How Do You Spell Pussy?

Easy...D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T. Let's review. The Dems made the war in Iraq their piece de resistance in the last election. "We're gonna show Bush!" they said. "We're gonna bring the troops home!" So, Speaker of the House Pelosi declares that in 100 hours they are going to pass all kinds of promised legislation.

Well, sorta. All of these bills made it through the House, but none through the Senate (let alone to W's desk), so they haven't done shit (let's not confuse activity with results). Then comes the big one, the bill to continue funding the war. Yeah, it had needless pork in it (these earmarks were rationalized by the Donks saying that at least representatives had to more publicly raid the treasury, as if their pride would make a difference), but the gist of it was that the Iraq government had to meet certain objectives by certain times, or else! All along Bush said that he wouldn't sign a bill with deadlines (regardless of whether they were linked to objectives), so he vetoed it.

So, the Dems had two choices. The first was that they could send essentially the same bill back to W and say, "We're serious about this. Your fiasco will come to an end when the Iraq government does certain things as described in this bill or they'll come home because the money runs out. It's up to you." The second choice was, "We just wanted to make a point. We're not really serious about ending the war. We'll do whatever you want. Would you like to finish on our faces or in our mouths?"

So, what did the Donks get for giving in to the White House? They get to put a raise for the minimum wage into the bill. Talk about negotiating against yourself. You have the fucking majority, use it you little cunts. Christ, what Republican in a reasonably close campaign wouldn't vote for raising the minimum wage that hasn't gone up in 10 years? As an aside, I think the minimum wage in a capitalist society is misguided, but that's for a future post.

So, let's review. The Donks promised reforms in putting pork in bills, but that's not exactly happening. And they swore they would teach W a lesson about the war, but they just gave him everything he wanted in the war spending bill. If you're an independent (or a Republican, for that matter) who decided you wanted a change in Washington, what are you thinking now. Exactly. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.