reality-based educator

From the NY Times:

“The poll numbers that continue to come out show that the American people have turned against this war,” said Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska. “The Republicans are no longer in charge of the Congress because of this war. Those are the realities, and I don’t think the administration has quite accepted those realities yet, nor the realities of how bad it is on the ground in Iraq.”

Indeed, another article in today's Times suggests Bush is simply paying lip service to the Iraq war policy change that polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans want and will be escalating the war for the remainder of his term:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 — Immediately after the beating his party took in November, President Bush indicated that he had received the message that voters wanted change, and that he would serve some up fast. He ousted his defense secretary, announced a full-scale review of his war plan and contritely agreed with critics that progress in Iraq was not happening “well enough, fast enough.”

But in the last two weeks, the critics and even some allies say, they have seen a reversal. Mr. Bush has shrugged off suggestions by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that he enlist the help of Iran and Syria in the effort to stabilize Iraq. Countering suggestions that he begin thinking of bringing troops home, he has engaged in deliberations over whether to send more. And he has adjusted the voters’ message away from Iraq, saying on Wednesday, “I thought the election said they want to see more bipartisan cooperation.”

In a way, this is the president being the president he has always been — while he still can.

With Congress out of session, Mr. Bush has sought to reassert his relevance and show yet again that he can chart his own course against all prevailing winds, whether they be unfavorable election returns, a record-low standing in the polls or the public prescriptions of Washington wise men.

He has at least for now put the Iraq war debate on terms with which he is said to be more comfortable, if only because they are not the terms imposed on him by Democrats and the study group.

The Times goes on to say that the preznut's independent stance on the war could be short-lived, noting that both incoming Dems like Carl Levin and Joe Biden plan on holding extensive hearings on the administration's war policy next month that will force the preznut to deal with the reality of conditions on the ground and that even Republicans and former Bush/war supporters like Joe Scarborough are no longer supporting their preznut:

“I’m growing more disturbed every night by how isolated George W. Bush has become,” the former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough said on his MSNBC program last week. “Shouldn’t more Americans be disturbed at this unprecedented example of a White House that’s in — and you can only call it this — a bunker mentality?” The screen below him read, “Bush: Determined or Delusional?”

I can't wait for the oversight to start next month. When the subpoenas start to fly and we finally get a chance to look into the pre-war intel manipulation, the funky war financing, the torture and rendition policies, the cronyism and war profiteering of KBR, Halliburton and other administration allies, the fucked-up deployments, and Bush's privately ignoring his generals' advice while publicly stating he's listening to them, we're finally going to get some real insight into just how arrogant, incompetent, inept and criminal this preznut and his merry men and women have been in the running of this war.

And with the Rubber Stamp Republicans out of power in both the House and the Senate, we're finally going to be able to do something about it.