Reply #10: I'd love to see Bush impeached, but... [View All]

[insomnomaniacal]

why pee into the wind?  We don't have the votes in the House,
and even if we did, the Senate would acquit him, because,
again, we don't have the votes.   I know it is frustrating,
aggravating, and even enraging that this little turdlet, this
criminal tool, is not being held to account, but why waste our
time?  As Nancy Pelosi realized right off the bat, impeachment
is "not on the table."  This was a wise comment as
well as an informed decision. 

One aspect of Democratic strategy that I've heard mentioned a
few times is, I think, very smart.  The best way to explain
this is to talk about why we won't cut off funds for the war,
even if we could.  

My understanding is that the Democratic strategy is to keep
this President under pressure until 2008.  We might attempt
any number of things, all unlikely to escape a veto -- and we
don't have the numbers in the Senate to overcome his veto.  

The bottom line is this: if Democrats cut funding for the war,
then Iraq will still be a mess in 2008.  If Democrats do not
cut funding for the war, then Iraq will still be a mess in
2008.  Democratic candidates for the Presidency, House, or
Senate in 2008 do not want to be open to the charge that Iraq
is not working out because they cut off the funds.  They want
to be able to say, "We funded the war to safeguard the
troops, but the war is failing in spite of that, because the
entire policy is a failure.  Vote for US."

So, what's best for getting a Democrat in the White House in
2008, and for increasing the Democratic majorities in the
House and Senate?  What's best is for Bush, and not us, to
"own" the war.  

Some will no doubt accuse me of putting politics above lives. 
But the fact is that the dying in Iraq is going to go on until
2008, as will the Bush strangle-hold on foreign and domestic
policy in general.  What we want, and what our real hope must
be, is to increase our majorities in the House and Senate and
take the White House.  Then, and only then, can we roll back
the great damage that the Bush creature has done to us, at
home and in the world.