"Take the Gun. Leave the Cannolis."

Don Harry Reid went to the mattresses last night in his war against GOP "obstructionism." Just what the GOP was obstructing became clear when the Don penned a missive to his soldiers to rally them:

Those 160,000 troops are heroes. Every single one of them. They are serving with courage despite enormous hardships and without even proper equipment. They are serving with courage despite a President who took us into war falsely, prematurely and recklessly. They are serving with courage despite a President who refused to form a coalition of nations to share their awful burden of sacrifice. They are serving with courage despite a President who has never had a plan for peace. And they are serving with courage despite Republicans in Congress who are blocking us from passing laws that will bring a responsible end to the war.

Obviously, the Republicans are obstructing the Democrats from making sure that no blame whatsoever falls on them for anything bad that might happen in Iraq as the result of "ending the war." One might legitimately ask how our troops skedaddling in 120 days would "end" anything? It would be just the beginning - the start of a bloodletting against the Sunnis as well as the real possibility of chaos by which only al-Qaeda and our enemies in Tehran could possibly benefit.

But don't worry. Don Harry has it all figured out. Just ask Capo Regime Carl Levin:

Does Congress pass legislation to instruct the President on the details of a withdrawal? Do they dictate terms on how to involve NATO or other allies? Or even on how to negotiate with Iran and Syria over the withdrawal? And what if something happens to U.S. troops during the pullout or Iraq rapidly plunges into a bloody civil war as U.S. troops are leaving? Who is to blame? Bush? Congress?

"Those are not decisions that I'm either going to make, or get involved with," Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman Carl Levin told TIME. "Assuming everything worked out perfectly, that's the middle of next year, that's early next year, so that's not something that's we're focusing on."

In other words, "I'll have to get back to you," about a plan to end the war without a catastrophe occurring. Remind Don Harry not to put Capo Carl in charge of any hits on the opposition. His boys would probably end up taking the gun and leaving the cannolis.

Eventually, the Democrats will probably get their timetable. And then the real fun will begin as the liberal netnuts ratchet up the pressure on their toadies in Congress to bring the boys home in some kind of Dunkirk-style evacuation. No responsible analyst from either party has suggested that following that course of action - bringing the troops home willy nilly in 120 days - would result in anything except an explosion of violence and blood in Iraq. The President will feel constrained from following the timetable for that reason which should give Democrats even more opportunity to posture about "ending the war" despite their not having a plan. not having a solution, not having a clue on what to do to avoid certain disaster.

Last night's excursion into the Theater of the Absurd was not about loving the troops by bringing them home. Nor was it about "changing course" in Iraq given that in order to change course one must have a realistic alternate destination. Don Harry's performance last night was all about ensuring that the Family has an alibi when the American people come around asking who murdered Iraq. Don Harry and his gang will be able to shrug their shoulders and say that they gave Bush "an offer he couldn't refuse," and it's not their fault he didn't take it.

And it will be Republicans who wake up on election day and find themselves sleeping with the fishes.