Surge Deniers

Each year, there is a plethora of symbolic resolutions introduced in the House and Senate. Recently, we have seen one that recognizes the contributions of the Christmas tree industry to the United States economy (H.J. Res 15); one recognizing former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre on the occasion of his retirement from the National Football League, and honoring him for his years of commitment to the city of Green Bay and the State of Wisconsin, and his extensive charitable activities in Wisconsin and his home State of Mississippi (H. Res 1032); and even another that recognizes the health benefits of eating seafood as part of a balanced diet, and supporting the goals and ideals of National Seafood Month (H. Con Res 125).

So you would think a resolution that officially recognizes "the strategic success of the troop surge in Iraq and expressing gratitude to the members of the United States Armed Forces who made that success possible" (S. Res 636) would be the perfect opportunity for politicians on both sides of the aisle to score some easy political points with their constituents. A chance to state the obvious (the surge worked) and show some gratitude to the troops who made it possible.

Naturally, the Republicans stand to benefit the most from the success of the surge (beyond our wildest dreams), and John McCain deserves much of the credit for promoting the new strategy. But this is also an opportunity for the Democrats to explicitly demonstrate that they do, in fact, welcome good news from Iraq - no matter what the political backdrop.

Instead, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin have teamed up to block a vote on this bipartisan resolution, as the Wall Street Journal points out in this op-ed.

Surely, the Dems are not this fargone, are they?