So the Republican idea of a debate is "Have you stopped beating your wife"? How very typical.

Give them a kick in the nuts.

1) That those bastards are wasting our time with this shit - including the flag "desecration" proposed amendment, gay marriage, etc. WHAT ABOUT HEALTH CARE, THE OUT OF CONTROL SPENDING, ETC. ETC. ETC.

2) I have NO faith that the Democrats, even with the Bush's low polls, will reclaim either house, not to mention the big office in 2008. I just think they will find a way to fuck it up.

I'm frustrated because it seems there's nothing I can do that will make a difference.

Deadlines are powerful motivators. Zarqawi,complete Iraq gov.,troops on border,illegal enforcement action, etc. etc. all for NOV. election, a deadline! Iraq gov. stated end of next year capable, set it as a deadline and watch the motivation. Hats of to the Rep. on his stand. Support our troops and demand a deadline to kick these people into gear.

this is presented as an either/or situation. the democrats could merely choose not to vote at all. mass abstention seems to me a valid way to demonstrate distaste for this shallow tactic, and a refusal to be manipulated.

If the Dems would all vote "Present" for this and other partisan legislative stunts, it would put the Republicans on the defensive -- forcing them to explain why this meaningless resolution was brought to the floor in the first place. Is there any Democratic leadership on the Hill to counter these types of Republican machinations?

Is that persons with terminal illnesses do not take it upon themselves to shoot Republicans in the back of the head. That would not be doubleplusgood. Oh, no, no, no.

Adopting Congressman Jones' plan to vote "present" will avoid dignifying the Replubicans' obviously cynical strategy of harvesting a campaing sound bite. House Democrates should stay out of that trap.

The Dems should take a lesson from the Texas legislature and just leave en masse. It's the only response to a lose-lose vote. And if it shuts down the government, so be it. Maybe people would wake up if they did.

The issue is, and always has been, the incompetence of our Commander in Chief as a military leader. He and his administration think that force can solve every problem in Iraq. What they fail to grasp is that guerilla wars aren't won in this manner - you have to win over the people giving the insurgents safe haven. Mao knew this 70 years ago fighting the Japanese in China but apparently we still haven't figured it out. We're still trying to use antiquated 20th century military tactics in a 21st century conflict. We're still trying to use force to solve every problem - the killing of Zarqawi being the latest example. Of course Republicans aren't going to admit all this, because doing so would be an admission that maybe the reason we're losing isn't becuase of Joe Q. Liberal spouting off on internet message boards, but because of the Commander in Chief's idiotic war plan...

Now there's a novel idea: accountability and accepting responsibility...something Republicans used to stand for.

I think the only way to deal with this bullshit is to refuse to participate by just walking out. What could they possibly have to lose at this point?

I watched some of the debate on C-SPAN last night. I could only take so much.

I felt my intelligence being insulted every time a Republican got up to speak. One went on about how some were saying we couldn't invade Afghanistan because of the terrain and the mountain fighters and how no one had ever successfully done it until we did. Then he talked about our "victory" there, the elections, the choosing of a leader and so on. Sound familiar? Then he talked about how people said we could not invade Iraq and occupy it. It had never been done. No way it could be done. Then, we did it, he said. We took out Saddam Hussein and we occupy the country. Great for us. Aren't we the shit?

I really tried not to scream. I really tried to keep my brain cells from frying with indignation and remain rational. Here was this empty suit of a US Congressman praising not our military, not our troops, but our tactics of pre-emptive strike and occupation. You'd have thought this was some Roman senator beating his chest about the spoils of wars won, enemy regimes brought to heel. It was mind bending. This is when I realized that the Neo-Cons live in an alternate reality. The one you read about in the old comic books where the villain crows about how well his plans are going and about how he will soon rule the world, HAHAHAHAHAHA!

No one can stop me, HAHAHAHAHAHA!

In that psychotic scenario, the rest of us look like weaklings. Whiners crying out for silly things like "patience" and "restraint" and, most sacriligeous of all, "withdrawal". The truly terrifying thing is that these Republicans really believe their own fevered fantasy and they are once again with renewed vigor trying to force it on the rest of us. A couple of points in the apporval rating and Bush & Co. think they've got "momentum". It's up to us "liberal whiners" to continue doing the thing that is shifting the war of ideas (I believe) in our favour. KEEP TELLING THE TRUTH. Now I realize that some here will think that we aren't winning the war of ideas, and I'm not suggesting that we have yet. But if we continue to tell the truth, and deal in the truth, and not give in to despair, it will become quite obvious what utter fools these people are for trying to pee down our leg and tell us it's raining.

That Republican lawmakers (and their supporters) can take the responsibility and gravity of their jobs so lightly is simply stunning. We are talking about war, death and destruction, the wasting of billions of dollars, and they're out there pulling childish stunts like this.

There really is only one way to deal with such idiocy: Get Out of the Sandbox!

Let them throw sand in each others' faces.

Hello Democrats?

If the vote is meaningless, as this one surely was, don't even do the Republikids the honor of participating in their little drama. Walk out and demand a discussion worthy of the gravity of the situation and your office.

This is WAR! Let's not play games.