The irony is, should (god forbid) a part of the United States ever be subjected to decades of military occupation and have a huge wall built around it, you can be damn sure the people would fight back.

Imagine the effect upon society of a foreign occupying power that doesn't speak your language, who restricts your freedom to travel, who's forces regularly shoot the kids throwing rocks at the hated occupier. An occupying force who steals the coastline and best agricultural land for themselves and who never stop stealing or trying to steal the land of Americans.

Under such pressures, it's unlikely that many Americans would support an inclusive, liberal and moderate government. The desire for revenge, for strength, for "No surrender to the occupier!" would be the will of the majority.

Americans, no matter what odds, and what suffering would fight back.

If that fight back included secretly designing and manufacturing rockets in the backrooms of places like Jiffy Lube, people would admire and celebrate good 'ole fashioned 'merican ingenuity.

If the fight back included people willing to undertake missions so dangerous and so reckless that they were certain to die, then those people would be held up as patriots of the most admirable kind.

When victory eventually came, future histories and hundreds of movies would be made extolling the courage and never-say-die American spirit that survived the years of blockade and air-strikes and "targeted assassinations" and house demolitions and simple day to day brutality by the occupying forces.

But it wouldn't really be the American spirit that was celebrated. It would be the spirit of humanity itself.

Politics isn't about bipartisanship - it's about having a distinct philosophy and outlook that applies to many problems and phenomena.

Truly bipartisan positions do exist, but both parties recognize them as such and so they are never debated. For instance the notion that the sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning gets bipartisan support. As does the notion that the United States is a republic.

Beyond those 'big picture' facts and ideals, everything else is up for debate and decision. That's what politics is about.

Bipartisanship is a big fine sounding term for cronyism and backroom deals and silent agreements.

Sound familiar?

The GOP isn't chasing it's tail at all.

It is smoothly moving towards the nomination of an effective and popular candidate.

In the meantime, the Democrats will have an enjoyable, and no doubt increasingly bitter contest that may continue into August.

To an electorate that basically hates the idea of people 'on the same side' arguing and attacking one another; the contrast with the focused disciplined Republicans united behind McCain will be stark.

Should the Democrats nominate Hillary Clinton in August, McCain will probably be the narrow favorite.

This is a worrying time for progressives not just in the USA, but around the world who are desperate for change in the world's most powerful nation.

Pathological lying such as that shown by Joseph Lieberman is a form of mental illness.

Please don't insult or make fun of the mentally ill.

Having said that, Joe must resign his seat immediately and seek professional help.

Thank you Glenn for once again pointing out how ludicrous the arguments of Mark Steyn et al really are.

One other point - they rely upon the public being ignorant of world history.

So to anyone who claims we're facing some huge great threat, I invite them to glance at this web page, which lists the Wehrmacht order of battle for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR, in the summer of 1941:

http://sturmvogel.orbat.com/BarbarossaOB.html

It sort of puts a bunch of amateurs living in a cave in Afghanistan in perspective...

Hillary is finished.

The only interesting question now is at what point she decides to cut her losses and concede with whatever dignity she has left.

My guess is two weeks from now.

If Hillary had any kind of feeling for the party and the likely consequences of her fighting to the bitter end, she'd have thrown in the towel several weeks ago.

As the debates have shown, she's basically a back-room operator, a policy and detail wonk with a ruthless side she can't quite hide. She is of course aware of these traits so in public she's just too damn stiff and uneasy. It's a shame, being at ease (or SEEMING to be at ease) in formal or high pressure situations was something her husband excelled at.

Hillary just isn't made to enjoy or even pretend to enjoy meeting ordinary dumb Americans in coffee shops, and speaking to ordinary DP activists. In a sense her body betrays her - what you see is what there is - a highly intelligent, not very pleasant person with a passion for politics and huge ambition.

So why should she go?

1) At this stage it will take a significant miracle for her to get nominated.

2) The increasingly bitter fight for the Democratic nomination is beginning to hurt the party and opening divisions that everyone should be seeking to heal by November.

3) The race is costing a lot of money that will be much better spent against John McCain.

4) Even if she DID miraculously achieve the nomination there is NO guarantee that Hillary would win the election. Remember she is a uniquely polarising figure that motivates thousands of Republican activists to work 24 hour days.

The best thing she can do for herself and for the party is to concede gracefully today and go on vacation. Oh and no whispers from her campaign team about a VP berth please. That's not going to happen either.

Translation:

"I'd be beaten like an ugly stepchild if I was dumb enough to run against the likes of McCain, Clinton, or Obama. I was dumb enough to want to try, but nobody was dumb enough to write the checks.

Oh and that stuff about bi-partisanship? It's what the ad-guys told us to call 'neo-conservative' after the rebranding.

God bless Israel.

Goodnight."