It came as no surprise that our own local Republican representative, Elton Gallegly, voted May 24 to extend the war funding. That in itself was no surprise because Gallegly always votes straight down the Republican Party line. In this case, and once again without regard for the will of the majority of his constituents, he has voted his personal belief.

As a registered Democrat, my issue at the moment is not with the Republicans who voted to extend the war. At least they are predictable. No, my outrage comes from being double-crossed by Democrats in the House and Senate who spinelessly caved in to President Bush and Vice President Cheney, contrary to the a clear mandate we gave them back on Nov. 7, 2006. We gave them clear instructions to extract this country from Iraq, and we told them that we wanted it ASAP, with no phony timeline, no Iraq government benchmarks, no vacations, no recesses. Our soldiers are being blown to pieces on a daily basis, and that will continue to be reality on the ground even as the Iraq parliament knocks off for a few months of much needed rest and relaxation.

The cowardly Democrats who voted yes voted from a position of fear that the Republicans would turn it around on them and accuse them of not supporting the troops. That old worn-out line has not worked for a long time, and Democrats were not brave enough to actually support our troops by taking the action needed to bring them home now.

We sent the Democrats to Washington to win for us. We did not elect them to negotiate with Bush. Everyone knows you don't negotiate with terrorists or with 3-year-olds.

— Stan Hubbell, Ojai