Cautiously Optimistic

That is what I am, cautiously optimistic about last nights performance by the Yankees. Wang has had some trouble historically with the sox so he took some juice off his pitches to try and offset them. It worked, last night at least. Now I don't want to make a bold statement like "it looks like the offense is finally coming around" because the minute I say that they will cool right back down. Things could have gone to hell in a hand basket really quickly when the sox had the bases loaded in the 8th, but if the one thing the Yankees have that no one can deny it is veteran players who know how to make routine plays in clutch situations. So I think that I want to wait until the end of this series to dissect its every play for now, I don't want to jinx my boys after all.

To make a hard right turn if I may, one thing that I am not cautiously optimistic about is the fact that the democrats have removed their insistence on a time line in the battle over the budget for the troops. I have always been a fan of the speak quietly but carry a big stick mantra, unfortunately the democrats seem to be yelling loudly and breaking their stick over there knee causing them public embarrassment. (Sigh) if only Pelosi and the democrats could grow a pair....metaphorically of course.

Enough Already, Just End This Damn War

Democrats are pushing forward with plans to include a withdrawal time line in the supplemental war funding bill despite a guaranteed veto threat from the president. Will the timetable stand, no, of course not. But the fact that the republicans have decided to not change the language of the bill speaks volumes to the confidence that bush's own party has in his leadership and his prosecution of the war. It also is a clear indication that they are ready to sacrifice the President to the inevitable public outcry.

Realistically though, the point of this whole exercise is purely political. Pelosi and Ried know that despite all the rhetoric they can't cut funds to the troops without major public backlash, so they at the very least must make it LOOK like they are doing something to end the war and hold the administration accountable. This bothers me. Anyone who knows me (or who as read this blog) is well aware of my political leanings and also knows that anything that makes bush look bad is like music to my ears. But ending the war is about ending needless death, reckless spending, and restoring credibility to our country's reputation. A political chess match is not what we need, we need real solutions to end this nightmare and not symbolic politics.