A Surge of Question-Evasion

Considering that this is a stunt designed to make her look bad, I think Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA) actually acquits herself quite well in this confrontation:



Nevertheless, it's telling that the method by which she acquits herself is by evading the substance of the Iraq issue and instead hiding behind General Petraeus' fatigues and his looming September report. I think that makes for an answer you can get away with in July, and it's an answer you can get away with in August, and I can even imagine a sufficiently propagandistic and dishonest report (you know, the kind of report they're working on) might give a boost to the viability of the pro-war position. But even if it's a big boost how long is it supposed to last?

Three weeks? Seven? Even three months wouldn't be nearly long enough and any report-related boost certainly won't last that long. For the past two years or so, the administration keeps finding that even its cleverest stunts can't overcome the steady drumbeat of reality, and if House Republicans haven't figured that out yet they may be a steep price.