Political theatre at its best

I haven't had much time to keep up with what's going on this week, but I was able to watch some of the political theatre that went on in the house last night, thanks to Countdown. I've always thought that the kind of rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred style of the British House of Commons was far more indicative of the messiness of democracy than the stilted rules-based faux-civility of the House of Representatives, and last night proved me right.

WaPo has the postmortem today, albeit one that still paints the Republicans, otherwise known as "the guys who always fight dirty, relying on Democrats to be pussies and not fight back", as "the adults":

Differences over policy on the Iraq war ignited an explosion of angry words and personal insults on the House floor yesterday when the chamber's newest member suggested that a decorated war veteran was a coward for calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops.

As Democrats physically restrained one colleague, who appeared as if he might lose control of himself as he rushed across the aisle to confront Republicans with a jabbing finger, they accused Republicans of playing political games with the war.

[snip]

The idea was to force Democrats to go on the record on a proposal that the administration says would be equivalent to surrender. Recognizing a political trap, most Democrats -- including Murtha -- said from the start they would vote no.

But the maneuvering exposed the chamber's raw partisan divisions and prompted a tumultuous scene, which Capitol Hill veterans called among the wildest and most emotional they had ever witnessed.

Though even many Democrats think Murtha's immediate withdrawal plan is impractical, it struck a chord in a party where frustration with the war and the Bush administration's open-ended commitment is mounting fast. Murtha galvanized the debate as few others could have. He is a 33-year House veteran and former Marine colonel who received medals for his wounds and valor in Vietnam, and he has traditionally been a leading Democratic hawk and advocate of military spending.

Murtha's resolution included language the Republicans wanted to avoid, such as "the American people have not been shown clear, measurable progress" toward stability in Iraq. It also said troops should be withdrawn "at the earliest practicable date," although Murtha said in statements and interviews Thursday that the drawdown should begin now.

I don't know if any of you saw Jean "harpy" Schmidt, a.k.a. The Bluestocking Paul Hackett Almost Beat, but she had a near-meltdown on the House floor, to the point that she had to ask that her words be stricken from the record.

Oh, it was hilarious, watching a bunch of chickenhawks holding up sheafs of paper, allegedly from soldiers clamoring for more of the same.

It's astounding how Republicans are so blinded by dumb party loyalty that they don't even think that an accounting of how the war is going and where it should go from here is warranted. It's just not reasonable to say that supporting the troops consists of feeding more of them into a meat grinder, then cutting their benefits when they get home.

I don't think an immediate withdrawal is feasible at this point, and neither does Rep. Murtha, if you look at both what he said and what was in the resolution. A drawdown starting now and completing at "the earliest practicable date" does not mean "bring them all home now."

It's clearly not practical to have a total and immediate withdrawal from Iraq at this point, though a phased withdrawal plan is not only practical, but necessary. Pam and I were discussing this yesterday, and I mentioned that as I see it, the best way to begin phasing down the war would be to appoint Bill Clinton, who walks on water in the Middle East, as a special envoy to bring the battling factions together and hammer out a plan for the U.S. to exit gracefully. Of course it won't happen; the one thing that could emasculate Bush even more than he feels now would be to have the Big Dawg accomplish what he can't. But someone who still has credibility in the Middle East needs to get to the negotiating table, and there is NO ONE in the Bush Administration who still does.