No ponies, now or in six months

Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett talks about Magical September:

“When the surge was announced, the White House said, ‘wait til the summer.’ And as the summer approached, the White House said, ‘wait til September.’ Well, now that this much overrated September is here, they cry, ‘wait til next year.’ The only real mystery about President Bush’s September decision has been what new excuse he would offer to justify staying the same old deadly course. And as the American people have seen through the duplicity of each and other excuse, the President has returned to his original ploy: 9/11. Coincidentally, just as we receive this report on the anniversary of 9/11. He claims that, quote, ‘the same folks that are bombing in Iraq are the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th.’ That is false and he knows it’s false.”

It's clear the public doesn't even care what Petraeus says.

As you may know, a report about the situation in Iraq by General David Petraeus, the Commander of U.S. forces, and others is scheduled to be released next week. If the report says that the situation in Iraq is IMPROVING, what should the U.S. do next: should the U.S. increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, keep the same number of U.S. troops in Iraq as there are now, decrease the number of troops in Iraq, or remove all its troops from Iraq?

Increase 6%
Keep the same 32%
Decrease 39%
Remove all troops 17%

No one trusts Petraeus or his White House-authored "report". The testimony today is irrelevant. They want out.

We all expect Petraeus to claim that we've "turned the corner" and that all we need is another "six months". It doesn't take a genius to divine what the general has up his sleeve.

The only question is whether Democrats will give Americans what they want -- a tough line in favor of withdrawal -- or whether they'll collapse as they did last Spring.