The Week -- Can You Hear Me Now?

It was a good first two days for the House, I believe. There was much noise from the GOP side about how the new leadership were ramming bills through without consideration. Yet the four bills on the docket next week--approving the 9/11 commission's recommendations, raising the minimum wage, providing for embryonic stem cell research, and making changes to the Medicare prescription drug programs--are by no means new items, seeing the light of day for the very first time just this week. (An argument can be made about holding off on the Medicare changes--those always don't seem to do what you'll think they do, of course.)

Yet all of this is bound to be a sideshow compared to the announcement (date and time TBA) of what the President intends to do now regarding Iraq. Another good move by the Dems here last week, as the letter from Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid on the subject places a clear marker--at last--of where the Democratic Party is going to go with this. (To be sure: there are those on the left who are unsatisfied with the proposal--sooner rather than later is not soon enough for them. That can't be helped--at least now there is a unified (somewhat) message.) The bad news is that perception is reality, and if the GOP can tar the opposition with claims that they are [jarring orchestral chord] not supporting the troops [/chord], then the President may be able to get his surge.

Lot of good it will do him, though. If there is not significant movement in the right direction, in terms of stabilizing things (and, to a great extent, getting the Iraqi government away from sectarian divisions and other nitwittery) in the next six months, then the calls for an immediate withdrawal will gather serious pace. That will take the politics of the nation into a tailspin, as the President will, in all likelihood, ignore them, thus entrenching both sides even further, and making any kind of success, which is now improbable as it is, virtually impossible to reach.

The wildcard in all of this are the impending investigations, which may force the President's hand, if the heat gets too hot, even for him. We shall see.

The Meter -- It's Miller Time!

You know, this was the wrong week to start a blog. Work was hell. I'm beat. But, with the Congress back in Democratic hands--let's call it a soft landing.

(Yes. This was also the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. You don't need to tell me that.)

That whole "the President's reading your mail" business: 5. Maybe I'm becoming desensitized to the domestic spying programs thing. But at least I have an answer as to why the post office took over a week to deliver Christmas cards to me. True: one card I got on December twenty-freaking-eighth was postmarked on December 15. Now I have a reason. It's nice to have an explanation.

The new bosses in the Congress: 9. Pelosi & Reid To Bush: Drop Dead. The New York Daily News has to make that their headline tomorrow. It would be apropos, and would be personally appreciated--I have Jerry Ford Withdrawal Syndrome. (There's gotta be a pill for that, right?)

Condi Rice: 4. Meanwhile, another warning has been issued to North Korea. When asked for comment, Kim Jong-Il said: "Wait, someone's asking me to comment? That never happens! Who let that fishwrap hack in here? GUARDS!!" Then he turned and went for another brandy. (Lucky for him, he has the last working sideboard in the entire nation. That must be handy.)

Sidebar: Who would have thought that working the DMZ, facing a fanatical nuclear enemy, would become one of the plushest jobs for your average Army infantryman?

"You can go and serve your country in Iraq, or Afghanistan. Or you can be assigned to a fence where you stare at a guy across the fence for twelve hours and then go home. So, do you want to be assigned to Kor--"

"Yes."

[Wait. Oh, I'm sorry. I have just been informed that the plushest job in the Army is working security at the Inn at Schofield Barracks, centrally located on the island of Oahu, close to the relaxing beaches and surrounded by natural beauty. You will be welcomed with the spirit of "Aloha!" And hundreds of the finest and most satisfied Army personnel you will ever hope to meet.]

The Meter -- Below the Fold

Man, twelve-hour days suck. You don't know where you are for a while, but you do know that you shouldn't be at work. Ugh.

Anyways: it was too big a day to go through and hand out marks for the usual suspects. Nancy Pelosi? Yay. Harry Reid? Yay. Robert Byrd? Yay--and drink all the Red Bull you can get your mitts on. [Hat tip, again, to Wonkette.] Haters, like the folks at RedState, who still think that red-baiting is funny? Boo. So let's go off the board, with something incredibly boring--yet telling!

David Dreier: 3. He used to be king of the sandbox--chairman of the Rules Committee, gatekeeper for every single piece of litigation that went through the House. Now? The dude (R-Cal.) is not happy.

Thing is that he's got a beef, to a point. H.Res. 6, the package of House rules that was debated today (and will be tomorrow) includes a provision that fast-tracks four bills, moving them around the normal committee process and blocking amendments. The bills: implementing the 9/11 commission recommendations, raising the minimum wage, promoting embyronic stem cell research, and allowing negotation for lower prescription drug prices--all part of the Longest 100 Hours.

Now: Democrats, in the minority, cried foul whenever the GOP pulled stuff like this--dropping bills with only an hour's notice, not allowing amendments on the floor, and so on. And it looks like the Dems are now doing the same thing they decried.

Still, it came across, from Mr. Dreier's lips, as a plainitive whine. And there is a part that rings hollow from his words, as he was the gatekeeper for a Congress widely regarded as one of the worst, in terms of actually getting stuff done, and also for blocking attempts at Dems at getting clean (in their eyes, of course) bills to the floor for an up-or-down vote. Now the Dems are stepping on the gas, and Dreier's screaming bloody murder. It all seems so unconvincing, to me.

Boil it down, and it just sounds like Dreier's pissed that he doesn't run the show now. Understandable--but I'm not going to put the sackcloth on just yet, if you don't mind.