Welcome to those clicking in from Slate.  Read more of my lack of love of Hillary here…if you dare…

She gets it.  Loud and clear.  Too bad the idiot retreatists (defeatists) are not listening:

Retreat Isn’t an Option

Sen. Hillary Clinton declared this weekend, " I’m in to win." Anyone who has watched her remarkable trajectory can have no doubt that she’ll do whatever it takes to win the presidency. I wish she felt the same way about the war.

You know, that right there is a profound thought all on its own.  And it dovetails to Hillary’s former position supporting the war.  As long as supporting it was in her political interest, fine.  But now that public tide has been swayed by the constant barrage of negative stories and demagoguery, she dumps the war and the troops like an ugly prom date.

In fairness, Clinton, with her proposal for arbitrary caps on troop levels and hemming and hawing about her vote for the war resolution, has company on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Joseph Lieberman is the only national Democrat showing any courage on this issue. We Republicans — with help from senators such as Chuck Hagel — seem ready to race the Democrats to the bottom.

FWIW, the Republicans who have turned tail on the president in response to the polls on this issue are nothing but bloody cowards.  What happened to standing up for ideals and values?  Where did the solidarity go?

I’d like to ask the politicians in both parties who are heading for the hills to stop and reflect on these basic facts:

· We are at war.
· Quitting helps the terrorists.
· Beware the polls.
· Retreat from Iraq hurts us in the broader war.
· Our soldiers will win if we let them.

I suppose Hillary Clinton’s announcement was a sign of progress. In 2007, a woman can run for president and show the same level of courage and conviction about this war many of her male colleagues have. Steel in the spine? Not so much.

America deserves better. It’s time for everyone — Republicans and Democrats — to stop trying to find ways for America to quit. Victory is the only option. We must have the fortitude and the courage to do what it takes. In the words of Winston Churchill, we must deserve victory.

We must be in it to win.

Well said.