re: "Reagan never acknowledged that he had abandoned his bedrock positions. Indeed, he was not aware that he had, and that's the enduring conundrum of his presidency."

Hardly a conundrum. The man was totally senile.

Even I, a total layman, knew at the time that Iraq had no WMDs and that it posed no threat to anyone. Anybody who took the time to read the numerous publicly available sources knew it.

Bush, Cheney and all who aided and abetted them should be tried for war crimes, pure and simple.

Nuremberg Principles

Principle VI

The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:

(a) Crimes against peace:

(i) Planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances;

(ii) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the acts mentioned under (i).

(b) War Crimes:

Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation of slave labor or for any other purpose of the civilian population of or in occupied territory; murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the Seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.

(c) Crimes against humanity:

Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.

Ron Versus the Huckster

Antiwar Republican sets the terms of GOP debate

"This is an aggressive invasion. We've committed the invasion of this war, and it's illegal under international law."

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=11570

Ron is saying what should be said by the spineless Democrats.

Perhaps the only justice that bloated fat cats like Mozilo, "who has cashed out some $425 million in stock options over the past three years" will ever face will be the fact that, as a direct result of their unbridled rapacity and greed, eventually a loaf of bread will cost $425 million.

From the New York Times article,

Hints of Progress, and Questions, in Iraq Data

By MICHAEL R. GORDON, Published: September 8, 2007

"The most comprehensive and up-to-date military statistics show that American forces have made some headway toward a crucial goal of protecting the Iraqi population... the data, which was gathered by American military officials in Baghdad..."

Yeah. Right. Got it.

Turn off the television. Permanently.

You'll feel much better without the primary source of military-industrial propaganda and general discontent interfering with your Zen.

In regards to the Republicans "...simply brushing aside serious statutory prohibitions against torture and electronic surveillance -- without any serious consequences...", etc., not to worry.

The Democrats, having gained power, aren't going to do a damn thing about any of it. Indeed, before they ever took office Pelosi made it clear that the Constitutional remedy - impeachment - was "off the table". And, in the case of the illegal electronic surveillance, they voted to make it all nice and legal. Nevermind, of course, that the unprovoked invasion of Iraq itself constitutes a serious war crime, for which many of them share responsibility.

The crime is committed by the guilty, and the guiltless who can avenge it is not found. There is no fear from accuser or judge: the wicked obtain impunity, while modest men are silent; accomplices are afraid, and those who are to judge are for sale.

-St. Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise 5

Broken hands on broken ploughs,

Broken treaties, broken vows,

Broken pipes, broken tools,

People bending broken rules.

Hound dog howling, bull frog croaking,

Everything is broken.

-Bob Dylan

Television viewership has been in serious decline for several years now, as alternative forms of entertainment abound. (I personally don't even own a TV). According to an AP article from earlier this year, 2.5 million fewer viewers were tuned into the major networks compared to just one year ago.

It is also a fact that women watch more television than men in general and watch more drama-oriented stuff in particular. Thus, far from "Women are the new men on TV" having some sort of deep meaning, it merely reflects the demographics of the audience to which these shows are pandering. It IS, after all, a strictly commercial venture, with an expected payoff for the advertisers.

As a mocking William Shatner pleaded to a rabid group of Trekkies in a classic SNL skit: "It's just a TV show!"

It is. Really.

re: "Is it too soon to wonder what would happen if a candidate like Edwards occupied the White House while politicians like Frank controlled Congress?"

It's not too soon -- it's too late.

re: "Those are some of the kind of things that that money is being spent on, as opposed to our infrastructure," she said."

The money we're talking about to repair our roads and bridges is a drop in the bucket compared to the bloated Pentagon budget and the billions of $ being flushed down the "reconstruction" toilet in Iraq.

But she's right about one thing: Not raising the gas tax. But not for the right reasons. Any raising of this tax will disproportionally hurt the poor and middle class, who have little choice when it comes to buying gas.

No, the answer to all of this is to tax the rich -- until it hurts, baby.

Olson represented Bush in the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore.

Who better to protect Bush than the guy who helped him to steal the job in the first place?

re: "Is it too soon to make sense of a war we're still fighting?"

It's not too soon -- it's too late.