We Are Ruled By Morons

Attaturk mentions below a comment by one moron who gives Steve King a run for his money in the "Who is the biggest moron in all of congress award?" I am not a fatalist by nature but at some level I wonder whether we elect who and what we deserve. And while that doesn't say much for the people of northwest Iowa, they have sent that idiot back to Washington D.C. several times. For another example, look back to poputonian's post "Scum and Dumber" from the other day. Eric Cantor, R-Va who had this to say to Tweety (I was actually watching it live thinking, "wow, Chris not bad on this one"):

MATTHEWS [straining]: Commanders on the ground ... whether we go to war with another country?

CANTOR: I will leave the decisions in the military arena to -- this is exactly the point.

MATTHEWS: This is Barry Goldwater talking. He used to say that.

Regional commanders can decide whether we want it use nuclear weapons. You're obviously saying soldiers should decide which country to go to war with.

CANTOR: I'm here to say the military experts are those which might come up with the recommendation to the commander in chief that makes the decision. It is silly for us to expect.

***

CANTOR: This congress is not going to do that because it's the commander in chief's role, Chris, and Steve knows that as well. It's not Congress that will ask for that. It is the commander in chief that will make that decision. Every president whether republican or Republican or Democrat since the War Powers Act was in place has interpreted it as being the commander in chief's role to do that.

***

MATTHEWS: Congressman Israel, what's the role of Congress in war and peace?

ISRAEL: Congress under the Constitution of the United States authorizes war. The War Powers Act requires Congress to vote on whether we should insert troops into hostile situations. The law is clear.

CANTOR: Absolutely not.

ISRAEL: Come on, Eric.

CANTOR: As a commander in chief the constitution gives -

MATTHEWS: Congressman Cantor, why did the president ask for approval of Congress before he went to Iraq?

CANTOR: I certainly think his counsel gave him guidance why he need to do that but the Constitution gives the commander in chief the right to send our troops into battle.

Not much comfort there I'll tell ya; we are ruled by morons--automatons that march in lockstep with what their leaders dictate. I am not talking about low i.q. either. These people define true idiocy by repeating the same tired phrases and platitudes to support their worn out positions over and over again. What message will we be sending the troops? How about that their lives are important and precious and we won't treat them as pawns in a high stakes game of chicken. What message will we be sending the terrorists? How about that we know when and where to fight, that we won't allow ourselves to get mired in their swamp for any longer than necessary and when we have overstayed our welcome or have made mistakes, we acknowledge them and move on. There, now that wasn't so hard was it?

It must be that congressmaning (or congresswomaning as the case may be) is a real hard job.