I don’t always agree with Howard Kurtz, but I like this point he makes today. In discussing Bush’s presser yesterday, and the “political dance” the two parties are engaged in, he writes:

Here’s the part that bothers me. The president accuses the Democrats of being mainly interested in fighting “political battles” and engaging in a “political dance” (that seemed to be his metaphor du jour). Why is it not politics when he makes the case for a war in which he passionately believes–after years of using the war on terror as a partisan club–but it’s politics when Democrats try to end a war they believe has been an abysmal failure? Isn’t this precisely the kind of debate we should be having in a democracy?

And that’s exactly right.

I listened to several news shows last night, and nearly all the reporters were quivering with anxiety over this “showdown” over funding for the Iraq occupation. But there’s nothing dangerous or scary going on here. Our nation is not imperiled by an aggressive debate and confrontation over the great issue of our time.

Recent Congresses were dominated by Republicans and completely, happily subserviant to Presidential whim. Now we have a Congress with a mind of its own and