The administration's story might seem to turn on a question with little more mobilizing power: Can American troops succeed in reducing violence in Iraq?

But behind that question -- and General Petraeus' elaborate charts on the metrics of violence in that country -- Republicans build dramatic tension by raising a very different question, which really does matter to a sizeable part of the American audience:

Does our nation have the "character" or the "stomach" -- Dick Cheney's favorite word -- to keep on fighting evil until something that can plausibly be called "success" is conjured out of the dusty air of Iraq?   more »

It's fall premiere week at

the National Broadcasting Company,

and the Bionic Woman is back

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is dressed

in a smart suit the color of a rusting rose,

with blond hair so textured

it puts Lindsay Wagner to shame

   more »

Keywords: bionic, woman, president, hillary, democrats, debate, clinton, 2008

By capitulating to the GOP's spinmeisters, the Democrats became complicit in putting the military on a pedestal, tacitly endorsing the idea that you can go after politicians who lie, but not generals, even generals who are rumored to have political aspirations.

I won't mince words: glorifying the military -- placing it above reproach, suggesting that it is inappropriate to question its officers on the same terms as we question civilian leaders -- is a giant step towards fascism. In condemning the anti-MoveOn resolution, Barbara Boxer said:

"This is the United States of America. We don't condemn single ads or organizations. We condemn every attack on the glory of our military."

I don't hold members of the military responsible for the decision to invade Iraq, but when we forget that they're serving in an illegal, immoral and unpopular war, and talk about how we have to condemn any attack on the military's "glory," we're getting into serious Kim Jong Il territory.   more »

From Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace:

Senator Hillary Clinton was asked

several pointed questions by Chris Wallace

Her responses were punctuated by sharp laughter

that she at times struggled to contain

She's got a wonderful sense of mockery.

   more »

Keywords: mockery, clinton, fox

Bush came before the assembled delegates in the most improbable guise, as the apostle of liberty, equality and the rights of man.

He began his speech by hailing the founding document of the UN drafted more than six decades ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, asserting that this formal declaration in support of freedom, justice and peace “must guide our work in this world.”

“When innocent people are trapped in a life of murder and fear, the Declaration is not being upheld,” he declared.

Who does the American president think he is kidding? Where on the face of the planet are more men, women and children “trapped in a life of murder and fear” than in US-occupied Iraq?   more »