Best Bet to End the War

In yesterday’s immortal words of Harry Reid, “Keep in mind the progress we have made.” To the naked eye, in four months, Congress has gone from failing to pass non-binding resolutions against the war to quibbling over non-binding benchmarks in a bill to fund it. At this rate, we should be out of Iraq by never.

From the start, attempts to de-fund were going to founder on Presidential vetoes upheld by enough Congressional Republicans who aren’t terrified yet by the prospect of losing their seats next year.

So after all the posturing by Democratic “leaders,” bobbing and weaving by Presidential candidates and outrage from disappointed bystanders (pace Keith Olbermann), we are back to one legislative hope--rescinding the 2002 Congressional authorization to invade Iraq.

That’s a long and bumpy road that could end at the doorway of the Supreme Court, but as Robert Byrd has been saying all along, it’s the best possible hope for undoing the damage he and a few other lonely souls were warning against back then.

After all the gabble over appropriations ends this week, Democrats who want to stop this damn war rather then venting and politicking about it should concentrate on getting the recission resolution moving. By the time they pass it, enough Republicans may be in an ’08 panic to make it veto-proof.