The Coming Storm

Looks like Bush will have to use that Veto. Something he's not done in many cases where he should have. I'm sure the political banter will peak when it happens. The LATimes actually has a reasonable stance on this.

THE SENATE has now joined the House of Representatives in setting a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops in Iraq. Its date is a year from now — March 31, 2008. The House's deadline is Aug. 31, 2008.

The dates are arbitrary. The Senate's language is nonbinding and more likely to be part of the war-funding legislation that reaches the White House. But because President Bush vows to veto any measure with a timetable attached, passage is purely symbolic. Amid all this political gamesmanship, however, some clarity may yet emerge.

The withdrawal language is wrongheaded. As we have argued before, it is bad precedent and bad public policy for Congress to attempt to micromanage military operations in Iraq. As Bush said Wednesday: "It makes no sense for politicians in Washington, D.C., to be dictating arbitrary timelines for our military commanders in a war zone 6,000 miles away."

The point is that the Dems should at least give the surge a chance. Not that they really can, seeing that they have made so much noise about their being in charge now. The LATimes editor at least clearly indicates that they are being unreasonable. I believe beyond that that there is also the issue of taking responsibility for those actions that the legislature has taken. The Dems will deny it until the end, but their activities are staging the grounds for a higher risk of failure, even if Bush gets his way on the funding in the end.

Of course, Pelosi, the biggest mouth and smallest brain has stepped forward to chastise Bush on his veto threat.

Calm down with the threats. There is a new Congress in town. We respect your constitutional role; we want you to respect ours. This war must end. The American people have lost faith in the President’s conduct of the war. Let’s see how we can work together. This war is diminishing the strength of our military, not honoring our commitment to our veterans, and not holding the Iraqi government accountable.

What a steaming pile. Note the complete failure to address consequences of her desire to run away. Not that I expect her to be reasonable, or looking to those consequences. Maybe Pelosi should calm down herself, since her rhetoric since coming to the leadership role has be quite shrill.