lots of good humour in this thread so far, and yes I admit there is something in me that wish I can do just what proposed so far in this thread

On a serious note, the council is the weakest part of the ME universe so far, to the point of ... let just be fair, they're just lame writing. It's not common for game to put politicians in a maggot spot in order to glorify the military men but there gotta be a limit to it until it become senseless and demeaning the story as a whole. I can't believe there can be worse politician in a game then those from the front mission series.
So I seriously hope that there "lameness" in ME2 was a fake, maybe they were reluctant and playing Shepard for fool because of his connection to Ceberus, maybe they were actually doing something. Of course doing something doesn't mean they're doing enough, but my god, I would have to fight the urge of shooting someone if it turns out they are really NOT doing anything. Again, at that point the lameness would get out of the characters and pin right down on the writing. So yeah, whoever in charge of writing the story for the council, you have a red dot painting on your forhead ... no pressure, 'kay?