A lesson worth learning by the Bush administration and its sycophantic supporters in Congress would be this: When you push the military too far, you run the risk of having the military push back punch you in the mouth, sending you back to your home district or state without a job. It’s not anything the Active Duty military would—or legally could—do. But it is something VoteVets.org has done—and continues to do. Just ask Jim Talent, George Allen, or Rick Santorum.
After writing on Daily Kos for months about military and veterans’ issues, I finally had the opportunity this week to meet with and volunteer for VoteVets on the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health and Iraq Accountability Act. I flew to Washington, D.C. on Sunday night—and we worked feverishly for two days in trying to rally Congressional votes for this bill that would essentially force the President to begin ending the war.
Here’s what happened:
But first, in case you’re not terribly familiar with VoteVets, a little background:
VoteVets is the group that helped put Patrick Murphy (D-PA) and Joe Sestak (D-PA) in office last year. More notably, they’re the ones responsible for the devastating TV commercials that effectively torpedoed the Republican Senatorial campaigns of Talent, Allen, and Santorum. Made up entirely of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, VoteVets is doing what other veterans’ organizations won’t—or can’t—do. By that, I mean they’re going after the bottom line: They’re working to take and hold Congressional seats with military veteran candidates and candidates who expressly support the VoteVets agenda—an agenda that sees the Bush administration as the enemy. While other veterans’ groups come to Congress asking for help from sitting members, VoteVets is working instead to emplace it’s own members. Fifteen years ago these may have all been Republicans. But now, they’re nearly all Democrats.
So while the Bush administration continues to wage the War On Our Armed Forces, VoteVets is quietly mounting a repeat performance of the 2006 election.
When I arrived in D.C. on Sunday night, I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t met any of the VoteVets guys personally and my head was still spinning from the many different "end the war" resolutions and bills we’ve seen in the last two months. I’ve been busy—so the last one I’d followed closely was Murtha’s.
When I got there, I learned the details of the controversial bill. Called the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, the bill is an attempt to force Bush into ending the war, while also satisfying as many members of Congress as possible. A bill like that usually pisses both sides off—and once I was on the ground there, I saw that this one was no different. Without going into too much detail, the bill does four things:
- It mandates that units be "fully mission capable" before deploying, albeit with a gigantic loophole that says the President can waive the requirement after certifying in writing to Congress that it’s "in the national interest"—a move that would hopefully prove politically untenable.
- It establishes benchmarks for the Iraqi government and states that a failure to meet them will result in the beginning of a U.S. withdrawal and the cutting of economic aid.
- It sets a timeline.
- It increases funding for the real War on Terror in Afghanistan.
So basically, nobody likes it. On the far right, people like Minority Leader John Boehner are at wit’s end, relegated to saying stupid shit like this:
"By establishing and telegraphing to our enemy arbitrary time lines for withdrawal, Democrats are mandating failure."
Thanks for that contribution to our democracy, John. Now go back and sit in the corner with the rest of your minority party buddies like Senator Inhofe.
Then, on the far left, a handful of Democrats (some of them Kossacks) have thus far refused to sign on—saying that the bill doesn’t go far enough.
VoteVets, however, is fully behind the measure— as is Wes Clark, who sits on the VoteVets board of advisors. Some of the guys I was with weren’t too keen on lobbying for a bill that included a timeline, but after hashing it out on Monday morning, we decided that supporting this bill was the best option. It’s not the best (and not nearly as clean as Murtha’s plan last month), but it’s the best chance we have at this point to really do damage to the Bush administration. We figured that by our own measurements, in an ideal world, this bill would be Plan E or Plan F. But we also knew that that was irrelevant at this point. We need a plan, and we need one now. An old Army saying is, "A good plan now, is better than a great plan later,"—and that’s where we are at this point.
When we participated in a press conference on Monday with Congressman Patrick Murphy, he assuaged some of the VoteVets "timeline holdouts" by making the point that he had never once done a military operation without including a timeline. Since I’ve never opposed a timeline, I was happy to hear that.
After the press conference, we began lobbying by going to meet with Congressional members and/or their staffs. Having never done this before, it was eye opening for me, to say the least. Before going to work on House members, we first stopped by the office of a moderate Republican Senator to meet with his legislative assistant for defense and veterans’ issues. This is where I learned my first lesson.
Lesson 1
Even Republican staffers hate the Bush administration.
After 20 minutes of being beat down by our substantive arguments that relied heavily on our own experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, this particular staffer looked me in the eye and said with no less than a hint of exasperation, "Look: We know the Bush administration sucks. . .but, but, but. . . ." She trailed off into litany of excuses as to why the Senator would still stand by his man. This led to learning another lesson.
Lesson 2
Many members of Congress are pu cowards.
They are more afraid of being seen as flip-floppers than they are of getting people killed in Iraq. On several occasions throughout the course of two days, Congresspeople or their staffs made reference to the fact that they couldn’t support the bill for the simple fact that it had one or more elements that they’d opposed in the past—regardless of how they now felt about it. I was sitting next to Jon Soltz when a moderate Democratic Congressman looked him in the eye and told him that he was "leaning against" supporting the bill because it had a timeline. And although he really, really wanted to give Bush the finger, he was afraid that he’d gone on record too many times in his district as having said he wouldn’t support anything with a timeline. The Congressman in question even added this: "Jon, I want to come back here,"—meaning that he was terrified that if he flip-flopped he’d be voted out of office.
Now, under normal circumstances this would be okay. But knowing that an American is going to die in Iraq tomorrow because of this Congressional paralysis makes statements like that ring hollow and cowardly. It seems that this guy has already forgotten what the 2006 elections were all about.
Lesson 3
Many moderate Republicans and their staffs don’t believe their own bullshit anymore.
I had a face to face with a prominent Republican Congressman’s chief of staff. She admitted that the Congressman had no love for the Bush administration. Then she went on to complain that Bush, Cheney, and the gang "just don’t feel the pressure" coming the American people and the Congress. I explained to her that this was because Congress was being a bunch pu cowards, though I didn’t couch it in those terms. I did say, however, that Congress has two primary tools with which to exert pressure on the Executive branch—appropriations and impeachment. If they’re not willing to leverage either of those, then they shouldn’t expect the administration to feel pressure. Looking desperately for a valid argument that would defend her Congressman’s impending "No" vote on the bill, she finally paused and looked at the two of us. "Well. . .," she hesitated, "What about. . .I mean. . .don’t you think that if we don’t fight them there. . .you know. . .that they might. . .maybe. . .come here?"
I strove valiantly to keep my eyes from rolling. When I looked back at her, I realized that she knew the argument was weak. I could tell that she was so hesitant because she knew that two combat veterans from Iraq weren’t going to buy the bullshit. I almost felt bad for her. "Uh. . .no," I said. "That’s not how terrorists operate." I explained that terrorists operate at full throttle all the time, and if they could come here, they would. Like on 9/11. Those pesky facts again.
Lesson 4
Some members of Congress hire morons to staff their offices.
Either that, or they just put morons up front when they want to avoid talking to you. We had a meeting set up with a moderate Republican Congressman. But instead of showing up (or even making his chief of staff available) (or even making an appropriate legislative assistant available), he sent his foreign affairs assistant to speak with us.
First, she tried to have the meeting with us standing up. When we told her that wouldn’t work, she took us downstairs to a crowded break area where we managed to find some empty chairs. Because she feigned ignorance on the House bill, we figured we’d ask her about foreign affairs—the Iraq situation in particular—since that was her job. Unfortunately she couldn’t answer any questions. Even the opinion questions we asked her, she wouldn’t answer, saying she didn’t know enough about the situation. Whether it was Iraq or Iran or talking to Syria and Saudi Arabia, she knew nothing.
Or maybe she was lying, just to get rid of us. Which brings up another lesson
Lesson 5
People on Capitol Hill will lie to your face.
Especially if you’re not alert and willing to call them out. We did a walk-in to see if we could meet with a moderate Democratic Congressman. Two staffers sat at desks near the front of his office. We introduced ourselves and asked if the Congressman was around. From the desk to our right, a male staffer explained that the Congressman was in a meeting in the next room, but that he should be out shortly. Immediately, the female staffer at the desk to our left corrected him. "No," she said. "He actually finished a while ago and had to leave for something else. Can I tell him you stopped by?"
Jon Soltz, who was taking the lead, looked at me and then back at her. "No, hold on just a second," he said. "I’ll call him"—meaning he’d call the Congressman. Soltz then took a seat on the Congressman’s couch and pulled out his cell phone. The conversation went like this:
Soltz: "Hey [Congressman X]. . .yeah, I’m in your office. . .oh really?. . .yeah. . .please. . .it’ll only take five minutes. . .okay thanks. . .yeah, see you in a minute."
Then he hung up. He looked at me and pointed to the door adjacent to us. "He’s in there. He’ll be out in a minute."
The female staffer stood up and walked out in a huff.
And finally, the last lesson I learned this week:
Lesson 6
Congress is terrified of VoteVets.
The ability to raise funds. The ability to run electorally deadly commercials. The ability to recruit combat veteran Democratic candidates to defeat incumbent Republicans. We could see it in the way they reacted to us. For me, this last lesson was the most vindicating. After having been jerked around in Iraq by the Bush administration and its lackey supporters in Congress, it felt good to have the tables turned.
Whether the Democrats in the House will have enough votes is still in question. So give your Representative a call and see if he or she will support it. I know that many of you are wary of the fact that this bill is weak. I understand that. But I also think this is the best thing we’ve got going at the moment.
P.S.
I’d also like to add this disclaimer:
I am not being paid for this by VoteVets.org. Everything I’ve written is my opinion, and my opinion alone. I don’t speak for VoteVets any more than I speak for Daily Kos. However, I’ve been trying to link up with VoteVets for a while, and now, having done so, I’m pretty enthusiastic about their whole operation. I told Jon Soltz that I’d write up something to post on Daily Kos, since I think both groups have a lot to gain from each other. I think a dialogue between dKos and VoteVets would be good—considering that historically, the two groups are from opposite ends of the political spectrum. It’s nice to see shaven-headed storm troopers and tree-hugging hippies finally getting along. It’s amazing what the Bush administration is capable of.