Betrayed

That's how I feel. That the nation has been betrayed by the Democratic Party, the party which was put back into power after being out for 12 years on the idea that Republicans had gotten the nation into a wasteful, immoral and unwinnable war, and that only the Democrats could get us out. And yet, when faced with the simplest of tasks, to merely set a timetable, to tell the president, who administers the laws created by Congress, that the war needed to end by a certain date, please, they could not.
Dear me, but they were worried about a presidential veto, and the bad things that Republicans might say about them.
Boo-hoo!
Fuck the veto, send that skeezy bastard in the White House bill after bill if necessary, because in the end, it would be he and not Congress that was denying the will of the people.
But, no, showing the same lack of backbone that has characterized their "leadership" throughout this entire clusterfuck of a "war on terror" (since even before 9-11, really) the Democratic Party gave a deluded fascist what he wanted, ignoring both the polls and the voters. Apparently, Democrats actually believe Republican spin, so instead of bringing our people home, they have instead given in to the Terrorist holding the troops hostage in Iraq, afraid that to do otherwise wouldnt be "supporting" those same troops, who have been placed in harm's way in the first place by our own King George (and dont fool yourself, George Bush is our mistake).

There are some who say, Oh, give the Democrats a break! They've only been in power since January, they cant do everything at once, they've got a slim majority, Joe Lieberman, blah blah blah.
Sorry, no break. They had one priority, to wrestle control of this shameful years-long episode of foriegn policy incompetence away from The Decider, and either fix it, or get out of it. Neither, apparently, will happen. Big Daddy Dubya continues to abuse his "children", cheered on by an increasingly isolated batch of "Christian" Soldiers.

Republicans are hailing the Democratic wimp-out as a victory. And they should, they should.
It was definitely a loss for the American People, a group that the GOP no longer represents (if it ever really has in the last few decades). But who are the big winners here?
Well, certainly the terrorists win, as America continues to dance to their tune. Bin Laden is still free, and if tomorrow he declared baseball to be alright with Allah, you can bet that the Right would attempt to destroy it the very next day (they might throw in apple pie, too, just in case).
The biggest winners, I think without question, are the oil (and oil-related) companies and especially oil-producing nations (like Saudi Arabia, that nation where most of the 9-11 hijackers came from; or Iran, whom the Bush Administration claims to want to weaken).
Checked the price of gas lately?

The biggest losers? Well, okay, obviously it has been the Iraqi people. But (and I realize this sounds awful) this post isnt about them, it's about us. And folks, we're fucked¹. This war, for which we've now been committed to spend another $120 billion dollars without any real controls or goals, is going to be a debt burden to us for the rest of our lives. And what have we gotten for it²? Thousands of dead bodies, a compromised justice department (although, arguably, one could say that BushCo wouldve screwed us there anyway, war or no war), lost world prestige, and our "moral authority" shit out the bunghole of George Walker Bush and flushed down the toilet (after he wiped his ass with the constitution, of course).

Let me give you a little before and after analogy. Once upon a time, we were a bit like Bill Gates. Okay, so we werent anybody's favorite, but we had money and respect and power and we actually did stuff that was useful and if we came by people would at least act like they were happy to see us (and hopeful that maybe we'd give them some of our money).

Now, we're more like Donald Trump.

So I'm pissed off. So pissed off that it's tempting just to quit. To put my head down, keep my mouth shut, and hope I can survive until this diseased and bloated edifice we call a nation collapses under the weight of its own corrupt hubris.
At which point things'll get really hard.
I thought, maybe, that by adding to the buzz, by voicing my opinion and exploring ideas and information, I might make a small difference, one which would add up, with all the other small voices, to a large roar. And it did, it did. But to what end?

None. What. So. Ever.

The Baboon still rules, the Democrats still drool, and the craziest part of our nation still has the loudest voice and an ear that listens. We are well and truly screwed.

I'm going to finish up with what Andrew Bacevich, "a retired Army officer who served in Vietnam and has become a noted conservative critic of the war in Iraq" has to say about the war in Iraq³:

"what kind of democracy is this, when the people do speak, and the people's voice is unambiguous, but nothing happens?"

'Nuff said. 'Nuff said.

1. But no, not as fucked as the Iraqis. Perspective, Dave, perspective.
2. props here to the Liberal Doomsayer. Also, tooting my own horn, here is what we could have spent the money on.
3. I've kind of quoted/paraphrased this in several comments elsewhere, but this is the actual thing he said.