Bush Gets a Scolding

by mcjoan
Daily Kos
Wed May 09, 2007 at 06:11:32 PM PDT

Believe it or not, some Republicans on the Hill are unhappy with Bush. Eleven of them met with Bush, Gates, Rice, Rice, Rove, and Snow, and they told him they're not happy about Iraq. Here's Tim Russert's NBC report via Think Progress (you can watch the video there):

[O]ne said "My district is prepared for defeat. We need candor, we need honesty, Mr. President." The president responded, "I don’t want to pass this off to another president. I don’t want to pass this off, particularly, to a Democratic president," underscoring he understood how serious the situation was.

Brian, the Republican congressman then went on to say, "The word about the war and its progress cannot come from the White House or even you, Mr. President. There is no longer any credibility. It has to come from Gen. Petraeus." The meeting lasted an hour and 15 minutes and was, in the words of one, "remarkable for the bluntness and no-holds-barred honesty in the message delivered by all these Republican congressmen."

Russert says this "may have been a defining pivotal moment" in the Iraq debate. I'm not holding my breath. For one thing, Petraeus is ropa doping for all he's worth in that always moving target date for when we know when anything might be working on the ground. He and Gates aren't on the same page at all, so the Republicans putting all their trust in his hands is not encouraging.

Now if these 11 can round up 60 more disgrunted GOP Representatives and 17 Senators, then maybe we can start talking "pivotal." Until then, I doubt they're going to budge Bush.