How can you blame the Democrats for Republican obstruction. It is people who do that who may very well cost the Democrats the 2008 election. We need to focus on the fact that the Republicans are being obstructionists! Not on how the Democrats can’t get things passed.

We need the <30% who do not support the president to turn into 70%+ who will vote for a Democratic candidate. Democrats attacking the Democrats for not getitng things passed in Congress is not the way to get that. We Democrats will NEVER agree on everything. However, if we spent more time working on those things that we DO agree with instead of tearing each other down, we would never have to worry about another Republican presidency.

As for Iraqi self-defense, the insurgents are the people who are doing Iraqi self-defense. And, they are getting trained by our troops. The reality is that Iraqis will never fight in significant numbers to maintain the occupation.

Every single day the occupation continues, it makes the situation in Iraq worse. Setting deadlines for Iraqis to support an occupation as terms to supposedly end that occupation is just a way to excuse continuing the occupation.

You mention Iraq’s readiness. The reason that Iraq readiness is low is because they don’t have a sense of urgency when it comes to their own self defense. Bush’s stay the course strategy clearly does not give them the sense of urgency to take over their own self defense.

That is why HR 1591 was important. It told the Iraqi people that they have until X date to get ready and that while we will train and equip them, they will be taking over control at a certain date.

Democrats have the power to bring the war to a screeching halt. Screeching halts are not always the best way to stop.

The specifics of the healthcare plans do matter. People with insurance coverage are routinely denied healthcare by the HMOs and insurance companies. Only single-payer plans get the HMOs and insurance parasites out of healthcare. Therefore, you don’t really have universal healthcare without single payer. You just have universal wealthcare.

Also, insurance companies and HMOs bring in so much inefficiency to the system that a corporate-based system is doomed to bankruptcy in the long term. European countries provide universal healthcare at a much lower cost than the US either by single-payer or by socialized medicine. I would be open to either, but I doubt the American public is. Sadly, the vast majority of Democrats in congress are either ignoring healthcare or pushing an insurance company/HMO plan. That isn’t the Republicans’ fault. That is the fault of the Democrats who are behaving this way.

As for “taking the time to train and equip the Iraqi people while bringing our men and women back home.” That sounds nice, and is constantly repeated in the corporate media. But, it doesn’t take into account the facts on the ground.

The presence of a huge, foreign occupying army in Iraq is making all of Iraq’s problems worse, including fueling the civil war and ethnic cleansing.

The soldiers we are training in the “Iraqi Army” are really just using the training for religious militias and the insurgency. They are getting the equipment we are sending to Iraq as well. Our troops are getting really tired of training the people who are shooting at them.

Despite all the training that has been going on, the Iraqi Army’s readiness to do the fighting on behalf of the US is as low as it ever has been. The media try to blame the Iraqis, but why should they have any readiness to fight for foreign occupiers?

Bombings of civilian targets by US forces are going up in Iraq as a desperate and failing attempt to bring order to Iraq. Killing people to help them makes no sense.

The only responsible Iraq policy is immediate withdrawal. We cannot even reasonably hope that an occupying army can solve problems its mere presence is inflaming.

Democrats have all the power they need to stop the war through the power of the purse. Therefore, Democrats share equal responsibility for the war continuing. It’s an ugly truth, but it is the truth.

Now, I care more about the method of healthcare delivery working and less about what it is called. All options should be looked at and the system that provides the best healthcare to all should be adopted.

Anything that allows people to go without healthcare is unacceptable.

I do not allow myself to be manipulated by anybody. We made the mess over there so we are responsible for leaving it responsibly. That means taking the time to train and equip the Iraqi people while bringing our men and women back home.

My main point is this. Nobody should be complaining that the Democrats cannot pass any meaningful legislation because the obstructionist Republicans will prevent any from passing.

Funding the war is supporting it. Claims to the contrary are merely spin. Remember, it took less than two weeks to occupy Iraq. It won’t take that much to get our troops out, contrary to corporate media spin. Keep in mind that a “well structured pullout” is a talking point developed by pro-war Democrats that are bought and paid for by corporate donors. They are trying to manipulate you. Don’t let them. It is important to look beyond the spin and talking points and see how many corrupt Democrats are joining with corrupt Republicans to kill our troops in Iraq.

As for impeachment, the House has an absolute constitutional obligation to impeach Bush and Cheney, regardless of the politics. Impeachment hearings would dig up a tremendous amount of dirt about Cheney’s and Bush’s crimes, which may or not cause Republicans to accept removing them from their offices.

If the Republicans vote to keep those criminals in office, then it will be their fault. However, if the Democratic leadership of the House blocks impeachment from happening, it will be at least as much the fault of the Democrats.

And yes, I understand that the Democrats could just “pull the plug”. However, when bringing the troops home we have to do so in a responsible manner. I do not think the American public will want us to just pull the plug. They will want a well structured pullout.

And I am not being critical of Moore with his fight to get healthcare for everyone. It is an absolute shame that the richest country in the world cannot provide healthcare for people. Healthcare is a right and not a privledge. However, when Moore doesn’t understand that the Democrats cannot get legislation passed because the Republicans are being obstructionists, I will call him out on it.

It only takes 41 Senators to filibuster war funding and stop the war.

Democrats could easily stop the war if they actually wanted to.

The importance of impeachment is to make it clear that future presidents and vice-presidents will not get away with breaking the law in such a heinous way. It isn’t about the veto.

If Sheehan runs, I will donate money to her campaign. I encourage you to do the same.

As for Moore, remember that Democrats in congress aren’t even trying to pass single payer healthcare, with a few noble exceptions like Dennis Kucinich. Moore is absolutely correct in criticizing them and warning them of the consequences of their behavior.