It seems I’ve written on this plenty (here, here, and here, for example), but now it looks like Dingy Harry is starting to agree with me: it’s silly for Democrats to not pass legislation to fund the Iraq war in 2008. Democrats have effectively conceded the fight already, and there are too many Democrats in marginal districts who might take political hits from civilian furloughs. If Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid attempted to leave for Christmas recess without providing the needed funding, they might face a rebellion from moderates. So why not simply do the right thing and fund the Iraq effort? Yesterday it was Jim Webb (D-VA) who signaled the retreat; today even Senator Reid seems to realize that the time might have come to quit trying to force a surrender:
Reid himself shows the silliness of the Democrats’ position:
The Democrats say they refuse to fund the war because they won’t give the president any more ‘blank checks.’ Yet now that the Defense Department begins to plan furloughs, they protest that they have already given the Pentagon the power to fund the war with no encumbrances through February, at least. The position is inherently untenable. If Congress intended to fund the war through February, and resents the implication that they have not done so, the only recourse is to actually fund the war!
