Democracy? (10/2/2007)Our democracy is hostage to a small band of U.S. senators who, last month, blocked all attempts to give our troops respite, denied congressional representation for DC residents and attacked free speech. The 2006 election was a clear message to Congress to end the war. But the public’s will continues to be stifled by a few. Here’s the background. Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb, a former Navy Secretary and highly decorated Viet Nam veteran, introduced an amendment to require that U.S. troops spend as much time to rest at home as they spend in combat. Webb wanted a safety net for the troops to recover and retrain before another deployment. Others pointed out that, besides the time missed with families, extended combat duty has caused a sharp rise in domestic violence, divorce, and suicide rates. But their plea fell on deaf ears; under pressure from the Bush administration, a minority of senators blocked consideration of Webb’s amendment. Arcane Senate rules on filibuster that allow debate to go on forever and on cloture, which require 60 votes to end a filibuster, essentially mean that 60 votes, not a 51-vote majority, often are needed to move legislation. Thus, even though 56 senators (50 Democrats and 6 Republicans) supported the troops, a minority of 44 senators stopped the respite measure. Senator John McCain, Republican from Arizona, opposed it and oddly claimed that respite for our troops would lose the war. “We are succeeding and we are winning. With this amendment we will choose to lose. This is a formula for defeat, not victory.” Conventional wisdom is that the Bush regime can’t define victory in Iraq for us and doesn’t know how to end the war. Thus the Bushies want to continue the war long enough to dump this mess on the next president in 2009. As a result, American blood will be spilled for 2 more years. Next, under Bush pressure, and organizing around the filibuster rule, a Senate minority of mostly Republicans refused to consider a bill to give DC residents a House seat. 57 senators supported the legislation, and pointed out that it’s hypocritical for the U.S. to fight for Iraqi voting rights while denying it to citizens in our own capital. Thus, 3 votes shy of the 60 needed to shut off a threatened filibuster, DC residents again lost the right to have a voting representative in congress. Opponents fear that DC may vote Democratic and might even seek Senate representation. Can’t have that! Another blow to democracy, during September, was passage of a resolution condemning a MoveOn.org ad. The ad attacked General Petraeus. Bush called the ad “disgusting”; some senators said military officers should not be criticized. However, it was Bush and these same senators who refused to condemn the attack ads that swiftboated John Kerry and compared decorated Viet Nam veteran Senator Max Cleland to Osama bid Laden. So there you have it—free speech rules differ, depending on your political party. That a minority of senators, consisting of less than 10% of Congress, can prevail, is outrageous. The majority must stand up to them. Let the Republicans filibuster. Let the public see who’s stifling our democracy.- Judith Kohler |
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