The Obama administration intends to replace Gen. David McKiernan with Special Operations commander Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal

It's still McClellan to me.

* A U.S. soldier shot and killed five fellow soldiers at a stress clinic a U.S. base in Baghdad. -- Steve Benen

That pretty much puts paid to the meme that still keeps floating about the "right" corners of Virginia that, had the Virginia Tech students been allowed to carry arms on campus, the massacre would not have happened. These guys were not just armed but *trained* in arms use and still were caught unawares. You never expect a buddy to come out firing at you; that kind of surprise is paralysing.

I wonder if David Feherty would think it a "joke" if Pelosi, or any other elected official incited public action for his murder simply becasue they didn't care for his politics, or for his threatening their life.

Why do conservative jerks think that death threats are funny? I know they lack the comic sense to know when Colbert is being sarcastic, but surely we can all agree that joking about killing sitting Congressmen and Congresswomen falls into the clearly not funny group, right?

News to the right. Even Americans who are members of the Democratic Party are still Americans. Good to see you guys actually like Osama better than you like Americans. Fucking traitors.

One of the many outrages of the Bush years was that the Hubble rescue mission was originally nixed, as 'too expensive' see http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6853009/
I cannot conceive of the mindset that would allow this, as I could not see an American administration embracing and endorsing torture.
I knew they were anti-science, but to allow the crown jewel of astronomy to just burn up because it approximated the cost of a B-1 bomber is unfathomable to me.

And off topic, but noteworthy, Ezra Klein has a nice piece up on how the 'financial innovation' so touted in the '90's turned out to be puffing up the financial sector: http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=05&year=2009&base_name=your_world_in_charts_financial

"This passage was a metaphor meant to describe how American troops felt about our 43rd president," Feherty said in a statement.
http://wbztv.com/sports/nationalsports/david.feherty.cbs.2.1006389.html

Great. Now English teachers everywhere are going to have to spend extra time explaining to their Republican students that death threats don't really qualify as metaphors. Perhaps now they'll have more sympathy for the biology and history teachers who already have to put up with conservative nonsense.

If Pelosi did in fact sign off on waterboarding, she should go to jail along with Cheney, Libby et al. If any one them go to jail...

But I find it fascinating that the press is treating her possible knowledge as a "gotcha" moment and have not done the same with the high ranking Republicans on that committee as well. One set of rules for Democrats, another for Republicans.

After a week of hearing about Edwards' failures as a husband, I would dearly love to hear more about Vitter who is creating such a stink about the FEMA nominee. Surely his actions are as news worthy as a book by Mrs. Edwards and therefore as worthy of commentary, scrutiny by the press.

After a week of hearing about Edwards' failures as a husband, I would dearly love to hear more about Vitter who is creating such a stink about the FEMA nominee. Surely his actions are as news worthy as a book by Mrs. Edwards and therefore as worthy of commentary, scrutiny by the press.

Jen F - But that's just not how news should work. As the name indicates, a story has to be new to be covered in the news. But they're not just going to keep rehashing old stories just because someone involved happens to be part of an unrelated story. Now, if Vitter's wife comes out with a book and publicity tour that covers Vitter's diaper wearing and whatnot, I suspect it'd become a new story again. And if the Edwards didn't want it to be a big story again, they shouldn't have made it a big story again.

And the thing is, that's exactly how the media should work. I'd prefer that they not focus on gossip and trivia as much as they do, but in regards to only covering new stories, that's how things are supposed to be. Sure, scandals like the Lewinsky thing will pop up now and again if the media can find an excuse to bring it up; but even the media know how to move on to new stories. Edwards became news again because of what Edwards did.

And that's a big reason why Obama is as successful as he is: He knows how to let a story die a natural death. But the more you keep trying to put out your side of a story, the longer you keep it in the news. Just ask McCain about that after he got KILLED by Palin in the later days of the campaign, when she just wouldn't let certain stories die about who bought her clothes and whatnot. If you don't want people to keep talking about you, you need to stop giving them something to talk about. That's just the nature of the beast.

The change in commanders in Afghanistan is probably very good. It should sharply increase our chances of succeeding in what America wants to have happen there. Success is possible, but it may not be easily recognized as "winning."

As one who well remembers the Vietnam war, having been commissioned into the Army then and having studied why we got into it in the first place, the real problem was Gen Westmoreland. He was a conventional war General fighting an unconventional war, and his solution was - more troops - more troops. The book and movie "We were soldiers..." and the battle it depicted showed the genesis of his obsession. America won that battle of attrition. But the strategy it led to caused us to lose the war.

So Westie mousetrapped LBJ by demanding a massive increase in troop strength that allowed him to fight a war of attrition against the Victor Charlie. Westie's tiimeing was perfect. It was when LBJ wanted to pass Medicare and the Civil Rights Bill. Had he not given Westie his troops, LBJ knew that the conservatives would have shut down the Congress and LBJ would have passed zilch. So Lyndon gave Westie his troops to pass his bills.

Shift forward to the Afghanistan conflict. Again, a conventional general fighting an asymmetric war, and his solution has been what? More troops. Conventional war generals don't like the strange apparent lack of discipline of Special Forces. They never have, as the Rangers will tell us from WW II.

Bringing in the Special Forces Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal is critical to winning in Afghanistan. There is no alternative to winning there, as failure in Afghanistan puts the Pakistani nukes at risk. Leaving a conventional forces general in command is too great a risk to accept.

Feherty's still pretending to speak for the troops: "As for our troops, they know I will continue to do as much as I can for them both at home and abroad."

What a tool.

kc - What do you mean pretending to speak for the troops? Dude, this guy not only knows troops personally, but he's a Republican. I mean, come on! He couldn't be a better representative for every soldier in Iraq if he were there himself. And I'm sure he'd gladly switch places with each and every one of them, if only it wasn't for that trick knee. Damn, them the breaks.

"In retrospect, it was inappropriate and unacceptable, and has clearly insulted Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, and for that, I apologize."

CBS should can his ass....pronto.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams apologized Thursday for saying she could kill President Bush, remarks that drew scorn from Bush loyalists and shook up the International Women's Peace Conference in Dallas

Comedienne and actress Wanda Sykes brought down the house at the White House Correspondents dinner with a joke about Rush Limbaugh; Sykes said that she hoped Limbaugh’s “kidney’s fail�,

Comparing Bush and his family to the Corleones of "Godfather" fame, Air America host Randi Rhodes reportedly unleashed this zinger during her Monday night broadcast: "Like Fredo, somebody ought to take him out fishing and phuw. " Rhodes then imitated the sound of a gunshot.

the cancer in Tony Snow is removing the cancer of Tony Snow from the national scene," wrote TDoff on the D.C. gossip site Wonkette.com (comment)

Hey, Thalia, lighten up. I, for one, don't wish Cheny (sic) had been killed. I wish he had been horribly maimed and had to spend the rest of his life hooked to a respirator. Feel better now? (raisarooney)

Now thats class comedy!