To the U.S. Congress if you can’t end this war, go look for other work

To the U.S. Congress if you can’t end this war, go look for other work
By Mary MacElveen
March 16, 2007

In speaking out against this war, those that have done so have pushed all fear aside and have done so with immense courage. If one is to look at the definition of courage, one is, “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery.” The other being, “have the courage of one’s convictions, to act in accordance with one’s beliefs, esp. in spite of criticism.”

You may ask who best exhibits this trait of courage. I do believe that those who have angrily spoken out against this war while pushing aside all fear which has been our way of life since September 11th, 2001. Who are these people you may ask? It’s surely not the congress as a collective body, but the American citizenry. Yes, there have been some in congress that have pushed all fear aside, but not nearly enough to stand up to this president. Those that refuse to use the power given them by the American people are the ones that should hang their heads in shame.

Our troops have shown more bravery and courage than our elected officials in Washington, D.C. It seems to me that a talking points memo has been circulated around the halls of congress that if one opposes this war, they are not supporting the troops. Supporting our troops does not mean sending more over to meet their untimely deaths. To these cowardly congressional members, six more soldiers died yesterday in Iraq. My guess is that six more grave stones will be needed as these brave soldiers come home to their final resting place. I just wish that many of you who continue to genuflect before President Bush could be there as those family members receive that dreaded knock on their door.

Recently, Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI), when speaking to Tina Richards, the mother of an Iraq war veteran called those who are against this war, “liberal idiots”. This past Election Day which handed power over to the Democrats, I do suspect that many crossed party lines and voted for the Democrats. According to most polls the reason for this was that the American people wanted an end to this war. So, they pushed aside their fear and voted in a Democratic majority. Are all that voted this way liberal? I do not think so. So, it begs the question; is Obey calling the American citizenry idiots? I would like to remind Rep. Obey that he can be removed from power come 2008 as he used such a derogatory remark. Tina Richards showed more courage to confront this congress member since she knows what true sacrifice is. At the end of this confrontation, he ran away and went behind a closed door. Meanwhile our soldiers are out in the open getting shot at day-after-day.

Do you want to know where I find true cowardice and disrespect of our soldiers? It was in Senator John McCain’s actions as one reads, "Sen. John McCain the Arizona Republican who is running for the White House in 2008, skipped the vote to campaign in Iowa." Yet, he wants to be the Commander in Chief of the armed services? By this action, we all know what his priorities are. You would think that an elected official that was held prisoner by the Viet Namese would stand up for our troops as they face our modern day Viet Nam. Nah, campaigning is more important.

As one reads, "Rep. Barbara Lee of California, voted against her party’s plan, saying it did not go far enough.”I believe the American people sent a mandate to us to bring home our men and women before the end of the year," At least she was listening. This country has grown weary of war since that has been the only item that has been on President Bush’s agenda in both of his administrations.

Not to solely pick on Rep. Obey, but to those in the senate namely the Republicans who voted to end this debate, you are betraying the expressed will of the people when a clear message was sent to you this past November. You are all cowards and are not deserving of your seat as representatives of the people. If it’s not out of cowardice as to why you refuse to shut this war down, then give us a reason. No, we do not wish to hear the same old rhetoric. Is it to protect your financial interests as special interests groups continue to fund your campaigns?

To my readers, I strongly urge all of you to watch this video called Why We Fight and while it lengthy it may show you the reason why so many congressional members continue to vote for war appropriations bills along with their refusal to stand up to President Bush. Exactly what defense contractors and special interest groups throw their money at these representatives of the people? War is all about money and lives be damned.

Rep. Jose Serrano (D Bronx) stated "I want this war to end. I don’t want to go to any more funerals," Well at least he has attended funerals of our fallen soldiers unlike the man namely President Bush who has not. I once met Rep. Serrano when covering the low-cost oil delivery by CITGO to the Bronx and in that act, he was representing his constituents.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell while saying that "This is a dangerous piece of legislation. It is constitutionally dubious and it would authorize a scattered band of United States senators to tie the hand" of the commander in chief, he said." It was this statement coming from him which lent steam coming from my ears which he said, it would be "absolutely fatal" How many fatalities have their been by supporting President Bush’s war of lies, Senator McConnell? As of March 15th, there have been 3, 203 fatalities. Tell us all when we shall see the end of these fatalities.

If writers and activists against this war are to be fair and balanced to borrow a motto from the ‘Fox Noise’ channel which of course is not true, then one must hold both parties accountable. I literally spit nails when I read that Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton stated she would keep a limited force in Iraq if elected president when reading this NY Times article. But, it was this passage that jumped out at me when she said, “It is right in the heart of the oil region,” she said. “It is directly in opposition to our interests, to the interests of regimes, to Israel’s interests.” As one of her constituents, I did not vote for her in the general elections to represent Israel, but the American people. Our interests were best expressed this past November when the electorate voted to end this war. How are the interests of America being served when our casualty rate continues to climb?

I often wonder whose interests would have been served if Jonathan Tasini won the primary election this past September. He was a staunch anti-war candidate. He did have the courage to go up against Senator Clinton. I do think that a great disservice was done to the electorate in NY State when it was reported that NY1 a cable station owned by Time Warner did not allow Tasini to debate Clinton. As reported by the Village Voice the channel said it had "established criteria to identify which candidates would be invited to participate" in the debates: poll at least 5 percent and have spent and/or raised $500,000." According to Fair.org, "Tasini stood at 13 percent, but his campaign has raised only $150,000." In the interests of the people, I really do not think that certain criteria must be met when it comes to the future of this country. Let the people decide and not the media. His message did resound with me and I wanted to hear what he said.

In closing, I do believe that those who voted for a change in course this past election are the ones that showed immense courage and what are we met with? We are met with complicity and cowardice by many but not all. While I do not see our troops coming home anytime soon in which many will die along with innocent Iraqis, I do think we as the American people must put all cowards on notice to go look for other work. After all, the American people showed more courage than the United States Congress.

Author’s note: Please feel free to email me at xmjmac@optonline.net

To read all the hyperlinks included in my article, please go to this link: http://www.marymacelveen.com/blog/_archives/2007/3/16/2810135.html to read them. In fact the video Why We Fight is a must see video for all to watch in order to fully understand why wars are waged.