fly at night

The all-night Senate debate turned out to be a bust for Majority Leader Harry Reid. Somewhere along the line he figured out that he would miss his nap.

The Senate is voting on the Levin/Reed Amendment at this moment. It is eerie to see the Senators sitting at their desks, casting votes, and not standing around in gaggles. It needs 60 votes to go forward. The vote was 52 to 47. Harry’s circus is now over. But Harry continues to babble against the filibuster, the same legal tactic that he used over and over again as Minority Leader.

Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, just told us that “there is no plan after the Levin Amendment”. He points out that this issue requires a serious debate. Serious issues require more than just a simple majority vote. This is the same statement that Reid has made over and over again while Minority Leader.

Reid is now talking about the War. He, again, has no real plan but retreat. A political retreat. He wants President Bush to be tagged with the loss of a war so that the DEMS can claim that they are the ones who will defend America best. Mr. Reid proves politics trumps security but when the public actually engages and reads his statements they will be disappointed.

Although not a real filibuster, the process that most Americans missed is important. The process is about how the “greatest deliberative body” in the world goes about discussing important legislation.

What I learned is that there is not one unified voice in either party on what to do about Iraq. Some Senators spent their time simply demanding that they get to vote (they just did). Many Senators rehashed what we already know about the myriad of mistakes that played out in the War. Many Senators argued to continue the war until General David Petraeus reports to Congress in September. What is remarkable is that neither side has stated a real plan. Nobody talked about the new Turkish threat to the Kurdish area. Nobody discussed the potential conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The one Senator that spoke on the issues was McCain. (His impassioned speech could not have moved me to vote for him in the Primary because the California REP Party has locked out the Independents from their election).

McCain reminded Reid and his minions that there are consequences to what we do. (via Powerline Forum)

Let us keep in the front of our minds the likely consequences of premature withdrawal from Iraq. Many of my colleagues would like to believe that, should the withdrawal amendment we are currently debating become law, it would mark the end of this long effort. They are wrong. Should the Congress force a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq, it would mark a new beginning, the start of a new, more dangerous, and more arduous effort to contain the forces unleashed by our disengagement.

McCain reminds Reid that he needs to develop a real plan. A plan that addresses the issues that will confront America, not the little political points made with the political base. When you plan to disengage in battle without a real plan you are calling for retreat. Levin/Reed did not address any issue in the region except retreat. The American public, through the polls, have said that they want a change in direction in the War. They have never said in those polls that they want retreat and failure.

While Reid continues to talk about what happened before the War we get a report from the BBC (via the Captain – US Captures Top AQI Figure)

US forces say they have arrested a senior member of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group accused of being behind some of Iraq’s deadliest violence.

To continue to discuss the past failures in this War does a disservice to the public. That is history. What do we do now about what we have now? That, members of the Senate, is the question before you. Our troops continue to capture senior al-Qaeda members in Iraq. Were they there before the War? It really doesn’t matter because you, the greatest deliberative body in the world, voted to go to war.

It is time for serious people to sit down and discuss the serious issues confronting this country. The public is watching. This may be a day that both political parties will look back upon as the day that the political winds changed. The two party stranglehold on American politics may eventually become a footnote in our history as a third party will surely emerge from these bitter times and that will be a benefit for the American people.

It is abundantly obvious that the Elite 535 haven’t a clue as to the gravity of the problem that confronts them and us. They certainly don’t have a clue how to solve that problem.