I'm a fourth generation Zionist and the last thing I'd want is a U.S. president who was Hamas's worst nightmare. What I want is a U.S. president who will make it clear that he is not writing a blank check to the worst Likudnik excesses and that policy that operates on the lowest common denominator for the most radical settlers in the West Bank is unacceptable. The vast majority of Israelis would like nothing more than to rid themselves of the responsibility for administering land they know they shouldn't occupy. Peace is a fearful step but after last year's Lebanon war it is far better than any alternative.

As to McCain, frankly I think he's falling into a trap. The Democrats have yet to play the strongest card against him, which is exactly what Glenn points out: he is at best Bushism with a human face. Other than his opposition to torture (which we get no matter who is elected), there appears to be no substantial policy difference between him and the Current Occupant. The MSM can complain all they want about the vacuity of Obama's calls for change, but ultimately McCain is calling for more of the same, and an educated and informed electorate should have none of it.

In World War I, the medical community essentially told the miltary that their practice of moving soldier who had been exposed to Spanish Influenza around the country was going to result in millions of deaths.

World War I censorship and the jingoistic press at the time pretty much stifled any discussion of this, and the result was that millions of people, including millions of Americans, died unnecessarily.

What did the military learn from this? Well, clearly there was no remorse, no repercussions about having been directly responsible for killing millions of people, including millions of Americans. Instead, the military learned that its freedom to perform its mission as it wished to could be enhanced by control of the means of communication.

It really didn't take a lot of brains to know that the Iraq mission in 2003 had a vast potential for going off the rails. The Atlantic Monthly has provided evidence of exactly who was ignored and how right those who were ignored were. But those voices were stifled in the run-up to the war by the very set of attitudes and policies that Aaron Brown (whom I also generally have liked since his days at KING 5 in Seattle) still stands up for.

The result has been the deaths of millions of Iraqis and thousands of Americans, with Lord knows what else to come.

If you go through everyone's favorite Seder song (well, almost everyone; I'm a "Echad My Yodaya" fan myself), you don't see an awful lot of sacrifice. An interesting part is where it goes through how we were fed in the wildnerness for 40 years, which would have been sufficient, but we were also fed with manna. It's like saying you got MREs to eat, but they were catered by Chez Panisse.

But I'm sure Kristol goes to a different seder than I.

I remember a few years back when NCAA basketball coaches were arguing for an extra scholarship so as to help some poor kid get an education. My take on it was that if I were solving the problem of poor kids getting an education, I wouldn't give out that education based on which kid could shoot a jumpshot best.

If I were looking for economic stimulus, I wouldn't be looking for a way to have people buy more gasoline. The one area of the economy that does not need a jumpstart is the petroleum sector. They don't need more of our spending, they don't need more money, and people don't need an incentive to use their cars more.

I sympathize with those who cannot afford expensive gasoline, but the price isn't going to diminish significantly with this handout. And the handout will go to everyone, not just the poor; in fact it will disproportionately benefit the rich, who drive bigger cars and have more money to spend on gas anyway. At least where I live, the gas prices in poor neighborhoods are higher--by more than the amount of the federal gas tax--than in the suburbs.

This makes a great publicity slash, while being about as poor a public policy as I can imagine.

I guess network news jobs change everyone, huh?