Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in a final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of it's laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of it's children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humnanity hanging from cross of iron. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Of course, it wouldn't be the first time this guy's warning would go unheeded.
But in a sense, Eisenhower's words were not only a warning, it was a prediction. Roughly 46 years later, we are seeing first-hand what happens when fighting a war takes precedence over the well-being of the people the war is supposed to protect.
And the person behind it has long since run out of "political capital."
I don't know about anyone else, but recently I've seen two distinct personas inhabiting the body known as George W. Bush. One is that of a fiscal conservative who is trying to regain the image of being responsible with money by declaring that the SCHIP legislation sent to him costs to much money. The other is that of a smirking warmonger who wants to blow up any country he personally believes is a threat, financial costs be damned.
Democrats in Congress can argue over whether or not Bush's intentions are good or bad, or if his priorities match up with what the American people want. But the bottom line is this: Bush has zero credibility.
Instead of rubber-stamping his calls for more war, they need to remind Bush that his term and way of governing is coming to an end. They need to remind Bush that they were voted into office in order to end the American occupation of Iraq, and prevent an unprovoked attack on Iran. They need to remind Bush that protecting the American people includes funding mechanisms and programs designed to help those amongst us who cannot help themselves.
Do not appease him. Send him legislation, and if he vetoes it, send it right back. Challenge every nominee. Question every executive order. Investigate every suspicious event, organization and transaction.
Tell him that Congress will not write any more blank checks for him; that every time he asks for money he'll have to provide an itemized report detailing where every single penny he's requested is going (who knows what we'll find?) and provide a rational justification for each designation.
Tell him that any legislation regarding Iraq will include a timetable for withdrawal and that because we will no longer borrow from China, Japan and the Middle East, the American people will have to be taxed to continue his war fantasies.
They need to understand what happens when they fall into the trap of listening to conventional beltway wisdom.
Let's be honest here; Congressional Democrats have done some good things: raising the Minimum Wage, making sure that Health Care stays a frontpage issue, and then, of course, there's Henry Waxman (booyah!!). But they need to keep the pressure on. As I've said before, he's not going away quietly. He re-enforced that sentiment recently:
Q Do you feel as if you're -- do you feel as if you're losing leverage, and that you're becoming increasingly irrelevant? And what can you do about that to --
THE PRESIDENT: Quite the contrary. I've never felt more engaged and more capable of helping people recognize -- American people recognize that there's a lot of unfinished business. And I'm really looking forward to the next 15 months. I'm looking forward to getting some things done for the American people. And if it doesn't get done, I'm looking forward to reminding people as to why it's not getting done.
That's very cocky, if you ask me. But why should Democrats, hell, why should the White House gardner, be afraid of this guy? Check the damn polls. Read some damn news reports!
If Democrats in Congress ever did pick up a paper or scan the internet, they'd see that Bush's inner circle is shrinking and cracking. His base is spintering. His presumed successors are a joke. Once-reliable donors (both the haves and the have-mores) are abandoning his party.
So why the hesitation? Quack the Damn Duck!!!