The Pen Trumps The Congressional Democrats

President Bush will veto the defeat and retreat pork-laden war funding bill on television tonight. He's setting out his rationale on network television.

You've got some Congressional Democrats like Murtha who sound like they're rabid dogs the way that they think they will simply force Bush to accept their version of a defense appropriations bill that includes timelines to leave Iraq, as though they can legislate national security with a stroke of their pen. Of course, Murtha goes even further by suggesting impeachment as a way to solve a policy dispute.

The Democrats simply don't have the numbers to override the veto, and they know it. That isn't stopping them from trying to spin their way into forcing Bush to accept their bill.

Still, there are some more responsible folks in Congress who are working with the White House on a compromise bill that would include benchmarks rather than set dates. What would happen if the benchmarks aren't met isn't clear at all - and you can be assured that the anti-war types would as soon as cut off the funds at the drop of a hat.

The compromise bill being worked out would strip out the controversial troop removal language and replace it with a series of benchmarks to measure the progress of the Iraqi government.

The benchmarks would include passing laws related to the sharing of oil revenue and national reconciliation and reducing sectarian violence -- benchmarks that Bush himself has publicly pressed the Iraqis to meet.

However, the big question facing lawmakers and the White House is what happens if those benchmarks aren't met.

Also, what isn't clear is why Democrats are so tied to leaving Iraq when there are signs all over the place that al Qaeda is operating inside the country and is using Iraq to attack US forces and cause carnage all in a bid to undermine US efforts in the region. Since most responsible Democrats understand and recognize that al Qaeda was behind the 9/11 attacks, ceding the battlefield in Iraq to al Qaeda only harms US national security. The argument that the US must leave Iraq is fatally flawed because al Qaeda is still operating there.

Whether they were in Iraq before 2003 is irrelevant (though there is more than sufficient evidence to show that al Qaeda was in Iraq prior to the invasion); al Qaeda is in Iraq now.

Yet, Democrats want to play politics (and pork-laden politics at that) with the appropriations bill at that. It's shameful.

UPDATE:
It's official. Bush vetoed the bill, and is now calling on Congress to come up to the White House to discuss matters personally tomorrow.