Pro War. Anti Troops.

This morning I heard on Cspan two back to back calls, one from an old guy who said, "I'd NEVER let my kid serve for these thugs in the White House" and another who was more John Wayne in his "I'm proud to have served."

Both calls are two sides of one coin.

More and more I'm hearing more and more people say "I love this country, and I'm against Bush."

For three years critics have said, "I support the troops but do not like the White House policies."

Let's put the white light on the scurrilous wags who have created the policy. They have achieved the improbable: They are pro-war and anti-troop for they have taken the vehicle of the U.S. military and ground its gears and empties its tank and worn its tires bald, and are about to leave it by the roadside.

If you get stewardship of the family car, you have to take care of it.

What they've done, these gluttons for power and violence, is tainted the family heirloom -- liberty and service -- and the most we can hope for is that this administration becomes impotent for three years so that they can not do any more harm.

Congressional Critics Aren't Hypocrites. They Are (Reformed) Cowards.

From the 11/11/05 Washington Post: The White House went on the offensive in the debate over the Iraq war yesterday, insisting that U.S. intelligence had compiled a "very strong case" that Saddam Hussein harbored banned weapons and accusing congressional critics of hypocrisy because many of them voted for force three years ago.

The White House is wrong. These congressional critics aren't hypocrites. They are cowards.

There was enough evidence three years ago to question President Bush's veracity. There were enough credible voices raising doubts about the authenticity of Mr. Bush's rationale for invading Iraq. Even so, many in Congress who should have known better buckled under pressure from the White House, abandoned their conscience, and voted to give Bush the power to invade.

That was cowardice. It reveals to us that even men and women who come to positions of great power still engage in playground games where one or two bullies can hold sway over a crowd of twenty milquetoasts. That is our national lesson: America's dearth of congressional leadership, accountability and oversight paved the way for right wing hooligans to take the wheel, and drunk with power, they have been so inebriated in the driver's seat that now the nation has crashed.

While the drunks behind the wheel -- the right wing thugs and the lawless administration -- are blaming everybody but themselves, the rest of us who happily gave them the car keys and closed our eyes are also to blame.

Veteran's Day 2005, George W. Bush Style

President Bush took the occasion of Veterans Day to issue a withering response to critics of his foreign policy that led to American commitment to war in Iraq. Once again, he played the now well-worn card that those who disagree with him are "deeply irresponsible" because it demoralizes American troops and encourages America's enemies.

To sum it up, Mr. Bush turned this day dedicated to military men and women into a day about him. As he typically does, he used the military and their families as a physical backdrop to his speech. But even more conceptually, he used their "day" as something to prop up his own sagging reputation. As he did in his post-college days during the height of the Vietnam conflict, Bush used the sacrifice of others to attempt to protect his own hide.

If Bush were as noble and mature as his most ardent supporters say, he would have used Veterans Day to announce new programs that veterans and their families. What a grand opportunity it would have been for Bush to reassure America that under his stewardship, the government will institute new benefits and policies that will express thanks for their service and attend their future well-being.

Noble and mature? Not in this president. The nobility and maturity must come from the loyal opposition, who have been quiet for far too long...from Republicans who have been toadies to the administration since the 2001 inauguration...and most of all from the public who now must keep our heads and patience for three years while riding out the interminable remainder of the second term of this pretender to the throne.