Am I the only one who recognizes the hypocrisy in these “withdraw the troops” bills that continue to be introduced in Congress? I’ll grant that our involvement in Iraq has become an untenable situation, but anybody with brains (and, as much as I distrust our Congresscritters, I don’t for a minute think they’re stupid) knows that pulling our troops out any time soon will cause way more problems than it’ll solve. Whether or not going in was a good idea is a different issue entirely, and one I might discuss at some point.

In any case, those who introduce or support the troop pullout bills (or riders on other bills) know that the bills won’t pass. They’re counting on it. The war has become increasingly unpopular with the American people, so supporting an anti-war bill scores points with the constituents. Even better, it makes those who oppose the bill look bad. “He voted to keep the troops in Iraq!”

The absolute worst thing that could happen, as far as the troop withdrawal supporters are concerned, would be for one of those bills to pass. Then they’d actually have to bring the troops home, or come up with some lame excuse as to why they can’t do it. That would make them look bad. It’s not likely to happen, though. They can keep introducing bills that are fatally flawed, knowing full well that the bill won’t pass, and bask in the admiration of the constituents who are too blind to see what’s really happening.