Wheels Falling Off

How desperate is Team Bush? Desperate enough to put the phone in Shrubusto's gnarled little paw:

Talks over the Iraqi constitution reached a breaking point on Thursday, with a parliamentary session to present the document being canceled and President Bush personally calling one of the country's most powerful Shiite leaders in an effort to broker a last-minute deal.

Lord only knows what bon mots he managed to spit out before aids replaced the handset on the cradle, but, as always, the official word was that they were "making progress."

Unfortunately for them, most Iraqis, as you might expect, have "other priorities"--like not getting killed:

What constitution are you talking about?" Mr. Sami, a Shiite, said sardonically. "We are fed up with this thing! We would prefer to solve our problems first, such as electricity, water and security. How come they gathered to approve the constitution while Iraqis are slaughtered?" ...

"What can I do with a constitution if I have no water, gasoline and electricity?" asked Hanan Sahib, 29, a Shiite database operator at a telecommunications company in Baghdad, echoing Mr. Sami's thoughts. The main problem, she added, was security, particularly for women. Iraqi leaders and the Bush administration hope that a constitution with widespread public support will help to legitimize democratic rule and undermine the Sunni-backed insurgency that is trying to topple the government and drive out the United States forces.

But the benevolent neocons (that's um, sarcasm there) just want Ms. Sahib to enjoy the rights and privileges of women circa 1900...what more could she ask for?

And I wonder what sort of references the neocons will pull out of their collective asses when the Iraqi civil war begins in ernest...Moqtada as-Sadr as Stonewall Jackson? How about Ahmad Chalabi as J.E.B. Stuart? Nah...probably not.

The war, though, is about to spin out of control, and there's nothing the US can do about it--George Bush can blather on and on about "staying the course," but events are about to overtake him, and his glorious little war is now just a big dead albatross hanging from his neck.