House

Yesterday's climate-change debate between current Senator Kerry and former Speaker Gingrich seems to have earned a big raise for all concerned.

It raised awareness of the urgent need to deal with the science of global climate change in a responsible manner.

It raised questions of why smart people from both sides of the issues can't work together more often to find mutually-acceptable solutions to common problems.

It raised the bar for reasonable, rational, respectful discourse between persons from different partisan political parties.

It raised eyebrows on the part of pundits who had been predicting a 'smackdown' but got a hug fest instead.

It raised the hopes of those who believe progressive politics is finally on the rebound in America.

And it raised the hackles of arch-conservatives who bitterly accused their erstwhile standard-bearer of selling out to those terrible tree-hugging leftists.

(I especially like that last aspect of it -- let the über-right wingnuts go choke on their own vile bile. Sorry, you whackjobs, Gingrich's goin' green. Deal with it.)

Found out about this at the Democracy for NYC meeting in my neighborhood last night. And let me take this opportunity to say that if you aren't working with your local DFA group, you really SHOULD be. They do good work and they really started the surge of the grassroots that grew out of the Dean movement.

New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler has introduced one of the better Congressional Bills regarding the Iraq War. Most of the bills introduced specifically aim to block the Bush/McCain escalation of the war. Nadler specifically aims to bring the troops home in a safe, responsible way.

I met Congressman Nadler at a National Jewish Democratic Committee breakfast a couple of years ago. My son, then very young, liked him and Nadler regaled us with a story of a local legislator giving a long speech holding another legislator's baby, who had been crying. Nadler is a no-nonsense man and someone who will advocate well for troop withdrawal and who can stand up to Republican smears.

Nadler's bill would limit Congressional funding of the war ONLY to protecting the troops while withdrawing and for diplomacy and specifically rules out paying for any additional troops. Withdrawal must start within 30 days of enactment of the bill and end by Dec. 31, 2007. Here is what Nadler has to say on his website: