Hardball

There's been lots of hand-wringing about what Senate Democrats should do about Iraq, all of it premised on the idea that they need either a filibuster-proof (60-vote) majority or a veto-proof (67-vote) majority. To which I can only say, "Huh? Howzzat again?"

Anything that can be ridden on the Defense Appropriations bill (or on a continuing resolution) doesn't need 60 votes in the Senate. It needs 51 votes in the Senate, or 218 in the House, that will stand firm.

From Mark Kleiman comes some wisdom on how to approach not just the war but every single issue where we are on the right side of the issue and where the public agrees with us. As I have said before, it is time to make them pay for every single bad vote they make.