Democrats feel free to defy Bush on Iraq: Party leaders join antiwar liberals in opposing a buildup

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Democrats feel free to defy Bush on Iraq
Once-skittish party leaders are joining antiwar liberals in opposing a buildup.
By Noam N. Levey, Times Staff Writer
January 14, 2007

WASHINGTON — Emboldened by President Bush's deeply unpopular proposal to send more troops to Iraq, congressional Democrats are shedding their wariness about tackling the war and embracing positions once primarily held by the party's most liberal fringe.

Less than two weeks after taking power, party leaders who had promised just an increase in oversight hearings on the war are now talking openly about cutting off funds for additional military operations.

Centrist Democrats are lining up beside longtime antiwar liberals, promising to do everything in their power to stop the president's plans to deploy an additional 21,500 troops in Baghdad and Al Anbar province.

And the war's most passionate opponents in the House, whose last meeting before the midterm election was relegated to a basement room, met last week in one of the grandest rooms on Capitol Hill and drew scores of supporters, television cameras and journalists.

"Ours is now the mainstream position," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), who two years ago saw her resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq crushed on the House floor. Today, the congressional Out of Iraq Caucus co-founded by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) has more than 80 members....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-dems14jan14,0,7973832.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[barbtries]

1. i really really think it's time

for the soldiers to defy their commander in chief. if congress cannot remove him from office - clearly the worst least capable most deluded and neurotic person to ever reside in the white house - then maybe the resistance can begin to well directly from the people he's trying to kill and convert into killers.

if there's no soldiers there can't be no war...

[BR_Parkway]

8. We are still a nation of laws - in spite of W's trying to be above the

law. I would not support our soldiers in breaking the law any more than I would a crowd lynching someone because they didn't like the jury verdict. 2 wrongs don't make a right. At this moment, the Idiot's orders are still legal (thanks Congress) and the soldiers don't have a stand to disobey them on.

That said, Congress needs to catch up with the rest of us quickly and remove the Idiot in Chief from office before he can issue any more orders to our troops. The soldiers are doing their job, and following their oath to protect and defend the Constitution - it's time for Congress to do the same.

Had they been listening to us, the "fringe" left all along, we wouldn't be in this mess right now. There would be thousands and possibly hundreds of thousands of humans not dead, there would be billions more in the US coffers (or at least that much less owed on our China/Japan credit card statement)

[Nite Owl]

2. Liberal fringe?

At what point are they ever going to realize that liberals are not in the least bit fringe anything, liberal thoughts and ideas are what is truly mainstream. The whole idea of Americans being conservative has been pushed down our throats by the right and the corporate media for years. It isn't true and never has been. Mainstream America is us, we all want peace, we want to protect the environment for the future, we want to pay our bills and have the government be responsible in paying theirs. We want a good education and I have never personally met anyone who doesn't want a Canadian type health care system and doesn't have a very deep hatred for insurance companies. We have always been 'mainstream', the right wing conservatives are the ones that belong in the looney catagory.

Sorry for the rant but it just gets to me. I'm a liberal and proud of it, it's what our country was founded on.

[BayCityProgressive]

4. wow

you must be lucky. I know a lot of dems in my area that are so so on the war and against medicare for all...also I know a lot of racist dems....sickening but true...

[mzmolly]

9. Hoe bout the "Liberal First"

- liberals are generally correct, it just takes a while for others to catch up. ;)

[lligrd]

3. Glad It Is Happening

but chagrined that our "leaders" seem to depend on us to get the ball rolling before they sign on. I thought we hired them to lead.

[aquart]

5. Again implying that liberals are not "real" Democrats.

They can go fuck themselves. I am way past putting up with that shit.

[KoKo]

6. This is a good read...one of the few articles really talking about what Dems

are doing and how far they've come. :thumbsup:

[KoKo]

7. Kick this to Greatist Page!