Republicans Not Running From The War Anymore; Return Home To Campaign Running *On* The War

Sea change.

I don't know exactly what brought all this on -- there is some good news from Iraq, but not so much (and not so inarguable) as to justify what might be called irrational exuberance -- but it's welcome to see that most of the GOP will fight for at least the chance of victory in Iraq.

Several pundits, such as Jonah Goldberg, called for caution in raising expectations about September's report. That's probably good advice, but I'm not sure how important it is. Ultimately, the expectations game can only move the goalposts a bit up or down. Either Petraeus will report fairly significant improvements or he won't; and either those reported improvements will be quantifiable by reliable metrics or they won't. It may be asking the improbable, but the public is going to demand such improvements for its continuing support (such as it is) ofo the war.

So while expectations have to be tempered, the case for giving the troops a fair chance to actually win, and rescue a bad situation, also has to be made pretty forcefully over these next few crucial months. Nuance is needed, alas.

Incidentally, I found on leftwing blogs they're calling Petraeus "General Betrayus."

Those leftwingers. Such wits.

Truly they are the serious, scholarly intellectual elite they imagine themselves to be. Who else could come up with such cutting and inventive nicknames for political foes?

I haven't seen wit like that since... well, I guess since I dubbed Nancy Pelosi "Granny Rictus McBotoximplants," or whatever it was.

Double irony on that, by the way: The fact that this name was obviously an ironic parody of the left's childish name-calling of "Bushitler McHalliburton" and the like didn't stop them from criticizing me for inventing such a childishly tasteless insult for Pelosi. Not a single one of them informed their audiences it was a parody of their own habit of creating such pathetically, embarrassingly witless nicknames.

Sorry, but let's call a spade a spade: Not only are you guys stupid, but you're also shamefully dishonest.

posted by Ace at 04:36 PM

| Access Comments