Why Democrats will surrender again on war funding.

It really is sickening, how the party we trusted to end the Iraq war is so bloody spineless that no matter what, it can always be counted upon to back down against the GOP when it goes on one of its whiny tirades meant to distract and intimidate.

Here's the scoop: MoveOn.org put out a newspaper ad critical of general David Petraus. So the Republican noise machine kicked into high gear, demanding that Democrats condemn it. And condemn it they did; even John Kerry, who more than anyone else might have had a legitimate reason to criticize the ad in question, distanced himself from it. What was this ad, you ask? This one.

Now, if it had been me in a leadership position right before a critical debate on whether to hand the shrub yet another blank check for his war, I'd have been a hell of a lot more confrontational. I'd have said something like, "since when do I or anyone else in this Congress have any say in what MoveOn.org puts in the newspaper?" And "I'll tell you what, I'll condemn the MoveOn.org ad when you in the GOP condemn the swift boat liars' attacks on Senator Kerry."

But that's just me. Because I have, you know, a spine.