Republicans on the Run

It would seem that the latest polls in the US have the Republicans running scared. Signs include President Bush admitting that they have secret prisons but that those prisons are being shut down, oh, and the prisoners will be given their Geneva Convention rights. There will also be new rules for US troops in their "questioning" of prisoners where US troops will no longer be allowed certain "techniques" for questioning prisoners (read torture).

Suddenly, it would appear the Republicans are worried about re-election. Of course, it's difficult for the neo and theo-cons to admit that they've been barking up the wrong tree. Especially since the path the Bush Republicans have taken isn't going to actually win the War on Terror (TM, Pat. Pend). With casualties continuing to mount in Iraq, and the President's "new" plan looking exactly like his old one, the Republicans are going to be in a world of electoral hurt come November unless they have a radical change in policy in the next couple of months. This of course won't happen since they're conservatives and change is next to impossible for them.

Since the Republicans can't win on platform, expect the conservative rhetoric to ramp up to outlandish levels. It will come in the form of slogans like "if you don't vote Republican, you're voting for terrorism" or "to be a real American you have to vote Republican." The neo-con shills in the US will go into overdrive. The problem for the Republicans is that it's not likely to work. Bush and Co. lied and lied big. It's going to take more than wrapping themselves in the flag and jingoistic slogans to bring the voter back. It may take years for the American public to believe the GOP about anything again.

We can only hope that this will cause a lot of GOP incumbents go to defeat in December. Only then will there a chance for US foreign policy to become less insane due to Democratic control of Congress. Not that I think that US foreign policy will become rational, just less insane.