Congressional Masturbation

With American soldiers dying everyday, $700 million leaking out of our national coffers on a daily basis, over 40 million Americans without health insurance, and the threat of confrontation with Iran looming in the distance, it is comforting that our beloved congress has nothing better to do than engage in what amounts to political masturbation. Saber-rattling and grandstanding by congress is a waste of time. And doesn't the congress have more important things to do?

Yesterday the House of Representatives followed the Senate in their invertebrate fashion and passed a resolution condemning the infamous MoveOn.org ad that ran earlier this month in the New York Times.

The ad essentially is critical of the apparent discrepancy between the statistics offered by Petraeus at the congressional testimony and actual data. The ad claims that Petraeus' numbers are painting a rosier picture in Iraq because of the unorthodox method that the data is tabulated; for instance: deaths from car bombs are not counted, nor are assassinations included unless the person was shot in the head. The ad asks the question: "General Petraeus, or General Betray Us". Now regardless of your politics, I think it is key to keep one thing in mind:

NO ONE IN A FREE SOCIETY IS BEYOND REPROACH!

That means we get to ask questions and criticize and even say "Fuck Bush" in a college newspaper if we so choose. It is the one thing that defines who we are and is the backbone of a free society.