"..not so fast George...."

If you're a blog addict, no doubt you've seen the private angst of some liberal/progressives about whether Nancy Pelosi and the new Democratic leadership were going to "cave-in" to Bush on matters concerning Iraq.

I even heard a talking head (0r maybe disembodied voice because it was, after all, on the radio) on WPR last Friday scolding Democrats for not fulfilling the "mandate" the electorate gave them in the November election. Nevermind the detail that we had just the day before taken the respective oaths of office and the new leadership hasn't even had time to find out if their keys to the executive washrooms actually work, this "liberal consultant" was already damning the leadership for their failure.....

Put the long knives away fellow progressives, Nancy just drew the line in the sand for Dubya....swopa over at firedoglake has commentary on the "magic words" we've all been waiting to hear. From firedoglake via Associated Press and Face the Nation:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said newly empowered Democrats will not give
President Bush a blank check to wage war in Iraq, hinting they could deny
funding if he seeks additional troops.
"If the president chooses to escalate
the war, in his budget request, we want to see a distinction between what is
there to support the troops who are there now," she said in an interview
broadcast Sunday.
"The American people and the Congress support those
troops. We will not abandon them. But if the president wants to add to this
mission, he is going to have to justify it and this is new for him because up
until now the Republican Congress has given him a blank check with no oversight,
no standards, no conditions," said Pelosi, D-Calif.

The not-so-subtle message? We can and we just might refuse to fund your escalatiion if you don't come clean with us. For those who thought Nancy would cave in this is music to their ears. It isn't obstructionism, instead, it's just plain, oldfashioned oversight. I'm going to be a bit snarky here and suggest that there is almost an entire generation of young people who have never seen or observed the phenonomenon called CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT. Even stranger, there is a sitting POTUS (President) who hasn't seen it either and I don't think he's going to like it too much. Just how he's going to respond to it, well, that's the subject of another (long) post. As always, your opinions or speculation is welcome.

btw: I watched the movie, Munich, last night and I'm still troubled. Anybody else see it? Comments?