THINK ABOUT THIS irony.

The U.S. Congress has failed to pass legitimate legislation on Iraq, lobbying reform, and now immigration. Once that immigration bill failed this week, members of both houses went on an extended vacation for the Fourth of July holiday.

Yet, this is the same Congress threatening to pull U.S. funding and troops in Iraq because the Iraqi Parliament has done little and is trying to go on vacation.

Granted, there are some differences here. But here's the biggest. Iraqi Parliamentarians are ducking snipers and car bombs, while our elected officials are ducking their heads up the asses of corporate and special interest donors.

Am I being too tough? Think about this. Doesn't it seem odd that Congressional leaders say that the demise of the immigration bill this week—in July of 2007—means that immigration legislation probably won't happen until 2009—a year and a half from now? So, what are they going to be doing for the remainder of this year and throughout 2008? The answer is: running for election by gathering legal bribes from wealthy donors.

Is anybody asking this question or are we just taking what these manipulators say as Gospel?

Let me explain it this way. Imagine you own a company. Your employees aren't doing the work you want. Instead, the employees are going to your customers offering them sweetheart deals so the customers will demand from you, the owner, that you can't fire them. Wouldn't you still fire them? Of course you would unless you wanted to go bankrupt.

Some of you may think this analogy is awry. Well, if you don't think you're an owner of this country, and if you don't think elected officials are our employees, and if the special interests aren't our customers who should pay for the right to work and prosper here, then, please, don't vote.

Wake up, people. We've hired the inmates to run our asylum.