House vote to back war puts Dems on defensive

    The House on Friday voted 256-153 to support the military mission in Iraq

    Forty-two Democrats bucked their leadership to join a virtually united Republican Party and declare that the United States must complete "the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure and united Iraq" without setting "an arbitrary date for the withdrawal or redeployment" of U.S. troops.

    "The American public deserves to hear how their elected leaders will respond to international terrorism and those enemies who seek to destroy our American way of life. Will we fight or will we retreat?" asked House Majority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. "Let me be clear: Those who say this is a war of choice are nothing more than wrong. This is a war of necessity."

    Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the hawkish [?] Democrat who rocked Capitol Hill last year by calling for a rapid withdrawal of forces, said, "We've become the enemy. We've given a microphone to people like Zarqawi. We support the troops. It's the policy we don't support."


So, 'cut and run' is now hawkish?

Don't be so hard on yourself and your fellow Democrats, Mr. Murtha.

I think Zarqawi biting the big one, on the heels of the special election in California to replace Duke Cunningham, AND no Rove indictment just sent the Democratic leadership completely over the edge. That's three huge whammies in less than a week, and being as they're already unbalanced, this triple play just sent them right where they were already headed. This not only took immigration off the front pages, but it revitalized a demoralized GOP and its base. Finally, the whole William Jefferson fiasco didn't help them.

They're not even bothering to hide the fact they're basing all their hopes for the midterms on our defeat in Iraq. I knew their hopes for winning back the House in November were slim, at best. But now they're admitting what the GOP was saying all along: "They're not serious about foreign policy or defense".

Nancy Pelosi can go ahead and cancel those new drapes for the Speaker's office.