polling and statistics.

* kleiman:

"There's no logical reason why crime control should be a conservative issue. But it's hard for someone who remembers (as conservatives forget) that punishment is a cost, not a benefit to acknowledge that, as bad as punishment is, unchecked crime is worse.'

* kleiman has a rundown of polling and statistics.

* gilliard:

"Blanket prediction of the week

The current Iraqi government will never disarm the militias.

The next Iraqi government will come from the militias"

* amy:

"Australian Defense chief Says Iraq Increase World Threat
In Australia, the country’s former defense chief has acknowledged that the Iraq war has increased the threat of Islamic militancy around the world. Peter Cosgrove’s comments came one day after Britain’s army chief made similar statements."

* amy:

Israeli Attacks Kill 22 Palestinians
Israel has stepped up its attacks on the Gaza Strip killing at least 22 Palestinians since Thursday. This comes as tensions remain high between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah. On Sunday Hamas accused Fatah of accepting over forty million dollars in aid from the Bush administration as part of a US effort to topple the Hamas-led government.

* laura wonders whether abramoff ratted out weldon.

* digby:

"I'm watching Lee Hamilton fall all over himself to say he (the iraq group) is not going to be partisan I believe him. He's a very nice,agreeable gentleman. But it's just a little bit much when he asserts that James A. Baker III, the fucking Bush family fixer, is similarly objective. Please. James Baker is as cutthroat a partisan as ever lived.

Once you've sold out your elder reputation to the degree that you will lie, cheat and twist the facts without regard to any sense of fairness or decency to obtain an election victory for your boy, I think you've given up any claim to "statemanship" --- at least until the cheating bastard is out of office."