CalvinBall!

As everyone knows by now, the President has a new plan for Iraq.

Now just to keep score, I've had to a make myself a short list of the rules, to keep up with what's allowed when playing Presidential CalvinBall.

Now just to be clear, the President so far has had a 'Fossil' policy in regards to the war in Iraq. We've been winning. The war is going great. The White House has been very happy about how things have gone so far. They have decided that the situation in Iraq will not dictate their policy. No matter what happens, we we will remain unmoving in our tactics and our policy will not budge one iota. Our strategy is fossilized.

If we were to change our strategy in any way, that would be letting the terrorists dictate the terms of the battle. Any talk of ever withdrawing ever, is stupid 'Cut and Run' talk. We call this, 'Stay the Course'.

The Republican pundits, have been strategizing and explaining their fantasies of marching victorious in Iraq by changing our strategy. This means changing course, and letting the terrorists dictate the terms of the war. These idiots live in a dream land and don't even listen to the President., Perhaps they work for the terrorists?

The Republican pundits talk of leaving Iraq one day. That's 'Cutting and Running'. They talk of changing their strategy. That's letting the terrorists dictate the terms of the war.

The Democrats have done the same thing. They tell us that they don't want this war to last for all time. Thats's called 'Cutting and Running'. Winning or losing a war that's supposed to last through eternity, has not been Bush's goal. It's certainly not what's meant by 'Stay the Course', and refusing to let the 'Terrorists Dictate the Strategy on the Ground'.

But now Bush wants to change the strategy. He no longer wants to 'Stay the Course'. He's agreed that now we're at the point in Iraq that resembles the period of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. Some assume that he meant that we're about to lose in Iraq. But he was quick to point out that what he meant was, that this resembles the propaganda portion of the Vietnam war where the Vietnamese started kicking our asses so hard that it looked like we were losing. And this turned public opinion from support of the war, to calls to end it.

So Bush has acknowledged that the Iraqis are using the strategy of kicking our asses and winning, in order to score propaganda points in order to win.

Now I've read some of the reports of our change in strategy after the election grandstanding is over. I believe there will be a change in strategy. But what we're told this change will be, might not resemble what we actually do.

Iran is still in the cards and that might be part of the changing strategy.

We may bring back the draft and send more boys to Iraq.

We may dissolve the Iraqi government and install a military governor as we once did and maybe follow the Roman model of rule. Except without using their successful model of letting populations govern their own affairs under the watchful eye of the empire.

Whatever we do, it must involve winning. Winning is defined by never leaving. So as long as we keep sending boys to Iraq we're winning. They can kill all the American soldiers they want and our President will still be happy that we're winning.

Defeat is in leaving. Bush will not do that no matter the cost. We may have to make extraordinary sacrifices still, to fulfill Bush's plan of winning by never leaving. We should know that those are sacrifices that Bush is willing to make.

but for now, enjoy Bush and the Republican Game of CalvinBall where the rules are made up on the spot and changed on whim. And don't forget, the same rule doesn't count twice. That goes for laws too.