I always suspected this was the real strategy behind the House Dems' Iraq proposal. But Matt Stoller makes it explicit:

My strategic end goal is to end the war. To do that involves a process of showing that the Democratic caucus is unified behind putting restrictions on Bush and his ability to fight the war, and then using that pressure to remove Republicans (and wayward Democrats) from office in 2008.

All the blather about communications strategies and making the war illegal, etc. was just so much talk. But at least Stoller is now forthright about it. Read what a DemHillStaffer writes on the other side.

As always, I speak for me only

Conchita points us to this e-mail from Move On:

Dear MoveOn member,

We've got a big decision coming up this week, and we need to make it together, as a community.

As early as Wednesday, the House may vote on a Democratic proposal on Iraq. The proposal was put together by Speaker Pelosi and Congressmen Obey and Murtha. It is going to be a close vote--the Republicans are against it and some conservative Democrats are uncomfortable with the bill.

Most, but not all, of the progressives in Congress are planning on voting for the bill. These progressives, like many of us, don't think the bill goes far enough, but see it as the first concrete step to ending the war. And President Bush is threatening to veto it for the same reason.

I've told Rep. Murtha that this was a decision for MoveOn's members to make. Now I'm asking you to help make it. Should we support or oppose the Democrats' plan? Just click here to register your view.

I urge Move On members to register their view that the supplemental funding bill should be opposed.

At daily kos, BarbinMd eviscerates the Washington Post Editorial Board:

Self-serving, revisionist rationalizing is the only way to describe today's Washington Post editorial marking the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war. They begin:

Tomorrow marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, as appropriate a moment as any to take stock. What matters most is finding the best policy now -- doing whatever can be done to help Iraq and safeguard U.S. interests in a vital region. But looking back also is essential, particularly for those of us who supported the war.

Wrong. An appropriate moment for a nationally read newspaper to take stock would have been before deciding to support a preemptive war, both through editorial cheerleading and a willingness to abandon journalistic integrity and act as stenographers for the White House in the run-up to the war.

Read the whole thing.

Sorry for the lack of objectivity in the title, but the Gators play today, taking on the Boilermakers of Purdue at 2:15 EST.

The full slate on the other side.

As always, I speak for me only

Matt Stoller claims:

A shorter way thinking about the of blogs on politics is to recognize that the elite stream of opinion - that of policymakers, elites, politicians, journalists - is largely out of step with the public. Blogs play in the space between the elite stream of discourse and the discussions going on in bars and over kitchen tables. . . . Blogs are still going to push on public discourse to make it more credible and in step with the public mood.

On Iraq, the Left blogs have largely failed to do this. And Matt Stoller is one of the main culprits. Consider this:

As far as I'm concerned, passing this legislation is an important part of disengaging the Democratic party from the pro-war brand, so a vote against it is a problem. That said, I'm more charitable to progressives who vote against it as a mechanism for creating left-wing pressure, though I have serious reservations about the progressive caucus as an (dis) organized group.

Sounds like the "idiot liberals" CW meme to me. What discourse is Stoller changing on Iraq? He is spouting the DC Dem Establishment line as far as I can see see.

The Salt Lake Tribune profiles Kyle Sampson today, and how he got into the Bush Administration (through his law school pal, Elizabeth Cheney, Dick's daughter) and his rise within it.

Update: More Gonzales analysis at Newsweek's Disorder in King George's Court. Gonzales is portrayed as being "truly befuddled."

AP:

The U.S. military on Sunday announced the deaths of seven more troops in Iraq, including four killed by a roadside bomb while patrolling western Baghdad — the latest American casualties in a monthlong security crackdown in the capital. . . . Saturday's deaths brought to at least 3,217 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Death is always impossible to accept. But senseless death caused by craven political considerations, and idiotic politics at that, is just . . . unacceptable.

The Chicago Tribune has some new details about the difficulties Attorney General Alberto Gonzales overcame in his life:

Gonzales' father was arrested for drunken driving five times in 17 years covering much of Gonzales' childhood and adolescence. Pablo Gonzales died in an industrial accident in 1982 when Gonzales was at Harvard Law School.

A younger brother, Rene Gonzales, died under mysterious circumstances in 1980. In 1991, the same year Alberto Gonzales became one of the first Hispanic partners at the white shoe Houston law firm of Vinson & Elkins, his younger sister Theresa pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to deliver. Nine years later, while Gonzales was on the Texas Supreme Court, his mother and another brother signed over their houses to a bail bondsman to raise bail for Theresa after she was charged with the same offense.

Most of these details did not arise in his Senate confirmation hearings, even though they might reasonably have been thought to affect his views about crime, drug and alcohol policy, and sentencing--all issues overseen or influenced by an attorney general.

What does the omissions of these details mean?

More...

Our fearless leader Jeralyn will be discussing the Gonzo prosecutor firings tomorrow morning with Howie Kurtz on CNN's Reliable Sources program.

Sure to be the highlight of the Sunday programs.

In my previous post, I painted with too broad a brush. Two bloggers pointed out to me that they too reject the idea that the Left Blogs should refrain from critiquing the Dems on Iraq.

Corrente:

I read plenty of blogs that have no problems whatsoever criticizing the Democrats. This one, for example. I also find that there are plenty of people at larger communities who speak out about Democratic waffling or inaction, and they are not always shouted down. But it is an interesting point to raise, given the levels of Shrill that could be found Blogosphere-wide before the election.

Gun Toting Liberal:

If I have to say so myself, it takes courage to do what we’re doing here, and that says a LOT about our co-bloggers and co-authors here at The GTL and those few other sites out there (including TalkLeft, of course) who are willing to sacrifice a LOT of “linkie-luv” and inbound traffic from our fellow “lefty” bloggers out there by standing up for what’s right, or more accurately, what REALLY is “left”.

Ok, this seems the beginning of the makings of an Out of Iraq blog caucus. Anyone else game to join us?

From CNN:

Thousands of anti-war demonstrators and supporters of the U.S. policy in Iraq shouted at each other Saturday from opposite sides of a street bordering the National Mall as protesters formed a march to the Pentagon to denounce a war entering its fifth year. . . . Speakers criticized the Bush administration at every turn but blamed congressional Democrats, too, for refusing to cut off money for the war. "This is a bipartisan war," New York City labor activist Michael Letwin told the crowd. "The Democratic party cannot be trusted to end it."

Harold Meyerson and his friends can criticize "idiot liberals" all they want, but we "idiot liberals" have our own eyes and our own minds. I think the idiots are those who think these sentiments are illegitimate and won't be growing.

Enough is enough with the patronizing members of the Left who demand we "clap louder" for the Dems. And yes Booman, that's what you just did. Freaking hilarious from a guy who is pushing impeachment.

Thanks to the good folks at Progress Now, a bunch of bloggers had some hands on video training this morning. We were divided into groups of three and sent out to make themed videos. Here's the one my group made.