Right Side of the Rainbow

Hill Democrats stumble on Iraq funding curbs
Democrats were ill-prepared for unplanned disclosure, Republican attacks
Washington Post

It sounds like they were also unprepared for Democratic attacks:

“If this is going to be legislation that’s crafted in such a way that holds back resources from our troops, that is a non-starter, an absolute non-starter,” declared Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah), a leader of the conservative Blue Dog Democrats.

ADDED @ 13:00 —

True, Democrats have a majority in Congress. But anti-war liberals don’t:

“If you strictly limit a commander’s ability to rotate troops in and out of Iraq, that kind of inflexibility could put some missions and some troops at risk.” — Rep. Chet Edwards, D-TX

“Congress has no business micromanaging a war, cutting off funding or even conditioning those funds.” — Rep. Jim Cooper, D-TN

Meanwhile, Cheney tells Pelosi to rotate:

Vice President Dick Cheney refused Friday to take back his charge that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s opposition to President Bush’s Iraq war buildup is playing into the hands of the al Qaeda terrorist network.

[…]

“… my statement was that if we adopt the Pelosi policy, that then we will validate the strategy of al-Qaida. I said it and I meant it.”

Christian Right labors to find ’08 candidate
“There is great anxiety”
New York Times

Religious conservatives face the sidelines:

… in a stark shift from the group’s influence under President Bush, the group risks relegation to the margins. Many of the conservatives who attended the event, held at the beginning of the month at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, Fla., said they were dismayed at the absence of a champion to carry their banner in the next election.

Iran leader: nuke drive a train ‘without brakes’
Ahmadinejad vows to push ahead after Tehran again ignores U.N. deadline
Associated Press via MSNBC

U.N. deadline comes; Iran goes:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday his country would move forward with its disputed nuclear program, comparing its nuclear drive to a train that has no brakes.

Captain Ed argues, correctly, that the Bush Administration is not on the verge of attacking Iran: “… the administration has done nothing to build political support for such a move. That lack of preparation clearly indicates that the White House has not embarked on that course, not even preliminarily.”

Meanwhile, the Israelis are reportedly counting on the new Arrow anti-missile system to save them from an Iranian warhead:

The Arrow is the successor to the American Patriot missile system used to shoot down Saddam’s Scuds during the 1991 Gulf War. But where the Patriot attacks the incoming missile as it nears its target, the Arrow is designed to intercept a hostile missile much earlier, in the upper atmosphere.

From Israel’s perspective this is a crucial advance, especially if the Iranians were to attempt to fire missiles armed with nuclear warheads. “There’s no point shooting down a nuclear missile once it’s over Israel - the devastation would be just the same,” an Israeli military officer explained this week. “The idea is to take it out long before it hits Israel.”

There’s something about Mitt
“Why, then, this interest in Romney’s great- and great-great grandfathers?”
Power Line

I no fan of Mitt Romney, but the Associated Press is smearing him:

There is something odd, though, about trying to hang the polygamy albatross around Romney’s neck. One of the obvious differences between Romney and his Republican rivals is that Mitt is the only one who has been married just once.

Stuck in the mud
How can the GOP get moving again? Drop the dirty politics and get real
Republican pollster Frank Luntz

“… political parties are not brands, slogans are not a replacement for ideas and you don’t sell leaders the way you sell widgets:”

Republicans need a spirited, intellectually based rebuttal to every piece of Democratic legislation and an alternative to every policy — not a new parliamentary maneuver.

My polls show that Democrats now hold a perceived advantage with voters not just on reducing deficits and balancing the budget but on an issue long seen as a GOP strength: ending wasteful spending. That alone should jar Republicans into taking a fresh approach.

An upside-down world
The British far left makes common cause with Muslim reactionaries
Nick Cohen

Multiculturalism is not a belief that all cultures are equal, but a belief that Western culture is inferior. We should give some thought to what that might mean for women and gays:

Now overwhelmingly and everywhere you find people who scream their heads off about the smallest sexist or racist remark, yet refuse to confront ultra-reactionary movements that explicitly reject every principle they profess to hold.

[…]

I hope conservative American readers come to Britain. But if you do, expect to find an upside-down world. People who call themselves liberals or leftists will argue with you, and when they have finished you may experience the strange realization that they have become far more reactionary than you have ever been.