Ten Things Congress Did Instead of Getting Us the Hell Out of Iraq

[autorank]

Link:http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0709/S00454.htm

Ten Things Congress Did Instead
of Getting Us the Hell Out of Iraq

The “Brains” Thomas Nast Political Cartoon

March 20, 2003 Through the Present

http://tinyurl.com/2nw6jc">DiggIt

Michael Collins
Scoop Independent News
Washington, D.C.

1. Well, to start, Congress gave Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R) $1.5 billion dollars to build two bridges to absolutely nowhere. After two years, the citizens of Alaska stopped one of them and Sen. Stevens is now subject of an FBI investigation targeting public corruption. (1) (2)

2. Right in the middle of this major war, Congress decided to give away hundreds of billions in tax cuts to major corporations. Isn’t war supposed to be a time of sacrifice? Guess the big guys are too busy making money to sacrifice. (1) (2)

3. Speaking of sacrifice, Congress continued its special retirement system where just five years of service gets you full retirement with benefits at age 62. Sweet! Where can we get that deal? (1)

4. One day Congress was feeling so powerful it decided to trash the great protection against unlawful imprisonment, the writ of habeas corpus. This dates back 800 years to the Magna Carta. You can now be arrested without a charge, denied a lawyer, and held indefinitely. They said it’s just for terrorists but they lied. As a special bonus, those torture techniques for terrorists can also be used on U.S. citizens. More of that globalism business. Taser alert! (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

5. But let’s be fair, the U.S. Senate did take a firm stand on Iraq just recently. They took the time to vote 72 to 25 to condemn an anti war group for criticizing the testimony of one of the few generals who actually supports the war. At the same time they gave billions more to continue in Iraq. Attack an ad, fund a war. It’s Congress in action. (1) (2)

6. As if nuking a newspaper ad wasn’t enough, Congress gave recently embarrassed Sen. Vitter, (R-LA), a big fat check for his pet project – “a Louisiana Christian group that has challenged the teaching of Darwinian evolution in the public school system and to which he has political ties.” (1) (2)

7. Meanwhile, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) got a 56 vote Senate majority to guarantee U.S. troops sufficient rest and leave to recover from the hardships of the Iraq war. But it needed 60 votes to pass! “It’s a congressional thing, we wouldn’t understand.” (1) (2) (3)

8. Congress made sure that seniors continue to pay top dollar for their medicine by refusing, that’s right, refusing to let Medicare officials negotiate bulk discounts from big drug companies (Big Pharma). Why wouldn’t they want seniors to get up to 60% off for vital medicines? Got me. (1) (2)

9. Congress might be getting a little worried about us, the citizens. They passed a bill allowing the government to spy on our phone conversations and emails without a warrant “just because they say so.” All it takes is the Attorney General and one intelligence official to say so and you’re bugged. You’ll never know it. They wouldn’t want to upset us, would they? (1) (2) (3) (4)

10. Not satisfied with screwing the seniors, the soldiers, and just about all U.S. citizens, Congress is now out to get the world by blocking any real action on global warming. Congress must be smarter than just about every scientist in the world. They’re the “Brains.” (1) (2) (3) (4)

Congress had time to do all this…
...but they didn’t have time to get us the Hell out of Iraq.

Let’s not forget!

END

Permission to reproduce in whole or part with a link to this article in Scoop and attribution of authorship.

Link:http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0709/S00454.htm

[yardwork]

1. I think it is very misleading to lump the Republican Congress and Democratic Congress.

True, Congress has continued to do some stupid things since the Democrats took a very slim majority last winter. However, I think it's really important to remind people that it was the Republicans who enacted most of these incredibly evil things.

[fenriswolf]

3. F that its not republican or democrat

It's an american congross, our congross and republican or democrate they have done these things. It is no supprise that almost every congrossman knows who is going to vote what and hay guess what maybe its to their benifit if we become completely disgusted that we have a majority in the senate, house and in the presidants seat. Lets see how democracy works when it becomes a dictatorship.

[autorank]

6. Right, it's the Congress 2003 on that hasn't stopped the damn war!!!

Out of the damn Hell hole for our people, help theres. Enough already.

Vote the damn funding down. It means our guys and gals come home.

Screw Bush!

[babylonsister]

16. Amen, autorank. They all need to find their spines, vote it down, save lives! nt

[Me.]

2. %$#*&^%X??@#&*$ Congress

Surely we deserve better than a put-up job!

[autorank]

7. Really, Move On Congress, Get it done.

:hi:

[althecat]

4. Congress keeps doing a heap of things except debate election fraud too...

[autorank]

8. That's about 100th on the list, I'm told, about 10 down from Microsoft 811;)

Thanks once again, Gracias Senor!

Hows the rugby team doing?

[althecat]

14. Winning.... so far.. but then they are bound too till the semi finals start

And if they don't win then the country will enter a period of mourning.

[autorank]

32. Is this them?

http://www.allblacks.com/

Some hearty athletes! Great web site too.

I'm already in mourning for my team. How long does it last, weeks, months?

Date Game Result
08 Sep New Zealand v Italy 76-14
15 Sep New Zealand v Portugal 108-13
24 Sep New Zealand v Scotland 40-0
29 Sep New Zealand v Romania 0-0
07 Oct Quarter Finals
14 Oct Semi Finals
21 Oct Final

Looks pretty good. Sucks to be Portugal playing NZ; or Italy; or Scotland (with those matching jerseys).

[althecat]

39. You know far too much about rugby for an American....

And yes. None of those teams have ever come close to beating us. Romania will be another mismatch....

Odds are we get to play France in the Quarter Final which should be more fun. They knocked us out of the 1999 World Cup in a match that will forever bring tears to the eyes of good Kiwi rugby fans.

:)

[autorank]

40. I just know that web page, which is a gem.and some friends in a former life.

The guys here have quite a culture, lot of partying and and the occasional melley for no apparent reason. It's a rugby thing, I didn't understand...you learn to stay alert at all times;)

[AtomicKitten]

5. John Lennon had it about right.

"You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can
But when you want money
for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
Ah

ah, ah, ah, ah, ah...

You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
all right, all right, all right
all right, all right, all right

[autorank]

9. A true patriot, that Lennon!

Lived 1 block form him in NYC, of course he had nicer digs, but a real great neighbor, said hello to everybody while walking with his bride.

[AtomicKitten]

11. my melancholy is now complete remembering this NYC'er and bride:

:cry:

[autorank]

15. Now that's elegance...

Know how you feel. He had the "John Lindsay" style, which is quite something to have.

[DemReadingDU]

10. It's all about taking care of your buddies

very, very, wealthy buddies

can't let them find empty pockets, must always be overflowing to secret Swiss bank accounts


:hi:

[Greyhound]

12. Incomplete, but a good summation that *should* demonstrate just for whom

they work.

But don't worry, if we just elect enough of them, then it will all be alright.:crazy:
:kick: & R

[autorank]

13. Thanks....they've forgotten the "servanat" part of "Public Servant" ...

and I'm not referring to Dennis, at all. He works like a Trojan for us.

[FogerRox]

22. I want to elect enough of us......

[Kurovski]

17. I didn't know that Congress actually took the time to let us know

that they don't like it when we let them know what we don't like.

Self-righteous scolding from the power structure that fucked it all up to start with is always amusing.

When will we learn to behave?

[autorank]

57. I love it when they talk down to us, which is all the time.

They get "zoned" and it's like you're listening to someone in that parallel
universe from Superman, "BizarroWorld."

:)

[Kurovski]

58. And just as in BizarroWorld,

their leader Bush speaks ungrammatically.

[mod mom]

18. It's ALL so frustrating!

After all my years on DU-I even finally changed my avatar over frustration.

[autorank]

30. Well, that's a damn good avatar. He opposed the war, the A.G., the lack

of action by Congress on the shift to tyranny. Gore!

But don't be frustrated, cuz it's all about "The Money Party" - a bipartisan enterprise. Look how
long it took to shut down Viet Nam..."The Money Party" was really hot then. Now they're just stupid.

They have no idea how furious people not normally political are. They'll find out.

Keep the faith, you faced the ultimate where you are...

[mod mom]

36. I'm getting worried about this all HRC all the time bs that the corporate ho's are dishing.

The pukes in the OH legislature won't let our SOS test the machines and we all know they want to go against Hillary so they can claim a victory is legit. I'm afraid although we'll see less disenfranchisement, we'lll still get cooked numbers w no recourse to contest.

[KoKo]

19. Kick & Recommend for sure!

[autorank]

20. Hey KoKo01...thanks!!!

:evilgrin: Who is the Public and who is the Servant.

I think they forgot the order of things.

:hi:

[shance]

21. How true how true. Congress is a country club of elites with the best health care

and the best employment and severence package money can by.

It has become a treasure chest of golden (as in ching ching) opportunities for those who kiss their a** through the doors.

Time to change that, and that will take removing the money from the election equation.

Can it be done? I guess when citizens have suffered enough at the expense of those selling us down the river in Washington.

And of course that means the Democrats as well.

Its essentially all the same game, even if they pretend there are different teams.

[autorank]

26. "The Revolving Door" $165,000 as a Rep. to $1,000,000 as a lobbyist.

Look at Tauzin who went over the the dark side, then left Congress to head up Big Pharma. That's quite a pay hike. Of course, the question was did he have the job in place while he still served? Don't know if anyone tried to answer that. Might prove embarrassing.

These "Blue Dogs" think they're amusing but they're screwed. Populism will emerge very soon. There is a big fight in Florida for the party, insiders versus progressives. I'll tell you who has the energy.

:hi:

[Cha]

23. Thanks! This is a bookmarker!

I really feel for the ones in Congress who must be so frustrated by the stinkin' majority who continue to pass bad laws and let good ones die.

[autorank]

25. Thank you!

I agree. The progressives, those who see the war as lunacy, and all those who want to go to the matwith * and company are tied down. It's hard to say what role leadership plays, in the case of the Senate. Reid has come more to the left and is outspoken but there are nearly 40% of his fellow Senators who feel it's OK to vote for the economic oligarchs or fascists. Bush is not liked anywhere. They do not represent their constituents, they treat the constituent as though he or she is the "servant" or the stiff. There will be consequences, particularly for the Republicans. Progressives will emerge big time all over the country. It's just starting.

[Cha]

33. It's the Twlight Zone, autorank, and I

think we're doing damn well under the circumstances, i.e..everyday there's a fresh hell.

[FogerRox]

24. REc'ed and Kicked

[autorank]

29. Hey, you left a $50 dollar tip, didn't you realize that;)

Get that blog cooking. We need that naval warfare stuff again. The time is soon, I'm afraid.

[FogerRox]

34. The Blue lint vs the Red lint, ........naval warfare.

[Mnemosyne]

27. Most excellent autorank! Assessment of the year award! K n R!

:applause::yourock:

:hi:

[autorank]

55. Wow! I'll take it...

...even though "I'm not worthy!"

:)

[opihimoimoi]

28. if congress is that bad,,,maybe we should vote RED?

Look for the GOOD CONGRESS has done in 7 months....you guys making like the DEM Congress are crooks....If Blue is not good enough then what do we do? go elsewhere? Let the Red uys win??? Are we being scammed by Rove again?

[cui bono]

38. Huh? Did you see that the post is about congress from March 2003 on?

So most of it is about a Republican controlled congress. And when it was a Dem controlled congress a lot of it was Republicans being obstructionists. But that stupid anti-MoveOn resolution was brought to the floor by Reid. And Reid has not been playing his hand as well as he could have, so it is partly the Dems fault.

I guess the OP presumed that people would be able to discern the culprits.

[opihimoimoi]

42. sorry, misunderstood...I am a bit touchy these days cause of trolls and freeps

[cui bono]

45. No problem. I did something similar earlier today about something else.

:)

[autorank]

54. OMG!

I've been so busy lately I didn't catch that detail about Reid introducing it.

I'm not going to disturb my late morning Zen by raising my pulse but

!@%!$^!^!!! R$$^! of a @%23 !!!:nuke:

Nothing surprises me lately, not one thing. Amazing.

Yep, it started the day the war started because they KNEW that WMD was bull shit. So every day after that that the thing wasn't stopped is a day of shame and blame.

[NotGivingUp]

31. K & R ! n/t

[Hissyspit]

35. K&R

[autorank]

37. I second that!

:kick:

[Kurovski]

41. Kick.

Even though I wonder about that Collins character. ;-)

[Usrename]

43. They are diabolical about their complacency and inaction.

Refusal to reign in these criminals and end this travesty is downright frightening.

[wildbilln864]

44. Awesome post, thanks! K&R! n/t

[autorank]

53. Thanks wildbilln864, check out one blue sky's additions - wow!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1893851&mesg_id=1898309

[me b zola]

46. k&r

:kick:

[diva77]

47. good one, Auto; altho. it would be nice to acknowledge the

stragglers in the "paragon of virtue" category...Kucinich, anyone????

[autorank]

56. There are those who put forth the real solutoins and, their reward...

...mockery by the complicit corporate media.

Being good reaps a reward of contempt. What an example to the next generation,
who btw are much brighter than the rulers now!

[OneBlueSky]

48. let's not forget the other important things that Congress has failed to do . . .

- they have failed to initiate impeachment proceedings against the most corrupt, most criminal administration in out nation's history . . .

- they have failed to rebuild the city of New Orleans, and are now allowing the taking of 19,000 homes at rock bottom prices by major corporations . . .

- they have failed to regulate the actions of major corporations that are turning our rivers into sewers, our oceans into cesspools, our skies into chemical clouds, and our landscapes into asphalt and McMansions . . .

- they have failed to prevent the U.S. government from denying American civil rights and liberties that have been our birthright for generations . . .

- they have failed to investigate and prosecute the theft of hundreds of billions of tax dollars by corporate contractors in Iraq . . .

- they have failed to halt the growth of mercenary armies, and their employment by the U.S. government . . .

- they have failed to stem the continuing decline of the U.S. dollar that will soon lead us into a recession, if not a depression . . .

- they have failed to fully investigate the events of 9/11 and honestly report what actually happened to the American people . . .

- they have failed to investigate the theft of the 2000 and 2004 elections by the Bush/Cheney administration . . .

- they have failed to protect the Iraqi people and the Iraqi land from devastating destruction by U.S. armed forces and corporate contractors . . .

- they have failed to stand up to the Bush/Cheney administration, to massive corporations, or to the corporate media, all of which are sending this country to hell in a handbasket . . .

- they have failed -- period . . .

feel free to add to this ever growing list of dishonor . . .

[autorank]

52. Perfect additions, some should have been on my list but this is an ongoing citizen

generated list and here we go.

Great stuff!!!

[Thothmes]

49. And one wonders why Congress's approval rating is in the basement

[msedano]

50. Attack an ad, fund a war.

Posh pish, let's look at the good side of this. For example:


mvs

http://labloga.blogspot.com
http://readraza.com

[autorank]

51. Your presentation was complete.

We'll be luck if there's a second act.

[robinlynne]

59. This is one of those threads to save.

[Kurovski]

60. Kick. (nt)

[truedelphi]

61. K & R'ed late last night. Most excellent commentary Auto!

And I refuse to forget the Dems main assertion: that they can't take time to have impeachment on the table because then there'd be less time to accomplish the important business at hand.

It's no mistake that that important business includes setting up a public fervor over an advertisement - thus enabling Big Right Wing Cable (And other info sources) to come out next year and say that net neutrality is something that only encourages those "MoveOn" types.

Next year it won't be censure, it will be pulling the plug on the internet(s) for all but the moneyed crowd.

[autorank]

65. You said the magic word, untied the b.s. know - we don't have time to impeach...

Great!!!!!

As for the internet scam, I say bring it on. If they think that they can do that and get away with anything but a total "REVENGE OF THE NERDS" (and about 60% of America is now in the"nerd" realm), then I say, "Bring IT on!!!" They will be crushed...

[truedelphi]

67. At this point I don't care who decides to rise up and crush

Corporate Interests, their phony wars for "Freedom" and their self serving interests.

As long as someone does it.

Ciouldbe Chicago Bears Cheerleaders for Truth or Cub's Pennant Fans for Victory.

Anyone better than no one.

[Nothing Without Hope]

62. They're "servants," all right, but not of the PUBLIC. Their actions are so consistent,

I'm being forced into believing that they are not just weak or misguided, they are CORRUPT. They are owned by corporations. Whether this is by bribes or by blackmail (a major purpose and use of all that secret spying, I have no doubt), they are wholly owned and operated.

There are exceptions, like Dennis Kucinich, who dares to tell the truth and is NOT owned by the corporations like the others - no wonder the corporate media don't say much about his message. Some Kucinich links:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1657357
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3472988
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3498251#3500044
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3500260
http://www.dennis4president.com/go/issues/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMiiOF6clrY
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x54116
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x55969
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1877359



Cartoon found here: http://www.towncalleddobson.com/?p=830

RFK Jr said a few years ago that 95% of the Republican US Congress members and 75% of the Democratic ones are corrupt:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2999611

I am coming to believe he was correct.

K & R - thanks, Autorank!

[truedelphi]

63. Thank you for supplying those links

It is interesting that around the same time that Kucinich made the speech about the privatization of oil in Iraq and the clause in the Iraq war funding bill concerning Iran, that the MSM had a quite different spin.

The MSM talked up as major spin the fact that Iraqis would be allowed income from the clause ion the bill.

They did not emphasize the meager percentage. They made it sound like the Iraqi people would get the revenue that they truly deserve as the owners of the oil.

Obviously someone in the CIA thinks that we as a people still want a fair deal for the Iraqis. SO the MSM set out to make it look as if the Iraqis did indeed get that fair deal from the ministrations of our beloved Congress.

I would not know better myself except for the alternate internet sites like this one.

[autorank]

64. They slackers all work for the one true party in charte...

The Money Party

"I'm being forced into believing that they are not just weak or misguided, they are CORRUPT."

The links are so excellent. You're a peach, or peachy or the bearer of good fruit for the mine,
yeah, that's it;)

[AuntPatsy]

66. I wasn't aware of RFK Jr. saying that, that's frightening.

[Kurovski]

68. Kick. (nt)

[Uncle Joe]

69. Retire after five years!

Dayum, I'm in the wrong business!

Kicked, too late to recommend.

Thanks for the thread autorank.