Bush's Place in History

President Bush has told the new Democratic Congress to go to hell. He is surprised by the strong bipartisan opposition to his plan for a troop increase but said on CBS that he is moving forward despite any effort to stop him. Bush is right, and Democrats are wrong, about his constitutional authority to execute war strategy in the absence of a funding cut. If they don't pull the trigger, they need to take their hands off of it — conditions and benchmarks on line items in the spending bills are unlikely to do anything but damage the Democrats politically. But Bush NEVER consulted with Congress about his internal review of the war or his new strategy. He may have paraded more than 140 members through the halls of the White House to hear about it, but let's be clear: They were told what had already been leaked; they were not asked for input.

Why is Bush willing to speak to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — who snubs him and won't keep his promises — but unwilling to speak to the Democrats and Republicans who were elected by American citizens to represent them in the Congress? The Uniter may not have to face the voters ever again, but his decision to sever relations with the Congress will surely follow him into the history books.

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