I once found inspiration in the paper every morning, but the happy days departed when Bush went delusional. Anger at a bumbler fizzles, satire falls on its face, when one realizes the leader thinks he’s right, and still in charge. There’ll be a paucity of politry ‘til presidential primaries rev up and resupply the world [...]

Democrats concerned with being blamed for losing Iraq, should state the obvious ― we’ve already lost. Everyone admits we’re not winning. Bush can also claim we’re not losing only because it’s over. Iraq is in chaos; civil war’s underway; neighboring countries are staking claims. Our troops maintain pockets of peace like boats maintain dents in [...]

They say if all sides dislike a compromise it has to be good, so the president’s plan must be great. Many on every side hate it ― Iraqis, the military, congress, the public. Bush says we need to follow his plan because losing is not an option. He’s right ― it’s reality. And getting out [...]

Maliki holds the keys to success, but Bush has benchmarks without dates. The Democrats should fill those gaps in the supplementary appropriation bill. They should agree to support the plan until the Iraqi prime minister misses one deadline ― then all bets are off.

Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is preventing resolution of the violence in Iraq. If Bush wants support for his new plan he needs to make it contingent on the prime minister acting first. When additional Iraqi troops get to Baghdad, and start fighting, we’ll add an equal number. When a law passes allocating oil revenues fairly we’ll [...]

A purge and a surge? No, a shuffle and a dribble to delay evacuation until a new president takes over. Call it the Bush legacy.

Bush is shuffling his lineup like a manager in last place at the end of August. Maybe he’s trying to find people willing to implement his new plan for Iraq, but more likely, he’s muddling the witness lists for upcoming congressional investigations.