Democratic House/Senate
Celebrate Memorial Day
with Display of Cowardice

Who Is Worse: The Fool, or the Fool Who Follows Him?

By Matt Lavin

The House of Representatives and Senate this month faced the difficult decision of whether to fund U.S. troops in Iraq on President George W. Bush’s terms or to play chicken with the president, using as a bargaining chip the monies designed to aid American soldiers in the line of duty.

Congress ultimately chose to endorse a deeply flawed funding bill that seemed on one level to signal a change of direction in Iraq, but looking deeper, really didn’t have the kind of language needed to affect real modifications. The [president is require to show progress in Iraq, but as in previous cases, he alone determines the definition of “progress.” We have seen over and over again how he abuses this power. In fact, at every turn, regardless of reality, he has declared progress. One wonders what would constitute lapse in progress. Would the Iraqi parliament have to devolve into mollusks before the president admitted they had taken a step backward?

This situation isn’t funny. As someone studying to become an English teacher, I live in a world where words have meaning. They matter. When President Bush’s shameless crafting of language is left unchecked, he controls the reality of how the American people see this war. Similarly, when Harry Reid, Rom Emmanuel, and Nancy Pelosi declare this funding bill “the beginning of the end of the Bush policy in Iraq,” their words ring hollow. Their rehearsal of victory, in fact, was simply patronizing. The American people know what they voted for in November 2006. This wasn’t it.

The Democratic majority was stuck between a rock and hard place, and voters understand this fact. What they don’t understand, however, is the apparent apprehension the Democrats had about letting the troops go un-funded through Memorial Day. Worried about image more than conviction, the Democrats flung their hands in the air and surrendered. When they turned around to face their oppressors, they were shocked to find empty shell of president with “support the troops banner” standing on a mountain of irony.