Bush rejects Baker plan

Baker gave the President a way out, and he rejected it.  The Democrats need to be all over this one:

President Bush on Thursday dismissed calls for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq  as unrealistic, saying American forces would "stay in Iraq to get the job done, so long as the government wants us there."

What ever happened to the idea of being the captain of our own ship?  And now we have an incompetent Iraqi Prime Minister bossing our President around, telling him how long he needs us keep U.S. men and women in the line of fire.  And then Bush took a personal shot at Baker:

Although the president was not asked directly about the panel'srecommendations, which will be made public next week but which werepartially leaked to reporters late Wednesday, he did say that "thisbusiness about graceful exit just simply has no realism to itwhatsoever."

Did he just say "simply no realism" to it?  Am I the only one who sees the irony in that comment?  For Bush to even use the word "realism" does not make any sense.  Baker and Hamilton are the realists.  They are from the realist school of thought.  President Bush is from the idealist school of thought.  If anyone needs a lecture on realism, it is this President, not Baker and Hamilton.

The difference between an idealist and a realist is that an idealist prefers create a reality that mirrors an already-established ideology; while a realist accepts reality and learns from it in order to make practical decisions.

Basically, this is another way of Bush Jr saying to daddy, "I'm gonna do whatever I want." 

I am not in any way an appeaser or a pacifist.  Before last March, I even thought we shouldn't pull out of there.  But if this is the kind of cowboy idealist attitude that is managing our foreign policy, then the Democrats may have to cut off funding for this war.  I really thought that this Baker-Hamilton Commission was going to make a difference.  But apparently Dick Cheney has too tight of a leash on the President.  If Bush isn't going to listen to the Iraq Study Group, then Congress needs to use its political capital.  This has gone on way too long.