Hillary and Obama voted to defund the troops, and I’m the only one who noticed?

Well, I have to admit, you folks practically held the door open and begged me to come back by virtually ignoring the vote of the Feingold Amendment last Thursday.

Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say I was looking for an excuse and the rest of the local rightosphere let one fall into my lap.

Either way, after spending the better part of two months having to look for a new job, and more than a month adjusting to the added responsibilities of the job I now have – while navigating a number of personal and familial issues – I have a better idea of what my role in the blogosphere should be: reduced, but not eliminated.

So I am back – and I have a bone to pick with Senators Clinton and Obama.

Apparently missed in the MoveOn.org brouhaha, the Senate voted on an amendment presented by Russ Feingold that would cut off funding for American troops in June of next year.

Don’t take my word for it – this is the exact text from the amendment (second column, assuming this Library of Congress link still works):

No funds appropriated or otherwise made available under any provision of law may be obligated or expended to continue the deployment in Iraq of members of the United States Armed Forces after June 30, 2008.

Now, Feingold does include the usual and useless “exceptions,” such as: “targeted operations, limited
in duration and scope, against members of al Qaeda and affiliated international terrorist organizations” (the very “limited” operations that put us in so much trouble in the first place), and “training to members of the
Iraqi Security Forces who have not been involved in sectarian violence or in attacks upon the United States Armed Forces.” While that sounds nice, it should be remembered that much of our recent success comes from helping Sunnis who switched sides after (1) being forced to witness the horrors of al Qaeda first hand and (2) recognizing we’re just as worried about Iran as they are. Under Feingold’s plan, that’s all out the window.

In effect, this amendment does just what it initially says: defund our military operations in Iraq. After years of claiming to “support the troops,” the 28 Senators who voted for this made it abundantly clear they have no real concern for them.

Who was among these 28? None other than the leading two Democratic candidates for President: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (roll call vote).

So the next time Hillary and Barack talk about “supporting the troops,” remember this vote, always – and not just because it was the catalyst that brought me back.