Dubya finally takes a loss

By Edward Copeland

The Senate has joined with the House in actually overriding one of Bush's vetoes for the first time. Sadly, it took a pork-laden water projects bill to unite congressional Democrats and Republicans instead of overriding him on something of real importance such as SCHIP or issues related to war funding:

WASHINGTON -- President Bush suffered the first veto override of his seven-year-old presidency Thursday as the Senate enacted a $23 billion water resources bill despite his protest that it was filled with unnecessary projects.

The 79-14 vote included 34 Republicans who defied the president. Enactment was a foregone conclusion, but it still marked a milestone for a president who spent his first six years with a much friendlier Congress controlled by his Republican Party.

Of course, I'm sure the imbeciles in Congress won't manage to override Dubya's threatened veto of the bill the House passed last night that would outlaw job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Assuming the bill can even make it through the Senate:

"This is truly a historic day," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, told her colleagues. "Discrimination has no place in America."

The bill is far from a perfect one, even earning criticism from some gay and lesbian groups:

[T]he bill would prohibit employers from considering sexual orientation in deciding whether to hire, fire or promote someone.

But the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would not cover transgender men and women -- those whose gender identity differs from their birth sex. In a letter to House members, a coalition of nearly 400 gay, lesbian and transgender groups wrote that it opposed the legislation because it "leaves some of us behind."

The House margin wasn't a big enough one to ensure they could override his veto threat anyway and Senate passage remains iffy.