Out of Nothing At All

I know just how to whisper,
And I know just how to cry;
I know just where to find the answers;
And I know just how to lie.
I know just how to fake it,
And I know just how to scheme;
I know just when to face the truth,
And then I know just when to dream.

Christopher Shays reminds me of a bad 80s song. He's sorta kinda for withdrawal from Iraq, but when pressed, admits kinda sorta not really:

"It is something we need to be willing to consider," Shays said. "It is not a timeline of when the war ends. We can't have that kind of timeline. But it is a timeline of when the bulk - not all - but the bulk of the heavy lifting is in the hands of the Iraqis."

[...]

"It is very logical for us to make assessments, not about when the war will end - we can never determine that - but we can determine whether or not we maintain the same number of troops ad infinitum, indefinitely," he said. "I believe that can and or should happen."

Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg described the vacillating Republicans like Shays this way:

"I think some Republicans are trying to move around a little without moving around," Rothenberg said. "I think he is trying to wiggle around a little bit, but most people are wiggling around on this issue. It is an uncomfortable issue. He seems to be wanting to send a message that he understands people are uncomfortable."

It's interesting that Shays took 14 trips to Iraq to come to this epiphany. And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the tough fight he's facing from Democrat Diane Farrell in November. Uh huh.

Also, contrast his statement now to how it was just a few months ago:

"My view is that it may be that the only way we are able to encourage some political will on the part of Iraqis is to have a timeline for troop withdrawal."

-- Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), quoted by the Washington Post (8/25/06).

"I believe very strongly we can't pull our troops out as quickly as Americans want us to. I'm having every expert on terror I talk to say the last thing you do to terrorists is give them a timetable."

-- Shays, quoted by the Hartford Courant (4/22/06).

(h/t: Political Wire)

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