That's the only job of the modern "journalist" as they see it: to repeat whatever trash is whispered in their ears by political operatives

Either the Democrats aren't playing the "whispering" game or the corporate media isn't cooperating when is comes to getting Democratic spin out into the public aether.

Only a criminal arrest, indictment or confession seems to get the Republicans any sustained bad press.

We'd better start laying-out serious legal arguments that self pardons by a president and pardons for war crimes are legally null and void.

The credible threat of war-crimes prosecutions may be the only thing that will prevent another unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation by the Bush regime.

Let's hope the next Congress will see substantial increases in the Democratic majorities in Congress.

In addition to -- hopefully -- effective new leadership (Reid has been a waste of oxygen), this will allow Joe Lieberman to be properly labeled: a pro-choice neocon Republican.

Let him caucus with his fellow Republicans, although it won't be much fun being in the minority -- and I doubt his new colleagues will trust him.

It seems like there was a quiet, bloodless coup in 2000 by corporate/theocratic fascists.

* Wars without end

* Elections fixed

* Habeas corpus voided

* Congress made irrelevant/impotent

* Control of media

* Torture

* Warrantless survellance/wiretapping

The corporate media is only too happy to be a megaphone/stenographer for the government. All that "informed electorate" stuff is unnecessary in a fascist dictatorship -- and the money is damned good.

An occupying foreign power hasn't killed enough of the natives to make them cease resistance and flee since the Romans sacked Judea.

But the natives can kill enough of their foreign occupiers to make them cut their losses and leave.

Somebody should notify McCain and the "stab-in-the-back" Vietnam revisionists before they do some real damage.

As we learned from several former Bush officials (DiIulio in particular) the Bush White House is 100% a political operation with zero policy apparatus. Rove was/is the "architect" of the Bush political operation -- therefore, it's a safe assumption that Rove was at least in the loop, if not the prime mover, on the Pentagon analysts scam.

Too bad we no longer have a Congress co-equal to the executive branch that can issue subpoenas to former White House officials and compel testimony. Rove will contemptuously ignore any subpoenas until after inauguration day, when blanket pardons will render his crimes moot.

Israel is a nuclear-armed power. Israel's nuclear arsenal could destroy the entire Muslim world with no assistance required from the United States.

So with that in mind, is the subject of American "support" for Israel based on anything other than theology? It's certainly not based on realpolitik.

This type of "Israel-right-or-wrong" support is bad for America and bad for Israel -- as evidenced by American support for Israel's ruthless and ultimately counterproductive bombing campaign against Lebanon.

Of course, one can sympathize with Barack Hussein Obama's attempt to prove to the yokels that he isn't a Muslim by establishing his pro-Israel bonafides.

@ Chris Sinnard PNAC

http://www.newamericancentury.org/

It isn't about theology. It is about total dominance of the region.

Iran, Syria, and Lebanon are in the queue, and according to an interesting article up on Counterpunch, the train has already left the station.

and

@ Iokannan in the Well

Theology is just a cheap excuse for a segment of the population - the ones who likely got weaned on Hal Lindsey, Pat Robertson, and other such Rapture/Armageddon fabulists as kids - to go along with this madness as it fits into their religious preconceptions.

At least that's how I've seen it. Take it for what its worth.

I think as rational analysts, you're both missing my point. I submit that the key players in both America and Israel are irrational theocrats -- and that is driving the irrational policies. In Israel it's the "God gave this land to us" Likudniks. In America it's the Rapturists who have infiltrated the highest levels of American power.

As I said, it's not realpolitik, since Israel is by far the most powerful military power in the region. As an unrivaled nuclear power, it is so powerful that not only would any potential Arab military aggression against Israel be suicidal (and they know it), US military support would be irrelevant.

In America, to support Israel is to support the return of Jesus. This isn't just the rubes out in the sticks -- under Bush, it's also a common belief in the high command at the Pentagon (God help us).

Why, considering all of this "Serious" foreign policy speculation in the US and Israel about preemptive strikes on Iran, wouldn't rational Iranian defense officals consider a nuclear weapons program a top priority -- simply as a deterrent?

Do our Serious foreign-policy "experts" give any consideration to how this talk plays in Iran? We seem to be determined to maneuver the Iranians into our worst-case scenario.

Remember, there were pro-American demonstrations in Tehran after 9/11 and the Iranians assisted us in Afghanistan after our invasion. We gave that up just so Bush could use that cute "Axis of Evil" line.

Good work!

If party discipline can't/won't be imposed from the top down, it must be imposed from the bottom up.

O'Hanlon's continued defense of the indefensible is a hallmark of a sociopath.

The amazing thing about the Bush regime is how these conscienceless sociopaths (aka right-wing authoritarians) flock together without screwing each other.

Connecticut Democrats' rejection of pro-war neocon Lieberman in favor of Ned Lamont was such an affront to Holy Joe that he intends to extract his revenge at the GOP convention a la Zell Miller.

One can only wonder how soon he will begin letting that Republican rhetorical malapropism "Democrat Party" start rolling off his forked tongue.

Here's to the day a Democratic super-majority in the Senate renders Joseph Lieberman utterly irrelevant.