Hate to Say I Told You So, But...

I hate to be correct about this prediction, I really, truly do, but back in May I posted a piece on this blog entitled "Beware the September Song," and after a week of Petraeus reports and testimony, and much ignored other reports from the GAO and various generals and military personnel, it looks like the idiot-in-chief will in fact "stay the course" in Iraq, no matter how disastrous that course has proven to be. It's the same old song and dance, the same old dog and pony show (apologies to Tulsey, Dylan and Roxie who on their worst days would do a good sight better than BushCo in running this country, and who, I'm sure, would never have invaded Iraq).

Nevertheless, the Democrats continue to waste another magnificent opportunity to TAKE A STAND and pass real legislation that might force Georgie's hand. I am so sick of hearing the refrain that "we don't have the votes." Well, that is only true if you want enough votes to hand Bush a bill that he won't be able to veto or if you want to craft a bill that promises that at least 60 senators will have to agree to let a vote come to the floor. Come on people, those are not our only options. We can certainly pass a bill that requires that any additional funding for this god-awful occupation be tied to a withdrawal or, more cleverly, tied to more time at home and more training for the very tired and in many cases poorly-prepared troops. We hold the freakin' purse-strings!!! We can cut off the funding for this war and unlike the shortsighted Joe Biden who sat on Meet the Press and said most emphatically, "I will vote, as long as there’s a single troop in there that we are taking out or maintaining, either way, I will vote for the money necessary to protect them. Period." We hope that dubya won't be so crass as to leave the troops over in Iraq without the proper gear and attempt to blame the Democrats for "cutting off the money," but if he does this war is his and his alone. Don't believe for a minute that whoever inherits this immoral, illegal morass will have to wear the cloak of owner not fixer-upper of this mess. So let's go Democrats, let's put forth legislation that threatens to cut off the funds for this disastrous fiasco in Iraq - you have nothing to lose but your House or Senate seat.

See Frank Rich (NYTimes, September 16, 2007) Will the Democrats Betray Us?

See Mark Klein's blog post Iraq Strategy for the Democrats for a step-by-step "how to" guide for weak-kneed Democrats.