On fighting like a gentleman

Here's the question David Limbaugh poses:

It is incomprehensible that Republicans are not jumping all over politicians who are calling for a telegraphed timetable for American troop withdrawal from Iraq. It took the administration and their colleagues in Congress some two years -- and double digit reductions in the president's approval ratings -- finally to take the offense against the liars lying about the president's non-lies on Iraq. Why are they always relegated to playing catch-up?

I think they're always relegated to playing catch-up because the President is a gentleman, and he has thought it unseemly to call a person (or a Party) a liar to his (or its) face. That's a fine and honorable way to act, except when you have a country to run, a citizenry to which you are accountable, and 150,000 troops who depend on your leadership. Gentleman Bush finally seems to be figuring this out, and not a moment too soon. I hope, though, he doesn't think that one finger wag will be enough, but that he recognizes, instead, his role in this endless battle in the war against stupidity. By the way, since I'm a child of the late 1970s/early 1990s, Bush's pacifistic stand and his recent turnabout remind me inexorably of the old Kenny Roger's song "Coward of the County." Check out the lyrics and see if you don't agree with me.