Get Ready For A Cave In

The Dems are going to give in on Iraq war funding:

After the vote, [Feingold-Reid] Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader and a co-sponsor of the Feingold plan, said he was committed to delivering legislation acceptable to Mr. Bush by the end of next week. He conceded that the compromise was likely to disappoint war opponents who had pushed Congress to set a pull-out date.

I'm disappointed but not surprised. The Kabuki dance continues. War opponents will be outraged (rightly so) and the pressure will hopefully grow on conservatives.

The Democratic leadership has made a calculus that to stop war funding through a stand-off is a political loser with a likely backlash. The vote on Feingold-Reid showed lukewarm support in the Senate for a get-tough stand with Bush, even among conservative Dems. So what choice is left?

Given the polling, I'm not sure that the strategy is correct. I suspect voters would be more tolerant of Congress in standing up to Bush. But then again, the 19 Democratic Senators who voted against Feingold-Reid must be in touch with their constituents who may be ready to give it until September. Until Reid gets more support from conservative Dems, he thinks he has a weak hand. I'm sure they'll review again this summer and see if there's been movement.

It would seem that conservatives have been successful in buying time. Given the Friedman Unit generator, it will be interesting to see what happens this summer. I think there's little doubt that Iraq will still be a mess (or worse) and as in the post referenced above, Petraeus will waffle along with Bush. Thus, all these cowardly Congresscritters will be faced with the same decision ..... again.

In the meantime, more death and destruction go on in Iraq.