If the Iraqi government sucks, what does that say about the country that put them there?

First, Rachel Maddow (h/t C&L), on the presidential candidates who are blaming the Iraqi government for the mess and blithely talking about sending more troops as if they were just more shrimp on the barbie:

Many years ago, after visiting Vietnam to report on the Tet Offensive, Walter Cronkite branded the war "unwinnable." Lyndon Johnson's respose was, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America."

Bob Schieffer is hardly Walter Cronkite, though in an age when David Gregory gleefully dances with Karl Rove and Tim Russert's "panel" on Press the Meat is like the Book Club of the Conservative White Males, with this month's book being the new spew by Robert Novak, he'll have to do. For as of this morning, George W. Bush's old golfing buddy has thrown in the towel:

I am still not sure that I believe it: The Iraqi parliament is going on vacation during the month of August.

The White House offers the lame excuse that, after all, Baghdad is hot in August – sometimes 130 degrees.

May I ask a follow-up?

How much hotter do you suppose it is if you are a wearing a helmet, full body armor, carrying ammunition and walking foot patrols through Baghdad?

The last I heard, that is how American troops are spending their August in Iraq.

For me, this does it.

God help the Iraqi people because there is not much America can do to help a government that leaves Americans dying in the streets while the parliament escapes to cooler climes.

Does this mean we should pull out immediately?

No. A sudden withdrawal could set the entire region aflame. The truth is there are no good options left. But from here on, we need to put aside the dream of building a democracy in Iraq and focus solely on what is in our national interest.

It won't be pretty, but for all our good intentions, about all we can do now is try to contain this mess, pull our troops back from the middle of this civil war, and concentrate instead on the terrorist threat that this country faces around the world.

As for what kind of government Iraq needs, let their parliament figure it out. They can get right on it when the Baghdad weather turns cooler.

Not that this president will care that he's lost Middle America -- AND the families of the troops. He is the decider, after all -- or is until our elected representatives do their job and put a lid on him. He's going to have his ticker-tape parade if it means American solders are fighting a SAUDI insurgency (yes, Saudi -- just like 15 of the nineteen alleged 9/11 hijackers) until every last soldier in the military is dead.

Rachel is right: "If that's your analysis of what the problem is in Iraq, I don't think the solution is going to come from you."