Welcome Aboard, Olympia Snowe

She signed on to Reed-Levin, which would mandate a redeployment within 120 days. So that's one more than we got for essentially the same bill in May, and it puts a lot of pressure on fellow Maine Republican Susan Collins, who's up for election mext year, to do the same. Collins did vote with Snowe and 5 other wayward Republicans on Sen. Webb's readiness bill, which was unfortunately filibustered. But 56 votes is a lot, and suggests that momentum is moving in the right direction. I don't know how much longer Republicans can continue to be the President's body armor.

This bit at the end of the story is hilarious:

Bush said Tuesday he would veto any legislation setting a deadline on troop withdrawals. He also said he would not rethink his military strategy until at least September, when the top military commander delivers a progress report on the troop buildup.

"That's what the American people expect. They expect for military people to come back and tell us how the military operations are going," Bush said. "And that's the way I'm going to play it as commander in chief."

He means that's what he tells himself the American people expect. The American people ACTUALLY expect us to get the hell out of there, like, today. Bush just wants a parade where Iraqis wave purple fingers and American flags and erect a statue to him (isn't that what Saddam demanded?).

People ask what we're doing in Iraq. And you can answer in a hundred ways and in a thousand shades of literalism to metaphor. But at some level we're in Iraq because President Bush wanted a parade. It's not hard to imagine how he must have imagined it. A withdrawal of most American troops from a staunchly allied pro-American Iraq. Waving flags. Heartfelt thanks and vindication for the president who had the guts and character to see it through.

And that's why we stay. Because somehow if he just keeps at it someday he might get his parade. Or rather if he just keeps us there forever he doesn't have to really deal wtih what a disaster he's created and fundamentally what a failure he is.