Guilty or not, we need a change.

* Nation:

"This kind of protest among senior military retirees during wartime is unprecedented in American history - and it is also deeply worrisome. The retired officers opposing the war and demanding Rumsfeld's ouster represent a new political force, and therefore a potentially powerful factor in the future of our democracy. The former generals' growing lobby could acquire a unique veto power in the future by publicly opposing reckless civilian warmaking in advance.
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A key argument in the ex-generals' indictment is this undeniable fact: Our armed forces are too small to police and reorder the world and intervene almost blindly, as we have in Iraq. That invasion acted out the world-changing daydreams of pro-Israel neoconservative policy intellectuals like Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and others who gained warmaking power and influence atop the Pentagon but who evidently never asked themselves, Suppose we're wrong? What happens then? Sober, realistic Israelis privately fear the neocons' "friendship," and where it has led America, more than any Arab enemies. In the inevitable post-Iraq War tsunami of US political recrimination, such Israelis foresee Christian Zionist evangelicals, whose lobbying muscle in Congress was decisive in the run-up to the Iraq War, attempting to scapegoat the high-profile neocons and endangering Israel's all-important security ties to the United States.'

LeeB sez 'read the rest'

* Ace:

"Washington Times Calls For Hastert's Resignation From Leadership Post - Eh. Why not? Can't say he covered himself in glory, can't say we especially need the continuing dubious benefit of his services, can't say I was impressed by his defense of Congressmen's prerogatives to be free of legal, warrant-derived police searches.

So can him. Guilty or not, we need a change. It's as good a time as any."

as good a time as any? 5 weeks before the election? awesome. i'd argue that two weeks from now would be better, but what do i know? I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying seeing the wrongwingers flip.

* meanwhile, here's Ace walking back (sorta?) his "Goodbye GOP" post:

"A Little Late Afternoon Freak-Out

Ah, that was fun.

I suppose this is just one guy talking, and an irrelevant one at that. I also suppose that what Bill Frist floats as a trial balloon is Nancy Pelosi's concrete plan.

I guess I'm still on the team. But it's pretty clear to me that it's not just the Democrats that don't get it; it's a good number of the Republicans too.

It's also clear to me the GOP is pretty determined to lose this election, and there's little that pundits, bloggers, or voters can do sway their minds.

They've been admirably upfront, I guess, about their intention to give power back to the Democrats for at least a year now, if not more; I suppose they can at least be credited with being more or less honest about wanting to return to minority status.

George H.W. Bush seemed to not be terribly interested in winning in 1992. Governing is, I guess, exhausting. The GOP is exhausted, and it shows. Elections turn on a number of things, but high among them is a party's determination and energy and will to win, and the GOP just has none at all of that.

We deserve better, but it is what it is.

I'd thought the GOP had panicked that they might lose over the summer. Rather, they seem to be panicking now at the thought they might actually win, and are determined to avoid that."

* simbaud thinks the end of the world will be Friday.

* arkin:

"The United States and the world were blessed in finding President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, an incredibly decent man who barely rules Kabul, but it also has Pervez Musharraf, a military dictator and a savvy two-faced, double-crossing, self-interested scoundrel who is president of Pakistan.

In the world-without-Iraq-war scenario, where the United States respects international law and loves the international community and has shared the burden of the war on terrorism with our allies, Musharraf is pretty much where he is today.
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No, Osama, we are not going to be drawn into a "war" just because you want it, our president should be saying. And to the governments of the region, he should be saying: it's not a matter of whether you are with us. It is a matter of whether you are building human security for your own people. In that endeavor, you have to make the right choice. If you do not, you are on your own. Oh, what a world."

reading arkin is mind-bending.

* simbaud has the perfect-murder plot.