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by Jayne Lyn Stahl

Last week, as White House spokesperson, Dana Perino, said "the House of Representatives voted for failure in Iraq, and the President will veto its bill." (WaPo) The legislation to which she refers mandates the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq beginning in October unless certain "benchmarks" are met that demonstrate that the presence of American troops, over the past four years, has succeeded in quelling the sectarian strife. In addition to providing a first ever timetable for removal, the bill also provides for an additional $95 billion for combat operations. Only from a country that juxtaposes a 30 second spot for Weight Watchers with one for Burger King would that kind of conceptual incongruity be plausible. And, a few hours ago, as expected, the Senate also approved the bill.

While nobody contends that having our soldiers pack up, and come home means an end to our presence in that war-battered country, merely an end to our military presence, and while some might argue that this is more a symbolic gesture than a strategic one, few can d ispute the clear and cogent signal this sends t o the American people that, yes, however partisan and divided, there are folks in Congress who are listening to us.

So it is then that this lame duck president has managed to triumph in the very pit of defeat. And, rest assured, this isn't the only "v", as "victory," this president may yet get to claim as his phoenix arising from the ashes of an itinerant war, one built on lies, false premises, and moribund greed.

While he may not have star power like another prominent Republican, the governor of California, this president may yet get to prove that he has veto power. Make no mistake, this is not your grandma's veto, this is not some flaccid, viagra-sucking veto, this is a virile, meat-eating veto. This is the kind of veto that puts hair on one's chest, maybe even on Hillary's because if this President refuses to just say not to war, and give up his manic warrior persona, whoever occupies the Oval Office come 2010 may well find themselves sitting in the same dark, and dirty foxhole he has left behind. Indeed, who better than this president to show the wisdom of that age-old adage "there are no atheists in foxholes." Keep this in mind, next Tuesday, when watching a beaming Bush sits grinning ear to ear, during the inevitable photo-op in which he'll show his virile veto, as well as shoot down what will soon be seen as minimalist, and modest efforts to rein in his unitary hyperactive divide and conquer global antics. But, let's not confuse star power with staying power.

Rest assured,long after names like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove are relegated to the tattered, and moldy books of history, we, as a civilization, will still be paying for the misdeeds and misadventures of the past six years.
By:  Jayne Lyn Stahl
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