The word has just come down from Washington.

The Dems have got a bold new strategy.

It was to be called "head 'em off at the pass."

The idea was to outflank Bush and his team,

To come up with a plan to get out of Iraq.

To end this nightmare once and for all.

To bring the troops home

and stop wasting our national treasury

on a senseless and illegal occupation.

Reward the loyal voters from the last election.

But somehow the wires got crossed.

Somewhere between Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid

things got turned around.

No one knows for sure how or why.

Maybe it was a young intern who messed up,

or maybe a lobbyist from the war machine

intercepted the transmission and changed the message.

Possibly it was complicity and slavishness.

A news conference was organized,

all the cameras and microphones were turned on,

lights shining brightly on Pelosi's make-up,

Uncle Harry was punching the imaginary shadows again.

The intros were made.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we welcome you to this important

Democratic Party news conference

where we will now unveil our new strategy

to deal with the president's surge.

First, we passed the non-binding resolution.

Then we considered for just a second

cutting the occupation funds,

but that is a radical idea and

we have to take care of the troops,

and our corporate donors,

so that was ruled out.

Impeachment is also off the table.

So we are doing the next best thing.

We will do what we do best,

what we are known for here in Washington.

We are pleased to announce that

our new strategy will be,

not to stick our necks out

as the public requests,

but instead to stick our heads

up our collective big "D" ass.

Remember us in 2008.

We are the opposition party.

Bruce K. Gagnon is the coordinator of Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. http://www.space4peace.org