While I Was Out -- Don't Be Afraid to Give 'er!

Since being dumped, I pulled an all-nighter, lost my wallet, cancelled all my credit cards, found my wallet in (wait for it) my pants pocket a couple of days later, pulled another all-nighter, and contracted a fantastically wonderful cold, which is still present about six days later. I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks.

And then this weekend. Still working on the cold, and seeking a really good meal (read = waffles!), I found that my car would not start -- requiring Jump Start No. 2 of the current cold snap. Next day, waiting at a drive-thru, a homeless guy walks up. I start to drive off, and he spits on me.

Thus, blogging has been out of the question--much less a deep analysis of policy. I thought about reading through the FY 2008 Budget, which dropped last week. Then the nurse brought my medication--which, oddly enough, cannot unblock my damn ears. (I much prefer not breathing through my nose to not hearing through my ears. There are alternate routes for air; I can't very well listen to people through my armpits.)

But suck it up we must. The House gets full marks for doing what the Senate seems totally incapable of doing--i.e., anything. We have a resolution to debate! And I love the fact that it is simple and direct:

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That—

(1) Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq; and

(2) Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.

So the GOP can't pull a "you really hate the troops, don't you" on those who vote for this thing. But better than that, it is an on-off vote. You like what the President's doing? Vote no. You don't like what the President's doing? Vote yes. The various resolutions in the Senate were dandy and all, but they were so nuanced that they couldn't quite get together on one that they really, really liked. Now the House is going to (likely) pass this one and send it to (yep) the Senate, where they will have something to pass, or at least kick around for a while.

Yes: it's non-binding. But it wasn't until last year when the Dems began to show even baby teeth on this sort of thing. A small step forward is better than three guys in the Senate sleeping through a quorum call any day of the week.

Debate starts tomorrow at 10. Bring popcorn.

And by the way: Hey, Mr. Howard! Yeah, you--the one standing next to the wife of the Prime Minister of Australia. Which would make you the Prime Minister of Australia. Who the hell asked you anything about Barack Obama? Nobody? Figured.

Of course, this is not the first tangle between the States and Down Under. This too shall pass.

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.