WEBB FAULTS REPUBLICAN FILIBUSTER OF AMENDMENT TO SUPPORT TROOPS

[babylonsister]

http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=278538

WEBB FAULTS REPUBLICAN FILIBUSTER OF AMENDMENT TO SUPPORT TROOPS

Washington, DC—The following is a statement from Senator Jim Webb of Virginia following the Republican decision to filibuster his amendment on responsible overseas troop deployment:



“Today the Republicans decided to filibuster an amendment that goes straight to the well-being of our troops. I deeply regret this move, which makes it necessary for the amendment to be passed with a minimum of 60 votes instead of 51.

“I would remind my colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle that the American people are watching us closely today. They expect us to finally take the sort of positive action that might stabilize the operational environment in which our troops are being sent again and again.

“Americans are tired of the posturing that is giving Congress such a bad reputation. They are tired of the procedural strategies designed to protect politicians from accountability, and to protect this Administration from judgment. They are looking for concrete actions that will protect the well-being of our men and women in uniform.

“The question on this amendment is not whether you support this war or whether you do not. It is not whether you want to wait until July or September to see where one particular set of benchmarks or summaries might be taking us. The question is this: more than four years into ground operations in Iraq, we owe stability, and a reasonable cycle of deployment, to the men and women who are carrying our nation’s burden. That is the question. And that is the purpose of this amendment.”

To download audio of this statement, please go to: http://demradio.senate.gov/actualities/webb/webb070710_...



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Editors Note:

For full remarks of Senator Webb’s floor speech today, please visit: www.webb.senate.gov .

[OneGrassRoot]

1. On what possible grounds did the shitheads vote "no"????? n/t

[malaise]

4. American swill also hear the truth about who supports the troops

The Rethugs are totally fugged. They've reached the stage of fugging themselves.

[blondeatlast]

5. the talking point--I've heard it twice now, once form my "beloved" Senator McCain

(I'm sorry, America) is that it violates the president's power as commander in chief as to how to deploy the troops.

All of a sudden, the Constituution matters to them (if that's a valid tp; I doubt it). Didn't seem to bother them last week, or last month, or last year...

[librechik]

11. so we can support our toops as long as it doesn't conflict with our respect for Bush?

Bush comes FIRST??? When did that become his OPEN POSITION instead of a secret sneaky reality?

[blondeatlast]

13. That's pretty much what I get out of it. The hypocrisy is painful for us

but doesn't bother them in the slightest.

[OneGrassRoot]

14. Wow... thanks for the info. Calling Swamprat for a new pic!

SUPPORT THE TROOPS OR SUPPORT BUSH - YOU CAN'T DO BOTH




Unfrigginbelievable. I hope people really start to see this shit for what it is.

[babylonsister]

7. Protecting dimson's rights, per McCain:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Webb's proposal to reporters.

It "is an encroachment on the constitutional rights of the president of the United States and the presidential authority of the president . . . in that he alone is the commander in chief and would set deployments," McCain said."

[TwilightGardener]

2. Damn straight. The chickenhawk R' s just proved how little they care

for those who fight for them.

[Strawman]

3. Not coming soon to a Republican photo op near you: those "Up or Down Vote" banners

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Just another reason the Republican Party will be destroyed in 2008

n/t

[Ian David]

8. The Repukes VOTED to filibuster. They have not ACTUALLY filibustered.

I called Harry Reid's office, and said that Dems should insist the Repukes do the actual WORK of filibustering if that's what they REALLY want.

[glitch]

10. Work instead of talk? That will kill them. nt

[underpants]

12. Unfortuneately all you have to do is mention it and every uses it as cover

I agree they should force them to filibuster every single time. All everyone will see is some Republican running his or her mouth.

[tritsofme]

17. What do you think that would entail?

[nolabels]

9. That should turn out to be one big fat omnibus bill coming up

Like if you don't at least try than how could you ever assume you might get credit for the attempt :shrug:

Yea, they be watching but even more they probably are at least waiting for something to happen, even if it's a filibuster or a veto. There is no excuse for any killed in committee or conference. People want to see and have the names if it doesn't happen.

[shadowknows69]

15. They knew they couldn't let this pass

The way we're abusing our troops right now to implement this would require Bushie to reinstate the draft to keep his little wars going. There's a reason these guys and girls are gone 15 months and back only 6 now. There's not enough.

[bunny planet]

16. Is it possible for Senator Webb to call a news conference? The media is not doing

anything about portraying the Repubicans in Congress as obstructionist, as they did relentlessly whenever the Democrats in the minority attempted to filibuster. It is disgraceful when the filibustering harms our troops. Webb should go very public with this, a statement is just not enough. Be the sqeaky wheel Senator Webb.

[Faryn Balyncd]

18. Why do we allow the corporate media to FAIL to report that the GOP__ROUTINELY_FILIBUSTERS only to ..

phrase it that a bill "failed to get the required 60 votes"?

How can we allow GOP language consults to continue to control the public discourse by controlling the framing and language of "news"??






The GOP so controls the language of the so-called "mainstream media" that typical broadcasts report on a successful GOP filibuster WITHOUT EVER MENTIONING THE WORD "FILIBUSTER".

Instead, the American people are led to believe that 60 votes are required for passage,

The GOP, by ROUTINELY FILIBUSTERING, and controlling the language of the mis-labeled "mainstream media" is spared the stigma of "filibustering".

On the other hand, if the Democrats were to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee, they are exposed to the full stigma of the term "filibuster" by the corporate media.

Thus, the corporate "mainstream media" is complicit with GOP propaganda, by accepting the Frank Luntz/GOP perversion of the English language.

Not only have we allowed this soory state of affairs to continue, but we have allowed the right wing propagandists to continue to mislabel our overly deferential and complicit media as "liberally biased".

We need to insist on calling a filibuster a filibuster.

If the GOP is going to continue to routinely vote to not end debate (to filibuster), we also are complicit if we sit silently by as the corporate media continues to report this without using the word "filuibuster."