McCormack sez: "I'm sure, however, that in every instance we would be able to ensure that our people are protected and able to do their jobs." Really. Without the independent contractors? Without Blackwater? I'd love to know how.

"Is the Pentagon arranging for its favorite defense contractors to make a fucking fortune before the connection with Iraq is lost forever?"

Any chance they asked him whether he's likely to pursue investigations of his predecessor, his predecessor's appointments in the DOJ and connections to the White House during the politicization process?

About MoveOn. I have sent untold thousands to them over the years but I've always cringed at their ads. They have a sledgehammer level of subtlety, which MoveOn justifies as being necessary to get through people's thick skulls. But the term "tone-deaf" is appropriate. Shrill, nasty and insensitive to the need to lead people to the light, not drag them. It's a shame, they could do so much more with a little more Mad Ave. and a little less Jerry Rubin.

BushCo drummed it into our heads that this invasion merited the name "war." It was about as much a war as watching Dennis Kucinich take on three heavyweight cage-fighters at once could be called a "fight," but we let them get away with it, lending epic scope to their dirty little gambit with a powerful word.

Now, it has come back to bite them in the ass. The problem with the word "war" is that it is firmly associated with two other words: "win" and "lose." In wars, when the dust settles, there are the victor and the vanquished. Whenever it stops and it's time to tot up the score, one party is declared the biggest cock on the block and one party is declared the pitiful wimp who lost.

No such problem with an invasion, or a police action or an "expeditionary force for regime change." These terms don't conjure the black/white outcome words. There are myriad labels this fiasco could've had that would have spared BushCo the agony of having to "win" when no such option is really available. But they just had to mislabel it a "war" because that made Bush a "war president" and that was necessary to the whole enterprise.

I can't see it lasting.

Yes.

Bush is fiddling while Rome burns.

I'm all for standing on principle, but CD could've voted for this, then voted for a tougher bill later. Dems have to stick together, this internal strife is playing right into Bush's hands.

A heck of a lot of gun nuts don't want to bear arms because they expect to repel invaders or thwart terrorists. The true gun nut wants to be able, some day if necessary, to protect himself against the U.S. Govvamint!

And the way things are going, I'm not so sure that's crazy.

Losing our rights is not funny. Yet by making jokes of it, I think they do more harm then good.

I have been a fan for the last year; my wife and I end our day chuckling at Stewart and Colbert. But the feeling has been nagging at me of late: why am I laughing at this stuff? To keep from crying? Maybe this isn't good. Maybe I should be crying.

I was appalled at his posturing last night. Ahmadinejad was relaxed, amused even, as this telemonkey leapt and babbled. Really a sorry performance and yes, doing everything possible to fuel the notion of Iran as worthy of being attacked.

And over at Columbia, the state is talking about withholding funds from the university because they want to let this guy come and speak.

We're in deep shit, folks.

But I see that pageiger already said everything I wanted to say, and probably better.

This whole thing was another welcome distraction for the Bush administration. They don't care if it's Larry Craig or Brittney Spears or Ahmadinejad or the new Ken Burns movie...anything to keep their disasters off the front page.

Was that he did expect a scene out of Amos 'n Andy, by way of Snoop Dogg, with motherfucker my soup's too hot and Holy Mack'l, dere, Sapphi'. He said it by admitting his surprise that it wasn't like that. And it made me kind of sad. I mean, there's this guy with all this influence, who sits up there at the mike and tells people what they should think and here he is, in public, telling us all how wrong he was about something he has no business being ignorant of. That's something B.O. almost never does and I'm not for positive sure he's aware that's what he was doing. But it reminds me of Lenny saying he din't mean to kill da rabbits, George.

Stop giving them good advice. We don't want the Republicans to win in 2008.

One can buy a reverse-osmosis filter system, put it in your kitchen and make all the tasty filtered water one will ever need, for years, with minor maintenance. It comes to pennies a gallon over time, tastes just as good as most if not all bottled waters, and nothing has to be carted across the street much less around the world.

I was talking to Garrison. He and I feel the same about the Republicans. You can feel any way you want. I wasn't talking to you.

Another reason for European bottled water, though I'm sure tap water was an unacceptable alternative much of the time, was that waters from various and sundry springs and "baths" were thought to have preventive, restorative and even curative powers.