" The GOP wants to win and will choose winning over losing.

Democrats choose idealism (at any cost) over winning.

Case in Point: The GOP will win this year because the wife of a former President chose to ride her husbands coat tails for an attempt at the White House. Women, who would vote for ANY woman have rallied to her side (e.g. Joan, the Editor of Salon)."

Interesting point. I do agree that Republicans will choose power over morality and ethics any day. As a completely amoral party that worships power over all else, they certainly have reached an apex of conduct.

Second point: Denigrating Hillary Clinton for "riding the coat tails" of her spouse into the White House appears to be pretty thin coming from a political party that worships Geroge W. Bush, who never got into a school, or got a job, in his life without leading off with, "Daddy says to say 'Hi!' ".

In the 2000 Republican Presidential primaries, the Religious Right conducted a viscious smear campaign against candidate John McCain in the South Carolina primarie. It succeeded in derailling his campaign and insured the nomination of George W. Bush for President.

When asked about it, Candidate Bush gave his best innocent smile, all the while accepting the full value of the smears. John McCain knew better and refused to even shake George Bush's hand in future debates.

Apparently Senator McCain did learn the lesson well though. Not only has he gone on bended knee to ask for support from the very people who perpetrated those smears on him, he is taking full advantage of repeating this tactic in 2008.

It is time to stop treating these sort of tactics as aberations and declare the obvious truth. This is exactly how the Republican Party Campaigns, leads and conducts their affairs. They have become a party completely bereft of a conscience, morality or any sense of decency. It would not matter if the candidate were John McCain or Mike Huckabee, the Republican tactics would be the same: Smear, lie, declare high moreality, and make sure the henchmen/women are in place to practice the dirtiest tactics possible, all the while feigning innocence at the highest level.

Ann Coulter is not at the fringe of the Republican Party, she IS the Republican party.

In honor of the person who visited George W. Bush last week, answering the question, "Is the White House trying to mislead us?". The answer is, "Is the Pope Catholic?"

"I'm not convinced that's actual news reporting. Maybe it is, maybe it's what goes for reporting in this blogerific world we live in."

It isn't it is stenography. Our "reporters" have fallen into the habit of just handing ove the microphone (or keyboard) to "both sides" and letting the "viewer decide".

That is not reporting. Reporting means checking out the facts and printing(saying) which one is accurate and which one is lying. But that takes work. you have to stay late and miss that Kennedy Center perofrmance. It is much easier to just "let both sides go at it", and claim you are doing your jobe (and be home by 5).

We do not see that kind of reporting anymore. The networks, cable news and papers have slashed theri reporting staff and are just stenographers. You can see it when the network news anchors lead off their stories with, "Today the LA Times [pick your newspaper] reported that...." This means they are just reading wire copy to us over the air. At a cost of about $1 per paper (air delivery) or free if from the web, that is about how much our "reporters" are investing in finding out and reporting the facts.

And the White House knows this. And takes full advantage of it.

This is the same "Democrats are freinds of terrorists" card that Republicans played in 2004. With a freindly media, they will play this card again this year.

"Are you people so blinded by your hatred for Bush that you think Iran/Syria/Hamas are all really not that bad?"

What we have "concluded" is that the Bush Administrain will reflexively lie about EVERYTHING, every time.

Therefore I will automatically not beleive what the Bush White house says until I see/hear it from someone not part of the Bush chain of command, the obedient Republican party, FoxNews, or any of the other Bush Team echoes that run around telling us that THIS IS SERIOUS!, particularly when it might start another war.

It is certainly also possible that the Syrian government is lying (their credibilty is on a par weith that of President Bush, in my opinion), based on a long history of past performance I start with the premise that the Bush White House is lying, and wait for mnore trustworthy sources, such as the French Government (really) to corroborate it.

Conservatives, on the other hand, are are quired by Republican Party rules to automatically accept any and every statement from the White House podium as Gospel truth, even if it directly contradicts something said just the day before. No Conservatie is ever permitted to doubt even the smost blatant lie from Saint George W. Bush, ever.