Finally last week, the debates we should have had over four years ago under the Republican misled administration, began to take place regarding the unjust war in Iraq – well, as they say, “better late than never!”

The process began, rightfully so, with an attempt by the New Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV) trying to advance debate in the U. S. Senate.  But, the narrow majority of Democratic seats proved too weak a caucus to succeed.  Still, as has been the case over the past six years, the Republicans did not even want to discuss, let alone, openly and publicly debate Iraq – a continuing cowardly position on the part of these pathetic partisan pukes.

Harry Reid, being the master politician that he is, knew it was prudent to first test the waters of the Senate before he advanced any strategy.  Harry did the right thing, and was smart, by deciding to “punt” to Nancy Pelosi.

So, the next step, having exposed the Republican cowards, again, was left to the U. S. House of Representatives.  It began with a measured and a meticulous slaughter by the House Rules Committee Chair, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and she expertly “sliced and diced” every petty, pathetic, partisan objection to prevent the Republicans from undermining the process of a truly democratic debate on the Unjust War in Iraq.   

Still, after six years of the Republicans being obstructionists, they had the audacity and arrogance to, now, whine and snivel and complain about not being granted equal standing as the majority members – unbelievably!

The U. S. House Rules Committee did the right thing and granted the minority Republicans an equal amount of time, five minutes each, as all of the majority Democratic members – and that’s more than the Republicans were willing to do over the past six years for Democrats in minority status!

Chairwoman Slaughter refused to be swayed by any of the Republican whining – and it was, really, kind of fun to see the Republicans, now in the minority, behave like a bunch of spoiled children who didn’t get their way.  There was a whole lot of childish, pathetic, partisan pouting going on.

Had it been my decision, I would have insisted that only Republicans who were willing to publicly admit their blind support of  their President and this unjust war was fully a mistake, would have been given only one minute to apologize!  I would have argued, the “new majority” has no time to waste on the “new minority” as they are responsible for the country being misled and have, unnecessarily, put our troops in harms way by blinding following their idiotic executive!  Iraq is Bush’s and the Republican Parties war!

Of course, that would have been considered too strong and asking too much!  The American people are fed up with “politics as usual” and with the “usual politicians” as Al Franken so eloquently put it in his announcement to run for the Senate in 2008 - I hope the people win more Senate seats in ’08!

My prize for the worse “Republican Rat” this week goes to Rep. Steve Buyer (pronounced “boo-ur”) from my home state of Indiana – what a truly pathetic, cold, calculating political prostitute he’s proven to be, as just one of the most recent “water boys” for Bush.  He’s also the ranking Republican member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and this typical example of a “RepubliCAN’T” blatantly and publicly demonstrated is disdain for the Vietnam Veterans by attempting to chastise their National President, John Rowan for candidly speaking truth to power over VA budget shortages!

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) seems to think the veterans are participating in “political theater” – that’s just how stupid he is!  He (like far too many of his colleagues) doesn’t get it that we are talking about our troop’s lives being lost and horrifically wounded, unnecessarily in an Unjust War in Iraq!  And he certainly doesn’t understand that fully funding the VA is so important!

Maybe, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, with help from the veterans in office, need to talk on the floor of the House and Senate about the American Just War Tradition?  This stupid, sophomoric, circular argument that “you can’t say you support the troops and be against the war” – is just bull, and anyone that is not paying attention to the fact that a growing number of the troops want to get out of Iraq and come home is just nuts!

Let’s support our troops by bringing them home!  If you agree, mark your calendars now for Saturday, March 17^th, we will have a local “Protest for Peace” at the Federal Building in Las Vegas (being held in conjunction with a national march in Washington, D.C.) and its St. Patrick’s Day, and all of us will be a bit “Irish” and oh how the Irish are such patriotic rebels!