WHY DON'T THE DEMOCRATS FIX THE PROBLEMS?

Poor Nancy!

Any chance of the Democrats actually leading, at least in a meaningful way, on extricating the country from Bush's failed and catastrophic Iraq policies and agenda ended when the House Democratic caucus picked a corrupt and manipulative war supporter as Majority Leader. The choice between one of the most reactionary members of the Democratic caucus, Jack Murtha, a born-again, anti-occupation zealot, and the middle of the road hack who has supported Bush's overall Iraq policies, Hoyer, was a Hobson's choice from the moment it was presented. It was also a signal of what to expect from the Democrats: they'd be better than the Republicans, but not by all that much.

And we've had the type of Congress one could expect from one burdened with unimaginative, triangulating, Insider leaders like Steny Hoyer and Rahm Emanuel. So not much has gotten accomplished. In fact, just the facts on the ground-- the Republicans' ability to kill all initiatives in the Senate through rampant obstructionism and the back up of Bush's veto power-- guarantee that not much would get accomplished. The capper was dictated by Nancy Pelosi-- who feels she didn't have the power to do otherwise-- when she took impeachment, or even the threat of impeachment, off the table.

Instead of bold leadership we get the drip, drip, drip of a crippled society's half measures as it gropes for consensus-- a consensus among those who were responsible for the crippling policies to begin with. So the big news today? Rubber stamp Republican Senator John Warner has some kind of a cockamamie plan for some troop withdrawals to prod the make-believe Bush puppet regime of the Greed Zone-- a plan that will probably prod most of them into moving up their time of abandoning Iraq for whatever post-quisling country they plan to live in. And, at the same time, you have one of Bush's pet generals, Peter Pace, outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advising Bush that the party's over. In an assessment that will be at odds with the one the Regime is preparing for General BetrayUs to read to Congress next month, Pace wants Bush to withdraw at least half the U.S. forces.

Pace's recommendations reflect the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who initially expressed private skepticism about the strategy ordered by Bush and directed by Petraeus, before publicly backing it.

According to administration and military officials, the Joint Chiefs believe it is of crucial strategic importance to reduce the size of the U.S. force in Iraq in order to bolster the military's ability to respond to other threats, a view that is shared by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

Pace is expected to offer his advice privately instead of issuing a formal report. Still, the position of Pace and the Joint Chiefs could add weight to that of Bush administration critics, including Democratic presidential candidates, that the U.S. force should be reduced.

Is there a long range solution to these kinds of problems? Yes, and they involve more and better Democrats. Matt, Chris and Mike over at OpenLeft have launched an initiative to educate readers about Bush Dogs, Democrats who vote the Republican agenda. It's time for progressives to realize that the Democratic Party is a sometimes somewhat useful ally; that's all. And it's time for us to stop wasting our time and resources and energy on electing and re-electing "Democrats" who vote against Democratic values and with Bush and the Republicans. There are Democratic primary races coming up that pit progressives against reactionaries. You want to help make Congress better? Think about Darcy Burner (WA), Steve Cohen (TN), Donna Edwards (MD), John Laesch (IL), Rick Noriega (TX), Angie Paccione (CO), and Victoria Wulsin (OH).

This will never end, until we fix the Democratic Party: