Necessary Political Theatre

Today, the House voted 218-212, mostly along part lines, for a binding war spending bill requiring that combat operations cease before September, 2008.

That narrow margin is scarcely veto-proof. It is political theatre-- but it's necessary theatre. For it's the first meaningful rebuke to the Bush administration by Congress in the use of its budget power. Facts, reason, and counsel from former secretary of states and generals has had no effect on changing policy. What will change policy is raw politics.

To the argument that the Democrats wouldn't cut off funds while Americans troops are under fire, my response is: why not? Every drop of American blood that has been shed in Iraq is due to the president, and he and his party must bear the consequences irrespective of whetheror not there is funding. Giving money to this lost cause is akin to giving a drug addict money to buy drugs. Such an action doesn't address the root cause of the problem, speicifcally, the wrong-headed and vainglorious assumptions that predicated this exercise in futility.