Moonage Political Webdream

Sometimes something is so overt it just strikes me as being surreal how some people can claim it’s not what it seems.  Former Representative Tom Andrews had this to say regarding the Out of Iraq Caucus ( and others ):

Andrews, who met with Murtha on Tuesday to discuss legislative strategy, acknowledged  "there is a relationship" with the House Democratic leadership and the anti-war groups, but added, "It is important for our members that we not be seen as an arm of the Democratic Caucus or the Democratic Party. We’re not hand in glove."

OK, now, here’s the membership of the Out of Iraq Caucus, matched up with the Congressional Progressive Caucus:

	Out of Iraq	Progressive
1. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Chair, Co-Founder	X	x
2. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), Co-Founder	X	x
3. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Co-Founder	X	x
4. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), Co-Founder	X	x
5. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Co-Founder	X	X
6. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Co-Founder	X	x
7. Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.), Co-Founder	X
8. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Co-Founder	X	x
1. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii)	X	x
2. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.)	X	x
3. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.)	X	x
4. Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.)	X	x
5. Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.)	X
6. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.)	X	x
7. Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.)	X	x
8. Rep. Donna Christensen (D-V.I.)	X	x
9. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.)	X
10. Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.)	X	x
11. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.)	X
12. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)	X	x
13. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.)	X	x
14. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.)	X	x
15. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)	X
16. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.)	X
17. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.)	X	x
18. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.)	X	x
19. Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.)	X	x
20. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)	X	x
21. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.)	X	x
22. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.)	X	x
23. Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.)	X
24. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.)	X	x
25. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.)	X
26. Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.)	X
27. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas)	X	x
28. Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.)	X
29. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas)	X
30. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio)	X	x
31. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)	X	x
32. Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.)	X	x
33. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio)	X	x
34. Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.)	X
35. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.)	X
36. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)	X	x
37. Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.)	X	x
38. Rep. Michael McNulty (D-N.Y.)	X
39. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)	X
40. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.)	X	x
41. Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.)	X
42. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.)	X	x
43. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.)	X	x
44. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.)	X
45. Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.)	X
46. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.)	X
47. Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.)	X	x
48. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.)	X
49. Rep. John Olver (D-Mass.)	X	x
50. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)	X
51. Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.)	X	x
52. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.)	X
53. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.)	X
54. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.)	X	x
55. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.)	X
56. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.)	X
57. Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.)	X	x
58. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.)	X	x
59. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.)	X	x
60. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.)	X	x
61. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.)	X	x
62. Rep. Ed Towns (D-N.Y.)	X
63. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.)	X	x
64. Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.)	X	x
65. Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.)	X

Jack Murtha is sponsoring legislation they demand, although isn’t an official member.  So, what part of that group doesn’t scream Democrat?

So, how does Andrews propose allowing all those Democrats to speak as one, but not be viewed as an extention of the Democrat Party?  Why, he forms a 527 of course.  That way, they’re just "informational", they’re not political.  Get it?  Next thing they’ll try to sell me is that the Progressive Caucus isn’t Democrat either.

This has got to be the most disingenious thing I’ve seen in years.  I fully expect in 2008, you’ll have a whole bunch of people, with media in tow, telling us how the Democrats didn’t undermine the effort in Iraq, support our military, and believe in a strong national defense.  When someone questions these sixty-five exclusively Democrat members of the "Out of Iraq Caucus", I’m quite certain Howard Dean and the respective presidential candidates, will simply state they didn’t represent the Democrat Party.  Simple question here, who DO they represent and what would be our only logical choice in voting them out?  527 or not, that makes it a purely Democrat issue whether Tom Andrews, Howard Dean, Jack Murtha, or anyone else wants you to believe.

Technorati Tags: Politics

Tags: Politics

2 Comments »

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed