Tour de Farce……..

       

oh indescribably yum!, on the front page of the Wapo for Thursday…

As they mumble, grumble, bitch and moan and, above all else, point the finger (short and limp as it is, lacking knuckles, they TRY to point):

Democrats in each chamber are now blaming their colleagues in the other for the mess in which they find themselves. The predicament caused the majority party yesterday surrender to President Bush on domestic spending levels, drop a cherished renewable-energy mandate and move toward leaving a raft of high-profile legislation, from addressing the mortgage crisis to providing middle-class tax relief, undone or incomplete.

“If there’s going to be a filibuster, let’s hear the damn filibuster,” Rangel fumed. “Let’s fight this damned thing out.” [like he cares… GMAFB!  –Mcat] […] 

    

Asked about his decision on government funding, House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) groused to the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call:

“I’ll tell you how soon I will make a decision when I know how soon the Senate sells us out.” [whiner!  bitcher!  — Mcat]

Senate Democrats have fired back, accusing Pelosi and her liberal allies of sending over legislation that they know cannot pass in the Senate, and of making demands that will not gain any GOP votes. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) noted that, this summer, Reid employed just the kind of theatrics Rangel and other House Democrats are demanding, holding the Senate open all night, pulling out cots and forcing a dusk-till-dawn debate on an Iraq war withdrawal measure before a vote on war funding. […and it ws fake!  …and everyone knew!  whiners!  bitchers!  fakers!  — Mcat]   Democrats gained not a single vote after the all-night antics.

“I understand the frustration; we’re frustrated, too,” Bayh said. “But holding a bunch of Kabuki theater doesn’t get anything done.”  [be sure and add that it is BAD theatre!  — Mcat]  […]

Round and round it goes, where it ends… who the fuck cares by now:

As they wrap up their first year in control of the entire Capitol since 1994, Democrats are trying to prove that they can be an equal partner to Bush. But their first 11 months have been politically and legislatively brutal, with congressional approval ratings dropping this week to 32 percent, a notch below Bush’s 33 percent, according to the latest Washington Post–ABC News poll. Their support plummeted as the liberal base grew outraged over the Democratic inability to counter the president on any war issue, while moderates and centrists looking for bipartisan kitchen-table accomplishments instead saw partisan gridlock. The disputes have at times taken on starkly personal tones. In closed-door bicameral leadership meetings, Pelosi has questioned Reid’s intentions on issues such as war funding tied to troop withdrawal timelines and an alternative minimum tax fix that is fully funded by tax increase offsets, suggesting that his words have not always matched his actions.

     

      Bloomberg photo, from a Jan 5 2007 article, first grafs:

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said they won’t support any proposal by President George W. Bush to increase U.S. forces in Iraq, an option he is considering as he works on a new plan to quell sectarian violence there.

“Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain,” the top two congressional Democratic leaders wrote in a letter to Bush. “It would undermine our efforts to get the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. We are well past the point of more troops for Iraq.”

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said Democrats are considering options to limit the U.S. involvement, including setting a cap on U.S. troop levels and requiring Bush to obtain congressional approval to exceed it.

On page 2 of the Wapo article, there is talk of irritation between Reid and Pelosi, over pulling earmarks (I have seen him on TV, he becomes nearly hysterical if you challenge him on earmarks, as does Murtha who snaps to something close to incoherent rage… I am sure the WH uses its power, too, to control what might be driven to their states and districts) and chit chat about the Republicans forcing the filibuster.  Weep weep… throw them a hankie… the big baaad Republicans are so mean!

Yeah right.  Impossible to believe them, much less care.

I have not toured the tulle, tutu and toe shoe wearing Blahgs and Box Car sites, but I am sure it is amusing. 

The lame duck jumps all over the toothless Dems.

************************************************