Reply #24: It's Been a Little Shocking

[On the Road]

at how quickly Reid and Pelosi have been thrown under the bus. I am glad that they voted the withdrawal benchmarks, but as a practical matter I really haven't expected them to succeed in ending the war by Congressional action during Bush's term. I am also concerned about a mass genocide once the US leaves, and believe that a Democratic president may be able to avoid that outcome by more competent diplomacy.

You could argue that Democratic congress was in a lose-lose situation. Although the public seemed to expect them to end the war, they obviously did not think this was possible with the distribution of votes in both houses. The prospect of playing chicken with deployment money was very, very risky. They seem to have misjudged the public mood, and I'm glad they're a little shocked. But there's no need to abandon our leaders