House bill 557

I always think of San Francisco as being an oasis of extreme liberalism. And Mark Morford writes a completely irreverant, beyond liberal column for SF Gate (San Francisco Chronicle online). But everything I read from SF Gate's news articles is seriously right-washed.

Check the headline for this article:

Resolution praising U.S. troops angers Dems

Now, here's the story:

The House passed a resolution Wednesday praising American troops and the Iraqi people on the Iraq war's first anniversary, but only after partisan wrangling between Bush administration supporters and minority Democrats angered over being shut out of the measure's drafting and opposed to wording saying the war has made the world safer.

And that's the point of contention. Why'd SF Gate headline it the way they did?

[Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi wanted to offer a substitute for the language saying the war had made the world safer. "A final judgment on the value of activities in Iraq cannot be made until Iraq is stable and secure," the suggested amendment said.

...Some Democrats eventually voted for the symbolic resolution even though they objected to pieces of it because they felt majority Republicans had set a trap for them. No amendments were allowed, and some Democrats didn't want to head into November's elections with a vote against the resolution, fearing they would be vulnerable to charges they weren't patriotic and had abandoned America's fighting forces.

And those are the Democrats Americans do not need in office. That's how we got into the war in the first place. The Republicans are still playing the patriot card, and the Democrats are still crumbling under it.

How they voted.

The Democratic House caucus, led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, sought to invoke party loyalty on the bill's first vote, the one to approve or reject the rule not allowing any amendments. Republicans prevailed, 228-195, with only two Democrats voting against their caucus.

And whoever those two are, they should be the first to go. Voted for the bill and against allowing any modification?

The measure also was part of the administration's weeklong effort to highlight the one-year anniversary of the war as a successful U.S. operation.

So apparently, the only way to do that is to lie some more and make the lies official - get signatures on them.

"The Iraqi people are living in freedom for the first time," said Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J. "They know it, and they love it.''

Let's get up a collection and send Jim to Baghdad.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.