"The grassroots are justifiably disappointed and I am too that we have not done more to end this war," Pelosi said.

And, when she says crap like this:

"The grassroots are justifiably disappointed and I am too that we have not done more to end this war," Pelosi said.

She has no one but herself to blame for the war continuing.  As Speaker, if she does not want something to happen in the House (like, um, say, appropriations for something unpopular or anti-Democratic-policy), it doesn't have to happen.  There is no irresistible momentum toward a result she does not want.  All it takes is her saying one of the shorter words in the English language:  "No."

She's proven she understands that, in blocking the most merited, deserved impeachments in the entire history of the United States.  She doesn't want it, and it doesn't happen.

Frankly, what I think has happened is that the Preznit has used his considerable charm and seductiveness toward women on her (haven't you ever noticed that, for whatever reason, all the women around him seem to go to Jell-o), and she fell for it.

Democrats thus are ending their first year in power without producing the major Iraq policy change that had been a major selling point to voters in 2006.

Some people CONTINUE to defend the "strategy."

can't think of her name at the moment, dammit!

it's a sad day when i turn out to be more cynical than a seasoned politician. or maybe it's just democratic seasoned politicians. oh well.

i always assumed, knowing me as well as i do, that not entering the public political domain was a good thing, for me and everyone else. i am a national/international incident, looking for a place to happen. i also assumed, much to my chagrin, that my intellectual betters would carry the banner in my stead.

it turns out, i was wrong. i coulda been a contender!

Senate leaders would like to wrap up debate Tuesday, though GOP conservatives may balk, unhappy with spending above Bush's budget and a secretive process that produced a 1,482-page bill that includes plenty of legislative pork.

Nobody seemed thrilled with the catchall spending plan that House leaders rushed to a vote late Monday.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) sounded resigned that Democrats did not get all they had hoped for from the appropriations process.

But he said the compromise was inescapable given the president's repeated veto threats of the Democrat's plan to spend $22 billion more than the White House domestic budget request.

"I have observed that this president thought his budget sent down on tablets, not paper," Hoyer said.

House Democrats did draw the line on war spending. The omnibus bill has $31 billion for Afghanistan, but prohibits money from being used for operations in Iraq.

The Senate is expected to add money for Iraq when it takes up the spending bill as early as Tuesday.

President Bush cited progress on what he called a fiscally sound budget and indicated he could sign the bill as long as it includes funding for Iraq with no strings attached.

To meet the president's spending cap, Democrats shifted some $6 billion away from programs the White House favored. Defense, foreign aid and military base construction accounts were shaved to boost housing, education and health care, among other things. The measure also includes some $7 billion in emergency funding for veterans health care, border security and drought relief.

The late-session deal after months of confrontation could be costly to both sides, even though the president appears to have the upper hand at the moment, according to James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.

"I think the American people are showing their ire by their evaluation of the president as well as (the) institution of Congress. They're both in the high 20s now, which is a historic" low, Thurber said.

Democrats do not have the two-thirds majority they need to override a presidential veto, and they lack the 60 votes needed to prevent Republican filibusters in the Senate.

Then again, perhaps I am as naive about the Democrats as Speaker Pelosi has been about the Republicans.