Fund the escalation? Even a Fox News poll says "NO"

So much for taking the day off from posting....But I will keep this relatively short. I only do so because I consider this little nugget extremely important as we move closer to our goal of getting our troops out of Iraq (but NOT into Iran) and hopefully moving towards a phase of international humanitarian efforts and true reconstruction.

As much as the debate or passing of a non-binding resolution against the escalation is a very good start (even if it is mocked mercilessly), this is only a first step towards ending this occupation in Iraq. We know that Feingold has a bill ready to go in the Senate that will redeploy our troops, and we know that Murtha is ready to introduce a new bill in the House that will set realistic (but not likely reachable due to their realistic nature) goals for training and equipping the troops before deployment.

What is shocking here are the results of a (warning, .pdf) just released Fox News poll that touches on many of the usual issues, but has a few surprises regarding the escalation plan for Iraq.

Why is this important? Well if 54% of those polled by Fox News say that if they were in Congress, they would vote against funding the escalation, does that make them hate the troops? What if you also knew that 55% of respondents, including nearly 45% of republicans, indicated that it is not indicative of a “lack of courage” for members of Congress to vote against the escalation but still vote to fund the escalation.

I’ll say that again – 54% of FOX poll respondents would not vote to fund the escalation and 55% think that it isn’t “un-American™” to fund the troops but oppose the escalation. Chew on that Hannity. Choke on that, Rush. Stick that in your loofah and smoke it, O’Reilly.

And for those Democrats in Congress – ESPECIALLY those with Presidential aspirations – listen up and listen good: America wants out of Iraq. America would vote to cut funds for Bush’s escalation plan. And they told Fox News they would do it NOW.

While we are at it, a 42%-31% spread is IN FAVOR of a binding resolution. So please, no more “emboldening the terrorists”. No more, “demoralize the troops”. By doing the right thing, we are EMBOLDENING THE TROOPS.

Take a stand against the ill-fated escalation. You owe it to the troops. America wants it. Hell, even people that would take a call and answer nearly 50 questions from FOX News want it. It is the next step towards bringing our troops home.

And this is how you can support the troops.