"REAL" MEN GOING TO TEHRAN AFTER ALL? LIEBERMAN & CHENEY LICKIN' THEIR CHOPS WHILE HILLARY PROVES SHE LEARNED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

photo by Tony Guzzi

The passage today of H R 1585, the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment, was not even close to the declaration of war against Iran that Cheney, Lieberman and the Neocons are lusting for. But it is unquestionably another well-strategized step down that path. According to tomorrow's NY Times the nonbinding resolution calls on the Bush Regime-- and the calls needn't be very loud, since it was engineered by that very regime-- "to designate the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group and to impose economic sanctions."

McCain was out on the hustings as usual, with his head firmly up the asses of big-money contributors, so he couldn't bother voting. Two wiser Republican elders, Chick Hagel and Richard Lugar, voted against it and all the other Republicans-- including fake moderates Norm Coleman, Gordon Smith, John Sununu, Lamar Alexander, and Susan Collins, as well as the entire GOP senatorial pervert brigade (Larry Craig (ID), Miss McConnell (KY), Lindsey Graham (SC), and David Diapers Vitter (LA)-- voted for it.

No surprises there. But the Democrats... they seem to have looked at all the poll numbers against Bush and the rubber stamp Republicans and decided that it's time to rein things in a little and prove to America that they are as undeserving of trust as the GOP. Joining the Bush enablers like the reactionary Nelson boys, Landrieu, Feinstein, Pryor, Bayh, Salazar, Baucus, and Carper, were Democrats who should know better such as Cardin, Whitehouse, Schumer, Reed, Menendez, Durbin, and, of all people, Hillary. Can we expect a speech from her in the future about how if she knew now what she was too stupid to know then she would have voted against this?

The honor roll today, Democrats who do not want to attack Iran, are

Joe Biden (D-DE)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
Claire McCaskill (D-MO)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Jim Webb (D-VA)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Obama was off with McCain. At least Dodd was paying attention and mentioned that "We shouldn't repeat our mistakes and enable this President again."

"I cannot support the Kyl-Lieberman amendment on Iran. To do so could give this President a green light to act recklessly and endanger US national security. We learned in the run up to the Iraq war that seemingly nonbinding language passed by this Senate can have profound consequences. We need the president to use robust diplomacy to address concerns with Iran, not the language in this amendment that the president can point to if he decides to draw this country into another disastrous war of choice."

UPDATE: OBAMA SAYS HE WOULD HAVE VOTED AGAINST THE KYL-LIEBERMAN THING

Here's his direct quote:

"Senator Obama clearly recognizes the serious threat posed by Iran. However, he does not agree with the President that the best way to counter that threat is to keep large numbers of troops in Iraq, and he does not think that now is the time for saber-rattling towards Iran. In fact, he thinks that our large troop presence in Iraq has served to strengthen Iran - not weaken it. He believes that diplomacy and economic pressure, such as the divestment bill that he has proposed, is the right way to pressure the Iranian regime. Accordingly, he would have opposed the Kyl-Lieberman amendment had he been able to vote today."

Different from Hillary.