Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

Thai crown prince rides on a barge past Bankok's Grand Palace

So since Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq, 3,709 more troops have died in Iraq, we've become one of the torture nations, North Korea went nuclear, and Darfur's genocide continues. Thousands of Burma's monks are in jail and Turkey's threatening to invade Iraq to go after a Kurdish terror group. Our seaports are as secure as a new Orleans levee and possession of Pakistan’s 30 to 80 nuclear warheads may be up for grabs. Bush pulled US troops out of Saudi Arabia, just as Osama demanded he do.

-- KEVIN HAYDEN

In the years after 9/11, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann worked at the highest levels of the Bush administration as Middle East policy experts for the National Security Council. Mann conducted secret negotiations with Iran. Leverett traveled with Colin Powell and advised Condoleezza Rice. They each played crucial roles in formulating policy for the region leading up to the war in Iraq. But when they left the White House, they left with a growing sense of alarm -- not only was the Bush administration headed straight for war with Iran, it had been set on this course for years. That was what people didn't realize. It was just like Iraq, when the White House was so eager for war it couldn't wait for the UN inspectors to leave. The steps have been many and steady and all in the same direction. And now things are getting much worse. We are getting closer and closer to the tripline, they say.

-- JOHN RICHARDSON

True to form, when the time comes to back words up with deeds Arlen Specter has never met a matter of principle on which he won’t cave. In fact I can’t imagine why anybody would take his “concern” over Mukasey at face value. Specter has folded on the torture issue several times already, so why should this time turn out any different? If you want principles, forget fake mavericks like Specter, Graham and Warner and instead look to the vanishingly small cadre of unrepentant pains in the ass like Chuck Hagel. The difference between play-acting and following through couldn’t be more obvious.

-- TIM F.

Senior Republican leaders went to an ex-president hoping to get him to influence George Bush to knock Dick Cheney off of the 2004 ticket, according to a new book. Did they visit the ex-president with the most influence over George W -- his father? That would at least have been worthy of the Washington Post's time and effort to report. Instead, they look at the revelation that Gerald Ford turned down the request to give the current president unsolicited advice on the selection of running mates.

-- ED MORRISSEY

First it became a brand name in security for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now it's taking on intelligence.

The Prince Group, the holding company that owns Blackwater Worldwide, has been building an operation that will sniff out intelligence about natural disasters, business-friendly governments, overseas regulations and global political developments for clients in industry and government.

-- DANA HEDGPETH

The abstinence-only haven of Texas ranks first in the nation in teen births and in teen repeat births.

-- ANN FRIEDMAN

It’s hard to believe that Fred Thompson was once ballyhooed as the ’08 conservative savior who would galvanize the GOP’s Christian conservatives. Those summer days seem like eons ago, because every time this guy opines on an issue near and dear to the religious right, he probably loses another congregation.

-- DICK POLMAN

Should Illegal Immigrants Get Driver's Licenses?

Since this question seems very hard for Democratic politicians to give a straightforward answer to, I thought I'd try to think about it myself. The problem with saying "yes" isn't just that it's unpopular, it's that it's unpopular because it sounds ridiculous. On some level, illegal immigrants shouldn't be allowed to get coffee at Starbucks. There's nothing that a person who's in the United States illegally can do inside the United States that is legal. If it's illegal for you to live in the United States, and it's illegal for you to work in the United States, then obviously it's illegal for you to drive to work in the United States which makes handing out driver's licenses to illegals seem preposterous.

-- MATT YGLESIAS

Photograph by Agence-France Presse