Battered Democrat Syndrome

Like anyone really expected the Democrats to actually do anything about the war….

The Chicken Doves

Elected to end the war, Democrats have surrendered to Bush on Iraq and betrayed the peace movement for their own political ends

Quietly, while Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been inspiring Democrats everywhere with their rolling bitchfest, congressional superduo Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have completed one of the most awesome political collapses since Neville Chamberlain. At long last, the Democratic leaders of Congress have publicly surrendered on the Iraq War, just one year after being swept into power with a firm mandate to end it.

Solidifying his reputation as one of the biggest pussies in U.S. political history, Reid explained his decision to refocus his party's energies on topics other than ending the war by saying he just couldn't fit Iraq into his busy schedule. "We have the presidential election," Reid said recently. "Our time is really squeezed."

Anti-war democrats are disingenouous, or flat out naïve, to assert that Democrats really are an opposition party. And not only did they cave, it was pure cowardice.

There was much public shedding of tears among the Democratic leadership, as Reid, Pelosi and other congressional heavyweights expressed deep sadness that their valiant charge up the hill of change had been thwarted by circumstances beyond their control — that, as much as they would love to continue trying to end the catastrophic Iraq deal, they would now have to wait until, oh, 2009 to try again. "We'll have a new president," said Pelosi. "And I do think at that time we'll take a fresh look at it."

Yeah… They sound like Republicans whose litany of excuses for not shrinking government had no end. There was always some reason why they couldn’t fulfill their promises. Democrats are no different.

And yet, despite their claims that they want to end the war, it is apparent they have no intention of ending Republican wars.

In reality, though, Pelosi and the Democrats were actually engaged in some serious point-shaving. Working behind the scenes, the Democrats have systematically taken over the anti-war movement, packing the nation's leading group with party consultants more interested in attacking the GOP than ending the war. "Our focus is on the Republicans," one Democratic apparatchik in charge of the anti-war coalition declared. "How can we juice up attacks on them?"

It’s disheartening to see the alleged anti-war movement get bamboozled the way they have.

Many of them are flocking to Obama, whose rhetoric on interventionism, war, and empire is frightenly similar to Bush. They rail against Republican wars, but never actually do anything about them. It’s sad to see even how their rhetoric has changed. It’s almost like Battered Woman Syndrome. They will do backflips to justify the party that they support, even though that party is completely unresponsive to their demands.

Ugh. What’s a peacenik to do?