Democrats concede on withdrawal

I keep thinking, we sent you there to fight - to FIGHT - this authoritarian nutcase, not to roll over for him!

I keep thinking, we could have had this deal with the Republicans in charge!

Democrats reluctantly gave up their demand for troops withdrawal dates in an Iraq war spending package today, conceding to President Bush on their number one goal in a debate that has roiled Congress for months.

The confrontation sparked bitter exchanges between liberals and conservatives, yielding no middle ground where party leaders and Bush could compromise. In the end, Republicans had the ticking clock of troop funding and the presidential veto pen on their side, and Democrats were forced to blink.

I keep thinking, how can they not understand what this is about? It's about, in the best case, getting the troops out of that hellhole. Short of that, it's about proving to the American people that Bush is a megalomaniac who is willing to keep our fighting men and women in harm's way just to prove a point: namely, that he won't back down.

I'm so disgusted, I could bite through nails. I want to destroy something.

Luckily, I have Anonymous Liberal to talk me down from the bell tower.

Bush almost surely has the weaker hand here, but he's quite prepared to go all in anyway, and he's betting with the lives of American soldiers. It's not fair and it's not right, but that's who we're dealing with and at the end of the day, someone has to be the adult.

There's a profound structural asymmetry on display here as well. If you'll pardon the shifting metaphor, playing chicken is all about guessing when the other person will flinch. But in this particular game of chicken, we have a large deliberative body on one side and a single stubborn man on the other. In such a fight, the individual has an enormous advantage.

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Combine that basic structural asymmetry with Bush's general immunity to political pressure and willingness to risk the safety of the troops, and it's pretty hard to envision an outcome that doesn't involve the Democrats largely conceding to Bush's demands, at least this time around.

I suppose that's why I'll be a little more forgiving than some if it turns out that the AP is right. I'm all for taking whatever steps we can to hasten the day our troops start coming home from Iraq, but as long as Bush is president, there just aren't very many options at the Democrats' disposal.

AL wrote this post late Monday night, as word of the impending capitulation was starting to spread.

At the end of the day, it is always helpful to remember that we are not dealing with a rational human being in George W. Bush. We are dealing with an authoritarian narcissist whose highest ideal is his own ego gratification.

AL speculates also that, absent this deal, Bush would very likely have been willing to let the troops run out of bullets, body armor, gasoline or what have you, just so he could blame the Democrats for it. As I think about everything I know about Bush, I have to concede that this is very likely true. The man has no discernible conscience. He would allow troops to die unnecessarily just to prove a point.

Facing that dilemma, would I have done any differently than the Democrats in congress did? I don't know. But considering all the facts, I am less inclined to judge them harshly for the decision that they did make.