As Long As It Looks Like I'm Listening...

Last night on Countdown, and in today's NY Times, it's reported that a contingent of Republican representatives confronted MY PRESIDENT with the reality of at least the political situation regarding Iraq.

They are reported to have said conditions need to dramatically improve or more Republicans would desert him. MY PRESIDENT's reported to have said he does not want to leave this fiasco with another president- certainly not a Democratic president. And so he was willing to listen.

Considering how much MY PRESIDENT hates accountability and his inability to publicly change his mind, this seems somewhat promising- like when you see your torturer go for the rubber hose instead of the beaded whip. That's something that might brighten your day.

But three things concern me.

1.) These stories are based on leaked reports of a political event. It provides another opportunity for the president to lift some spirits and maybe touch somebody's soul without really doing or committing to anything that might remedy some of the disaster all around him. There's really no there there. It's just another moment of image; in the residential section of the White House, he was playing the compassionate listener, the father who understands and suffers with his children, but still knows best. Instead of a flight suit or his brush-clearing gloves, he wore a cardigan and as thoughtful an expression he could muster.

John Boehner said "It was very healthy."

Another at the meeting said, “I walked away from it feeling I got a chance to make my points."

See, everyone, daddy's a listening cowboy.

Isn't that very special? It was healthy, I felt listened to. Doesn't that seem exactly how you would feel after a meeting with this guy?
I really do think about this video too much.

2.) Even if this does indicate a change in MY PRESIDENT'S perspective, the dynamics of the collective discussion on what a withdrawal might look like have created a very limited range of possibility. For too long people have been framing this in terms of "stay the course" or "cut and run." I absolutely think that's the fault of Republicans who have tried to paint anyone in any way critical of the war as freedom hating cowards living in a pre 9/11 world emboldening Al Qaeda and not supporting the troops.

Why, my very own David Dreier came out just the other day with a line about the Democrats turning their backs on the troops because they wanted, along with the majority of Americans, to find a way to responsibly withdraw from Iraq.

I'm afraid we currently lack the imagination or creativity necessary to consider options other than "Throw more bodies into the mill" or "We're done, someone else can clean up after us." MY PRESIDENT hates internationalism, we continue to blame the Iraqis for the mess we created, MY PRESIDENT can't even work with people of the same party who are not loyal enough, how will we build real coalitions and do the work necessary to stabilize Iraq? Even as you read that, are you able to think that "stabilize Iraq" can mean anything other than send more people with guns?

3.) Another "even if this is true" concern has to do with how well thought out and planned everything else MY PRESIDENT has done. I'm sure I know plenty of 28 percenters who could give me a list of success stories but I still worry we'd get Shell and Exxon supervising a bunch of recent Bob Jones and Liberty University graduates to work on a stabilization and withdrawal as successful as the Great Missile Defense Net in the Sky that was all the rage before 9/11... no, not that... the pre-war intelligence gathering... no... Katrina cleanup... no... the WTC/9-11 memorial... hmm... the Medicare Drug program... no... environmental protection and leadership... no... C'mon, there's go to be something- Oh lower taxes right! That's something that... led us... to an amazing $8,000,000,000,000 debt. But who cares? That's not even a real number.

So maybe we really have turned a corner. Or maybe we realize that farther up the street, there really is a corner and we could turn it.

Most of These People Are Dead or Broken Up
Waiting in Vain- Bob Marley
Getaway- Stereophonics
I Fall to Pieces- Patsy Cline
Battle Royal- Duke Ellington
Back in The Day- Erykah Badu
Oh My Golly- The Pixies
Morning Bell- Radiohead
It's the Sun- Polyphonic Spree
Nobody Else But Me- Stan Getz
Maria La Bandida- Jimenez
You Can't Stop the Prophet- Jeru The Damaja
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere- Bob Dylan
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead- Warren Zevon
Reality- David Bowie
I Just Wasn't Made for These Times- The Beach Boys