WASHINGTON – A sharply divided House voted Friday to order President Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq next year, a victory for Democrats in an epic war-powers struggle and Congress’ boldest challenge yet to the administration’s policy.
The vote occurred, obviously, predominantly along party lines, 218-212.
Please note that two Republicans crossed the aisle to vote for the measure: Wayne Gilchrest (news, bio, voting record) of Maryland and Walter Jones (news, bio, voting record) of North Carolina. Of the 212 members who opposed the bill, 198 were Republicans and 14 were Democrats.
It seems I’ve been writing this sentence all too frequently: yes, we are that stupid.
Trust me: those who wish to destroy us, slit the throat of each and every one of us in America and the West, are completely overjoyed at this news.
BZ
The Dems haven’t got a clue, we don’t need to be pulling OUT, we need to be building up, and Bush is a fool if he can’t see that we MUST use overwhelming force to accomplish this mission…
TF: I completely concur. It is time to carpet bomb, invade, kick down doors, suffer tertiary civilian Iraqi casualties and chalk it up to Shit Happens.
Money may begin to run out come April 1st and, of course, politicians are about to recess for two weeks for Easter — but wait! Vacations for EASTER?? Isn’t that acknowledging GOD and RELIGION?? They need to get their ASSES BACK TO WORK and TRULY separate church from state.
Oh wait, yeah, that’s right: the Democrats are HYPOCRITES.
Also, did you hear: ALL freshman Democrats voted FOR the resolution? Every last one.
I guess that makes them Defeatists and Lovers of Pork, doesn’t it? So I guess they spent BILLIONS to buy defeat, didn’t they?
BZ
The good news is W’s awesome response:
“As I have made clear for weeks, I will veto it if it comes to my desk. And because the vote in the House was so close, it is clear that my veto would be sustained. Today’s action in the House does only one thing: it delays the delivering of vital resources for our troops. A narrow majority has decided to take this course, just as General Petraeus and his troops are carrying out a new strategy to help the Iraqis secure their capital city.
Amid the real challenges in Iraq, we’re beginning to see some signs of progress. Yet, to score political points, the Democratic majority in the House has shown it is willing to undermine the gains our troops are making on the ground.
Democrats want to make clear that they oppose the war in Iraq. They have made their point. For some, that is not enough. These Democrats believe that the longer they can delay funding for our troops, the more likely they are to force me to accept restrictions on our commanders, an artificial timetable for withdrawal, and their pet spending projects. This is not going to happen.”
LMC: I am all the way with President Bush on this one and, oddly enough, his response was precisely what it should have been. And everyone knows he’ll actually veto THIS bad boy should it reach his desk.
I sense this is going to come back and bite some LoserCrats in the ass, big time.
BZ
I see some good in this…
This gives Bush over a year to win this, whatever means possible.
If we’re at the same stage that we are today in August 08, bring our troops home.
This puts him up against the wall to perform and let our troops do their jobs and win this thing.
All things must end sometime.
Ranando: true. And one possible good point is this: the Democrats came out and stood for what they are, in the light of day.
BZ
I am so glad the Left brought the term ‘mercenary’ into all of this a few months back! The perfect term for this: Mercenary Congress.