Christopher Hitchens (via Instapundit):

"[T]he cabinet," according to the Nov. 18 New York Times, "has sent legislation to the Parliament softening the de-Baathification law that had prevented former Baathists' working in government jobs." I wonder how many people, reading that ordinary sentence about "the cabinet" and "the Parliament," as reported also in independent Iraqi media, have any idea what it means when compared with the insane proceedings of the totalitarian abattoir state that was Iraq until 2003.

Now juxtapose that with this Instapundit link:

NOT EXACTLY POSITIVE COVERAGE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Democrats in Congress failed once again Friday to shift President Bush's war strategy in Iraq, but insisted that they would not let up. Their explanation for their latest foiled effort seemed to boil down to a simple question: "What else are we supposed to do?"

This is the same party whose legislative leader said, referring to Ronald Reagan, "The evil is in the White House" when he faced down Stalinism's heirs. Let me give you the whole quote from the now mistily-remembered Tip O'Neill:

The evil is in the White House at the present time. And that evil is a man who has no care and no concern for the working class of America and the future generations of America, and who likes to ride a horse. He's cold. He's mean. He's got ice water for blood.

Talk about ice water. The Democratic leadership, fearing their left flank, actually want to retreat, not when we're losing, but when we're winning -- literally to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and to turn over an entire country to an otherwise defeated "totalitarian abattoir state" -- as we've done before.

"What else are we supposed to do?"

Cross-posted on Likelihood of Success.