ONLY RUBBER STAMP REPUBLICANS & BUSH DOGS ARE BUYING INTO THE PETRAEUS SPIN

Although Bush is endorsing the plan that his regime dictated to Petraeus and Crocker, most Democrats and more than a few Republicans are-- at best-- skeptical. Democrats are working to try to get Republicans who fear the voters in their states and districts to stop supporting Bush's Iraq agenda. According to this afternoon's edition of CQ Today "Senate Democrats hope to lure more Republican votes for a policy shift in Iraq by giving emphasis to a change of mission for U.S. troops there... a drawdown of troops, a transition to new missions-- force protection, training, counterterrorism-- and a deadline for completion of the transition and withdrawal. Yesterday's Senate session with Petraeus was a little bit more in line with what Americans expect from their representatives when it comes to finding out what the hell is going on over there.

Even utter Republican rubber stamps like Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) and Norm Coleman (R-MN), both of whom are in trouble with voters back home, are trying to worm out of their knee jerk support for the Bush Regime.

“The continued failure of the [Nouri al-] Maliki government to achieve reconciliation, and the fact that current U.S. force levels are not sustainable beyond next spring, compels me to support what some have called ‘action-forcing measures,’ ” Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., told Petraeus and Crocker during their testimony Tuesday. “I would hope, consistent with your security assessment, that many units not withdrawn could be reassigned beginning next spring.”

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., who had not previously endorsed withdrawal deadlines, said he wants to see Petreaus’ plan codified in legislation and was working with Mark Pryor, D-Ark., to build a bipartisan plan. He said he wanted to see a more firm timetable for withdrawal conditioned on the security situation. “If we talk about 30,000 troops by next April, I don’t think that provides the clarity the American people need on that,” he said.

Coleman's face-saving pseudo-bipartisan plan isn't likely to get far because it is too weak and watered down, but it is great seeing Republican enablers of Bush's Iraq policies scurrying around liked trapped rats trying to disassociate themselves from what they've created.

Joining the 70 Democrats who signed a letter to Bush a couple weeks ago pledging to vote only to fund a safe, speedy and orderly withdrawal from Iraq, there is a letter circulating this week among freshmen members that endorses the same ideas. And Democrats running for congress against rubber stamp Republicans are hitting them on Iraq very hard. Rick Noriega, the progressive Democrat taking on one of the worst of the rubber stamp ass-kissers, John Cornyn (R-TX), just sent us this video message explaining his feelings about what Bush and Petraeus are trying to do-- and how we should respond.