PETITION CALL IN SENATE TO FILIBUSTER FOR END OF WAR

Please ask both of your U.S. Senators to demonstrate the courage of Senator Smith.

Letter Sent to the New York Times --

From: John Walsh
Date: September 16, 2007 9:49:05 AM EDT
To: letters@nytimes.com
Subject: Frank Rich's column

To the editor:

In an otherwise excellent column today (9/16/2007) Frank Rich perpetuates the myth that the Democrats do not have the power to end the war because of an inevitable veto from Bush.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The war demands funding, and a new supplemental funding will soon appear before Congress. That can be filibustered in the Senate, with only the 41 votes or abstentions required to sustain a filibuster. At that moment the legislation is dead. There is nothing to veto so Bush must come back with an acceptable bill. At the same time the Democrats could submit legislation to bring the occupying troops home quickly and safely. Let Bush veto that if he dares. There is already a national petition drive for this at FilibusterForPeace.org and every Senator has received a copy of it.

In the House one person Nancy Pelosi can accomplish the same thing. She can simply refuse to bring Bush's supplemental requests to the floor. In this she has veto power as surely as the president does.

So let us not hear from the Democrats that they do not have the power to end the war. Clearly they do. One must conclude that the Democrats support it. They pay for it and so they own it.

Sincerely,

John V. Walsh, MD
Professor of Physiology
University of Massachusetts Medical School
john.walsh@umassmed.edu

(With thanks to Undernews and Counterpunch.)