Outside Sources

The Washington Post's White House Briefing from Dan Froomkin is a tad heavy-handed, but a good summary of just why the evolution of our nation's Iraq policy no longer involves the President of the United States. The best quote comes from James Fallows, who contends that when it comes to where we go from here, "the choice is between a terrible decision and one that is even worse."

That's kind of how I felt about the 2004 election.

Slate's Fred Kaplan provides even more reasons why the Iraq Study Group is a bad idea in theory. He begins his piece noting:

Judging from the advance leaks and previews, the Baker-Hamilton commission's upcoming report on Iraq will do exactly what these blue-ribbon salvage jobs are meant to do: a) Stake out a position halfway between the president and his critics without fully satisfying either; b) provide "bipartisan" cover for both sides to shuffle toward middle ground; and yet c) sidestep the central question, which is too unsettling for anyone to face and which can still be kicked down the road for a bit, to everyone's relief.

I think that Kaplan's (c) is 100% correct. Bad students love to procrastinate! What did Ellen DeGeneres once say? "Procrastination is the answer to all of our problems. Procrastinate now. Don't put it off."

ABC's Note provided fair coverage to Iowa Governor Vilsack's presidential announcement today. The Note does point out why Vilsack's climb is steeper than ever, citing that, "Coverage of Vilsack's announcement by the Wall Street Journal's John Harwood seems to say more about Sen. Obama than it does about Gov. Vilsack. 'The person with the greatest chance of altering the race appears to be Sen. Barack Obama . . . whose message of hope and optimism has created a political sensation.'

Nothing like a level playing field...