Is CNN Becoming Fox News?

Once Nancy and Harry hear about this, and whine to CNN management, Michael Ware may be looking for a new job:

JIM CLANCY: “The Democrats are pressing for a deadline, be it at the end of 2007, 2008 to bring all U.S. troops home. How is that going to affect General Petraeus, the Iraqi government and the Iraqis themselves?”

MICHAEL WARE: “Well, Jim, certainly in terms of the Iraqis and the war that’s being fought in the streets and the deserts of this country, I mean, what’s happening over there, what the Democrats are saying about timetables may as well be happening on the planet Pluto for all that it counts, to the bloodshed and endless combat that we’re seeing day in, day out. All that it does, anyone setting time frames like that without real pre-conditions, anyone trying to put artificial deadlines upon this conflict is only aiding the enemies, so-called, of America, al Qaeda and Iran. It allows them some leverage to know when to put the pressure on, to know that the clock is ticking and to know where the pressure points are.

“So, in terms of the battle, day-to-day here, General Petraeus isn’t looking more forward than five or six months. He’s trying to make this surge work. But in terms of the broader strategic framework, it serves only America’s enemies.”

Quite the faux pas, to tell the truth. As Finklestein notes, actually being on the ground in Iraq can be quite clarifying. Between this, and Brian Williams’ cautious optimism, perhaps the MSM is coming around, even if the Dems aren’t.

I Need To Get A Life

I scored a hundred percent on this test.

“A+ — Not only should you vote, you should consider a career in politics.”

DontVote.org

And I, too, would strongly encourage anyone who doesn’t score well on it to stay away from the voting booth. A grateful nation will thank you.

Though it seems like they ought to actually deduct points for knowing the pop culture icons.

[Early evening update]

I agree with commenters who say that the test is much too visual. Actually, it’s kind of a dumb test. It’s like those “man on the street” interviews that provide so much fodder for late-night comics. As someone in comments started to do, what would good questions be?

Advice That Won’t Be Taken

Peter Mulhern thinks that the president should fire Patrick Fitzgerald:

The President has ample grounds for such action. Fitzgerald repeatedly lied, both in court and out, about the nature of his investigation in a successful effort to convince the jury that Libby had something to hide. Worse yet he pursued a criminal investigation when he had no reason even to suspect that any crime had been committed. This is the core of horrible prosecutorial abuse. In this situation there can be no legally sufficient conviction for perjury or false statements.

He may be right on the merits, but if he were to do what’s recommended here, it would set off a political firestorm that would make the Tokyo bombing look like a fall bonfire. Because he’s let people undermine him, and continue to do so without consequence, ever since he came into office, the president is now in a no-win position.

[Update in the afternoon]

Tom Maguire (who has been the go-to guy for all things Libbygate from the beginning) writes about Fitzi’s Dishonor.

Advice That Won’t Be Taken

Peter Mulhern thinks that the president should fire Patrick Fitzgerald:

The President has ample grounds for such action. Fitzgerald repeatedly lied, both in court and out, about the nature of his investigation in a successful effort to convince the jury that Libby had something to hide. Worse yet he pursued a criminal investigation when he had no reason even to suspect that any crime had been committed. This is the core of horrible prosecutorial abuse. In this situation there can be no legally sufficient conviction for perjury or false statements.

He may be right on the merits, but if he were to do what’s recommended here, it would set off a political firestorm that would make the Tokyo bombing look like a fall bonfire. Because he’s let people undermine him, and continue to do so without consequence, ever since he came into office, the president is now in a no-win position.

[Update in the afternoon]

Tom Maguire (who has been the go-to guy for all things Libbygate from the beginning) writes about Fitzi’s Dishonor.

Advice That Won’t Be Taken

Peter Mulhern thinks that the president should fire Patrick Fitzgerald:

The President has ample grounds for such action. Fitzgerald repeatedly lied, both in court and out, about the nature of his investigation in a successful effort to convince the jury that Libby had something to hide. Worse yet he pursued a criminal investigation when he had no reason even to suspect that any crime had been committed. This is the core of horrible prosecutorial abuse. In this situation there can be no legally sufficient conviction for perjury or false statements.

He may be right on the merits, but if he were to do what’s recommended here, it would set off a political firestorm that would make the Tokyo bombing look like a fall bonfire. Because he’s let people undermine him, and continue to do so without consequence, ever since he came into office, the president is now in a no-win position.

[Update in the afternoon]

Tom Maguire (who has been the go-to guy for all things Libbygate from the beginning) writes about Fitzi’s Dishonor.

Novak Speaks

Now that the trial is over, Bob Novak has a clarifying piece in the WaPo:

Democrats had been slow to react to my column of July 14, 2003, which reported that former diplomat Joseph Wilson’s mission to Niger was suggested by his CIA employee wife, Valerie Plame Wilson. By September, when the Justice Department began investigating the CIA leak, Democrats smelled another Iran-contra affair or Watergate. They were wrong.

The Libby trial uncovered no plot hatched in the White House. The worst news Tuesday for firebrand Democrats was that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was going back to his “day job” (as U.S. attorney in Chicago). With no underlying crime even claimed, the only question was whether Libby had consciously and purposefully lied to FBI agents and the grand jury about how he learned of Mrs. Wilson’s identity.

Fitzmas was a fizzle.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!