Once you’ve committed yourself – and I mean committed like the pig is committed to your bacon and eggs breakfast – to military defeat, national humiliation, diplomatic retreat and the abandonment of millions of people who trusted you in a strategically critical portion of the world to genocidal levels of violence, well: It can be pretty hard to contemplate the alternative. And since the surge is showing signs of (thankfully uneven) progress, well. Let’s just say it’s time to shoot the messenger:

Congressional Democrats are trying to undermine U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ credibility before he delivers a report on the Iraq war next week, saying the general is a mouthpiece for President Bush and his findings can’t be trusted.

“The Bush report?” Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin said when asked about the upcoming report from Gen. Petraeus, U.S. commander in Iraq.

“We know what is going to be in it. It’s clear. I think the president’s trip over to Iraq makes it very obvious,” the Illinois Democrat said. “I expect the Bush report to say, ‘The surge is working. Let’s have more of the same.’ “

General Petraeus, you will recall, was unanimously confirmed to his position by the Senate in an 81-0 vote (with 19 senators not voting).

But that was back in, like, January. Before all of this surge stuff had even happened. The idea of the general even partially pulling it off was all so very theoretical back then. I mean the war was over. We’d lost.

Good days. Salad days.

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Poor General Petraeus. He carries the hopes of so many people on his shoulders, for better or for worse. Most Americans and nearly 25 million Iraqis hope that he can bring the kind of stability to that shattered land that will enable a political accommodation, if not reconciliation. Or at least stop the bleeding for a while until things can be more or less sorted out.

Other folks at least have the courtesy to admit that positive news would be bad for them. For those folks, it’s really going to be important to stay on message. I’m talking discipline. No more of your Brian Baird cross-overs. Not if you’re really committed to losing this thing.

Oh, yeah: And plug your ears.

That’ll help too.