Last week the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill that endorsed a timetable for removal of American troops from Iraq. This afternoon, the Senate followed suit with a similar measure. What has ensued in the press subsequently has been a torrent of opinion, delivered as fact, that the legislation was meaningless and would never become law. That analysis illustrates the shallowness of media pundits who have disdain for the principles of democracy.

What they are trying to convey is their prediction that the President will veto the bill and the Congress will not have the votes to override him. There are two problems with that display of newsiness.

First, the President has not vetoed the bill yet. It should be further noted that he has previously issued veto threats which never came to pass. For example:

• Bush threatens veto to keep FCC changes.
• Bush Says He Will Veto Any Bill to Stop UAE Port Deal.
• Senate ignores veto threat in limiting detainee treatment.
• Bush threatens to veto patients’ rights bill.

Is there much of a likelihood that Bush will either negotiate or relent on his threat of a veto for this bill? Probably not. But there are no foregone conclusions in politics and Bush has a number of other serious problems to attend to that could weaken his hand. A president with an Attorney General who is mired in a political corruption scandal, an FBI that is illegally spying on American citizens, and an approval rating that is just north of Hades, might find it difficult to cheer on a war that is just as unpopular as he is.

Secondly, the Congress has not yet failed to override the veto that the President has not yet made. To assume that such an outcome is impossible is to ignore the reality that played out today. The bill that the Senate passed a few hours ago was defeated just two weeks ago. That shows that the positions of some members of Congress remain fluid. What appears to be a trickle now could easily snowball into a deluge depending on the pressure applied by constituents or, more ominously, the course of events in Iraq.

What’s more, the measure of whether these votes in Congress have any meaning extends far beyond their eventual fate on Capital Hill or at the White House. Even if there is a veto and a failure to override, the Democratic legislature will have made a durable statement that, polls show, will resonate with the American people. The public will know who has their interests at heart and will carry that knowledge with them well into 2008.

But the biggest problem is the arrogance of the media that pretends to know the outcome of all partisan scuffles. The lock-step conformity of their assertions that this bill will never become law is an affront to the democratic process. It dismisses out of hand the notion that it is the people to whom the reigns of power belong. The press, in reporting the events of today, might correctly include the obstacles to passage, but it is downright un-American to declare that passage is an impossibility and that the effort has no meaning. They might want to consider letting the people have their say. They might want to show some faith in democracy. They might want to listen to Patti Smith’s “People Have The Power.”

Vengeful aspects became suspect
and bending low as if to hear,
and the armies ceased advancing
because the people had their ear.

People have the power.
The power to dream / to rule
to wrestle the world from fools.