The Politico ran a piece this week titled "Democrats Snipe At Senate Leaders over Handling of Iraq Issue," but I found the story to be less about Democratic sniping than small-d democratic paralysis.
In the midst of two failing wars (for us, that is), at least one of which we have no business fighting, pols in both parties in both houses are bickering like children, permitting urgent business to languish, strategizing electoral politics instead of resolving key legislation, and generally acting like they've all the time in the world -- while those in their charge die. To me, that was the story's genuine upshot.
But rather than just comment on this two-ring circus, I've taken the original 1136-word piece and compressed it to its thematic essence. Your exasperation will have more kick that way. It's like injecting pure smack. So here it is, straight off the cyberticker ...
"Senate Democrats are accusing their leaders of mismanaging the twin efforts to block President Bush's troop surge in Iraq and force a quicker end to the war....
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ... postponed for at least a week action on a Democratic plan to rewrite the 2002 congressional resolution authorizing the war....
"Senate insiders faulted [Joe] Biden and, to a lesser extent, [Carl] Levin, for telegraphing their [reauthorization] to Republicans prematurely....
"In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is confronting ... a caucus deeply divided over a plan....
"Compounding problems for Democrats, Pelosi and Reid have yet to agree on an overall strategy for ending the war....
"Senate Republicans blasted the Biden-Levin proposal as unworkable and dangerous for U.S. forces in Iraq.... GOP leaders vowed to offer their own resolution stating that Congress would never cut funds for troops engaged in combat....
"Reid ... backed down and, instead, promised Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that the Biden-Levin resolution will not be brought up for at least a week, possibly longer....
"Reid and McConnell are now trying to work out the ground rules for an open debate on Iraq, one not tied to any other legislative matter ... although it's not clear if the two sides can work out such an agreement....
"Republican senators and aides said that Democrats had overreached....
"While [Orrin] Hatch ... acknowledged that there was no constitutional prohibition to [a reauthorization], he said it 'would infringe on inherently [sic] presidential powers....'
"[Russ] Feingold, on the other hand, wants to cut off funding for the war....
"Feingold's comments show how difficult it will be for Reid to execute his preferred strategy of forcing Republicans to take votes on interim measures to limit, or scale back, the war before moving toward an up-or-down vote on cutting off funds....
"Faced with these competing pressures, Reid admitted he was unsure of what his next step would be....
"Across the Capitol, Pelosi faced similar problems as she weighed whether to allow [John] Murtha a vote on his proposal....
"Republicans have dubbed it the 'slow-bleed' policy.... Its constant repetition by GOP spinmeisters and their political allies has definitely weakened support for the plan....
"Murtha ... has planned to insert his proposed restrictions into the upcoming wartime spending bill. But ... Rep. Dave Obey ... may now add waivers to the bill, which would allow the Pentagon to essentially ignore the Murtha language....
"The Murtha plan may have suffered too much damage to be politically viable anymore....
"Top Democrats tried to play down the problems they face over the Murtha proposal...."
But here's the best, the absolute topper that makes me embarrassed to be a citizen of these here congressionally oafish United States.
"Republican strategists ... looked at the problems facing Reid and Pelosi and gloated.... 'We're at the best we've been since the election,' said one senior Senate GOP aide. 'It may not last, but this is definitely the best we've been in a while.'"
Well, isn't that special. And here we thought it was all about the troops.