Direct from the Quagmire

What to do, what to do? Democrats won the elections in the fall largely because of the whole country being so fed up with the hideous Republican strategy for democratizing Iraq. But I am really concerned over the lack of concrete action that has been taken. This past week, the Dems were being a "symbolic, nonbinding resolution" criticizing the White House's usual lack of responsibility and common sense. Why is it that the Democrats haven't pushed anything significant through? It's my sincere hope that next week--during the 36-hours allotted for discussion which allows every single Democrat to talk about Iraq for 5 minutes--some type of conclusion will be reached. There's not enough time to waffle around on this issue, for every day gets the USA more and more involved in an irreconcilable ethno-religious conflict.

At least the Dems realize that they need to get their act together, with Pelosi stating the obvious:

The people “called for a new direction,” Ms. Pelosi said, “and no place do they want that direction to be more clear than in the war in Iraq.”

But then there's always the concern of getting whatever materialized resolution through to the executive branch before Bush vetoes it. The Republicans are on to this:

“They are now in the majority,” said Representative Adam H. Putnam of Florida, the chairman of the Republican Conference. “They finally have the opportunity to change policy and they are putting up a sense of the Congress resolution, which is worth about as much as the parchment it’s printed on.”

Welcome to politics, ladies and gentlemen. The sad fact is that anything coming out of the house is unlikely make it all the way though. The Senate seems even more unsure about what to do. Then what's to do? Hold out on the financing. The power of the purse seems to be the only realistic approach for the time being, as Rep. Nadler highlights,

“The president is not going to listen to anything we have to say,” Mr. Nadler said later in an interview. “There’s nothing we can do to stop him unless it’s the real consequence — the power of the purse.”

And does that really accomplish all that much?