As far as the Iraq supplemental "compromise" is concerned, all this shows what happens when Democrats listen to industry-backed, conventional-wisdom-spouting consultants and hacks like Rahm Emmanuel and Joe Klein and David Broder. Speaker Pelosi has already announced her opposition to the bill, as has Sen. Christopher Dodd. Surprisingly, the two Democratic front-runners, Obama and Clinton, have hedged. One would have thought that Obama, his campaign ignited by his insistence that he would have opposed the original AUMF, is showing a bit of yellow now that he has to cast an actual vote. Clinton is still trying to triangulate herself to death; she, of all people, should recognize that nothing she does will be painted in a good light by anyone, so she gains nothing by trying to play both sides of the fence.
The only winners in this particular legislative dog-fight are the President, who gets to do whatever he wants, and the Republican Party, which can now hang this damnable war around Democratic necks. Since the Democrats were elected, in part, to end this horrid conflict, or at least American involvement in the current civil war, one would have thought this a no-brainer. That, and Pelosi has already read the President the riot-act about how not to negotiate with Congress - issuing dictat's and expecting them to be followed is no longer the game - so one would have thought it possible to play this game differently. One tactic would have been to strip the "pork" from the bill; just send the President a bill funding the war, timelines and all. Let him veto it. Change the language slightly, pass it, and send it again. And again. And still again. Hang this whole thing around George W. Bush's neck. Let it be his war - and his decision not to fund the troops because Congress won't play by his rules. Do it until, in Lloyd George's wonderful phrase, "the pips squeak".
You can't negotiate with the Administration because they do not understand what is involved. There is no compromising with this bunch because they feel that compromise is failure. In this case, with the Dems caving across the board, that is true.
To Senator Richard Durbin, Senator Barack Obama, and Representative Don Manzullo, I urge you to vote against this supplemental. Vote no. Go back to the table, and instead of asking the President what he wants, tell him what you are giving him. When he screams and stamps his foot, let him get it out of his system, then repeat. Keep repeating. This isn't a political game, by the way. This is the way of calling these criminals and moral lepers on the carpet and demanding they recognize the fundamental reality that they are criminals and moral lepers. No one likes them. Everyone wants out of this war. Give it to 'em straight.
Virtual Tin Cup
