An act that will live in infamy

Commentary Contentions points out that Republicans have shelved their partisan interests and have supported supplemental appropriations for Afghanistan. This is in direct contrast to how the Democratic party behaved when Bush was in office. John Podhoretz reminds us:

"Democrats’ opposition to Bush and the surge was so intense, their commitment to a particular (defeatist) narrative so strong, and their eagerness to withdraw from Iraq so irresistible that they declared the Petraeus-led surge would not and could not work. It was simply incomprehensible to consider any other possibility.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, for example, declared that “this surge is not accomplishing anything” and in April 2007 announced flatly that the Iraq war was “lost.” A young senator from Illinois, on the night President Bush announced the surge, proclaimed, “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq are going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse.” So said Barack Obama. Not to be outdone, Senator Joseph Biden declared: “If he surges another 20, 30 [thousand], or whatever number he’s going to, into Baghdad, it’ll be a tragic mistake.”"

Cynical defeatism in the service of a partisan agenda. It was a disgraceful act in an ugly time in our politics. And it has never been properly repented of. Kudos to the Republicans for refraining from taking their revenge.