I took the day off yesterday to catch the Petraeus hearings. I expected some fireworks, some tough questioning, some frothy exchanges, and maybe a little squirming. I got none of that until Congressman Wexler unloaded on the general, in his allotted five minutes, at the end of the day, long past the evening news deadline. Beginning his questionning by pointing out that seven more soldiers had died while the hearings droned on was poignant, a real show-stopper that brought only a blank stare from the Lone General and his Tonto side-kick.

I liked the fact that the microphone didn’t work: great sabotage…or so I imagined. The “I wrote this myself” opening statement by the general was brilliant, but I suspect that someone set him up with the idea, or he cleared the approach first. After all, he did make it clear that he is art of the chain(s) of command.

Too bad about MoveOn.org’s “General Betray Us” ad that ran in the NYT. While I used this bastardization of his name way back in May in my accurate forecast of his testimony, I would not have sanctioned the ad. It backfired and gave the Repugs a prop they didn’t need, but used effectively.

Overall, after the testimony, we are still in the same place: cowardly Democrats crawling around on the floor for some consensus with teeth that they will not find, while Republicans ride the status quo into Bush’s sunset, giving the Repugs general cover during the 08 election cycle (pun intended).

Meanwhile, more soldiers will die.