Pelosi hits bottom

Just when you think the dominant left wing of the Democratic Party has hit rock-bottom, one of their partisans reaches new depths in slandering people who have an honest difference with them on policy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hit the gutter on Thursday, when she tried to explain why Democrats are losing the budget war to President Bush. Mrs. Pelosi (who says she hopes to be able to practice a more civil approach next year) said she had misjudged Republican resolve — particularly on the war against jihadists in Iraq.

"They like this war," Mrs. Pelosi said. "They want this war to continue. That was a revelation to me. I had thought they would listen to their constituents and change their position." She later tried to clarify things by saying she had meant to say that Republicans like Mr. Bush's strategy — not that they "like" the war. But the damage was done and the slur was uttered, and it will be approvingly repeated time and again in the next few months throughout the left-wing blogosphere.

This is not a happy time for congressional Democrats. As we went to press, they seemed to be gradually moving in the direction of yielding to Mr. Bush's threat to veto any appropriations measures containing an Iraq surrender date. In the House, Mrs. Pelosi's fellow Democrats are cutting their spending proposals down to levels demanded by Mr. Bush and have been bickering among themselves over what to fund. On Thursday, she complained about the Senate's filibuster rules and talked about a happier future without a Republican in the White House.

But right now, thanks to the obstructionism of Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid when it comes to funding the troops, trouble is on the horizon at the Pentagon, which has yet to receive an appropriations bill to continue funding the war. On Thursday, Defense Department officials said furlough letters would hit 100,000 civilian military employees next week in an attempt to free up money for combat troops. Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England sent letters to senior Democrats, among them Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, warning that the pending layoffs "will affect the critical support our civilian employees provide to our war-fighters — support which is key to our current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq." Notices also went out to all Army command facilities in the United States and abroad with civilian employees and contractors, and to U.S. Marine Corps commanders as well, warning them of potential civilian layoffs at their bases.

If the furloughs begin next week, these fine men and women will have Mrs. Pelosi and her fellow Democrats to thank

http://washingtontimes.com/article/2007 ... 50002/1013