Pelosi don't have to even have a vote. DON'T ALLOW A FUNDING BILL TO COME TO THE FLOOR FOR A VOTE. Fuck 60 vote cloture votes. If they filibuster a funding bill that requires the troops to start leaving, then it's the Republicans' fault that the troops don't get funded. Either way, it's OK with me.

THE DEMOCRATS CONTROL THE AGENDA. Both Reid and Pelosi, either one on his/her own, have the power to end this war.

[Yukari Yakumo]

8. Not going to happen.

As long as the Chimpenfuhrer is in charge, the war is not going to end no matter what.

The best the Dems can do (especially with their non-existent majority) is to contain the problem and not letting it expand further.

[KoKo]

12. "They" (Dems & Repugs) WON'T DO IT!

In a Town Hall Meeting with the most liberal House Member in NC this week...a group of "Out of Iraq" folks met with NC Rep. David Price. Price told them in no uncertain terms: "Impeachment is off the table because we have too much other important work to do."

That's it...there's no other answer. David Price represents the most LIBERAL DEM DISTRICT in NC! The folks who met with him were "Anti-Iraq Invasion Protesters" who met him carrying signs decrying the Iraq War and those are the people who Voted Price Back in Office after a RW Repug took his seat for a two-year interim.

Price DEFIED those who put him back in office by saying: "Impeachment is off the table, because we have too much work to do."

AND...Price doesn't get big bucks funding from the "usual sources" ...so we can't blame it on Big Pharma, Wall St., Credit Card Co's or the REST!

IMPEACHMENT IS OFF THE TABLE FOR DEMS. THAT MEANS "ANY" IMPEACHMENT!!!!
:banghead: THEY HAVE "THROWN GRASSROOTS UNDER THE BUS IN A CALCULATION THAT "CLINTON II" IS THE TICKET!!!

So.......what does that mean?

:shrug:

[David Zephyr]

14. I'm not talking about impeachment, but ending the war.

There are more than enough wavering Republicans now in the House and proably enough, if pressured, to go along with the earlier bill the Democrats sent to Bush this year.

It should be the first order of business when Congress gets back next month.

They have a lot of tools at their fingertips. There are already 11 Republicans in the Senate who are on the record stating they want to see draw down this fall...well, it's here.

Our troops are counting on the Democrats to bring them home. It's time to act.

End the War.

[KoKo]

15. David....we aren't going to end this war............

There's too much at stake for both parties. They were Complicit and no one wan'ts the Lawsuits and Litigation for years that will come out of this.

BOTH PARTIES are COMPLICIT! THEY ARE BUTT COVERING! THAT's WHAT IT IS!

(sorry to shout at you...you are a good person...but..I can only SHOUT these dark days)

Peace!
koko

[David Zephyr]

16. That attitude feeds Pelosi & Reid from doing the right thing.

.

[KoKo]

21. Why do you say that?

Don't understand...:shrug:

[LiberalAndProud]

17. Boarding the PEACE train. /nt

[David Zephyr]

18. Peace train take this country.

The opening days of Congress will be a hallmark moment.

[TahitiNut]

19. The road out of Iraq runs through Impeachment Gulch.

Otherwise, you just can't get there from here. :shrug: Nobody's willing to climb over Defunding Mountain and swim Filibuster River.

[David Zephyr]

20. It certainly is one of the tools that Congress has, TahitiNut.

1.) Impeachment proceedings in the House.

2.) Cutting off funds for the war beyond a certain date.

3.) Embarrasing the hell out of every Republican up for re-election in 14 months with bill after bill sent to the President and making them vote, as Bush says, "up or down" to leave.

The American people want out of Iraq. The public is with us --- at long last.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. End the war and impeach the bastards who started it

Seems simple enough, doesn't it?

[KoKo]

24. Yes, WE KNOW THAT HERE! But you can shout 'til Cows Come Home and Dem Leadership

WILL NOT IMPEACH!

When the most Liberal Dem Congresman in NC...who was elected by the Chapel Hill UNC Group and doesn't take money from the "usual suspects" says to huge group of "Out of Iraq" Protestors who donated to him and elected him into his office...SAYS: "Impeachment is off the table...we have too much else we need to work on" at a TOWN HALL Meeting in HIS DISTRICT this WEEK....then WE GOTTA KNOW...

IMPEACHMENT IS OFF THE TABLE!!!

Our Democrats have TAKEN IT OFF THE TABLE! Do I have to be a Cassandra and have you guys kill me as I try to tell you this?

Our Dems have signalled OVER AND OVER..."IMPEACHMENT IS DEAD!" ...AND...They WON'T EVEN GO AFTER BUSH CRIME FAMILY WHEN THEY DON'T HONOR SUBPOENA'S!

WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR US DEMS TO UNDERSTAND! THE DEM LEADERSHIP WILL NOT GO AFTER THE BUSHIES!!!!

Forgive my shouting...no one ever listens to my posts...and I become like Cassandra or the little kid that no one will listen to because they are the weakest of the litter. :-(

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. I listen to you

And I definitely share your pain. :hug:

[Subdivisions]

30. Why not? n/t

[DCKit]

27. Maybe they have too many "batphones" hooked into the corps(e)?

Probably get a clearer view of the voters slant on things if they'd get off the corporate tit.

Who is insulating them from us? How can they NOT know what's going on out here?

[kenny blankenship]

28. Unfortunately, Warner's statement about withdrawal was "nuanced"

He wants 5,000 brought home by Christmas to send a message¹ to the Iraq government that our commitment is not open-ended. Which means there is still a commitment, and that he actually hopes the other 155,000 do not come home anytime soon.

It was just another Spectral "Bombshell" announcement. If Reid and Pelosi try to bring the troops home, they'll have to do it without Warner's help. He just wants to pressure the Iraqi Gov't to make things look better politically, so we can go on occupying their country. That is, unless Warner's fallback position, in case Bush refuses to send his message to Baghdad, will be to start calling for a real end to the war. Maybe he's sure Bush will not listen, and that will give him the cover he needs to come over to the Total Withdrawal side. I like this explanation because it is more complicated, but even though I like it, it seems less likely.

1. The message is: pass the Give-Uncle-Sam-Your-Country's-Oil-Law, or else we'll create a security vacuum in Baghdad and your lives won't be worth a plug nickel.

[rateyes]

31. It's too bad that

Pelosi and Reid don't take orders from the American people. Otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed the funding bill (blank check) to pass the last time. Neither would they have caved on FISA, even with a "sunset clause." (What kind of shit is that? We'll let you suspend the constitution for 6 months?)

But, I'm glad to kick and recommend this thread. I agree with you.

:kick:

[The Stranger]

32. I think we need to keep our powder dry.

[David Zephyr]

37. The powder is so dry that the barrel has rusted and the trigger is broken.

What did we really win in November?

[The Stranger]

38. At this point, I think they formed the dry powder into lines and snorted it.

[porphyrian]

34. Ask Pelosi and Reid directly, I don't think they pay attention to us here. - n/t

[mzmolly]

35. I agree with Cindy on ending the war, but I don't agree that impeachment will end the war without

votes to remove.

Also, I think we have to be careful not to turn over the "end the war" banner to Cindy Sheehan. This is not HER issue, and it was not her issue before she became an activist. This is the issue of many Americans and it was when many of us marched before Casey and others went to war. Cindy's desire appears to be more about critiquing Democrats than any thing else.

Indeed, we the people of DU, must put pressure on our reps to REPRESENT us.

Thanks DZ. :hi:

[scarletwoman]

39. They're NOT going to end this war, nor are they going to stop the next one on Iran.

Glenn Greenwald explains this quite clearly:

Carl Levin reveals the Democrats' Iraq "strategy"

Wednesday August 22, 2007 09:34 EST

Carl Levin, probably the most influential Senate Democrat on Iraq policy, just returned from a "visit to Iraq." In a joint statement with GOP Sen. John Warner, he pronounced that "the military aspects of President Bush's new strategy in Iraq, as articulated by him on January 10, 2007, appear to have produced some credible and positive results."

While expressing various "concerns," they particularly hailed "the continuing improvement in the ability and willingness of the Iraqi Army to conduct combat operations against the insurgents." Predictably, war supporters on Fox News and elsewhere wasted no time in hauling out the "even-Carl-Levin-admits-we're-winning" claim.

<snip>

Levin is willingly serving as an uncritical spokesman here for the most dubious and sunny claims of the U.S. military regarding our great progress. But he knows that, and it is almost surely deliberate. The important point here is that Levin's statements signal the clear strategy Senate Democrats are embracing in the preparation for Gen. Petraeus' imminent visit.

Senate Democrats largely will not challenge, but rather will embrace and celebrate, the notion that The Surge Is Working and that we are making "military progress," whatever that might mean this month. To "oppose the war," they instead will follow the strategy Hillary Clinton has adopted this year -- namely, blaming the Iraqis for failing to take advantage of the great opportunities we are creating for them. Levin's demand that Prime Minister Maliki be replaced is designed to accomplish exactly that. Democrats are afraid to challenge the U.S. military's claims that we are Winning, and are even afraid to oppose the Surge, so instead, they will take the safest course -- heaping the blame on the Iraqi government and demanding that they improve.

<snip>

By endorsing the idea that the Surge is Working, Senate Democrats are ensuring that the Congress will never force George Bush to withdraw from Iraq. (my bold) That is the only meaningful result of Levin's remarks. It gives cover to Congressional Republicans to stay with the President, ensures that many "Blue Dog" Democrats will do the same, and almost certainly bolsters Republican support and weakens independent and some Democratic opposition to the war (after all, if "even Democrats" agree the Surge is Working, then we obviously ought to give the Iraqis more time, etc. etc.).

That the Congress will do nothing -- before September, during September and after September -- to force Bush out of Iraq is not news to anyone other than our Beltway elites. The only certain political fact has long been that we will be occupying Iraq at roughly the same levels of troop strength throughout the Bush presidency. But the fact that Congressional Democrats actually seem to weaken by the day -- they actually seem, as a group, to be turning gradually more pro-war -- is extremely alarming for an entirely different reason.

<snip>

The administration's willingness to attack Iran does not depend upon public opinion or even Congressional authorization. They are going to argue that they already have legal authorization to do so because the attack is part of the war in Iraq ("IRGC IED's are a casus belli for this administration") and they will launch an attack, by air and/or with the use of aircraft carriers, when they decide they want to.

That is why the complete lack of urgency on the part of Congressional Democrats -- their aiding and abetting of this P.R. campaign about how much military progress we are making in Iraq and how Iraqi forces are improving and how we need more time -- is so dangerous, so alarming. The tragedy we have unleashed in Iraq is a fait accompli.

But there is much more destruction that can come from our staying, particularly its use as a pretext for what many war advocates have wanted all along -- the use of our military force to bomb Iran and/or achieve regime change. Given our militarily weakened state, the latter goal seems virtually impossible. And, ironically as always, a bombing campaign against Iran would do more to strengthen that government than anything else we could do. But Iran is the Evil Enemy. And Enemies must be attacked and bombed and harmed. The people who think that way are very much still in control, beginning with the Oval Office, and it is very difficult to see how that outcome will be averted. Certainly the likes of Carl Levin aren't going to stop it.

sw

[catmandu57]

40. If they don't

then it's becomming clearer and clearer that the whole damn swamp needs drained, everyone I mean every damn one of the people that we've hired to do our business needs fired and people who will do the job need to take their place.
The tree of Liberty is long overdue for a watering.