A senior Democrat admits that the party is invested in defeat:

Clyburn is the Majority Whip — No. 3 man in the House — and he said that if Gen. Petraeus has a positive report in September that would be “a real big problem for us” (Democrats).

No further comment necessary.

I had heard that quote from him earlier today, what an idiot.

Of course the rest of democrat leadership (along with a handful of RINOs) is no better with their general attitude of "it doesn't matter what Petraeus says I've made my mind up already".

To Mr Clyburn's statement the only possible comment I can think of is "Duh". After all isn't "duh" the perfect comment to "DOH!"

O'Hanlon backs down during Congressional testimony.

Matt Yglesias attends in person:

O'Hanlon

Totally backed down. Said the progress has only been against aqi, that sectarian violence and the civil war is as bad as ever, and that the current strategy will probably fail. He thinks we should partition the country. Why the turnabout from the optimistic op-ed? He didn't say.

Why the turnabout from the optimistic op-ed?

Pressure from the publishers to not show successes? That would be my first guess.

Pressure from publishers led to "happy talk" in the NYT and a more pessimistic take when speaking to a panel of Congress-folk?

That doesn't make sense, Mac.

> O'Hanlon backs down during Congressional testimony.

Are there any actual quotes (with context) yet, or just Matt Yglesias's summary?

I'm impressed that there is atleast one honest democrat in office.

Pressure from publishers led to "happy talk" in the NYT and a more pessimistic take when speaking to a panel of Congress-folk?

That doesn't make sense, Mac.

Sure it does. He writes his optimistic piece and then gets pressured by his publishers to recant or apologize for his work. Before that can happen though, he's hauled up before a panel and now has double the pressure to recant. Having your livelihood stripped away can be a massive motivation for changing your mind.

I'm impressed that there is at least one honest democrat in office.

That's unfair. I'm sure that a lot of them are honest. I'm also sure a balanced number of conservatives are not. Its not party affiliation that serves to render your morality.

Getting BACK ON TOPIC...Go start your own blog Bill.

If the Dem leadership can let something like that slip out, what really rabid thoughts would come from say Waters or Obay when the press isn't around? Hearing a member of our government say it's bad if we win is very disheartening. Would such a comment have gone unchallenged during the Korean War? I think not.