Irrespective of his views on anything, Senator Santorum (or Senator Feingold or Senator Snowe) is a far greater danger to the U.S. than a dozen Osama bin Ladens could ever be. Not because of anything inherent in their politics, but because they are Americans. Foreign Osamas can do physical damage -- kill, maim, destroy property. Of course we must resist them, by whatever means are required, to get them to stop. But only Americans can kill America. Not the Osamas, no matter how much damage they do.

America's survival can't depend on the survival of humans or buildings. If if does, we're doomed, because all of us, humans and skyscrapers, are gonna wear out and die some day. But the idea of America, liberty, hope and all that, the pledge made to babies born here and to immigrants upon arrival, unique in 1776 and damn rare in 2006, can live forever.

Unless Americans let their fears take over and wreck America from within. Every American, not only Senators and bloggers, is positioned to help wreck America. Foreigners are not.

I was once involved in the production of the play, "A Thousand Clowns," which was written in about 1960 (the movie starred Jason Robards and Martin Balsam). Anyway, young Nick lives with his uncle, Murray, who's something of a bohemian and gets all the best lines. Enter two social workers who have the power to take the boy away to a foster home. As the awkward visit is ending, we get this:

Woman S.W.: We've gotta go; we'll be late to our next appointment.

Male S.W.: Ah, yes, Tommy, the introverted child.

Hey, at least this time the Bushies copied a good idea from the Democrats. Usually it's something more like the Department of Homeland Security.

Do they get all that information from the NSA?

If Lieberman is a centrist, then Levin and Kennedy and Boxer are Leninists, and Feingold and Waxman and Stark are off on one of those 19th century utopian communes.

We're being pulled so far to the right that Mussolini might be classified as a moderate conservative.

Cute -- very cute -- mot at the end.

Here's a howdy-do! If Bush pardons Scooter, Scooter can be compelled to testify in the Plame lawsuit, because he can't self-incriminate. If Bush doesn't pardon Scooter, Scooter might opt to canary for Fitzgerald.

You wrote:

But when push comes to shove, he [Specter] has also unflinchingly bowed to an apparent political reality, choosing compromise over confrontation and incremental procedural victories over significant, substantive ones.

"Compromise" is not correct. "Capitulation" is the word you should have meant.

Didn't Ann Coulter work for the Ken Starr Chamber? No wonder she was "glued" to its report.

Willemina Shakespeare wrote, anachronistically, about many clever and forceful and effective women, for examples Rosalind, Lady ("unsex me here") MacBeth, Portia, Mme Page, Kate, and Regan. Therefore, Shakespeare was very likely a woman.

Is that how it works?

When White Sox 2d baseman Nellie Fox was, at long last, in his last year of eligibility, voted into the Hall of Fame, (the late) Mike Royko responded with a column, "Poor Nellie Fox." He figured that Fox got more recognition and respect by the annual arguments over whether he should be in the Hall than he ever will by actually being there. He was right; who's thought about Nellie Fox since?

So, fans of neglected, underappreciated ballplayers; you're fighting the good fight. Just pray you don't win.

People (almost always men, plus Ann Coulter) thinking themselves tough realists seem always to advocate a defense against "Islamofascists" involving: 1) a lot of expensive munitions and 2) decisive steps to degrade our way of life from a modern liberal democracy into a police state (usually, a theocracy to boot). But if we do those things, as Ronald Reagan said, then we're terrorists, too.

As Jeff Bridges said in "Seabiscuit," why not deal with this the American Way -- with cash? Our $1 million offer for the head of Osama bin Laden may still be valid, I don't know. But it's peanuts. False economy. It's nowhere near the value of the service rendered and it's rounding error compared to the cost of war.

Let's not be pikers. Offer insanely large, 8-figure, Powerball-sized rewards to terrorists who rat out other terrorists and avert terrorist plots. Put in some fine print -- recipient must accept being monitored henceforth; the payments must be structured to thwart any attempt simply to funnel the cash back to Al-Qaida or its equivalent; the rat gets our help to spend as much as he wants on personal security for himself and his family.

It'd be a heck of a lot cheaper than the Iraq war. And, it's 100% consistent with American principles.

"The Time account also includes this: '[A] knowledgeable American official says U.S. intelligence provided London authorities with intercepts of the group's communications.'"

As I understand it, both Mr. Knowledgeable and Time Magazine are parties to treason. How come there's no hue and cry?

Considering the mayhem her husband is causing, I think we can be certain that no one would write to Laura Bush,

"[Spain] is far too beautiful for the Fascists to have it....every time I drive on the roads here and see the rock mountains and the tough terraced fields, and the umbrella pines above the beaches, and the dust colored villages and the gravel river beds and the peasant's faces, I think: Save Spain for decent people, it's too beautiful to waste..."

From Catch-22 (quoted from memory)

Colonel, PR specialist in civilian life -- "I have a happy facility for getting people to agree."

Ex-PFC Wintergreen, amoral, disgruntled clerk-typist -- "He has a happy facility for getting people to agree what a prick he is."