Of cats and non-binding resolutions . . .

[flamin lib]

I was once asked to care for a friend’s cat while she was on vacation. The first night the darned cat got out and was run over by a car. She called and I gave her the bad news. Understandably upset she berated me for being so cruel and blunt. She said I should have softened the blow somehow. I asked, “How would I do that?”

“Well,” she says, “you could have said the cat got out and was stuck on the roof. Next time I called you could say she was lost and the neighbors were helping look for her. Then you could tell me she was hurt and at the vet’s office. By then I’d be prepared to take the bad news and you could tell me that Fluffy had died.”

“OK, I think I understand and I’ll keep that in mind if something like this ever happens again,” I say.

“By the way, how’s Mom?”

“Uh, I think she’s stuck on the roof . . . “

That’s what the House Non-binding resolution is all about. It’s preparing the voters and the pRe$ident for what comes next.

It’s the House’s way of telling Bush that his Iraq war is stuck on the roof . . .

[RiverStone]

1. Time for the cat to turn into a tiger!

What comes next...then better arrive in both a compelling and quick way. Whether the cat is on the roof or in the street (yikes), the DEM leadership does not need to dance around with non-binding b.s. anymore.

Our votes last November were binding, our collective desire for change was binding, and my expectation is the "next step" will be a vote that also counts. A vote that puts all who cast it on record for supporting this immoral escalation or for being part of the solution to end it. The non-binding vote did not stop one single bullet from being shipped to Iraq - IMHO, it was a wimpy move and waste of precious time.

I wish Feingold was a leader on the Hill; Harry is turning out to be far less tough then I had hoped (now that he is in the leadership majority).