Witchypoo Arianna HuffnPuff scolds Democrats for acknowledging success of US troops in Iraq:
by Arianna Huffington, Sept 7, 2007
>Remember earlier this summer when Harry Reid and the Democrats vowed they were "going to hold the president's feet to the fire" on Iraq? Well, now it appears they've decided to play footsie with the White House instead and take what one Democratic strategist calls "a more nuanced approach" that includes backing off demands to set a firm withdrawal date.
In anticipation of next week's inevitably sunny side up -- and statistically cherry-picked -- report from Gen. Petraeus, the White House has cranked up its spin machine, and the Democrats are falling into their default duck-and-cover mode.
So we get Bush hopping off a plane in Australia after his eight-hour photo-op layover in Iraq and telling the Deputy Prime Minister: "We're kicking ass" -- while Democratic leaders let it be known they are hoping "to manage expectations" by lowering their sights on Iraq.
Bush is certainly not kicking ass in Iraq but next week he may be kicking ass in Washington.
Just last week, Reid was promising "I will not let these Republicans hide. When the Senate returns to Washington, I will force them to take vote, after vote, after vote on bringing an end to the war in Iraq."
Now the air on Capitol Hill is full of talk of "bipartisan compromise" and even Ken Salazar's insipid proposal, which Reid himself had previously rejected as a "toothless tiger," is getting renewed interest.
"I can't believe how Democrats are playing this game," a Republican strategist told me the other night. "They hold all the cards -- and they are folding."
This spineless approach is the last thing Democrats need. Do they have no memory of 2002 and 2004, when caution and timidity led to defeat? If 2008 doesn't turn out to be a landslide for Democrats, it will be because of the seeds of caution being planted now.
Perhaps the weight of Katie Couric's take on Iraq -- "real progress has been made there in terms of security and stability" -- was too much to bear. In the same way that once Cronkite turned against Vietnam Johnson knew the war was lost, it appears the Democrats believe that once Couric embraced the surge, it could no longer be resisted.< |
