Democrats in Congress by and large voted to authorize this war. Now they claim to be unable to stop that which they empowered and enabled. Symbolic actions are dismissed as "ineffective." Legal actions (like impeachment) are pronounced "unrealistic." Nothing is done. Everyone is doomed. It's like a Beckett play, with blood.

Democrats fear taking a stand on Iraq because they know it could all turn around on them: another terrorist attack ad public support for Bush will surge. Or US troops will mount some successes and the President's "plan" will appear to be working. Democrats, a fresh victory still juicy in their mouths, are unwilling to risk their power and prestige to end the war they created.

Shapiro is right: cowards, such as Shapiro and the majority of the Democratic leadership (past and present), can never make a difference, in war or peace.

America - land of the not-so-free, home of the not-quite-brave!

Or ARREST HIM as the WAR CRIMINAL he is; aka "The TORTURE KING".

The NEW IMPROVED SADAAM, with the NUKES, the BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS and those AMERICAN DOLLARS and Chinese Loans!

sub sole sub umbra virens

I have to wonder if this article was written in good faith. No one with any familiarity with US history or the structure of the US government could seriously claim that one of the three branches (the most important) has no power when it comes to fundamental issues of war and peace. Instead of reminiscing about his failed political adventures, maybe Shapiro should have done some research into what real constitutional scholars are saying:

http://www.acsblog.org/separation-of-powers-constitutional-scholars-join-letter-asserting-congress-has-power-to-stop-escalation.html

...that is agreat idea hold the whitehouse and every Republican earmark project in financial hostage until we can squeeze them dry. As they say money is the mothers milk of politics.

Thanks Cgr for the idea, it had never crossed my mind or, I am sure, the minds of our Dems in congress.

And may I add...

Choke Cheny and Bush of their funds, salaries, pensions and make them pay the price for THEIR war on America, the american people, our democracy and their war on the american taxpayer.

Imagine the very thought of taxpayer dollars being used to raise the living standard and health and education of the taxpayer. It's a revolutionary thought I have had since Reaganand the Repubs and the Pope of my church came to power in America.

No tax dollars should ever be spent for 'Faith Based Initiatives' like my local church giving away gov't turkeys to the people in my community who would never qualify for such Republican largesse. And why have the Bushie Repubs suddenly developed this largesse which is against everything that repubs and conservatives are totally dedicated to. Why?

Because they are spending taxpayer dollars to buy votes, in this case Catholic votes. Just a Medicare Part D prescription plan is the exhorbitant, EXHORBITANT use of Tax dollars to buy senior citizen votes and give HUGE amounts of TAX DOLLARS to the Big Pharmas to reward them for all the money thay gave to get and keep the Rethugs in power for such a long time, ever since Reagan.

Repubs are and have always been totally against tax dollars spent to benefit taxpayers. And that is why they let Big Pharma write the plan for Medicare Part D, and with the proviso that the cost of drugs will/can never be negotiated. Who in the hell ever heard of a contract that is and can never be negotiated. What a crock of crap. But then the rethugs are known for endless crap, spin, rhetoric and lies. If you don't see it after all that has gone on since the Pope got Reagan elected just keep watching/listening to Fox, Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Medved, Ann Coulter, Peggy Noonan(who worked for Reagan)Phyllis Schlafly, Tim Russert, the Pope, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Ted Haggard, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist and people like Mark Foley, Rick Santoreum, Sam Brownback, C. Powell, M. Powell, Condi Rice the oil princess and about a thousand others. Such a small number and yet they have so much power that they have a stranglehold just because they say USE words and events and tasks like Pro-Life, gay bashing, national security, morals, religion when in reality these people are morally bankrupt, dedicated to only Pro-Birth and Pro-Death for the sake of GREED and PRIDE(the sin of THINKING THAT THEY KNOW THE MIND OF GOD).

And the band played on and on and on, ad nauseam.

"Paranoia strikes deep" into THEIR hearts it has crept so that it is now deeply embedded, so they must kill many, many others and they THINK that will assuage theirs paranoia and fears which it will not because they keep pouring gasoline on the once very small flame such that it has now become a much bigger flame as the Pope speaks out in very disrespectful ways about the religion of others and continues to fan those flames just as Bush did so many years ago.

PRAY FOR PEACE, and for the end of stupidity, hate, intolerance, GREED and political and religious power.

Jesus never did any of those things.

say they are gonna fuck someone up, they do it and well.(Clinton)

Democrats are more thoughtful and considerate of all species...even still un-evolved ones who posses religious certainty....a weakness, in the battle for our destiny

...that almost anything Bush and the rethugs do from now on will hurt them in the future despite(2008) the endless rethug revisionist rants.

I truly believe that the american people are beginning to wake up.One indicator of 'we the people' awakening will be when people start voting in their own best interests. For example, when the people of W.Va. stop voting repub as they come to realize the lives of their miners were lost due to Bush and the repubs gutting MSHA finances and powers of prosecution.

How long will it take for the voters of W.Va. to realize that an MSHA fine of a few hundred or a few thousand dollars is not enough to compensate for the lives of their miners. When the people of W.Va. demand and strike against Bush the Repubs and MSHA's lack of enforcement(ie. letting the mine owners slide by...) resulting the deaths of their miners that will be an important indicator of 'we the people' waking up.

I shouldn't say 'we the people' because it will have to the good people of W.Va. getting absolutely outraged at the republican party that allows even one miner to die in order to protect one mine owner. I shouldn't say 'we the people' because I am awake and totally outraged at the needless deaths of those miners.

The Franciscan College in W.Va. will support Bush and the repubs but they employ a teacher who was a mine inspector and when I heard him speak I knew that he knew full well exactly what led up to and caused/contributed to the horrorable death of those miners.

The reason that Franciscan College will side with the Repubs as do all Franciscan clergy are committed to the repub party ever since Pope John Paul II so completely aligned the catholic church, my church, with the Repub party when Reagan became prez.

Another indicator of the fact that the people are waking up was the 2006 elections.

Another indicator that 'we the people' are waking up will be when we stop our family and friends from being sent to war just for corporate profits.

Another indicator will be when 'we the people' start jumping down the throats of all of our legislators when they don't represent 'we the people' in congress and instead represent only themselves and their own interests and those of powerful corporations, powerful Neocons and powerful Big Religion.

Big religion is the radical right wing evangelical FUNDAMENTALIST religions like mine, the Catholic Church. These religions claim to be Pro-Life but are only Pro-Birth and Pro-Death because the staunchly support the Republican Party Pro-War and Pro-Death machine which works for CORPORATE WEALTH rather than WORLD PEACE.

This war is not about american security or against terrorism it is solely about CORPORATE PROFITS and increasinging CORPORATE WEALTH via the NEOCON/REPUBLICAN WAR MACHINE and via the support of BIG RELIGION.

Bush just admitted that the other day when he said he wants to keep oil away from other nations, especially other nations in the Middle East.

What Bushie boy should have said was, okay american people listen up, I and my fellow Repubs sent your sons and daughters to die in the ME because we want their oil for our Bush family/Oil Company profits for the american, british and Dutch oil companies. Also folks war is a great way for me to take and transfer taxpayer dollars to my friends and cronies at Halliburton, Parsons and Bechtel and another 150-200 american companies to pat them back for supporting my presidency and my political party, the Republican Party so that we could get into and stay in power over all of you folks who have no power and never will. Also as Karl Rove said publicly we, the republicans, are on a twenty year mission to destroy the Democratic Party forever. America is a capitalist country, or have you all forgotten that. Capitalism and Big Religion rules your live and will always do so unless RELIGION gets in the way of capitalism at which time we, the repubs will destroy or tightly control all religion in america. Capitalism will always rule america and soon the entire world. I and my father said exactly the same thing to 'you the people' when we spoke about "A NEW WORLD ORDER". 'You the people' are the workers, the laborers and the providers of your/our tax dollars to ensure that the "NEW WORLD ORDER" comes about.

We have already begun our "NEW WORLD ORDER by supporting Stephen Harper in Canada and causing/making sure that Calderon got elected in Mexico instead of Lopez Obrador who would have worked for the impoverished people of Mexico and WE, the Repubs have the Pope and the Catholic Church to help us accomplish this "NEW WORLD ORDER".

That is why we the republican have already started with the enactment of NAFTA under Bill Clinton. Now we Repub are building the NAFTA SUPERHIGHWAY which will go from the ports in Mexico through the USA(Texas, Kansas etc.) and into Canada. We repubs ahve done this without your knowledge or the knowledge of the Canadian or Mexican people and without the knowledge of congress.

That is what Bush and his repub cronies should have said to the American, Canadian and Mexican people and will one day say/admit to the truth of those events as soon as they are sure it is to late for anyone to stop this project. That is why there will never be a fence between Mexico and America and the Catholic Church will help us make sure their never will be a fence.

PRAY FOR PEACE