JIM MARSHALL BREAKS RANKS WITH DEMOCRATS IN THE HOUSE TO DEFEAT A CALL FOR AN IRAQ INVESTIGATION (WHICH LOST BY ONE VOTE)

Jim Marshall and I were born a few days apart. When the U.S. attacked and murdered, unprovoked, untold thousands of Vietnamese citizens I left the country for over 6 years and lived all around the world. Marshall, the son and grandson of Army generals, enlisted, fought in VietNam and won 2 bronze stars and a purple heart. In 1995 he was elected mayor of Macon, Georgia and he is serving his second term as a congressman from central Georgia's third district. Like my friend Philbert Suggs, he's a hunter. I'm a blogger. The first time I came across Marshall's name was when an incredibly stupid letter to the editor he wrote to the WASHINGTON POST was published. Basically it was a Bush Regime propaganda piece from a militarist-type Democrat. After blaming our problems in Iraq on bad media coverage, it ended with this paragraph:

"Finally, no better signal of our commitment to this effort could currently be provided than for Congress to quickly approve, with little dissent or dithering, the president's request for an additional $87 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course no one wants to spend such a sum. But it is well worth it if it leads to a stable, secular representative government in Iraq, something that could immeasurably improve our future national security."

Well, it was obvious to most people with two functioning brain cells even back then that it wouldn't lead to anything like that and a year and a month-- and many senseless deaths-- later, it is clearer to more and more people. But not to Jim Marshall.

Yesterday Marshall broke ranks with the House Democratic caucus and provided Republicans with the one-vote margin of victory to prevent a serious investigation into the Bush Regime's lies and deceptions surrounding the lead up to their attack and occupation of Iraq. Bringing the resolution to the floor, Nancy Pelosi said "I think it brings shame to the House for this Congress to be engaged in a cover-up when it comes to revealing what's happening in Iraq." It looks like Jim Marshall has no shame-- or, in all likelihood, even a basic understanding that one doesn't, in his own absurd words, bring "stable, secular representative government in Iraq," at the barrel of a gun. It doesn't work that way. (Although if he's such a big fan of secular government-- which Iraq has had, thrivingly so in fact... for many years and has now lose under BushCo-- he might talk to his GOP allies about the endangerment of secular government in our own country.)

I pity the poor voters of central Georgia in 2006 who will have to choose between 2 insular, war-mongering candidates for Congress.