Written by YABOSI
from Blog Critics magazine

Now that Baby George Bush has signed the war funding bill the Dumbocrats will look back on a missed opportunity. Rather then simply cave in to their fears of being seen as not supporting our brave soldiers who have been thrown into this misadventure, Congress should have seized the opportunity to create some semblance of balance in the policies that have moved from the extreme left to the extreme right in the past six years.

Baby George has lived his life as a spoiled kid. His belief that he can do and say anything he wants was re-enforced while he had the luxury of a GOP controlled congress that would not break from him. Unfortunately the Dumbos lack the intestinal fortitude to slap Baby George until he realizes that he cannot continue to act like the brat that he is.

The Dumbos should have had the guts to mix other policy initiatives with Iraq War funding, that continue to reiterate the message that Baby George no longer has a blank check. This would have meant pressing Bush on issues that are near and dear to him and his evangelical backers, or force America to make a final decision as to what to about Iraq.

One thing that Pelosi and her core of losers could have done was to add federal funding for stem cell research and abortion clinics to the war funding bill. It is true that both these initiatives have nothing whatever to do with the war in Iraq, but the Dumbos needed to stand up to Baby George and say, “you can’t have it all…you can choose the war or stem cells and abortion.” Since the Dumbos lacked the guts to take this type of action, they failed miserably to restore our system of checks and balances which has fallen by the wayside over the last six years.

Another rider on an Iraq funding bill that would have made sense is to either reinstate the draft or require two years of military service from all U.S. citizens under thirty. These are not uncommon practices, as many countries require some form of service in return for the privileges that come with citizenship. When service is required, it creates a military that is truly representative of the people, and a shared experience that spans all races and levels of wealth, leading to a stronger sense of patriotism and national unity.

Clearly many people, especially neoconservatives, would scream at the possibility of their kids serving in Iraq. However, adding such policies to the Iraq war bill would have forced Baby George to place the burden of war across a much broader section of the American people, and would be a true test of the extent that Americans are willing to support this misadventure.

Given their lack of guts and reluctance to force Bush to choose between Iraq and his far right domestic policies, the Dumbocrats have shown that they are no more trustworthy with power than are the neocons and evangelicals who are in charge now. It’s a sad statement as to the future of our nation and demonstrates the pressing need for reforming our political process that it has allowed small but vocal and wealthy groups on the left and right fringes to hijack it.

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