http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/04/memo_to_broder.phpBush Confirms That There Will Be No Compromising With Congress On Iraq. Now What, Mr. Broder?
April 10, 2007 -- 11:59 AM EST // View Comments (1) // Post a Comment
I'm not sure I've ever seen a columnist proven wrong so quickly. As noted below, The Washington Post's David Broder today argued that Dems should basically give up the game in the confrontation over troop funding in hopes that President Bush will reach some kind of "bargain" with Dems over the war.
As Matthew Yglesias and this blog both argued, however, no such compromise is going to happen.
Well, guess who's now confirmed this again: The President himself. Check out this story just moved by the Associated Press:
President Bush on Tuesday invited Democrats to discuss their standoff over a war-spending bill, but he made clear he would not change his position opposing troop withdrawals. The White House bluntly said the meeting would not be a negotiation.
"It's time for them to get the job done, so I'm inviting congressional leaders from both parties — both political parties — to meet with me at the White House next week," Bush said in a speech to an American Legion audience in Fairfax, Va.
"At this meeting, the leaders in Congress can report on progress on getting an emergency spending bill to my desk," Bush said. "We can discuss the way forward on a bill that is a clean bill, a bill that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal and without handcuffing our generals on the ground. I'm hopeful we'll see some results soon from the Congress."...
Earlier Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino announced Bush's intention to invite Democrats to talk. Her description immediately raised questions about exactly what the point was.
When a reporter said it sounded like an invitation for Democrats to agree with Bush, Perino said, "Well, hopefully so."
Bush has promised to veto any bill that calls for timetables to pull troops out of Iraq.
Perino said Democrats could benefit by accepting Bush's invitation. "Maybe they need to hear again from the president about why he thinks it is foolish to set arbitrary timetables for withdrawal," she said.
Shorter Bush to Congress: Please come to the White House so you can all take a long, hard look at my middle finger.
Bush is staying in Iraq on his own terms. End of story. Now what, Oh Wise and All-Seeing Dean?
Again: If David Broder -- or any other pundit, for that matter -- thinks that the right thing to do is to pull out of Iraq, then sooner or later they should feel obliged to take an actual, realistic position on how Congress might accomplish this. No more positions that depend on whether Bush will do this or that or anything else he will never, ever, ever, ever do.