Here we go again .....

The Language of the Feingold-Reid Bill to Redeploy Troops:

(a) Transition of Mission - The President shall promptly transition the mission of United States forces in Iraq to the limited purposes set forth in subsection (d).

(b) Commencement of Safe, Phased Redeployment from Iraq - The President shall commence the safe, phased redeployment of United States forces from Iraq that are not essential to the purposes set forth in subsection (d). Such redeployment shall begin not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(c) Prohibition on Use of Funds - No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to continue the deployment in Iraq of members of the United States Armed Forces after March 31, 2008.

(d) Exception for Limited Purposes - The prohibition under subsection (c) shall not apply to the obligation or expenditure of funds for the limited purposes as follows:

(1) To conduct targeted operations, limited in duration and scope, against members of al Qaeda and other international terrorist organizations.

(2) To provide security for United States infrastructure and personnel.

(3) To train and equip Iraqi security services.

Sensing that the Supplemental War Funding Bill will fail to override the President's veto, dems will offer this bill upon return from Spring Break.

What?  No pork????  Or will that come later?

She's already resigned for the MILCON committee.  She needs to resign from Congress OR face the Ethics Committee.

But will she?  Probably not.  Note the bold (for emphasis)  in the article below.

One of the "messages" Nancy Pelosi received from the November vote was (summarized) a national call to remove the culture of corruption in Congress.

Let's see how Pelosi responds to THIS message. 

(CNSNews.com) - Government watchdog groups want more answers as to why Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) stepped down from a military appropriations subcommittee at a time questions were being asked billions of dollars in federal defense contracts going to her husband's companies.

Feinstein resigned her post as chairwoman of the Senate Subcommittee on Military Construction Appropriations last week.

The decision came less than two months after Metro Newspapers, a group of alternative weekly papers in northern California, detailed the number of defense contracts awarded to Perini Corp. and URS Corp., both of which her husband, Richard C. Blum, has ownership, according to the newspapers.

The investigation was partially funded by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute, a non-profit organization affiliated with the liberal magazine The Nation.

"This was a critique from the left," Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest group, told Cybercast News Service. "These were left-leaning papers. The fact that she stepped down from the committee lends credibility to the charges."

Fitton said this is something Judicial Watch wanted to further investigate, possibly by seeking public documents on the matter and by asking the Senate Ethics Committee to look into the matter for a possible conflict of interest on Feinstein's part.

"On the face of it, it seems she at least had influence on how contracts were awarded," Fitton said. "There should be an investigation."

Feinstein's press office was contacted several times Friday by Cybercast News Service, but her office did not provide a statement on the matter at the end of the day.

The California weeklies detailed examples that included a subcommittee hearing in which Feinstein asked Pentagon officials about increasing anti-terrorism protection for Army bases.

The next year, in March 2003, Feinstein asked why the funds for anti-terror protection had not been spent. Just over a month later, URS announced a $600 million contract to provide services for U.S. Army bases that included anti-terrorism force protection.

In another instance, Feinstein asked another military official when money would be spent on a maintenance facility for the C-17 Hickam Air Base in Hawaii. URS later announced a $42 million contract to build it.

Also, Feinstein's subcommittee in mid-2005 approved funds to reinforce roofs at military stations in Iraq, and in October of that year, Perini got a $185 million federal contract for that purpose, the papers reported.

The matter should be probed further, said Kenneth Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative government watchdog group. However, he isn't that confident in the Senate's ability to police itself.

"The real problem is there is too little objectivity," Boehm told Cybercast News Service. "Congress needs an independent watchdog. The ethics committees are partisan. They have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, but the reality is that things don't get looked at that should get looked at."

Meanwhile, Melanie Sloan, executive director of the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, reportedly said the Feinstein matter could eclipse other congressional scandals.

"There are a number of members of Congress with conflicts of interest," Sloan told Metro Newspapers. "But because of the amount of money involved, Feinstein's conflict of interest is an order of magnitude greater than those conflicts."

The paper proudly reported Feinstein's exit from the Senate panel on its website last week, as reporter Peter Byrne stressed that Feinstein's subcommittee had jurisdiction over medical treatment for veterans long before the poor conditions were exposed at the Walter Reed Army Hospital.

"You would think that, considering all the money Feinstein's family has pocketed by waging global warfare while ignoring the plight of wounded American soldiers, she would show a smidgeon of shame and resign from the entire Senate, not just a subcommittee," Byrne wrote.

"Conversely, you'd think she might stick around [the subcommittee] to try to fix the medical-care disaster she helped engineer for the vets who were suckered into fighting her and [President] Bush's panoply of unjust wars," Byrne added.

If Pelosi needs a reminder --- let's give her one.  Express your concern for a hearing to Pelosi by email, snail-mail, fax and telephone -- with copies to your local representatives. 

I followed a link from a regular read this morning (my daily read list is long and I don't take notes) and commented thusly on Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria, Israel and ME parts-unknown:

Pelosi in Syria?  Red carpet with flowers, no less.  Her only "stumbling block" will be what she says to the Israeli Parliament today in her "I-have-a-dream-scheme" speech. 

Even Syrians are familiar with the "When in Rome, do/say as the Romans," so they will forgive her -- plus she's traveling with our only congressman of Muslim faith, Mr. can't-we-just-get-along Ellison.

Holocaust survivor/congressman Lantos may have to stay on the plane, but he won't be alone for long ..... 

Look for Republican Hobson to be the designated-escort for the British hostages that Pelosi (up-staging Jesse Jackson/Jimmah Cartah -- much to Hillary's dismay) will extricate single-handedly from the grasp of rioting Iranians and a short little guy wearing an Eisenhower jacket. 

Can you smell spell Nobel?  How about nefarious?  Nonsense?

** Upstaging Pelosi's trip, however, are U.S. House REPUBLICANS Virginia's Frank Wolf, Pennsylvania's Joe Pitts and Alabama's Robert Aderholt, who have already held their "spring break" meetings with Syrian officials to discuss stopping the alleged flow of foreign fighters from Syria to Iraq.

In a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, the congressmen said they had talked about "ending support for Hezbollah and Hamas, recognizing Israel's right to exist in peace and security, and ceasing interference in Lebanon."

"We came because we believe there is an opportunity for dialogue," the statement said. "We are following in the lead of Ronald Reagan, who reached out to the Soviets during the Cold War," it added.

Psssst:  Don't look now, but the U.S. has been engaged in "unofficial" diplomatic discourse with Syria and several other ME countries for a long, long time.  Your rhetoric and hype have about as much effect as shoveling water.   

** Captain Ed comments on the potentially volatile decision by the Iraqi government to move Arabs out of the Kirkuk, from the northern Kurdish region of Iraq (relocated there by Saddam when he attempted to annihilate the Kurdish people).  The Kurdish region, rich in untapped oil reserves, is by far the most progressive, self-contained and relatively peaceful region in Iraq.  Kurds have long claimed the right to nationalize -- to include expansive Kurdish regions in Turkey, Syria and Iran .... After WWI, France and GB "aligned" the Kurds across four ME countries and referred to the region as Kurdistan.  Thousands if not millions of Kurds have been murdered by each nation respectively:  Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran.  The Kurds have unified guerrilla components within their resistance, but on the whole, these noble people deserve their own national boundaries -- even if one is a "province" within another nation -- such as Turkey.

Where am I going with this?

In the near future (if not already under-way) the U.S. will negotiate with Turkey (for a pretty penny to be paid by the Kurds and continued U.S. support for Turkey to join either the EU or NATO ....) a separate Kurdish "province" within Turkey --- allowing the Turkish-Kurds quasi-atonomy AND giving Iraqi-Kurds a narrow access to The Black Sea via this Turkish  province. 

Kurdistan has the potential to be a reliable U.S. ally.   Involving Turkey as a peaceful conduit for transporting northern Iraqi oil supplies to Europe and beyond will enhance Turkey's global standing.   It may even go a ways in saying, "We're sorry" to the Kurds. 

What about the Kurds located in Iran and Syria?  My assumption is that they will have to relocate to Iraq-Kurdistan.  Iran and Syria will never recognize their right to exist -- much less provide them a designated "province-homeland."

My prediction:  a large contingent of U.S. forces will soon be relocated to the Kurdish region to assist in securing northern borders and to aid Kurds in developing their natural resources -- specifically oil refineries and related infrastructures.  The mountains, river basins and foothills within the Kurdish region are already "home" to established farms, co-ops and once nomadic herders.  The region already offers reputable educational institutions at local and university levels; sanitation, utility, welfare and social systems are in place.  Small business development is a growing economic main-stay. 

A fairly far-fetched, but realistic prediction:  in the near future, more ME nations will take a hands-on role in assisting/supporting the Iraqi government through regional "advisory" teams as U.S. troops are re-aligned to the Airport/Green Zone and along the northern Kurdistan borders.

Supposedly -- additional oil reserves have been found in the southern regions of Iraq.  These discoveries may at least take the greed-pressure off the Kurds; however, control of these new-found resources may not bode well for relations between Sunnis and Shiites -- but what's new?  With Saudia Arabia and other leading ME powers involved -- they will have to "deal" with sectarian violence on their own. 

From all of this will scuttle a stronger global front against terrorism.  Now if the Dems will just stop meddling, the front will be less scuttled.

** By the way --- folks are asking why Democrats are talking about the injustices suffered by Armenians at the hands of Turkey?

Scroll up ..... Word is filtering down from intelligence and foreign affairs circles that the Bush Administration is already negotiating with Turkey on behalf of the Kurds .....  The dems just want a piece of the pie on their plate when 2008 rolls around ....

Stay tuned!!!!

--------------------------

On other matters of interest:

** I'm trying to locate a transcript or video of the Gridiron Club roast (by DC journalists) last night.  The blurbs on comments by (and about) Mitt, Cheney et al are hilarious.  If you hadn't noticed, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Mitt Romney supporter.  Some of the quips were reported, but I want the transcript .... Romney represents the total package:  demeanor, intelligence, wit.  Did I mention sense of humor?

** The un-total package award this week goes to Rosie Blowsie O'D.    Popular Mechanics took up her offer to explain WHY she's nutso in her WTC Building Seven collapse theory .... Where does this woman get her material?  Must come from hanging upside down (not a pretty sight, by the way --- second only to that up close and personal view of Cutsie Curic's rectal exam).  As someone observed, Blowsie, you actually resemble a bat in that upside-down position wearing your black spandex slacks.  Maybe some cable channel will give you a reallllly late nite spot and let you ramble to your heart's content -- while hanging upside down, of course.

** The Captain has an insightful review of Matthew Dowd's kiss and tell turn against the Bush Administration.  Although not unheard of, folks who seek to remove themselves from lame-ducks administrations sometimes take the back-door out.  I commented thusly:

1) I'm wondering if this man is not transferring his "emotionalism" from a) the recent loss of a child and b) his divorce to dissatisfaction with his current (and future) employment status.

2) It's easy to make excuses and set yourself up for possible book contract -- especially when the political market is not too accepting of a speech writer/adviser who kisses and tells ....

More on the kiss-up's and kiss-off's later ....

Don't trust her.  Never trusted her.  She's likely the most dangerous politico to ever weasel herself to the Speakership.  Operative word: dangerous.

Now she's moved herself from House podium to the foreign policy stage.  One of her goals, no less, will be to embarrass President Bush. 

In her Spring Break tour of the Middle East, Nancy Pelosi has scheduled stops in Syria, the West Bank (with Abbas) and Israel. 

There is more than a photo op on her agenda, you can bet.

She'll be making her first foreign policy speech to the Israeli Parliament on Sunday.

I have the eerie feeling that Nancy Pelosi has already made "arrangements" to involve herself in the release of the 15 British hostages held by Iran.  Wait and see .....

Others traveling with Pelosi are Democratic Reps. Tom Lantos of San Mateo, Henry Waxman of Los Angeles, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Louise Slaughter of New York and Nick Rahall of West Virginia, and Ohio Republican David Hobson. Ellison is the first Muslim member of Congress; Lantos is the first Holocaust Survivor to serve in Congress.

I'm sick and tired of hearing folks complain about Rosie McDonnell's right to be stupid.  

I'm sick and tired of watching politicians side-step a decision they are too damn chicken to make. 

I'm sick and tired of BDS and hearing everyone with a beef about anything blaming Bush. 

I'm sick and tired of President Bush being a global punching bag and his NOT telling Congress and the world that America is also sick and tired of having to confront the jihadist basically alone.   

I'm sick and tired of our troops being victimized by activists, by young asswipes who burn and defecate on an icon of their heritage, and by entertainers who use their celebrity as a symbol of expertise. 

I'm sick and tired of talking heads and op eds and Hillary Clinton and Henry Waxman and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and John Murtha and Dianne Feinstein.  I'm tired of the hypocrisy and blather. 

And thus far, few have explained "why" better than this  commentary:

While America Blathered

Gotta get away
from this day-to-day
running around,
Everybody knows
this is nowhere.

Let's review. Two American task forces and one Marine Expeditionary unit in the Persian Gulf conducting "war-games." 15 UK sailors and marines captured by Tehran and now pawns in what looks to become a long-running series of daily humiliations of a clearly de-fanged and neutered Britain reduced to the "Pretty please?" stage of diplomacy. Russian intelligence reports of a "build-up" of American forces on the borders of Iraq and Iran. A secretary of state at large in the Mid East enacting a sequel to "Strictly Ballroom" in Palestine.

And that beat goes on.

At home, a self-gelded opposition party is forced to sneak through a bill that prohibits Muslim provocateurs from suing ordinary Americans who, on instructions from their government to report suspicious activities at airports, do so. While this is going on, partisan hate in DC and on the Internet is reaching such toxic levels that -- in DC --hazmat suits are about to be issued to sitting congressperns, Senators, staff, and the lockstep marching media morons.

On the Internet even techbloggers are getting death threats. And are actually surprised. "Who, us?" When I pointed out in a forum that political bloggers such as Michelle Malkin have been living with this Web reality for years, the first response was, "Well, Malkin deserves it, but not us."

In Washington, somebody is unfortunate enough to have cancer return to his liver and people split on their reactions to this depending on their party affiliations: "We will pray for him and his family." vs. "God always gets you when you're working for evil.... And by the way, that war in Iraq that's on full-boil in the Mid East, we've really got to do something cowardly about that in -- oh -- about a year or so."

Cross fade to the daily distraction and heavy breathing all around on what potential president in about two years is picking up what "key" endorsements right now. Steve Forbes steps up for Rudy -- don't forget about the dead on arrival flat tax! Billie Jean King for Hillary -- break out the whoopee cushions for breakthrough feminists from the 1970s!

Oh yes, oil's up for seven days in a row because the folks who look at oil futures and present realities don't mess about with the politics of the possible or the politics of perfection. They're into zero-sum and multiplying money. Good thing we're moving out of winter, but get your bicycles oiled and your shoes re-soled for spring and summer. If crude futures spiral up into winter you're going to be praying Global Warming is true.

And the blather goes on. Because, well, it is all we have left in the trepanned national brainpan. Yammering yahoo voices assail us -- the UN says this, Iran says that, your drool-cupped moron is up in the polls and my feckless idiot is down. Anna Nicole killed herself because, well, she just had no understanding of drugs. Do tell? Tell us more.

All this repetitive tripe is trotted out as if this nation has any control of the future left to it. It doesn't. Our enemies control our future, because we simply will not. Our new national anthem is "If only you believe in miracles, baby / So would I," because if Grace Slick can sing it anybody can.

Simply sampling a soupcon of a day's worth of the clotted blather coming from the left, the right, the center, or the stupid -- now all firmly ensconced in the Congress and the White House -- proves only by the endless rounds of "gotcha," that not only does the nation no longer have any control over itself, many of its citizens have no control over themselves as well.

Well, what of it? Why should we have any control over ourselves when so little is asked of us, and we ask even less than that from ourselves?

3000 incinerated in your leading city? Go to the mall and select the latest electronic gizmodo.

Don't have enough cash to manage your jumbo mortgage and credit card debt? Take another shot at the latest Lotto with a dollar and a dream.

Don't like your mate? Dump it and get another.

Don't like your kid? Drug it.

Don't like your President? Impeach him.

Don't like your army? Burn them in effigy.

Don't like your flag? Take a dump on it.

Don't like your chest? Implant it.

Don't like your ass? Liposuction it.

Don't like how the sun shines on your head? Tanning bed.

Don't like this thought? Change channels.

Don't like your body? Pierce it.

Don't like your sex? Bend, fold, staple and mutilate it.

Don't like what you hear? Hit the mute button.

Don't like what you see? Fast-forward to the Festival.

Don't like your house made of wood? Plant a tree today, or pay someone else to do so.

Don't like your carbon footprint? Buy bigger shoes and bigger offsets.

Don't like being accused? Cop a plea.

Don't like God? Kill Him.

Don't like these questions? Take the Fifth.

Be sure to tell yourself that whatever has happened to you, it is not your fault. Be a post-post-modern American. Be an eternal victim. You've got it coming.

When the going gets tough, blame your genes and demand that all share your pain, send you a check, and pay extra for medical research to cure what ails you. For free. It's you're right written right there in the invisible ink between the lines of the Constitution.

When the going gets really tough, blame George Bush, the center of all the evil that is America. Besides, the people that really want to kill you are far too numerous and far too dedicated to your death to contemplate. It is much lighter on the breaking brain to believe that George Bush wants to kill your right to dissent even if it is much harder to see. Your real enemies are far too frightening to contemplate. Your secret hope is that they'll burn you in an instant in some thermonuclear fire so you don't have to be around to put everything back together.

Don't think for a minute that you are unraveling what is left of your social fabric. Who needs clothes in the dark? You are only taking advantage of your First Amendment rights. What was the Second one? Oh, that's the bad one. Then there's 5. And the others? Who remembers? Who can count that high these days?

Once upon a time there was a telling fable about an ant and a grasshopper:

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."

So goes that tale no longer told. And of course, the chirping grasshopper goes blathering along his merry way with his iPod set on shuffle. But the winter does come, by and by, as it always must.

If it were only a few grasshoppers blathering about the country right now, the ants among us could rest easy. But, alas, it has now gone far beyond that and we have delivered unto ourselves the government and media we deserve: a plague of locusts.

It's a good thing our very post-post-modern Americans have made sure to kill God. If they hadn't they'd recognize the locusts as the eighth plague with two more on the way: darkness and the death of the firstborn.

I'm sick and tired and mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore .....

 ... as she should have -- probably long before she approved billions of $$$ in awards to her hubby's companies for military construction AND medical equipment projects ....

As MILCON leader, [Sen. Dianne] Feinstein relished the details of military construction, even micromanaging one project at the level of its sewer design. She regularly took junkets to military bases around the world to inspect construction projects, some of which were contracted to her husband's companies, Perini Corp. and URS Corp.

The full article is here. 

Knowing how partial MSM is to democrats caught with their hands in the public kitty, it may be the only article you'll find.

Isn't Dianne Feinstein the same smart a**ed senator who rudely questioned  Condi Rice in a recent hearing?   Wonder how the good senator will stand up in her own hearing? 

Hummmm .... since Bill 'n Hill are good at promising to pay off debts in exchange for votes (see Vilsack endorsement), wonder if Dianne not-so-fine-stein will be able to trade-off THIS fiasco for a Hillary endorsement????

Other links to this fein-line story-line:

Feinstein Blazes Trail for Women
Feinstein Resigns .....
Oops
Culture of Corruption
DiFi Resign from Other Committees?

Bush swats back during the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Dinner in his own "over-the-hill" feature!

And here's the truth about the recent Rove Rap (article and video).

Too bad more news isn't reported with more humor.  Of course, facing the dem's highest tax increase in our history and having to chew the [pork] fat attached to the dem's war funding package is not funny .....

Will America turn its back on my sons?

Don't put troops in danger for 17 months if only objective is to leave

CATHY FLOYD

Our son is in Iraq.

He is in the infantry. This is his second tour. His commitment was supposed to be over this spring. He is not getting out or coming home then. He is staying until his unit's deployment is over and their mission completed -- whenever that is.

His younger brother is in Army ROTC and expects to be commissioned into the infantry later this year.

The Army did not pay either son's tuition. We did. They don't "owe" this to the government.

Nobody wants this war over more than we do.

My sons accepted danger

The older one started his journey toward this three-year tour in the Army before Sept. 11, 2001, but he did not sign the dotted line and commit himself until the summer of 2002. It was clear at the time that this nation would be at war with Islamofascist extremists somewhere in the world by the time he graduated from college and entered active duty.

The younger one started his ROTC program that same year and signed his commitment in 2004, long after it had become clear that the war against terror was not a walk in the park and would not be over in a couple of months, as Desert Storm had been. He was already simultaneously enlisted in the South Carolina National Guard when he committed to extending his tour by six years after officer training.Unlike our politicians, Brian and Paul are unable to change their minds according to the latest poll.

The older one has seen war, with its death, destruction and evil, up close and personal. His roommate was killed by an IED last time. He has lost several friends and seen several others in his "band of brothers" sustain life-changing injuries.

He doesn't like it much.

But he wouldn't leave his men if Congressman Robin Hayes himself sent a helicopter over there with special orders to bring Lt. Floyd home to his mother right this minute.

His is a level of commitment and character that few politicians are able to fathom.

The younger one has seen that war is not much fun for the families at home.

He doesn't get to change his mind, either.

He doesn't want to.

Gutless fat cats in Congress

Meanwhile, those who have sent them to war have turned on them. That includes our politicians and many of the American public who are more wrapped up in and knowledgeable about the Anna Nicole saga than they are about the history of this great nation and the threats we now face.

Two hundred and eighteen gutless fat cats in Congress have passed a bill telling the world that we are quitting in less than 18 months.

Now, let me get this straight: We're going to put our men and women in danger every minute for 17 months but we have no objective other than to leave?

Why not leave now if we are just throwing in the towel?

Who knows how many self-serving demagogues in the Senate will jump on this bandwagon? It all depends on the media and the polls, I think.

And, oh yes, one more thing was driving the House vote:

Money.

Pork.

I call it Blood Money -- and I come from a long line of peanut farmers.

They sweetened their little bill with ridiculous pork projects, paid for by us, and designed to bribe a few congressmen who were on the fence, trying to decide if they should go with what they know is right for the country and for our servicemen or if they should play politics in order toimprove their chances of holding on to their dream jobs.

A little money thrown in to the decision-making process usually helps to clear up all the confusion.

They sicken me.

I'm tired of them playing their games.

Memo to Congress

Here's my memo to Congress.

Dear senators and representatives:

If this nonsense continues, I want my son on the first chopper out of there. My boys will lay down their lives for all of you. You have no right to turn on them. AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO RISK THEIR LIVES FOR NOTHING.

If you think I'm mad, you don't even want to think about the hurt and anger of the majority of those thousands of servicemen and women who have sacrificed their physical and mental health or of the families who have lost loved ones for a cause that we are now told is not important.

-- Cathy C. Floyd

IN MY OPINION

Cathy Floyd

  WASHINGTON - "Like their counterparts in the House, the Senate has larded its version of an "emergency" war spending bill with nearly $20 billion in pork-barrel outlays, including $100 million for the two major political parties' 2008 presidential conventions.

The $121 billion bill includes $102 billion for the troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as $14 billion for Hurricane Katrina aid and more than $4 billion for "emergency farm relief."

"Congress will have to make the choice between booze and balloons or bullets and body armor," John Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., told The Examiner on Monday. Coburn and a handful of other senators hope to shame their colleagues into stripping the pork out of the war spending bill.

The Senate bill is $18 billion more than President Bush requested for military operations. The House bill, which passed last week, exceeded the administration's request by $21 billion and included money for spinach growers, peanut storage and citrus farmers.

If the Senate bill goes to conference committee as written, the two chambers may find themselves fighting over the best cuts of pork.

Coburn and his fellow pork foes will offer a series of amendments this week aimed at eliminating fat domestic spending or redirecting it to crucial needs for soldiers, sailors and airmen.

"Maybe this is what Democrats mean by 'phased redeployment'," Hart said.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., Monday defended the extra spending, describing it as "common sense and good economics."

"Funding for the war is not the only critical need worthy of the supplemental spending," he said. The war "must not obliterate every other concern."

The $100 million for the political party conventions — $50 million for the Democratic convention in Denver and $50 million for the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn. — is included in a section described as "Katrina recovery, veterans' care and for other purposes."

The Senate Appropriations Committee noted that the committee provided roughly $50 million to help defray the costs of policing the 2004 conventions. A senate staffer pointed out, however, that the 2004 funding earned approval through the normal appropriations process rather than the less-stringent "emergency" process permitted for the current bill.

The new bill also includes $13 million for "ewe replacement and retention," $24 million for sugar beets growers and $95 million for dairy producers.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the bill contains "enough in each of the four food groups for a balanced meal."

And it includes $3.5 million for the Capitol's guided–tour program and $20 million for, in part, insect infestation control in Nevada, thanks to Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Among the other beneficiaries of the Senate "emergency" war bill is the tree assistance program, including, specifically, Christmas trees.

"This bill is both literally and figuratively a Christmas tree," said one Senate staffer who has studied the bill."

::::oinkoinkoink:::::

The vote on  NOT stopping the slow bleeding of our military are listed at The Defeat Caucus.

The final vote will be posted when it is available.

Several years ago, a dear friend was diagnosed with liver cancer.  Everyone was devastated.  Except her, of course.  She spent the next 8 functional months of her life entertaining friends (dang, could she cook) -- while canning and freezing enough heat-and-eat-meals for her disabled husband for a year.

She figured that it would take him at least a year to find someone who would continue to prepare his meals and care for him.

She was right.  Almost to the last meal.

Just as Kay Yow coached her team through the NCAA tournament last week.  Many, many years ago, I competed against Kay Yow.  You know a winner when you meet one, by the way.

One of the more memorable people I've ever met was a high school volleyball coach who led her team to a state championship from a gurney behind the bench.  She was also battling cancer.

Such demonstrations of strength are not unheard of, but rarely found among those facing life-threatening diseases. 

And that, in my assessment, will be the disposition of Tony Snow as he faces his battle against a re-occurrence of cancer.

Godspeed, Tony Snow.  We need you back in front of that mic as soon and as often as you are able.  Keep the faith and keep those good words coming, fella. 

We need your inspiration as much as you need our support.