A Public Service Announcement

If I had some of that calming muzak to play in the background of this post, I would. As you may or may not know, there is a war going on in the Middle East. Yes, the war in Iraq against that mysterious man/woman/person/animal/skeleton of danger Terrorism. Pretty much everyone in America wants the troops to come home. This war is a fiasco, one that has destabilized the country and, more than likely, the entire region. But, the eggheads and brown-nosers in Washington have finally picked up on this fact and are trying to do something about it. There are still many (Joe Lieberman, Walnuts "Gay Sweater" McCain, Lindsay Graham amongst others) who believe that this is the right course: to send our troops into the desert of Iraq to face uncertainty, to confront the constant stench of burning flesh and death, and to experience the modern rendition of Vietnam where the enemies are buried amongst the masses. But, this group of voices are slowly dying down as the public has made their displeasure with the war become much louder.

In hopes of appeasing the loud voices, the Senate has decided to work towards pulling the troops out of the country. While I've expressed my displeasure with a precipitous withdrawal, I have to clarify the rhetoric being used by the mainstream media right now. The mainstream media continues to suggest that the Democrats are filibustering their own bill. If you are unfamiliar with parliamentary rules, filibustering is a fancy word for stalling. Think of it like its Spanish etymological base: pirate. A pirate came up on a ship and took over, making the ship do its deeds until the crew, who has its own agenda, could overtake them. The same concept works here. How much sense does it make to have the group who wants to take the troops out blocking agenda to take troops out? None at all.

To flesh this out across the Senate, the Republicans are the pirates, forcing the Democrats to get 60 votes to close discussion and make it an actual vote. The Republicans are filibustering. Apparently, the mainstream media does not understand the idea that the Republicans are filibustering by blocking the vote. So, when you hear someone say that the Democrats are filibustering, you should either slap them or change the channel. The Republicans are the bad ones here.