Back in March of 2007, I bemoaned on how the Democratic victory in congress meant nothing as far as stopping the Bush administrations atrocities. I asked what we’ve seen from the Democrats concerning Iraq, Iran and our loss of liberty from the current administration. The answer then is what I expected at the time: nothing.
I received some criticism for “not giving the Democrats enough time” and “expecting too much for such a short period”. It’s been a year now since the Democrats have held congress. Have my expectations been appeased?
Hardly.
Let’s review the workings of the Democratic Party controlled congress over 2007. The war in Iraq is still going strong. In fact the Senate unanimously confirmed General “I’ve never seen a surge I didn’t like” Petreaus. The Democrats haven’t forced a retreat, haven’t cut funding to the war effort, nor have they done anything about the horrid Guantanamo facility. FISA was renewed in full force, without any concern for civil liberties. Michael Mukasey was given a free ride on his nomination for Attorney General over his inability to decide whether or not waterboarding is torture. Finally, at the end of 2007, Bush was handed $70 billion in war funding, which means that the war will go on until at least the end of Bush’s term, as no one is going to rock the vote-boat at the end of this summer when the funding runs out – so more will be provided. Honorable mention must also be given to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as news has now come out showing that when Pelosi was a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, that the CIA informed the committee as early as 2002 that waterboarding and other torture techniques were being used. Far from objecting, it has been reported that Pelosi cheered on such tactics and supported the initiative to continue.
Even the Democratic Presidential candidates don’t meet the mark. Clinton and Obama battled against each other to prove how “anti-war” they were over Iraq, while their voting records reveal that both voted for a $301 billion increase in war spending and both voted against setting a withdrawal date. Chris Dodd likes to talks as if he supports liberty, being the only Democratic Presidential candidate with a stated “return to the Constitution” position, but his voting record betrays his totalitarian nature. No one who believes in liberty and the Constitution would vote for the PATRIOT Act, the FEMA Amendment, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as well as the Implementing 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act. Congress should have just bundled them under the “Repealing the Bill of Rights Act” and saved time.
No, the Democrats have merely proven once again that they are ineffective in achieving their stated goals at best, or lie about their stated goals at nominal.
Republican and Democrat: Two sides to the same evil coin. Until Americans stop voting via partisan politics, we will continue down the same horrid path until the USA simply falls apart from its own seditious weight.
