It's pathetic, truly. I'm not going to bother taking apart yet another example of the Beltway's Finest Journamalism, but take a look at this quote:

Party leaders in the House are likely to present a proposal for binding legislation to the Democratic caucus next week, according to lawmakers in that chamber. But lawmakers and senior Democratic aides said Murtha's plan would have to be scaled back dramatically, after a week-long Republican assault.

Murtha, chairman of the Appropriations defense subcommittee and a leading critic of the war, had intended to fully fund Bush's $100 billion war request for the remainder of this fiscal year. But under his plan, those funds could be spent only to deploy combat troops deemed fully rested, trained and equipped.

After nearly four years of combat, most military units would not be able to meet those standards. Although the war would be fully funded, the policy would prevent some of the 21,500 additional combat troops from being deployed, and some troops already in Iraq would have to be sent home.

But that approach may be all but dead, according to several Democratic lawmakers. Murtha doomed his own plan in part by unveiling it on a left-wing Web site, inflaming party moderates. Read more…

Mom, Dad: I understand you better now. I just hope that I don't have to experience a Cambodia style aftermath in the Middle East, even as that hope is small. Raw Story:

But another sizable group of House Democrats is set to propose a different course today. The Democrats' Blue Dog Coalition -- comprised of more conservative Democrats -- will hold a press conference on the war at 11:30 am. Their proposal appears likely to include important differences from Murtha's legislation.

Currently including 44 members, the group describes itself as primarily "dedicated to a core set of beliefs that transcend partisan politics, including a deep commitment to the financial stability and national security of the United States."

snip

But one aide was able to say that "the Blue Dogs are not calling for troop withdrawal tomorrow, and they're not cutting off funding, but they do want accountability and responsibility." Read more…

I have been without access to a working computer for much of the last month, so it was a shock, getting back to the lethal emptiness of our political discourse as represented by the utter and complete pap spewed by our Sunday gasbags. Read more…

Murtha's appearance seems to be The Big Story out of the Sabbath Gasbags this time around. Before the show was even off the air (CDT anyway) I was seeing it in the "AP Reports" box most papers carry. I found the appearance remarkable--not for the Haditha Massacre & Coverup story itself, which blog readers have known for a week or more--but the fact that it could be discussed for ten solid minutes at least and the words "My Lai" never once get mentioned. What an exquisite squeeze the Bushits are in: Murtha can say, and others pick up and repeat, that this Haditha incident is "worse than Abu Ghraib" and the only line the warmongers could possibly come back with is "Yeah, but it's not as bad as My Lai!" Read more…