by Taylor Marsh
It's hard to know what's worth fighting for anymore if it's not a war. But this week in the Senate of the United States we didn't get a fight. What we were treated to was a spectacle of political posturing. I guess next week Speaker Pelosi's House will have to show the senators how it's done. We can only wait and hope. But the House can't do it alone, so it may never get done. Especially if this week is any example.
Men and women are dying in Iraq.
If you're not going to stand up and fight for that when are you going to stand up?
Senators Warner and Hagel said they were against escalation then for the sake of politics and a president's legacy they caved and went along with their pals.
Cowards.
Then seven Republicans wrote a letter saying it was time to debate.
Pathetic.
There's not much high ground to be had by Democrats either, but at least they didn't set out to block debate. However, they didn't have the courage to allow all resolutions to fly and stand up and fight back. They didn't believe their arguments would win the day.
So. Here. We. All. Sit. Waiting. While our troops are dying.
What has happened to the Senate?
Where is their courage?
Where is Mr. Smith? A man who stands up and talks and talks, makes his case and won't stop until he can't go on any longer physically collapsing after fighting for what he believes is right.
Is it a case of stamina?
It's a case of heart.
We are not getting out of Iraq because there's not enough courage in the Senate and because not one senator has the guts or the heart to get up and take the floor, surprise the leaders, and start speaking and not stop talking until C-SPAN and every cable channel is covering the rant on why the Iraq war is not only killing our soldiers, but destroying this country, our future and the hope and possibilities of a generation of moderate Iraqis, Muslims and Arabs, while making sure our own country remains vulnerable as our defense system is sapped, our treasury emptied and our country is sold off to China, and every single Guard and Reserve troop is redeployed over and over again, while Bush and the Republicans continue to block debate, and Democrats continue to fear what voting on cutting funding for escalation will look like, while remaining stubbornly obstinate against banding together to vote in a block just to blow their opponents tiny little minds; choosing to stand alone on principle, while not taking to the floor to explain it, but in the end doing everything but what We the People voted them in to do, not knowing that making the case with passion and fight and heart will win over a country that long ago left the Iraq war and voted Republicans out and Democrats in with one eye shut hoping without proof and holding on to faith that the Democrats would actually do something, which means get this country out of Iraq and put an end to the countless hundreds of millions of dollars being buried in the Iraqi sand, start a dialogue with Arab nations, engage the world in peace, instead of an endless escalation of arms that endangers us all while our troops put their lives on the line, as U.S. Armed Forces watch divorce rate soars, and PTSD goes unchecked, unnoticed and ignored; but instead the Senate decides to have some gigantic tantrum then senators go on cable shows trying to prove who has the righteous point or who is more moderate and convincing as to why they've chosen to do nothing, when all sides look patently ridiculous, as if throwing a fit with words like my good friend across the aisle, which means absolutely nothing to the people of this country who have been watching this non stop romper room regurgitation of why things can't get done instead of illustrating to people how things do get done in terms that make a real person's voice actually rise above a whisper by using actual sentences that stir the emotions and actually get the blood going of the audience, instead of watching a bunch of old men, passive women, and young disappointments posture day after day after bloody day until you find yourself wanting to throw something at the television screen because you just can't take one more casualty, only to find out that it's really dozens AND THEN, just as pre-planned, we begin to hear about Iran and all that's going on there, with carrier groups sent to the region, an admiral in charge of a desert war, Iranians being blamed for providing weapons, with proof promised but never delivered, while WMD fears are trotted out again and Fox "News" begins its drumbeat, mimicked on right-wing radio every day, only this time it's complete with anti-Muslim videos on why that religion is the worst of all, blasting prejudice across the airwaves, while neocons join with Israel planning how they can get us to hit Iran, while armchair war whoops go up across the cable channels warning of another coming war, or maybe not, who knows, but let's be prepared because we can't look weak or like we can't pull the trigger because we don't do diplomacy anymore and besides if we don't pass some bill the business of the United States government would shut down and we can't let that happen because hell might freeze and the war might stop and............
Then what?
I could go on, but I'm not in the Senate. Neither is Mr. Smith. He doesn't live here anymore.
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