The Emily Latella Brigade Storms Gitmo

Remember the Democrats' anti-military/anti-Gitmo crusade? Well, a few House Donks actually went down to Camp X-Ray and looked around for themselves, as they've been invited to do ever since the place opened, and now they say that "conditions have dramatically 'improved'":

During a tour of the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists on Saturday, House Republicans and Democrats, including one who has advocated closing the facility, said the United States has made progress in improving conditions and protecting detainees' rights.

"The Guantanamo we saw today is not the Guantanamo we heard about a few years ago," said Representative Ellen Tauscher, D-CA.

Or even a few days ago, for that matter....

After getting a classified briefing from base commanders, the House delegation ate lunch with troops - the same meal of chicken with orange sauce, rice and okra that detainees were served....

No word on whether the Dem contingent threw their meals on the mess hall floor, grabbed serving spoons and metal trays, and did their Hawkeye Pierce immitation, beating the trays, dancing around the tables, and shouting, "They want something else! They want something else!"

They then toured several of the barbed-wire camps where detainees are housed, viewing small cells, dusty recreation yards and common areas.

From behind one-way mirrors, lawmakers watched interrogators grilling three individual terror suspects. None of the interrogators touched detainees.

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, D-TX, is one of many Democrats who have called for an independent commission to investigate abuse allegations and have said the facility should close. She said she stood by that position, but acknowledged, "What we've seen here is evidence that we've made progress."

Rough translation: "Hey, we were wrong about this place. Boy, I'm dumber than a chia pet; thank Gaia I have a safe seat."

Other red-state Dems, particularly over in the Senate, do not, however, which is why the PR "all-clear" can probably be sounded on the drive of the organized numbnuttery for this "independent" commission "that at best w[ould] duplicate investigative work that has already been done and at worst replicate the 9/11 Commission at its lowest, most politicized moments."

Shows what a little Pentagon pushback can accomplish, such as SecDef Rumsfeld's reminder on Meet the Press yesterday that the aggressive interrogations of terrorists at "that hellhole" have helped prevent new attacks and, thus, saved American lives. Summarized Double-H:

[General] Abizaid's strong performance on Face the Nation yesterday, as well as Rumsfeld's string of appearances, seems to indicate that the Pentagon has figured out it cannot allow the left's propaganda on the home front to go unanswered in the MSM. Good. The best antidote to Vietnam Syndrome is trustworthy information.

It's damnable that whenever the U.S. armed forces have to fight anyplace, it's guaranteed to be at least a two-front war, with the second front being at home versus the DisLoyal Opposition. But modern war, not unlike proverbial charity, appears to have to begin at home.

Pity that that front is the only one on which the good guys are limited to playing defense. I guess that's what happens when one is stuck with weak, unreliable allies.

Meanwhile, the DO is "moving on" to the next attack. Wherever and whatever it is, they'd better hope that one of these pitched propaganda battles finally sticks (i.e. gets massive "outside" help from the enemy to prop up a Vietnam gimmick they can't keep inflated even with all their hot, fetid air); otherwise, as Michael Barone opines and Hewitt echoes, "The political consequences of the Democrats' decision to press for a cut-and-run strategy in the face of virulent jihadism [may end up being] certain disaster next November."

But at least Shield Jackson-Lee will still have her lonely seat.

[HT: CQ]