Most of the American public (and press, and pundits) are just as confused, so unfortunately most will neither understand nor care; what they all do know is McCain is a straight-shootin' maverick defender of the American way of life and a Republican, and that's all they need to know (besides knowing that Obama is a lousy bowler and a closet Muslim radical, and that Hillary is, well, Hillary).

In November, 2005, the Bush administration released their "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" (www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html), which they thought was a convincing plan for moving forward. In it, "Victory" was defined with three stages: short, medium, and long term. The long term conditions of victory are pretty much unrealistic, except perhaps in McCain's 100-year sense. The medium term conditions are far enough out of reach that they might as well be in the long term category as well. The short term conditions for victory include

"An Iraq that is making steady progress in fighting terrorists and neutralizing the insurgency, meeting political milestones; building democratic institutions; standing up robust security forces to gather intelligence, destroy terrorist networks, and maintain security; and tackling key economic reforms to lay the foundation for a sound economy."

In the two and a half years since this was written, the progress Bush, Petraeus, Crocker, and others keep insisting on has been glacial, at best. We haven't even met these "short-term" goals. It's hard to tell which is more appalling: that they keep making these claims, or that the Congress, press, and public have such low standards that they are allowed to get away with it.

Maybe not, but about a year ago, Indiana Congressman Mike Pence took a stroll through a Baghdad street market with John McCain and said that "Shorja is a safe, bustling place full of hopeful and warmly welcoming Iraqis — like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime."

It's hard to say who's definitely more electable, but it's easy to say that Wilentz' article was crap, from the title (which even Salon had to change after a few hundred negative comments) pretty much to its last sentence. I will vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is in November, because there really is no other viable option, but in my view Clinton looks worse with each passing day, while Obama at least maintains a reasonable portion of my respect.

If you can't trust the same folks who have been consistently pretty much wrong about everything, you might as well hang it up.

Bush has been giving exactly the same speech for years, and the press doesn't seem to notice.

I also much prefer Steve Benen to Alex Koppelman in the War Room.

Maybe if more Democrats weren't so afraid to speak the obvious, we could finally settle this thing.

really want my support, they should be focusing their campaigns hard on taking this guy out, instead of nitpicking with each other.

The Democrats better stop fighting between each other and focusing on the free pass McCain is getting.

...and the $35 or so you'll "save" in taxes over the summer will jump-start the economy?

I only came here because of the use of this term. Playing along with this "-gating" of every minor flap only shows how intellectually lazy the press in general and Walsh in particular is. The Clintons (both of them) continue losing my respect, but I'll vote for Hillary in November over McCain if that's my choice. But I won't like it.

Nash McCabe has a point. I probably would not cast a vote for president for someone that always wears a beanie with a propeller on it.

you'd think these people could have planted a few trailers full of WMD-related program materials somewhere around the country by now.

Increasing your gas mileage from 20 to 21 MPG would give you the same 5% increase without the hassle of waiting 10-20 years and investing billions of dollars of in the destruction of the in environment for a rather temporal "fix".

Slow news day?

then the Super-Duper delegates get to decide the winner. These include former presidents whose terms expired less than 20 years ago, former first ladies who are also currently U.S. Senators, their children, and their pets but only if they are mammals and larger than a baseball.

...thus, there's no guarantee prices will go down as the tax does.

But it is a sure thing prices will go up accordingly when the tax is reinstated after we finish celebrating our holiday.

"I certainly didn’t mean to associate the word terrorist in any way with Osama and his Muslim religion."

If a candidate's family were not off limits this season, I would echo Chris Sinnard's reminder about Napa Cabbage Slaw.

Alter has a point that mainstream media journalists have resources and connections that bloggers generally don't. It's too bad that most of them suck at translating all that into meaningful information, though.

If he starts whitening his teeth, I'm looking for a third party.

Rove should be held in contempt. Now if Congress could vote to hold itself in contempt, we might get somewhere.

He should have left off the part about McCain loving his country, too. It's not obviously true, and McCain can and should speak for himself.

...and it's not even the worst of it. Biden is known for sometimes using the word "who" instead of "whom".

So what do you think of McCain's plan to make his stage look like a POW camp?

...has it right. Any Clinton "supporter" that would choose McCain over Obama, especially with Palin as a running mate, was either not a Clinton supporter or has mental issues.

...but I would substitute the word "slightly" (or similar) for the word "infinitely" in the following:

As polling data conclusively demonstrates, the mindset of the voting public is infinitely more rational and substance-based than the pundits and the Right fantasize when they lyrically praise the Regular American...