Based on the repeating figure 00 (2000, 2001, etc.), let's call it "the Nips."

The special thing about the Nips; they only come once in a thousand years. Also, it's a basically neutral name which ought to piss off exactly the right people.

Calling it the Nips would also serve as a bit of revenge for the Janet Jackson overreaction.

Only three years left to enjoy the Nips!

...is a good description of what goes on my john when I flush it.

...only makes us hostage to whatever the Iraqi government is able or willing to do. Now the insurgents need only to make it impossible for the Iraqi government to meet the benchmarks, and the US will be left still hopelessly stuck and dying in Iraq.

Note that the Iraqi government is in fact compromised, so that in effect what Bush is really doing here is setting out goals for the insurgents to let us leave. This is pitable helplessness.

The entire strategy of 'standing down while Iraqis stand up' was always a strategy of built in futility. It amounts to placing our sovereignity in the hands of other people, some of whom happen to be our enemies.

...a crisis of confidence in this president after his speech tonight.

Yes, I know it's already occured, but after tonight the last semi-solid lump of the ice cream of his support will slump into nothing.

AFter tonight, the question will be, "What to do about George?"

...and he writes as a man. And he writes as a very specific midwestern middle aged man of a specific Protestant background who happens to host a popular radio show and has a daughter and a Norwegian wife (IIRC).

He's not going to presume to be you, or write as you, either 'you' specifically or the generic 'you' that just got a silly award from Time magazine. He likes to keep it concrete, he's going to keep it about himself, and that's a good thing.

Guys really do these silly, absurd things, you know. We walk into places and do things we think will make people think we're cool. And as far as I could ever understand, women don't do that, at least not quite in the same way. Why should Garrison write as if women are the same as men?

...is when I happen to find newspapers lying around at the laundromat. And nothing you do at the laudromat can ever make you look cool.

I do, however, make sure to swipe the New York Times crossword puzzle if I can.

...is revealed as the "New Seriousness."

Unfortunately, it's the same old joke.

...before the war. Now we're stuck in a real trap.

If we leave, we lose. If we stay, we'll get cut to pieces. In the end, we'll probably still lose. That is what the meaning of a trap is: there's no way out.

For all Bush's bluster and swagger, our strategy in Iraq has been absolutely passive since day one. We've been waiting and hoping for the insurgents to calm down and let us leave. We've been waiting and hoping for the Iraqis to form a stable, pro-American government with a functioning army. We've been waiting and hoping for the American people not to lose their patience for this war. But all along Bush has refused to take any concrete steps that might actually help win the war, such as putting in enough troops to provide real security for Iraqi citizens. Now he wants to stick in a few more troops; as other people have commented, this isn't even a respectable effort. What is the point?

As I've said before, the only way out of Iraq will be by getting rid of George Bush. I don't see any other possible solution. The man will simply not face reality. The only question is how long does the country want to go on not facing reality as well?