To borrow a line from Art Kumbalek of the Milwaukee Shepherd Express, "Man, oh Manishevitz, what a world we live in, ain' it?"

We the taxpayers are being called upon to socialize recapitalize, not only the financial markets, but now the auto industry, too. Who's next, the retailers?

Something has to be done to save the more than 3 million workers serving this domestic industry, something we sadly could not accomplish to keep the Janesville, Wis., plant alive.

Update: Hartford Courant: Secret Ballot To Decide Lieberman's Fate - "Joe Lieberman votes with me a lot more than a lot of my senators. He didn't support us on military stuff, and he didn't support us on Iraq stuff. But you look at his record, it's pretty good."
- Sen. Harry Reid

I don’t care for Joe Lieberman as a U.S. Senator.

Lieberman went right along with the obscenity of the Iraq Invasion and the Patriot Act, among other imbecilities.

I don’t care for Joe Lieberman as a public man.

Even among elected officials in Congress, Lieberman stands out as a lying propagandist.

I called Senator Herb Kohl's office before the last round of votes on appropriations for the Iraq war to ask him to vote against more money.

After he voted against the funding, I emailed him to say thank you -- something I'm afraid we do all too seldom. This is his response:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the war in Iraq. This is a sensitive and critical issue in our country and I am listening to all Wisconsinites on this critical topic.

The President has misused and abused his authority to go to war in Iraq and failed to adequately plan for the post-war situation.

This failure has resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 U.S. troops and many thousands of Iraqis. According to our intelligence community, the war in Iraq has done nothing to stop international terrorism, but instead has turned that country into fertile ground for recruiting violent extremists. The country continues to be plagued by sectarian fighting that shows no signs of letting up in the near future.

Only 26 Senators had the courage today to vote against another $165-billion in war funding for Iraq and Afghanistan.

We should be proud that both Wisconsin Senators, Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold, voted no.

Here's why.  WashPost reports:

Senators stripped the package of all language governing the conduct of the Iraq war or mandating troop withdrawals that had been in a previous version approved by the House.

In other words, a blank check. The roll call was 70-26.  The bill now goes to the House, which refused to pass the funding last week but is expected to cave in now.

These are not easy votes to take, even with two-thirds of the country unhappy with the Iraq war and occupation.

Please contact Senators Kohl and Feingold to thank them.

Which U.S. Senator from Wisconsin said:

"We must end that conflict. Iraqis have failed time and time again, we can no longer wait for reason or hope or clarity from the Bush administration. We need to bring our troops home now and only Democrats can lead the way."

-   via MAL Contends

As we continue to salute our fallen veterans and those currently serving, and let’s honor the spirit of Memorial Day and Armed Forces Day not just in May but 365 days a year, I wish to note on another matter that last week, the Wisconsin Democratic congressional delegation came through and saved the popular SeniorCare drug program from the Bush administration’s determination to dismantle it.

Senator Herb Kohl had been pushing for an amendment to save SeniorCare for months and he made sure that SeniorCare was part of the emergency spending bill to continue funding the Iraq war, so today we salute Herb Kohl (also a reliable veterans’ advocate) for his resolve and success in saving this vital program for Wisconsin seniors until 2009, when George Bush will be gone.