Beginnings At Last

Gratitude is due to the congress for its first step in the struggle to extricate our country from the irrational use of military power that the cretin in chief has committed.

It is past time for responsible involvement in planning that has shown nothing but disaster for this country.

Both sides recognized that the House vote, along with a Senate vote scheduled for today, represents the opening salvo in a more protracted struggle. "To me, this is kind of a baby step. It doesn't have teeth," said David J. Rothkopf, author of "Running the World," a book on the making of modern foreign policy. "The real question is going to be whether the Democratic leadership goes further and challenges funding, because that's where Congress historically has been able to show its influence."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her close adviser, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), are devising a strategy to tie Bush's hands by placing conditions on future funding for the war, such as requiring any units sent to Iraq to meet certain standards for training, equipment and rest between deployments. Because those conditions might be hard to meet, they could slowly constrict Bush's ability to keep up troop levels.
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Congress restricted Ronald Reagan from funding the contra rebels in Nicaragua, and the Senate rejected the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty submitted by Bill Clinton. But the tension had not reached the Vietnam War level until yesterday.

This administration has thrown our financial wellbeing away, and our reputation for responsible conduct into severe distress. It is time for the congress to take control.

Listening to Liberian president EllenJohnson-Sirleaf thank us for forgiveness of debts contracted by that country's tinhorn dictators, I am wondering if we won't be looking for relief of that sort ourselves after this regime's depradations.

When the Taylor government plunged Liberia into wars and corruption that destroyed its financial stability along with the security of peace, it took a long time for the country to regain the respect of the world at large. Electing a sound and reputable head of government has accomplished a great deal for Liberia.

Our cretin in chief made an interesting statement in announcing our forgiveness of Liberia's debts; I am impressed by your confidence, but more importantly, your deep concern for the people of Liberia. And so I pledge our ongoing help to you and your government," he said.

"Thank you very much for setting such a good example for not only the people of Liberia, but for the people around the world, that new democracies have got the capability of doing the hard work necessary to rout out corruption, to improve the lives of the citizens with infrastructure projects that matter," he said.

Johnson-Sirleaf praised Bush for his "strong support" and said Liberia had taken "important first steps" and that she hoped that debt forgiveness would set the stage for more progress.

When we get such a government, that has a deep concern for the U.S. Public and starts doing the 'hard work' necessary to rout out corruption and improve the lives of citizens here, we may regain our place as a reputable nation.

By the time we get the administration replaced by competent and concerned individuals, we may need debt relief as well.