LUGAR ON FOX THIS MORNING SEEMED TO FEEL CHEERY THAT THE DEMOCRATS WILL KEEP THE BUSH REGIME'S PSYCHO TENDENCIES IN CHECK

With Bush Regime hacks like McCain and Lieberman running around like chickens without heads squawking for escalation and "one more shot" and "surges," saner heads-- on both sides of the aisle-- are eager to get Bush and Cheney and their cowboy crew to start abiding by constitutional restraints on their activities. This morning Indiana Republican Dick Lugar, respected outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned Bush that he either starts taking Congress'-- and the American people's-- concerns about his bizarre and disastrous policies serious or... well, it sounded like he was saying that even if the Republican rubber stamp Congress let him do whatever he wanted, a new day has dawned. And that day could be an ugly one for the Bush Regime.

"'[I]n the past, the administration has been inclined not to disregard Congress but to not take Congress very seriously. I think this time Congress has to be taken seriously.' If Bush ignores Congress, Lugar said he should expect 'a lot of hearings, a lot of study, a lot of criticism,' and 'demands for subpoenas.'" It doesn't sound like Lugar is going to have Bush's back in the event of all this coming to pass either, does it?

Another Republican who's about had it with Bush is barely re-elected New Mexico Congresswoman Heather Wilson. Once the very definition of a Bush rubber stamp on the war, yesterday claimed the situation is not improving and that she opposes sending more American troops into Baghdad. Like Lieberman, she has just come back from a trip to Iraq. Unlike Lieberman, the trip apparently, of belatedly, opened her eyes to the catastrophic proportions of the Bush policies in the Middle East. She has told people since getting back that the McCain/Lieberman "surge" strategy (escalation) is a big mistake and that it will be counterproductive.

"There is no question that the situation in Iraq is very dangerous and not improving, particularly in Baghdad with respect to the sectarian violence... I don't believe that increasing U.S. forces in Baghdad in the way and size being discussed-- with a temporary surge of between 10,000 and 40,000 troops-- would secure the city. I think it would be the wrong way to go. At this point we cannot do for the Iraqis what the Iraqis will not do for themselves. They have to stand up and take the lead with respect to sectarian violence with respect to Sunni and Shia."

She was pessimistic after he meetings with Iraqi government officials and says the [puppet] regime there is unlikely to be able to salvage the situation. "The central government is, frankly, weak. The police are infiltrated by militias, and there are elements of the government that are loyal to different factions rather than to the government itself... We need a hard-nosed assessment of what we need, not what we wish. Sometimes I think our national objectives in Iraq-- including by our president-- are described in pretty broad terms. I want Iraqi people to live in a free and democratic society, but that's not our military mission there... that's an aspiration, that's not a vital national interest for the United States."

Of the 5 members of New Mexico's congressional delegation, only one still supports Bush and is gung-ho on the Bush-McCain-Lieberman escalation plans: Steve Pearce, an extremist and reactionary as well as a rubber stamp warmonger. Pearce's district sprawls over the rural southern half of the state and-- big surprise-- includes Roswell.


UPDATE: CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS SCRAMBLE TO STAKE OUT POSITIONS ON IRAQ

Not that many Republicans are supporting the Bush/McCain/Lieberman call for escalation in Iraq, the so-called "surge" strategy. Dead enders and die-hard rubber stampers like the aforementioned Steve Pearce are still sticking with Bush "but the proposition generates far less enthusiasm among rank-and-file Republicans, many of whom must face the voters again in 2008, presenting a potential obstacle for Bush as he hones the plan, according to lawmakers, aides and congressional analysts." Not that many have gone as far as Oregon Republican Senator Gordon Smith in referring to Bush policies as possibly "criminal," but 2 endangered Republican senators up for re-election in 2008, Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have both come out against the McCain/Lieberman proposals to send in more troops.

Even far right extremists and heretofore bloodthirsty yahoos like Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) are making their continued support for Bush's policies conditional. South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham is one of the few GOP senators up for re-election is 2008 to have come out-- not of his closet, but in support of the McCain/Lieberman escalation plan. Most, like Boehner, Sununu and even McConnell have their wet fingers to the wind.