Demagogue

By the end of 2004, at least 65 Pennsylvanians had died in the Iraq war. I can't find a more updated figure. In any case, if the state's residents think that Republican Sen. Rick Santorum has any great pearls of wisdom for ending this quagmire, they're going to be disappointed.

Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Santorum appeared with his Democratic opponent. Behold the wisdom of Santorum:

SANTORUM: "You know, we have a great game plan. We go it just like a football team. You go in there, you do your best, but the enemy has a vote, the enemy can react and change its tactics, and they have, and they’ve been very, very effective."

The way he talks, it's almost as if Santorum thinks the enemy is the only side that is capable of changing its tactics. If our tactics aren't succeeding (and I think the vote is unanimous on that), why aren't we changing our tactics?

SANTORUM: "... The real tough question is: how do you win this war? ... And I’ve laid out a very clear vision on that, and my opponent has not."

Now we're getting somewhere. So what is Santorum's "very clear vision" for winning the war in Iraq?

SANTORUM: "Look, the plans that my opponent has laid out in some of his speeches and I’ve laid out in mine are basically the same thing the administration is trying to do. You’re trying to get the Iraqis take — to take control of their — of the security situation, which we are trying to do ..."

In other words, keep doing more of the same.

Fighting a war — any war — is not easy. I don't expect presidents and elected officials to make the right decisions all of the time. But I do expect them to make decisions about war as if it were their ass on the line. And I do not expect them to tell me and millions of other TV viewers that the Bush administration has "a great game plan" for the Iraq war.

That's not enthusiasm. That's a lie.