Thanks to Congress, Bush Is Still Fiddling....

while our nation burns!... it's laws, it's moral compass, its international bridges.

In testimony before a Congressional panel on Tuesday, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona testified that the Bush administration silenced medical and scientific opinions in favor of political agendas and religious dogma.

Carmona, who served as Surgeon General from 2002 to 2006, confirmed the White House's despotic approach to implementing their agenda, they "would not let him speak on or issue reports about stem cell research, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues."

James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and several federal climate scientists have "accused the administration of muzzling them," especially on the issue of global warming. The corporate-favoring administration has trashed our forests and rescinded environmental controls.

We have witnessed the strong-arm tactics of Bush's Attorney General Gonzales who has turned the Justice Department into the political enforcement arm of the White House, trampling the Constitution and perverting the rule of law.

Now, thanks to the investigative report of Bob Woodward in WaPo today.... "CIA Said Instability Seemed 'Irreversible' ".... we just now learn that last November, CIA Director Michael Hayden told the Iraq Study Group that the inability of Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's government "to govern seems irreversible," and Hayden could not "point to any milestone or checkpoint where we can turn this thing around."

Hayden's conclusion, "The government is unable to govern." His opinion is based on the more than 500 CIA personnel in Iraq providing intelligence and analysis.

In his appearance that very day before the study group, Bush held forth for an hour with a megalomaniac vision of "victory" in Iraq and defended Maliki's regime.... "A constitutional order is emerging," he insisted.

The Decider's opinion was based on wishful thinking.

Regardless of Bush's delusional diatribe for his costly ($12 billion a month) messianic crusade that he terms "a great ideological conflict," a sobered study group issued their recommendations.... change course in Iraq.

So, what did The Decider do.... he announced in January that he was staying the course, and sent more troops to Iraq in a "surge" to prop up that very failed Maliki government.... stubbornly and criminally continuing on a course that cost the precious lives of 700 more U.S. troops, with no end in sight.

Today, even while Bush was painting a smiley face on the pitiful report scoring the benchmarks set for Iraq, an early vote in the Senate on legislation designed to tie the president's hands in Iraq fell victim to a Republican filibuster.

Another sickening fiduciary failure by Congress.

The fact that Bush has been able to rule as a dangerous corporatist dictator is the fault of the Congressional leaders of both parties.... most especially the leadership of the Republican party.

Let's get serious about legal maneuvers like impeachment.... there isn't time. It must be accomplished by political pressure.

Our lawmakers must put aside partisanship, personal agendas and special interests and work together to shackle the hands of the corporatist cabal in the White House.

Otherwise, they will have to answer to an outraged electorate in 2008 for their complicity.

Bush: Get Out of the Way!

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and six other representatives visit Syria.... a trip the White House describes as a bad idea.... but Israel's Acting President Dalia Itzik, who is a member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's centrist Kadima party, said to her about her visit to Damascus "I believe in your worthy intentions."

A handful of Republican and Democratic lawmakers have already visited Syria and met President Bashar al-Assad in December after the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended a stepped-up diplomatic effort involving Syria and Iran to help calm the violence in Iraq. And, three Republican congressmen, Frank Wolf (VA), Joe Pitts (PA) and Robert Aderholt (AL), were in Syria on Sunday where they met with Assad.

Pelosi promised Israel she would raise with Assad the issue of three captive Israeli soldiers, two held by Lebanon's Hezbollah group and one by Palestinian militants. She is also conveying that "Israel is willing to talk if they [Syria] would openly take steps to stop supporting terrorism," Olmer's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin said.

In an hour-long meeting, Olmert and Pelosi's delegation talked "extensively" about a Saudi peace plan, dormant since 2002 and relaunched last week at the Arab League summit by Saudi's King Abdullah. Olmert has welcomed the plan, which calls for the recognition by all Arab states of Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from territories captured in 1967.

Accompanying Pelosi on her second trip to the Middle East since assuming the speakership in January are Democratic Representatives Keith Ellison (MN), Henry Waxman (CA), Tom Lantos (CA), Louise Slaughter (NY), Nick Rahall (WV) and Republican David Hobson (OH). This trip also includes stops in the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Olmert has invited Arab leaders to a regional peace conference for an exchange of views about solving the Mideast conflict.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and said the European Union will try to help resolve the conflicts with Israel, stating she believes, "time is of the essence."

Unsubstantiated reports, fueled by Russian intelligence, predict an attack on Iran in early April by U.S. forces.... Operation Bite. These reports are believable mainly because The Decider has proven that he knows only one way to proceed in international affairs, by the use of force.

It's heartening that our lawmakers are aggressively pursuing the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group. As for The Decider.... get out of the way!