Democrats Or DemocRATS?

It’s almost hard to believe such a big deal ensued over a pre-emptive ad by MoveOn.org in the New York Times. Almost, but the allure of politics of distraction has never been stronger in our Babylon on the Potomac. The ad was titled, “General Petraeus, or General Betray us?” The liberal group reasonably questioned whether General Petraeus would give a fair and accurate report on the effects of the surge in Iraq. And, come on, how likely is it that the general hand picked by Bush would ever say anything off script? The president is running out of generals who are willing to cluck along with the chicken hawk squawk.

Since the obstructionist Senate Republicans are unwilling to debate anything concerning Bush’s Iraq war, they quickly fell into their usual lock-step behind their Fearless Chicken Hawk-In-Chief.

Bush was given the softball question at the end of Thursday’s press conference. When asked what he thought of the MoveOn.org ad, he spurted indignantly, “I thought the ad was disgusting.” He then twisted all logic out of the matter by claiming the ad was, “an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military. And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org, are more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the U.S. military.”

True to his chicken hawk nature, the AWOL President hid behind the military while accusing the Democrats once more of disloyalty to the troops. Absurd as this was, Bush was right about the Democrats being afraid.

When Texas Republican John Cornyn wasted our tax dollars and time pushing for a Sense of the Senate vote to condemn the MoveOn.org ad, nearly half the Democrats cowardly caved in to side with the Republicans. Free speech was kicked in the groin by a 72-25 vote in the Senate. All Bush has to do is say, “Boo,” and half the Democrats flee like rats from a sinking ship. Of course the ship isn’t even sinking, but they always give up the helm in a pathetically predictable panic when they get challenged on any little non-issue.

When the Republicans need a break from their filibuster threatening, they will come together with the Democrats and advance some legislation. Then they can proudly demonstrate their bi-partisan magnanimity. Unfortunately, it will only be for additional war funding. And, of course, an increase in NAFTA-type favors for their corporate paymasters. This is where the Washington vermin unite to gnaw the heart out of our country.