As Jay points out, whether or not the “serious” supporters of a surge/escalation will walk away from a half-measure — a surge that is either short or small — will be the true test of seriousness. McCain’s recent history (cough torture compromise cough) suggests that for all his sober talk now, he could wind up “reluctantly agreeing to …

Joe’s right about Democrats who get so spooked by national security issues that they never bother to learn the details. In 2004, John Edwards was labeled a lightweight because of his inability to say anything that wasn’t superficial about foreign policy. He’s decided to fix this substance neglect problem in 2008 by becoming a policy …

Drudge has already had some fun today with the 110th Congress’s inability to keep even banker’s hours.

Co-blogger Karen Tumulty reports from the Hill that it’s not just the representatives (or, as some like to call them, “interns”) that are playing hooky during their first week of school. Only 88 senators managed to make it to the floor …

Joe Klein, cranky? Alert the media!

While I don’t feel like I’ve personally done enough homework to have a respect-worthy opinion on the idea of a surge, the theatrics of this debate are playing out at a level I’m very comfortable with: the lowest one. I left out a critique of Joe Lieberman’s presentation in my post on the Iraq surge …

TMPCafe introduced the “DoddPod” as though it were part of some off-beat Presidential rollout for the eh-tier 08 candidate: supporters program the Senator’s iPod, suggest podcasts, and even upload their own MP3’s. I profess a sneaking admiration for “interactive” gambits which require little to no actual input from the person in power; …

Karen says:

When they [the Dems] launched their Six for ’06 campaign, none of them thought they actually had a prayer of winning the Senate.

Funny, I think that when a lot of people voted for the Democrats, none of them thought they actually had a prayer of winning the Senate.

More seriously: I think I understand the reasoning behind …

The Washington Post this morning tells us that the House Democrats are already getting thrown off step. Where they had hoped to dominate the week’s news by passing their six-point First Hundred Hours agenda, they now are rebuilding the schedule around Iraq. That’s not necessarily bad news for them, however. Many Democrats have had some …

While I still believe that McCain’s “surge” pandering needs some work, apparently he’s practicing:

* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.

* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but has since decided to cozy up to the man who said

…

Please don’t take my mocking of Biden’s permanent announcement mode as dismissive of the man himself. He’s the rare Washington politician who knows his own strengths and weaknesses, and yet doesn’t spend his life avoiding the latter. Obviously.

As for the “river of words,” I look forward to the debate that features both Biden and Al …

There were two things that surprised me about the AEI forum on Friday on the Iraq “surge” and attendant MoveOn.org demonstration against it. First, there was singing. Outside. Among the protesters. A group of about six youngish people in rain ponchos were singing something that sounded a little like a hymn or chants in the style of …

On Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offers up a talking point we sure didn’t hear during the election. If the Republicans were still running things, he suggests, nothing important would get done in Washington over the next two years. So apparently it’s a GOOD thing to have Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill.

This …