"Swingers" Offers Dems Lessons on Iraq

The Hill covers the debate on the non-binding resolutions being considered in the House and Senate on Iraq. Ms. Pelosi brings to mind the old adage that you don't need to fear the bite of the dog that barks:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told her colleagues and the country yesterday that the non-binding resolution disapproving of President Bush’s troop surge is only the first step in congressional action on Iraq, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he is taking steps to bring the same measure to a vote in the upper chamber.

“In a few days and in fewer than 100 words, we will take our country in a new direction on Iraq,” Pelosi said in her floor speech on the measure. “A vote of disapproval will set the stage for additional Iraq legislation which will be coming to the House floor.”

So war opponents can rest assured: this non-binding resolution - which couldn't win a majority in a Democratic-controlled House without fixing the debate - is only the start. Democrats will do much more. They won't cut off funds and force a withdrawal, because the political price would be too high. So they're stuck with non-binding efforts. And they'll bark very loudly about doing more, and hope that it satisfies the netroots.

While Republican Leader John Boehner has gotten his share of criticism in the early going, he gets credit here. Perhaps he was reading Rudy Giuliani when he said:

Boehner called the measure a “political charade,” adding that “non-binding means non-leadership. It’s not accountable. And I don’t think it’s the right message for our troops.”

After promising change, it's amazing how feckless the new Democratic majority is. With control of Congress and the purse-strings, they're left debating meaningless resolutions that don't command majorities, and wondering how to accomplish more.

Perhaps they need to watch Swingers (language warning):

Trent: You know what you are? You're like a big bear with claws and with fangs...
Sue: ...big ****ing teeth, man.
Trent: Yeah... big ****in' teeth on ya'. And she's just like this little bunny, who's just kinda cowering in the corner.
Sue: Shivering.
Trent: Yeah, man just kinda... you know, you got these claws and you're staring at these claws and your thinking to yourself, and with these claws you're thinking, "How am I supposed to kill this bunny, how am I supposed to kill this bunny?"
Sue: And you're poking at it, you're poking at it...
Trent: Yeah, you're not hurting it. You're just kinda gently batting the bunny around, you know what I mean? And the bunny's scared Mike, the bunny's scared of you, shivering.
Sue: And you got these ****ing claws and these fangs...
Trent: And you got these ****ing claws and these fangs, man! And you're looking at your claws and you're looking at your fangs. And you're thinking to yourself, you don't know what to do, man. "I don't know how to kill the bunny." With *this* you don't know how to kill the bunny, do you know what I mean?

So the Democrats continue poking, and wonder what to do about the bunny.

Update: Another possibility is that their inability to get anything done has a medical solution.