"stay the course" is a deadly accurate description

* froomkin:

"But more significantly, in spite of a furious public-relations campaign by the White House aimed at muddying the issue, at week's end there is simply no doubt that "stay the course" is a deadly accurate description of Bush's strategy in Iraq."

* lakoff in the nyt:

"“Stay the course” was for years a trap for those who disagreed with the president’s policies in Iraq. To disagree was weak and immoral. It meant abandoning the fight against evil. But now the president himself is caught in that trap. To keep staying the course, given obvious reality, is to get deeper into disaster in Iraq, while not staying the course is to abandon one’s moral authority as a conservative. Either way, the president loses."

* athenae:

"And last but not least, the question of impeachment. I don't bring that possibility up lightly. The Republican Party showed America how terrible our politics can be when they wielded impeachment as a political cudgel. But because the GOP used this most severe of penalties for trivial indiscretions does not remove it from use for addressing the grave transgressions of peddling falsehoods to take a nation to war, condoning torture, and increasing terrorism around the world. Impeachment deserves at least to be considered with regards to this president.

For what it's worth, I'm not counting on a Democratic landslide. I spent an embarrassing amount of money on a pair of high-heeled dancing shoes in 2004 and they're still in their box in my closet. I learned my lesson. Nor am I expecting a Democratic Congress, composed as it will be of too many chicken centrists and compromisers, to hold the administration accountable to this extent. But maybe they'll surprise me."

* this is odd. CQ:

"Two former House committee investigators who were examining Capitol Hill security upgrades said a senior aide to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert hindered their efforts before they were abruptly ordered to stop their probe last year.

The former Appropriations Committee investigators said Ted Van Der Meid, Hastert’s chief counsel, resisted from the start the inquiry, which began with concerns about mismanagement of a secret security office and later probed allegations of bid-rigging and kickbacks from contractors to a Defense Department employee.

Ronald Garant and a second Appropriations Committee investigator who asked not to be identified said Van Der Meid engaged in “screaming matches” with investigators and told at least one aide not to talk to them. Van Der Meid also prohibited investigators from visiting certain sites to check up on the effectiveness of the work, the investigators said.

Van Der Meid oversaw Capitol security upgrades for Hastert, R-Ill., and worked closely with the office that was charged with implementing them, the investigators said."

it's also a bit complex. apparently either there was some contracting fraud, or Hastert wanted the Capitol to be vulnerable to terrorist attacks. or something. perhaps he really does want to be president.