Consider this for a moment:

Just to put things in perspective… with public approval solidly in the 20s, the war in Iraq is now less popular than a bevy of social issues that have long been considered political poison for Democrats. Imagine if a Democratic president and Congress had made any of these issues their #1 priority, as Bush has with Iraq.

And they wonder why they lost the election?

The Iraq War is less popular than gay marriage, legalizing pot, banning handguns, and rescinding the death penalty.

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows public support for the war in Iraq at an all-time low, with 71% of Americans disapproving of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq. So with his approval rating and the war’s approval at an all-time low, where does George W. Bush stand? If the rumored plan from the Pentagon is to be believed, Bush is about to enter the loony fringe:

As President Bush weighs new policy options for Iraq, strong support has coalesced in the Pentagon behind a military plan to “double down” in the country with a substantial buildup in American troops, an increase in industrial aid and a major combat offensive against Muqtada Sadr, the radical Shiite leader impeding development of the Iraqi government.

You almost have to wonder if Bush isn’t getting high in the Rose Garden, given how out of touch with reality he seems to be. It is a complicated situation in Iraq, certainly not one with an easy solution. And though I have been strongly in favor of an immediate withdrawal from Iraq (a position that is becoming increasingly mainstream), I can certainly see the arguments against it. But this is flat-out nuts. The President of the United States is strongly considering sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq, going into Baghdad, and engaging a sectarian militia in the streets. We are approaching 3,000 dead in Iraq, and, given Bush’s promises, we are not going to see a drawdown in troops any time soon. The most optimistic projection coming out of the Washington D.C. bubble is a 2008 date, from the Iraq Study Group.

But Bush has made it clear that we are not leaving until “the job is done,” whatever that means. And now he is ready to send even more young men and women off to die in a war that has long since passed the point of disaster. And who’s got his back? Republican Presidential frontrunner and so-called “maverick” John McCain, evidently unaware that in order to become President, you shouldn’t take a position that only 10% of the public thinks is a good idea on the most important issue facing the country. This is a grave concern for our country, and we should be rightly outraged if this is the course that Bush takes. I want our troops home. The American people want our troops home. Bush is proposing just the opposite.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY):

“I never understand that question, you have a President that’s in deep shit. He got us into the war, and all the reasons he gave have been proven invalid, and the whole electorate was so pissed off that they got rid of anyone they could have, and then they ask, ‘What is the Democrats’ solution?’”