Informed Speculation

No surprise, of course; 17 Republicans broke ranks, as did two Democrats:

After four days of emotional debate over the extent of presidential powers in wartime and the proper role of Congress, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution today denouncing President Bush’s plan to send more American troops to Iraq.

The 246 to 182 vote in favor of the non-binding but nevertheless important measure set the stage for a crucial Senate debate on Saturday on how to debate the administration’s Iraq policy, or indeed whether it should be debated at all.

There had been virtually no doubt about the outcome in the House today, given the Democratic majority in the chamber and the fact that a significant number of Republicans had also signaled their backing for the resolution, which expresses support for American troops but not for their commander-in-chief.

Republican leaders were undeterred by the prospect of being voted down. “The ‘no’ votes are the right votes,” said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, the Republican whip.

The Republican minority leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, warned that the resolution, while symbolic, charted “a very treacherous path” that could lead to cutting off money for the American campaign.

But Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said that the time had come to give American troops “a course of action that is worthy of their sacrifice,” by opposing Mr. Bush’s plan to increase troop strength in Iraq.

Yes, Nancy, thank you for that little piece of insipidness – no doubt the troops will sleep securely tonight knowing that you’ve given their mission a vote of no confidence.  I’m still looking for the breakdown to see who the two Democratic heroes are, but I’ve no doubt one of them was Joe Lieberman (oops! Lieberman, is, of course, a Senator.  The two Democrats were Jim Marshall and Gene Taylor).

Now the vote moves to the Senate, where the Republicans again vow to tie the measure up procedurally unless the Gregg resolution comes to the floor. And of course, the real fight has yet to begin; the heavy guns will come out when Murtha’s attempts at implementing the ‘SBPTD’ (that’s ‘Slow Bleed Path To Defeat’) begin…