One thing is certain: Bush must not only give ground, he must do so publicly - he must be seen to be giving ground. And the Democratic leadership needs to realize that they still hold many, many cards. If they chose, they could certainly not send him another funding bill at all. They could send him the same bill over again. They could send him a bill offering funding for one month, forcing the entire process again.

It is impossible to separate the policy and the politics on this one. And I don't even think it's a good idea. Neither side will get everything it wants, and withdrawal - still the goal - will not happen at the speed some on the left would like. This is about doing the best we can with what (in this case, the votes) we have.

A modest suggestion for Sen. Reid and Rep. Pelosi: Next time a bill such as this is vetoed, as it almost certainly will be, make the override vote an individual voice vote. Let every Republican who votes to sustain be seen casting that vote, on C-SPAN, and on the local news back home. I suspect that will change a few minds - and votes.

The great, self-referential, snarky "This is the theme to Garry's show, the opening theme to Garry's show, Garry called me up and asked if I would write a theme song..." from It's Garry Shandling's Show - his odd not-quite-sitcom prior to the Larry Sanders era.

What we need in the US is very simple: Universal single-payer healthcare, much like the rest of the modernized world already has.

What we are much more likely to end up with, though, is some grotesque hybrid where everyone is forced to purchase private insurance. This is little more than a welfare program for the insurance industry. The very same insurance industry, it must be said, that strives to minimize payout on any sort of coverage whatever, whether it be a healthcare crisis or a flood. And why would they ever act otherwise? The real goal, in fact the very reason for an insurance company is to generate a pool of investment capital. Rates can and do rise and rise (We can state with some confidence that they rarely if ever fall!) based as much as on the performance of a given insurer's portfolio as on any actuarial principles.

To relegate the well-being of the American people to very same investors that brought us Enron, WorldCom, General Motors, and other business debacles still fresh in the minds of our fellow Americans is to hold a gun to our own heads in the guise of self-protection. It worked for Cleavon Little's character in Blazing Saddles, which after all was a comedy movie. We should have little desire to play that scene out in real life.

Medicare for the entire US population is the only way to go. If the French (!) can do it, and do it well, as they demonstrably have, surely we can.

First the good news. Rahm Emanuel, for all the supposed questions about him, knows how to win. And in politics, it's far easier to advance your agenda once you've won the election. That's something the left seems to disdain, and it's frankly political suicide. The reality of the world is, sometimes you need a streetfighter or two on your side. And Rahm Emanuel is good at that sort of thing.

And more good news. Howard Dean's 50-state strategy was a very wise move, as well. In many of the states Dean put money and people into, the Democratic Party had little if any infrastructure. In order to make a district, and then a state, competitive, we need a party infrastructure, and money spent wisely there has given us great benefits. Howard Dean is doing a bang-up job as DNC chair - he knows we can't just hope to squeak out narrow White House wins in swing states. He recognizes - as does Emanuel - that we heed the Congress, and the state legislatures, and the county boards, and the city councils, and the school boards. That infrastructure had been allowed to decay to an unconscionable degree under Terry McAuliffe.

Now, the bad news. Being a streetfighter does alienate some people. Apparently a lot of them here. I understand that - Chicago ward politics is not for the faint of heart, nor the delicate of sensibility. Much in the same way that many Nebraskans would feel out of place in Chicago, and the Chicagoans would likewise feel out of place there. Horses for courses, folks...

And now, the really bad. Had the Democrats gone with Howard Dean in 2004, we'd be looking back in longing at the 1972 McGovern 49-state shellacking, and thinking of that as "the good old days". Running the party Dean does well, running for president he did abysmally. His crowds of opinionated youngsters did more to turn voters off than inspire them. He burned through money like there was no tomorrow.

I know I'm going to annoy the hell out of a lot of Salon readers with that, and I don't care. It's true. Howard Dean is far, far better for the Democratic Party, and for America, as DNC chair, than he ever was as a presidential candidate. And I will not speculate on what sort of president he'd make, because it never would have happened.

I, for one am OK with that - I like him right where he is.