California Pays the Price for Barbara Boxer

Watching CNN in the wake of the president speech's Wednesday night destroyed whatever foolish hope I may have had that there are serious Democrats in Congress not yet ready to give up on Iraq because the latest Zogby poll tells them that's the most politically savvy thing to do. First came John Edwards with his tough-love approach for embattled Iraqis, saying that they needed to be thrown to the wolves in order to take responsibility for themselves. (One wonders how the dungaree'd populist plans to square this Jacksonian moral philosophy with his bleeding-heart approach to American poverty: you can't help those who can't help themselves — or is it just the wogs who need to tug on the old boostraps?)  Then came Barack Obama, clearing his throat with effusive tribute to the troops before launching into pessimistic assessments of the "surge" plan, as if anyone had called the troops' fortitude or sacrifice into question, ever. Now there's this gem from Barbara Boxer, a day late but with exact change:

Rice appeared before the Senate in defense of President Bush's tactical change in Iraq, and quickly encountered Boxer.

"Who pays the price? I'm not going to pay a personal price," Boxer said. "My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young."

Then, to Rice: "You're not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family."

With a mom like Babs, I'd blow myself up in Anbar province.  Such a taunt, which Andrew Sullivan rightly suggests exploits the rumor of Rice's lesbianism, is a non sequitur on the subject of escalation or the war in general, though it does nicely show where the senator's chief concern lies these days: squarely and shamelessly with herself.

Anybody But Bush has always amounted to any principle worth auctioning.