Weak

UPDATED

Congressional Republicans are desperate and flailing. They know that in supporting Bush's escalation of the Iraq war, they are on the wrong side of American opinion and on the wrong side of history.

The GOP's moral bankruptcy is as clear as can be in this passage from Dana Milbank's Washington Sketch:

Republicans knew they had a weak hand to play as the House began its three-day debate on Iraq and whether to support Bush's 20,000-troop "surge." "The debate should not be about the surge or its details," Republican Reps. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.) and John Shadegg (Ariz.) wrote to colleagues in a letter intercepted by Democrats. "This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. If we let Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose."

People are dying and Republicans are worried about losing an argument. This is the evidence that they have already lost. They're just not smart enough to understand it.

UPDATE

Das Wulf was discussing the GOP memo with CNN's Internet reporter Abbi Tatton. She quoted a Republican whose name I did not catch as saying that the "we lose" reference was about America, not about congressional Republicans. Yeah. I'm sure.

Pathetic.