Democratic party leadership: How high?

* clemons:

"George Will gets the "Conservatives with a Conscience Award" today from The Washington Note.

His five-whack, scathing assault on Kristol and The Weekly Standard rises from a frustration and raw honesty rarely seen (but increasingly moreso) among those who count themselves friends of conservative presidents like G.W. Bush.

At least this time around -- no matter what happens further in our encounter with Iran and the nations in Israel's neighborhood -- U.S. policy will be debated and fought over.

No more steam-rolling and no more "trust us" duplicity from the White House.

Applause to George Will for this brave and important piece."

* tpmm:

"The news today that President Bush acted to block an internal Justice Department probe relating to the NSA's domestic spying operations is both a bigger and more complicated a story than one would think, given the space it will probably be given in tomorrow's papers. In sum, it's an example of how even arcane tools of oversight can be subverted by the Executive Office of the President.
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Which explains why the news today that Bush himself had ordered the review blocked was shocking -- not only to everyday Americans, but to Justice Department officials themselves."

* raimondo:

"When the Israelis tell the Americans to jump, the only question Biden and the Democratic party leadership have is: How high?
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The neocons' comeback is made possible by the Democrats' complete prostration before the Israeli offensive. Biden's babbling that our lack of allies has crippled our ability to mediate the Middle East conflict is completely wrong – and beside the point, in any case."