Pick me, pick me!

I was fortunate that I listened to and did not watch Bush's shameless guilt-ladened demand to Congress to give him another $46 Billion to continue his adventure in the Iraq and Afghanistan war. He may as well have had a gun pointed at Congress for as much as it was a shakedown rather than a request.

But he did even better. I missed actually seeing that the President was accompanied by the family of a dead US Marine to stand with him as he executed the shakedown. This president, who says he supports the troops has made it common practice to use the troops as backdrop to prove his patriotism. Although not surprising, even this was low for Bush. I honestly don't know how he does what he does with a straight face. On second thought, I guess his ever present smirk doesn't qualify for a straight face.

You would think that after 5 years of these supplemental requests, someone in congress could figure out how to demand that there be no more supplemental budget requests for the war. It's time to demand that the administration includes the funding for the war in the budget. This administration cannot do that because, they say, they can't predict the costs. By submitting these requests as supplemental, they imply that it's just not that much money; it's just not significant enough to research and provide facts and solid numbers and anyway, you've got to approve it, or you just don't support the troops. The supplemental is working just fine for them.

The 110th Congress was sent to DC to end the war. Whatever else they may accomplish would be a bonus, but ending the war and bringing our troops home was priority one, numero uno, top of the list. So far, not so good on that front.

Funding the war is killing the troops- PERIOD. Additional funding insures additional death sentences to our military and the Iraqi population. Additional funding insures additional waste, fraud and abuse from the contractors like Blackwater, KBR and Halliburton. Additional funding means putting good money after bad when numerous Inspector General audits have proven time and time again that there is little control of US taxpayer money. It's time to stop the madness! How will Bush have been able to spend to $1 trillion on this war by the time he leaves office in 2009? How do we explain to the nearly 3900 families of the US military who died that this $1 trillion and loss of their loved ones was worth it? We can't.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid have the opportunity to include families of dead US soldiers & Marines like me to accompany them as they just say NO to funding the wars. Just because the president can find families to stand with him, doesn't mean that there are not Gold Star families who wouldn't stand proudly with the courageous members of Congress who are willing to stand up for their constituents. We do not want the deaths of our loved ones to be used as an excuse to continue this endless war. We do not wish this lifelong journey of bereavement on any other family. We are not unpatriotic; we are not treasonous and we do support the troops. We want to bring the troops home now and take care of them when they get home. I would be happy to stand with them if only they had the courage to just say NO. Nancy, Harry, pick me, pick me!

Raising the bar

With approval ratings hovering in the 20 percentile, in Bush territory, the new Congress isn't doing so well with the folks at home. "I understand their disappointment," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "We raised the bar too high." The Senator does not understand our disappointment and apparently the voters of America raised the bar too high in sending this new Congress to Washington. They are not getting the job done.

Nancy Pelosi calls herself "unhappy" but "we can only do so much". The whining is getting annoying.

The Republicans who continue to stand by Bush in some sense of misplaced loyalty will pay the price in 2008 and end up in the unemployment line back home.

My suggestions? Don't give up; never give up! This peace work is hard business, especially as the war machine in this country continues to consume so much of our resources, human and financial. With nearly half a trillion spent so far, every household in the US has paid $4100. That's a far cry from the $50-$60 billion the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
stated that the Iraq War would cost.

With Congress’ recent vote for an additional $100 billion in war spending, the total spent or allocated for the Iraq War alone rises to nearly half a trillion dollars. The cost to taxpayers of California now totals $57.8 billion.

It is not so much to meet with or write to your Congressional representatives in an attempt to change their minds and their vote. Writing a letter to the editor and getting the local media involved to let the readers and viewers know how their representative is voting. The public needs to wake up and remember that Congress represents you and they work for you. We, in the peace movement said that if Congress voted for the Supplemental bill in May, the war is no longer George Bush's war, it was theirs; they bought it, they paid for it, they own it.

To take that calculation further; if you don't do anything to end this war, then you own it, too. Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself if that is okay? DO NOT look away! Ask yourself what your responsibility is in the continuation of this war. They are telling us that the US will be in Iraq for 50 years, so I'm talking about your children, your grandchildren and possibly their children, too. How many dead Americans is acceptable to you? How many dead or displaced Iraqi's is acceptable?

“Iraq Summer” launched last week as Americans Against Escalation in Iraq prepares to dispatch nearly 100 organizers to the home states and districts of Republican Senators and Representatives who have opposed setting a timeline to end the US war in Iraq. The program is modeled on the “Freedom Summer” civil rights project. Organizers will be in fifteen states from Nevada to Maine, a total of 40 congressional districts. “This summer we will force Members of Congress to make a choice: vote to responsibly end the war or face political extinction,” said Tom Matzzie, Washington Director of MoveOn.org

Pick up a pen, crank up the computer; your representative loves hearing from you. Yes, really, they do. To make it easy for you, here is the list of targeted Republicans:

Illinois
10 - Kirk
15 – Johnson
18 – LaHood

Maine
Senate (Collins & Snowe)

Michigan
3 – Ehlers
6 - Upton
7 – Walberg
8 – Rogers
10 – Miller
11 – McCotter

Minnesota
Senate (Coleman)
3 - Ramstad
6 – Bachmann

New Hampshire
Senate (Sununu)

New Jersey
4 – Smith
7 – Ferguson

New York
25 – Walsh
29 - Kuhl

Ohio
Senate (Voinovich)
14 – LaTourette
15- Pryce

Pennsylvania
Senate (Specter)
3 - English
6 – Gerlach
15 – Dent
18 – Murphy
19 - Platts

Virginia
Senate (Warner)
2 – Drake
10 – Wolf
11 – Davis

Arizona
1 – Renzi

Iowa
Senate (Grassley)
4 - Latham

New Mexico
Senate (Domenici)
1 -Wilson

Nevada
2 – Heller
3 – Porter

Delaware
1 – Castle

I'm weary and I'm frustrated at the lack of progress in ending this war, but mostly I miss Ken and I cannot bear the thought of another family burying their loved one.