An iPhone, the new fragrance by Diesel, the Spice Girls’ Greatest Hits – as you’re checking your holiday wish list, you may want to make a last-minute addition: an effective, Democrat-led Congress.

It’s a long shot, but at this point, you’re better off placing your faith in Santa Claus than congressional Democrats.

In 2007, congressional leaders mishandled two largely symbolic GLBT-specific bills – the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and, now, the Matthew Shepard Act.

President Bush threatened to veto both bills (no surprise there). Subsequently, many GLBT organizations considered both items symbolic.

That didn’t stop congressional leaders from bumbling both ENDA in October and the hate crimes bill last week – all the while alienating allies and creating rifts in the GLBT community. Their amateur schemes to garner support for the bills tanked – and in the case of ENDA did more harm than good.

The most recent example is the botched Matthew Shepard Act, a top-priority bill that would add to federal law protections for crimes committed based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender or disability.

The bill, authored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass, has been stalled since 1998, when Shepard was savagely beaten to death in Laramie, Wyo.

Many considered the bill’s best opportunity to be passed lay with the Democrat-led Congress – and by all means it should have made its way to the president’s desk before Jan. 1.

According to The New York Times, the hate crimes bill breezed through the House with a 237-180 vote, had significant support in the Senate and garnered the support of law enforcement agencies, including the National Sheriffs’ Association and the National District Attorneys Association.

How Congress managed to botch the legislation is beyond us.

Knowing the bill would likely be vetoed, congressional leaders attached the hate crimes legislation to a Department of Defense Authorization bill, which the president likely would not veto. But, the maneuver failed – Democrats who oppose the Iraq war refused to sign on, and Republicans objected to linking the unrelated bills.

So, congressional Democrats dropped the effort, and added it to a lengthy 2008 to-do list.

Without a plan B in sight, victims of hate crimes who are targeted for their sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability are left without the protections afforded to victims who are attacked based on race or religion.

In The New York Times, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass, cited the Federal Bureau of Investigations report of a spike in hate crimes, and called the stalled hate crimes bill “an extraordinary missed opportunity.”

It isn’t the only miscue the Democrat-led Congress has had this year.

The doomed Employment Non-Discrimination Act was stripped of essential protections for gender non-conforming individuals. With support waning for the inclusive ENDA, Rep. Barney Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pulled gender identity from the categories protected by the bill.

The stripped version of ENDA split our allies – suddenly, based on principle, GLBT organizations were forced to ask political allies to vote “no” on a bill that would provide protections for a portion of the community. ENDA exposed a rift in the GLB and T communities and created a nightmare for advocates – for no good reason.

ENDA and the Matthew Shepard Act were headed for a veto – but congressional Democrats refused to let them get that far. Instead, they opted to try to finagle support, and, in both cases, missed the mark.

It’s not likely Jolly Old Saint Nick can provide a quick fix to the calamity created by Congress, and that is OK – lucky for us, an election is just around the corner.