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past. The Republicans had ample opportunity to address these glaring deficiencies when they controlled the agenda but chose not to do so. Does anyone seriously believe any of these provisions would have been passed by congress if still controlled by the GOP?
So was the legislation a sellout of principle? No. Disappointment, yes. It was an example of dealing with reality.
Legislation in any deliberative body is a combination of political acumen combined with public perception, media exposure and public pressure.
The political expertise is there. The media has done an about-face on covering the ugliness of the Iraq civil war. Simply by showing the everyday results instead of the pabulum fed by the White House, public perception and pressure is beginning to change.
The key factor in changing anything in a legislative body is always votes. With very narrow majorities in congress the Democrats' hands are tied on many issues, needing Republican votes forming a super-majority needed to pass anything this recalcitrant president vaguely dislikes.
The votes will increase as more and more soldiers needlessly die and the public becomes less receptive of the administration's mantra that we must fight the enemy over there or we will have to fight them here.
The votes will mount and eventually we will extricate this nation from this folly.
Unfortunately, until that time, the numbers will also continue to mount in Iraq and in our national cemeteries as well.
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