No Rest

The Senate Republicans filibustered the Webb amendment to the Defense Authorization that would have granted soldiers as much leave time at home that they spent over in Iraq.

The proposal, sponsored by Sens. James Webb (D-Va.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), failed on a 56 to 44 vote, with 60 votes needed for passage -- a tally that was virtually identical to a previous vote in July. A last-minute campaign by the Defense Department and the White House to kill the measure won over Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), an influential voice on defense policy who had voted with Webb and Hagel in July.

Warner's defection deflated any momentum that had been building and effectively ensured the legislation's demise. Just six Republicans supported the proposal, one fewer than the previous count.

The vote offered the most vivid evidence yet that the Bush administration still controls Iraq war policy, despite months of congressional debate, the war's persistent unpopularity and a summer-long effort by activists to pressure Republicans. Unless other options with broad appeal emerge soon -- a prospect both parties now say is unlikely -- Bush's plan to keep most troops in Iraq through next summer will remain intact.

"Our Republican colleagues are more interested in protecting our president than our troops," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said moments before the vote, when defeat appeared certain. "This is Bush's war. Don't make it also the Republican senators' war."

While I agree with Bryan that this was more a bit of drama than genuine legislation -- he notes that if you really want to get something attached to a bill, do it to the House appropriations bill and force it to a vote in conference -- it does bring home the point that the Democrats are willing to put up a measure that would in turn measure the Republicans as far as their loyalty to the president is concerned. What this filibuster and the one before it on the reinstatement of habeas corpus make abundantly clear is that as far as the Republicans are concerned, political considerations -- i.e. don't embarrass the president -- take precedence.

There are those who say that the Democrats are wasting valuable time by putting up amendments and proposals that they know will lose. When you have an evenly-split Senate, it seems academic to try to pass something that will not get ten Republicans to go along with you and defeat a filibuster. You fight the fights you know you can win, they say. But you also fight the fights that need fighting, even if you know you will lose. At some point it's going to become breathtakingly clear that the Republicans are on the wrong side of this battle. Until then, the opponents of this tragedy should not rest.