So Democrats are queueing up another bill in the Senate to curtail Bush's reign of error. So what? They don't have 60 votes to avert a filibuster. They also don't have a veto-proof majority. A sensible person would ask what is going on here. Is this just some kind of ritual dance? What is Harry Reid thinking?
The quickest way to clip Bush's wings is to de-fund one of the golden geese: the three gold-plated aircraft programs that are essential to the profitablility of the Military Industrial Complex. Touch one feather of the F22, F35, or V22, and the MIC will shut down the Iraq war in 48 hours. Billions of profits depend on the survival of the golden geese. Let's take a look at these fabulous birds.
F22 is the miracle fighter plane - fast, stealthy, and maneuverable. Unfortunately, the aircraft has no adversaries, since the current generation of US fighter aircraft is perfectly adequate for defending the US. The program has grown so costly that the Air Force can barely afford to buy the planes, and there are persistent questions about the reliability of the software. This goose could easily be sacrificed.
F35 is supposed to be the smaller, cheaper, more versatile alternative to the F22. But a funny thing happened along the way to being cheaper - it got more expensive. Like most cancerous MIC projects, this one is over budget and under specifications. This goose could be sacrificed too.
V22 is the most horribly misbegotten of the golden geese. It is supposed to take off and land like a helicopter and fly like a plane. Unfortunately it also crashes a lot and is less effective than the helicopters it is supposed to replace. This goose should be terminated immediately.
The Democrats have complete power over the fate of the golden geese. A filibuster cannot fund an aircraft. At any time, the Democrats could halt any one of these programs for long-overdue investigations of their mismanagement. None of these aircraft are in use in Iraq or even suitable for use in Iraq. The delay of these programs would have zero direct effect on the Iraq war, and thus would be a perfectly efficient way of halting the war.
If any proof is needed that the Democratic party is owned by the Military Industrial Complex, the untouchable status of the Golden Geese is sufficient. So stop fooling around with silly dances, Harry Reid, and stop the war by threatening the golden geese - If you dare.