As I watched the "after-speech" (Fox news is a great source of 24 hour news.  I get off work at 3:30 and get home by 4:00, just in time to catch the events of the day highlighted in nice detail.) today that President Bush delivered at the U.S. Naval Academy I became sickened by the behavior of our "other" elected officials.  Before the speech was even finished, Democrats from both houses of congress were pontificating before the cameras, hungry for anything that even remotely tasted of controversial blood.  The Democrats delivered that bloody feast in abundance.

That, however, is not the where my disgust for those members of congress grew into a visceral churn in my stomach that still gives me pause.  It is based solely on the nature of their seeming disgust for the president and subsequent deflection of that disgust onto out troops and their mission in Iraq and in this country as well.

I watched, wondering what my nephew, a new member of the United States Navy, felt when he heard these distinguished men and women making such disparaging remarks about what they and their fellow members of the armed services were instructed to do by these very people.  By debate programs, interviews, magazine articles both in print and online, these members of congress at one point or another promoted that path that this country went down.  I am not saying (At least in this posting!) whether I agree or disagree with the path.  I do, though, strongly abhor the behavior of politicians at this point trying to make points at the expense of and on the backs of our armed forces members. 

I can only imagine the betrayal my nephew and the others who chose to serve our country and subsequently, the world it seems, when they hear the words or Sen. Patrick Leahy when he says that the president's words are, "...nothing more than feel good rhetoric that bears little relationship to the facts facing our troops."  Or when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says, "The status quo is not working."  So who is telling the truth?  The president...and our troops who seem to back him up?  Or is it these other members of congress who can't seem to find one positive thing to express when it comes to this situation, a phenomenon that, if I were a member of the U.S. Armed Services, I would certainly scrutinize and quickly tire of. 

It is with my nephew in mind, a selfish sentiment I know, but one I can't get beyond, that I truly wish these members of our elected Houses of Congress would think very carefully before they speak. Think of the impact it has on young men and women in the situations they have voted to put them in.  Think about how their children would feel if they were treated with such ill will and chess piece like manipulation.  Think about election time when uncles and aunts and mothers and brothers and fathers and others head to the ballot boxes remembering our family members in the services and our members of congress who seem to want to make their experiences there as miserable as possible.