All of the People, All of the Time

So the senators of the Party of Lincoln held together (except for a couple who are really scared about their chances in 2008) to block debate on a non-binding resolution opposing the Bush administration's "surge" in Iraq authored by one of the leaders of their own party, John Warner. Warner himself voted to obstruct debate on his own measure.

The Republics claim that the Senate should also debate a non-binding measure that would pledge not to cut off funds for the troops. Not surprisingly--especially given that Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a man who, to borrow S.J. Perelman's phrase, looks freshly dipped in Crisco, is their leader--the Republics ignored the fact that senators would have been offered an alternative to Warner's resolution: John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and some others have sponsored a resolution supporting Bush's so-called strategy. (Not to mention that senators will go on record when they vote on budget measures to authorize funds for the war.)

Do the Republics really think that the American people don't see what's going on for what it is: a desperate attempt to salvage some shred of credibility for Bush's discredited policy? One might think that they have forgotten the lesson of their greatest leader: "you can't fool all of the people all of the time." I think, however, that this is simply another example of the unarticulated major premise of the Republic Party: that the American people are stupid.