I don't know about Lithuanian politics, but I suspect they are not burdened with our system of elections that cause politicians to spend most of their waking hours collecting money for the next election; money that comes from all the wrong places.

At 0815 comments were already closed at the Times. I stopped reading when I came to his Lincoln and Churchill comparison. Those two statesmen faced the destruction of their nations. In Afghanistan Obama faces one more foreign quagmire in what is becoming a long line of same.

Other than seeing more and more of your posts "post dated", I see nada. Is there an announcement somewhere?

Ferguson: "Given its massive deficits and overseas military adventures, America today is similar to the Spanish Empire in the 17th century and Britain's in the 20th, he says. "Excessive debt is usually a predictor of subsequent trouble."

And France right before their revolution. Part of their debt was caused by aiding the American colonists' fight against Britain, aka fostering democracies abroad. Ironic how that happens. At least in our case it worked for us but not for France's incumbants.

Glenn writes: "The primary rationale for remaining -- and escalating -- in Afghanistan is the same all-purpose justification offered for virtually everything the U.S. has done since 2001: Terrorism."

A close secondary rationale must be that we can't keep abandoning so quickly those countries we invade, and a sick kind of "in for a dime; in for a dollar" thinking. This morning Roger Cohen urges us on with this rubbish:

"After the expenditure of so much blood and treasure the retreat-and-return cycle has to end."

I'm reminded that the relevant words from "The White Cliffs of Dover" are "Tomorrow, when the world is free" not when it is safe.

"...both political parties, as institutions, are dependent on and thus controlled by the very industry that is at the heart of it."

This implies campaign finance reform, about which no urgency is out there. And, the SCOTUS is primed to declare further the ability of corporations to subvert the process of voting.

Not only does he owe his readers an apology and explanation for his misguided, wrongminded warmongering; he owes families of the dead and injured so much more.

"Greenwald is smart but a total snake..."

Sounds like some kind of "dog whistle" to me.

I laughed as I read Broder's using David Ignatius' support for the Bush crimes as well.

What about Grover's crusade to rename every school, court house, rest stop, Jiffy John, etc., after Reagan?

Sorry about straying from the news channels, but what about how NBC has changed The Weather Channel? The mother ship (NBC) each day encroaches more on the weather. It is now a vehicle for promos, more cable news from NBC, and an ugly man called Al Roker. The older, reliable women have been fired and the station seems to be focusing on the youthful, bubly Stephanie Abrams. Please don't tell me she is a niece of Elliot.

You mention Democratic thinking that "there's no political benefit to subjecting ourselves to accusations of being Soft on Terror"

My fear is that this explains Obama's insistence that ever more of our troops are destined to die in Afghanistan in a useless Whack-a-Mole war. Surely he has advisors capable of informing him of what a graveyard that unhappy country has been.

My parents always told me that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Also in corporate news, NBC took over The Weather Channel and replaced some staff with bozos like Al Roker. Note that NBC got rid of several of the women weather personalities as they aged, but not past-his-sell-by-date Al.

It has gotten so that I only watch CNN or MSNBC when an airplane crashes or someone famous dies whose name is not Michael.

It would be nice if you could reference alternative videos that avoid the warning that "User Must Allow 3rd-party Flash Content" to be written to our computers.

You can also work in "a Catch-22 situation" where one is doomed no matter whether one is guilty or innocent.

Happy to see Dan land where he will be read, although Huffy is too strong on Michael Jackson, topless models, etc. to be taken straight.

Never heard of him. There was a Charlie McCarthy and a Senator McCarthy, however.

Having Beck on to pimp his book had to be a new low. He shut the chat down after only nine questions, the assumption being those were the only ones at all favorable to his BS.

Someone needs to post a Doomsday Clock for the Washington Post like that of the Atomic Scientists. De Long offers textual updates of when the lights will go out, but a more indicator is needed. Froomkin leaving causes the hour hand to advance markedly.

Headline in online NYT:

"Some in Qaeda Leave Pakistan for Somalia and Yemen

By ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID E. SANGER

American officials say they are seeing evidence that a handful of Al Qaeda leaders are leaving Pakistan’s tribal areas for new havens."

Will we be sending troops to die in these two countries as well?

Wasn't this country settled by rugged pioneers who braved Indians, English overlords, prairie fires, wild animals, etc.?

Good luck with Accuracy in Media. Reed Irvine began that outfit while still at the Fed I believe. Does the Scaife clan bankroll them like they do Judical Watch?

All I could take this morning of "Morning Joe" was about a minute, during which ordeal it looked like Mika was about to faint over this question of torture.

It's been a while since I read the "Shock Doctrine" but I thought the IMF were the bad guys with Yeltsin's Russia, making them privatize everything save the military.

On the fear question, let's all remember Tom Ridge's color-coded warnings that spiked at the administration's convenience.