Feeds: 
symbol identifies content for paid subscribers only.
HOW FAR. There are various ways one can look at something like this, but I should say that I think Eve Fairbanks is absolutely right in pointing out that, step by step, Democratic congressional action regarding the Iraq war has consistently turned out to be bolder and more successful than most people -- including the Democrats themselves -- had expected beforehand. There's always the argument that more can be done, but it is worth stepping back for a moment just to note how much the debate over tactics and the limits of the strategically feasible has continued to shift this year, and all in the anti-war direction.
--Sam Rosenfeld
COMMENTS (5)
Yes, and it's also worth noting that this progress isn't complete, that it would not have happened as much or as fast without DFH bloggers and activists and other regular citizens insisting that "more can be done", and that our leaders keep having to be *led* to positions that are both good politics and good policy.
(And Harvey Keitel had a line in _Pulp Fiction_ about the virtue of patience when considering congratulating one's self that springs to mind here, in part because I have trouble taking praise at face value from a source like TNR before we've effected the changes we seek)
Posted by: Chris | May 11, 2007 1:55 PM
Exactly.
This emperor has had no clothes for quite some time, and it's always been mystifying to me why Democrats failed to point it out.
Do you seriously think that if we had a Democrat in office who'd failed to catch Osama bin Laden 5 years after 9/11, the Republicans would be worrying about going too far?
Do you seriously think that if we had a Democrat in office who'd pulled our army off the hunt for Osama bin Laden to invade Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction that he didn't really think were there, and then went on to botch the war so thoroughly that, four years in, we're worst off than we were right after the invasion and things are looking to go even further downhill--do you think Republicans would be worried about going too far?
The Emperor has no clothes. This is why every time we go "too far" we gain. This is why Cindy Sheehan, a woman with ZERO media savvy, was able to dramatically change the nation's conversation about the war in Iraq.
These tactics would always have worked. It's pathetic that it's taken us this long to use them.
Posted by: anonymous | May 11, 2007 4:57 PM
The Dems ought to pass funding for the war tied to a temporary tax (maybe only on the wealthy?) to pay for it.
That will tie Bush & Republicans into a knot. Plus actually do some good about the deficit.
Posted by: Oberon | May 12, 2007 9:45 PM
regal:Fitzpatrick!germinates.wondrous posing?amulet whore
Posted by: Anonymous | May 17, 2007 9:05 PM
regal:Fitzpatrick!germinates.wondrous posing?amulet whore
Posted by: Anonymous | May 17, 2007 9:05 PM