Years of a continuous downward spiral has not only stopped going down but has reversed itself as the good news coming from Iraq has been reported, in a mere matter of months.
The other day we posted with the definition of insanity about the Democratic politicians doing the same thing over and over again and yet expecting a different result.
We also showed you this Pollster.com graph:
Take a really good look at that graph.... three straight years of decline and in a matter of months, ending at 10/28/07, it has risen to almost 40% and from 10/28/07 to today, it has risen another 5%.
Which makes the Democratic politicians desire to continue trying to force withdrawal, even more insane.
The Politico tells us that the Democratic politicians have now forced 40 votes on bills limiting President Bush’s war policy.
Not a single one has passed both chambers, even though both are run by Democrats.
40...think about that for a second, 40 times they have done the same thing over and over again and expected a different result.
That is even more insane than I implied on that last post describing some of those losses.
With the public support still on the rise for the progress and success we are seeing in Iraq, one would think the Democrats would cut their losses and acknowledge the progress and do what they could to limit the damage that their "surrender" and "cut and run" and "retreat in defeat policies" are now starting to cost them.
Nope.
What are they doing instead of trying to limit the damage to them and their party reputation in general?
Democrats plan to spend the December recess reviewing their strategy and determining if they missed opportunities to put limitations, even if they were smaller than war activists were demanding, on Bush’s war policies.
The are going to look backwards to see where they went wrong, instead of forward to see how they can fix things.
HEH
I definitely want everybody to record this statement from Harry Reid's spokesperson, because he is right... I don't often say that about him, but I want this remembered when the Democrats start trying to lay ANY claim on playing a part in the progress and success happening in Iraq:
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said the only strategic miscalculation Democrats might have made was “failing to grasp how much Republicans were willing to stick with the president.”
Still, he said Republicans pursued unity at their own peril.
“The Republicans own this thing, lock, stock and barrel.”
Damn straight we do.
We owned it when things were going badly and we stand by it now that there is undeniable progress and success.
Our troops OWN that success. The didn't give up like the Democratic politicians tried to do. They didn't surrender to despair when things looked bad as the Democratic politicians did.
They fought for victory while the Democratic politicians fought hard for failure.
They forced 40 votes for failure and they lost.
At the same time, CBS News polling has found U.S. opposition to Bush’s troop surge softening a bit.
Yes, public opposition to the war remains high.
But there has been a small uptick even in the number of independents and Democrats who are optimistic the surge might work (though most remain pessimistic).
The Democratic base’s negative view of the war also has lessened of late.
This summer, CBS News found that 57 percent of Democrats thought the war was going “very badly.”
Today, the number has fallen by 12 points, to 45 percent.
To make sure that the American public knows how insane those Dems are.... they are going to continue to ignore the reality on the ground in Iraq and push for more deadlines and withdrawals, knowing that they will not pass.
Pew reported Friday that only 16 percent of Americans name the Iraq war as the news story that first comes to mind today — a huge shift.
In January, when Democrats took office, 55 percent of Americans said Iraq was on the top of their minds.
Pelosi is trying to end the congressional year on a familiar note.
She is pushing for a House vote on legislation that would directly tie new money for the war to specific troop withdrawals.
It would provide Bush only $50 billion of the $196 billion he requested for war operations.
And it has no chance of becoming law. Manley said the Senate would push similar legislation, likely next week.
Some people never learn.
[Update] Mary Katharine Ham shows us a few more reasons that sticking to this "failed strategy" of the Democratic politicians, is insane.
Meanwhile, these are the top two stories on Iraq in the NYT and WaPo, respectively, today (not on the front page, of course):
In Mixed Slice of Baghdad, Old Bonds Defy War, about a Baghdad neighborhood tied together by years of tradition despite ethnic divisions that has come together to protect itself from extremists:Abu Nawal, the father, recounted how a group of men from the office of the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr came to a local cafe, proposing to set up shop in the area. The cafe owner pointed to a sign, which stated in dark script that all discussions of politics and religion were prohibited. The men were then asked to leave.
“The guys in the neighborhood said, ‘If you try to make an office here, we will explode it,’” said Abu Nawal, a shoemaker, whose family has lived in the neighborhood for four generations.
Some Restrictions to Be Lifted in Baghdad, about how Iraqi military commanders feel secure in shifting the focus of the Baghdad security initiative from military crackdown to providing basic security and services. Could be a political move more than anything, since American troops will continue to secure areas, but here's the idea, from Iraqi officials:
Read the rest of the good news coming from Iraq over at Townhall.
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