Ok, so while the vote yesterday in the Senate to leave in the "President's" latest emergency supplemental spending request a non-binding timetable for the withdraw of troops from Iraq by the September of next year, is far removed from an actual end to the war, it is definitely cause for a little celebration.

(As a quick side note, I would like to discuss 'supplemental' requests: A lot is being made lately of the Dems in the house adding a bunch of 'pork' to this bill. Emergency supplemental requests are meant for just that, emergencies. Many of the things the Dems added, i.e. Katrina relief, relief for spinach farmers dealing with the latest ecoli outbreak, etc, easily fall into that category. What doesn't fall into that category is a war that has been 'planned' and been going on for over four years now. The "President" has routinely used these supplementals to ensure that the full cost of this war does not show up in his annual budget requests, hence allowing him to appear more fiscally responsible and keep us all in the dark. Anyway, back to the blog)

The 50-48 vote yesterday in the Senate, predictably, fell mostly along party lines similarly to the 218-212 vote in the House and now faces veto by the "President". This sets up an interesting games of high stakes chicken. With the veto, the bill goes back to congress for revision to find suitable language that the "President" will sign off on. While this back and forth goes on, the war still continues in earnest. The "President" has stated that this measure needs to pass or else funding will start to run out as soon as the middle of next month. So will the Democrats in congress maintain their opposition stance, or will they be forced to concede. Will the "President" relent and pass the bill even with the timetable to ensure the safety of the troops or will he remain bull-headed at their expense. Time will quickly tell.

I for one am just so happy that we are now (thanks to the Democrats in congress and the voters that voted them in) having an honest and open debate about the future direction of our country. For six years now we have all had to just sit hear quietly and deal with whatever misguided policies and corruptions the lock-step Repubs have enforced on us. A lot of these recent investigations and opposition bills are only small victories and incremental steps back to 'normalcy', but when you consider that the Dems have only been in control of the Congress for a little less than 3 months now (and that have the slightest margins of control), you have to be somewhat optimistic about our future as a country. At least I am, and that is saying a lot.

Thanks for reading...