Denny Hastert, Supergenius

Back in March, I wrote about Glenn Reynolds’ brilliant plan for Iraq. Now Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, in a post on Redstate, has embraced the same “strategy”:

We are criticized for our lack of an exit strategy in Iraq, but our exit strategy has been clear from day one: winning.

Like Reynolds, Hastert gives no indication of what winning would look like or how it could be accomplished — maybe staying the course for another decade or two and wishing really hard that things will improve?

William Kristol joined in on this week’s Fox News Sunday (at about 32:30 in this MP3):

I propose substituting for the three words “stay the course”, how about these three words: “win the war.” Win the war. That’s what Bush should be for. That’s what the Republicans should be for.

And yesterday Bush himself ventured a variation on the theme, with a little extra pre-election nastiness:

However they put it, the Democrat approach in Iraq comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses.

That’s what’s at stake in this election. The Democrat goal is to get out of Iraq. The Republican goal is to win in Iraq.

Fortunately he followed this with “I’m not saying these Democrats are unpatriotic.” Wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.