Words from Chuck Schumer

So, I heard on the radio and on the wall o' tvs about how the Democrats failed again yesterday. Let's get it clear: There aren't enough Democrats to succeed - by themselves. They need GOP Senators to stop backing Bush. Here's an email I got from Sen. Schumer (and yes, of course it's spun a little, but it's also the truth):

There is something rotten in Washington, DC.

And what I am talking about is the rank hypocrisy of Republican senators who continue to speak out against this war in Iraq, and then when it comes time to vote for actual change, do absolutely nothing.

I'm talking about GOP senators like John Sununu, Norm Coleman and Mitch McConnell who talk the talk but have never once supported a single bill that would actually force George Bush's hand.

We saw a repeat of this same sad story yesterday. Harry Reid had the Senate working throughout the night to debate the Reed-Levin amendment, which would begin bringing American troops home from Iraq in 120 days, with the eventual goal of removing all combat troops by April 30, 2008. And in the end, only THREE Republicans supported the measure.

Once again, Democrats could not get to the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster. Not for lack of effort. But because with a slender 51-49 Senate majority, we need Republican senators of conscience and courage who are willing to vote their convictions and stand up to this president on Iraq.

And right now, they are nowhere to be found.

Right now, it is Democrats who are voicing and acting on the concerns of the American people. When Senator Bob Casey says, "Every time the President asks for more time on his policy in Iraq, there's only one group of Americans who pay the price for that - the troops and their families - over and over and over again," he speaks for the feelings of all of us.

When Sen. Dianne Feinstein says, "We're going to be paying the costs of this war for decades, yet this president has asked for more time. Waiting another two months won't change anything. It will just be more of the same," she speaks for all of us too.

And what I want Republicans to understand is that we are not going to stop. If Republicans think they can keep obstructing and force us to drop the issue, they are sadly mistaken.

Because each day, more and more Americans are demanding that we change our mission in Iraq. Still, this president refuses to face the facts. And so too do the GOP senators who say all the right things, but in the end, keep supporting a president who has never once in the past four years shown a shred of competence in conducting this war.

Democrats are going to keep fighting until we get the change you all voted for last November.