LEFTIST REVOLT - AT 7:42 A.M. ET:  We must remember that the Democratic Party has a sizable contingent in Congress that is to the left of President Obama.  They like to call themselves "progressives," but they often have a very un-progressive way of cozying up to dictators.  From The Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to request new funding from Congress for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he risks a backlash from antiwar lawmakers.

Mr. Obama is expected to seek congressional approval of $75.5 billion for the wars, perhaps as soon as Thursday. The issue is already raising tensions on Capitol Hill, especially among liberals who are sympathetic to the president's broader agenda but voice concerns about his timeline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq and his plans to beef up forces in Afghanistan.

"I can't imagine any way I'd vote for it," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat and leader in the 77-member congressional Progressive Caucus. It would be her first major break with this White House.

Ms. Woolsey fears the president's plan for Iraq would leave behind a big occupation force. She is also concerned about the planned escalation in Afghanistan. "I don't think we should be going there," she said.

COMMENT:  Other dissenters are mentioned - John Conyers, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Jim McGovern.  These people are not progressives or liberals.  They are leftists.  They represent a branch of the Democratic Party that was unceremoniously expelled by Harry Truman in 1948, but who came back through the civil rights and "anti-war" movements of the 1960s.  Some of this group recently returned from Cuba where they met with, and extended love to, the Castro boys.  If Democrats had a Truman today, he'd toss them out again, no matter what the political risks.  But there is no Truman.

April 9, 2009