Snow's great skill was his ability to be liked by the press even when they know he was lying through his teeth. Whether because he really is that nice a guy, or because the press continued to think of him as "one of their own" after he moved over from Fox, I cannot say. But lie through his teeth he did, cheerfully and with a fair amount of skill.

I'm sure Perino is a swell person, too, but from what I've seen of her appearances to date, she has two significant problems.

First, she's just not that good at lying. She gets a dodgy look about her every time she lays out the big whopper. No matter what else you say about a White House "press secretary" (should we finally just change the title to propaganda director?), you have to be able to sell even the vilest shit like it was shinola.

Second, she doesn't seem all that bright -- or at least all that quick on her feet. She will get caught up soon, I imagine, in some obvious mis-statement, which will I think cause the press to really come after her, transferring some of the frustration with previous prop-dirs to her.

I almost feel sorry for her, until I realize that the day after her last day in the White House will be her first day at some cushy right-wing org making twice her government pay (at least).

Anyone who tries to analyze the US Supreme Court in terms of one, four or even eight-year snapshots shows a remarkable ignorance of history in general and this institution in particular.

The Court's actions can only really be judged with a long lens.

While superficially it can certainly be said that the current Court is moving to the Right, it is most certainly true that the last sixty years of jurisprudence has been mostly marked by a steady tack to the Left.

As a lawyer with strong liberal bent, I confess to some trepidation regarding the philisophical make-up of the current Court. However, I am talked off the ledge of my darkest fears by the knowledge that -- historically -- few Courts get the opportunity for truly revolutionary change, and fewer still take it when it presents itself. This is not to say that none of the discussion in these books and this review is important. To the contrary, even small, unpermanent changes to the general tenor of the law are vitally important to segments of society of varying sizes depending upon the particular issue.

But just as physical evolution will surely push our species ever onward and upward, intellectual and moral evolution will continue to serve progressive, rather than regressive, philosophies. Freedom can, from time-to-time, be stifled, but I truly believe it cannot ever be killed.

The mercenaries of Blackwater, et al, may in fact provide a valuable service for US diplomats, but the cost of that service is even higher than what's already been hinted at in these posts.

To the Iraqis, Blackwater is the US, and the US is Blackwater. What this group and others like it are doing is beyond the C&C of the US military, but you can be damned sure that US soldiers and marines are paying the price in the form of commensurate increases in RPGs, IEDs, etc. You're judged by the company you keep, after all.

Finally, what the apparent need for these groups says about the picture in Iraq in general is that we really don't have enough military resources to be effective at providing security -- even to our own diplomatic corps (and never did) -- and that we certainly can't trust the Iraqi security forces to keep our diplomats safe.

In reading the article, something jumped out - as often happens with articles like this. And it's the type of thing that leads the public to wonder why reporters have to protect "anonymous" sources.

The White House official agreed to lob ad hominem attacks on Democrats only if he/she could remain behind the wall of anonymity. Instead of running actual quotes, how about wording it this way: "a typically chicken-shit Bush supporter agreed to show what a cowardly prick he was by bad-mouthing his fearless leader's opponents while hiding behind the very constitution his boss is trying to shred. We therefore choose to disclose this bastard's name, home address and links to appropriate government web site showing how much of your taxes this schmuck steals from the government in the form of a paycheck every month."

I'd feel better about the GOP's tone-deafness described in this piece if the Democrats weren't in the middle of alienating all of its Florida supporters by threatening to cut them out of the Convention. I mean, its not like the party needs an enthusiastic core group in that state or anything, right? Who needs Florida!

Sheesh.