Wow

I hadn't seen this coming. A couple of Republicans have sided with Senate Democrats, and tacked on an ammendment to an appropriations bill, making the President's supplemental funding request for operations in Iraq and Afganistan contingent on an evantual, timed pullout from Iraq. I suspect that Senators Chuck Hagel (Nebraska) and Gordon Smith (Oregon) are going to be in VERY hot water with the Republican leadership in the Senate, since the only reason the bill even made it to the floor is that they were convinced that it would never pass. (I also think that there are going to be some harsh words over the monarchy crack.) After years of infigting and just generally being an ineffectual opposition party, the Democrats have pulled off a remarkable coup. No matter what you think of the idea of pulling out of Iraq, it must be admitted that the Democrats pulled of some brilliant political manuevering with this, managing to pick off Republican stragglers, and slam the GOP's calculations back in their faces.