The Iraq War Is Not Michael Jordan

Posted by David Sirota at 9:06 AM on January 9, 2007.

Back in the 1990s when I was a huge NBA fan, they used to say about Michael Jordan: "you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him." Except for people like Nancy Pelosi, Jack Murtha, Ted Kennedy [who just delivered an impassioned speech introducing legislation to block Bush's surge HERE], and a few others, the Washington Democrats, Republicans and the pundit class are all saying as much about the Iraq War - but actually they are saying worse, that we can't even contain it. Sen. Joe Biden (D-MBNA) said as much this Sunday, as did Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). The Washington Post's Dana Milbank basically said it as a matter of fact on Keith Olbermann's show last night. They all are basically saying that Congress simply "can't" stop funding for President Bush's military escalation, even though, last I checked, the Constitution gives the U.S. Congress the power of the purse, and there are very obvious ways to use that power without putting troops in harm's way.

Here's a newsflash: The Iraq War is not Michael Jordan, and the Congress doesn't have to be Craig Ehlo - the Cleveland Cavaliers guard who got perpetually posterized by Jordan. Congress can stop the Iraq War, or at least the escalation of it, no matter how many people in Washington use these Jordan-esque descriptions to justify their own pathetic refusal to do what the vast majority of Americans want.

Thankfully, as I said, Pelosi, Murtha and Kennedy have all said they are going to use their power in the majority to, at the very least, force President Bush to get congressional approval for a military escalation. Just today, in fact, Kennedy introduced bold legislation saying that no funds can be spent to send additional troops to Iraq unless Congress approves the President’s proposed escalation of American forces. This is going to tear the Iraq War as Michael Jordan narrative to pieces, forcing lawmakers to publicly state whether they have the guts to exercise their constitutional responsibilities or not. Stay tuned.

Tagged as: iraq war, murtha, pelosi, kennedy

David Sirota is a veteran political strategist and author of Hostile Takeover, a New York Times bestseller about the corruption of both political parties.