Democrat Attack Math

I just looked up a couple of things. It confims what I have beenthinking about the Democratic party's concerted attack on Wal mart.

It is crap. And they know it. Or they are too stupid to do elementary math. 

The much touted figure: Wal-Mart made 11 billion in profit last year! Gads! They are raping and pillaging America blind!

From the New York Times:

Democrats say Wal-Mart is a potent symbol of corporate excess. The company earned $11 billion in profit last year, but fewer than half of its employees in the United States are covered by its health care plan, and the average worker earns less than $20,000 a year.

From the Wal-Mart public report:

“ When it comes to our performance
during fiscal 2006, we have a lot to be
proud of at Wal-Mart. Our net sales
rose 9.5% to a record $312.4 billion.
Net income rose 9.4% to a record
$11.2 billion. Our earnings per share
grew double-digits from $2.41 to
$2.68 per share.”

Got that? $312 billion in sales generate $11 billion in profit. 3.6% profit. Yep. That is some serious raping and pillaging. Not much better than you would get in a bank savings account right now.

That is Democrat attack math.

Reasonable Doubt

Rick over at The Real Ugly American has what is actually both a funny and a sad admission from Glenn Greenwald. It's funny because it pretty well exactly mirrors what a lot of people have been trying to tell others - Bush did not lie, there was debatable evidence and intelligence to lend credence to the WMD claims. What's sad is that neither Rick nor I thinks Greenwald actually did it intentionally.

On Civilian Casualties

Confederate Yankee has an email from an Israeli sergeant. It gives a slightly different perspective than what the wire services are giving out. He also has a bit more on the reasons for the coverage being as skewed as it has been here.

You might really want to take a look at these posts before you simply buy in to the MSM storylines on - well - just about anything to do with war. Especially if Israel is involved. Or the US.

Veins

North Korea Preparing Nuclear Test?

ABC News is reporting that US intelligence officials suspect that North Korea may be gearing up for a nuclear test. Although it has long been known that they have nuclear material and that the North Koreans have admitted having bombs, none has ever been tested. (Commenter and fellow blogger Crosspatch had mentioned a suspicion that the North Koreans might just be up to such a thing as a test a while back).

 Aug. 17, 2006 — There is new evidence that North Korea may be preparing for an underground test of a nuclear bomb, U.S. officials told ABC News.

"It is the view of the intelligence community that a test is a real possibility," said a senior State Department official.

A senior military official told ABC News that a U.S. intelligence agency has recently observed "suspicious vehicle movement" at a suspected North Korean test site.

The activity includes the unloading of large reels of cable outside P'unggye-yok, an underground facility in northeast North Korea. Cables can be used in nuclear testing to connect an underground test site to outside observation equipment. The intelligence was brought to the attention of the White House last week.

Even before this most recent intelligence, there has been growing concern within the U.S. government that North Korea has been moving toward a nuclear test. North Korea is believed to have enough nuclear material to build as many as a dozen nuclear bombs, but it has never tested one. A successful test would remove any doubt that North Korea is a nuclear power.

"What does he have to lose?" asked one senior military official, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

On July 4, North Korea conducted seven ballistic missile tests, which provoked international condemnation, including a unanimous United States Security Council resolution condemning its actions. A nuclear test, however, would be seen as a much greater provocation than the missile tests. Only seven other nations in the world have ever conducted nuclear tests.

U.S. officials fear a nuclear test could provoke a nuclear arms race in East Asia, forcing Japan and South Korea to develop their own nuclear weapons.

This is by no means a certainty, but it is disquieting.

Demon Hound Update

Spawn of Hell or just a chow dog gone feral? Blue Crab Boulevard is pleased to continue to feed the frenzy report on the mystery beast of Turner, Maine. After all, it's what we do best with our coverage of the animal uprising! After examining what was left of the creature (which wasn't all that much as the story reveals later), Loren Coleman, a Portland author and cryptozoologist, announced that he thought it a chow or chow mix gone feral. Others are blaming extraterrestrials. No, really.

"I think this dead animal is a chow or chow-mix, a relatively small dog, that was feral, which is unusual for that area," he told the Sun Journal newspaper. He noted, however, that his was only an educated guess based on the findings so far.

….. 

Some say it's simply a dog. Others say it's a goat-sheep hybrid. Still others weighed in that the creature may have been a Tasmanian devil, a dingo, a wolf or coyote. Some of the more outlandish theories involve mutations and extraterrestrials.

People from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods.

"It's crazy. Everybody's talking about it. We sold out of newspapers by 9 this morning," said Debi Bodwell, who was at work at Schrep's Corner Store in Turner. "Everybody is mad because the game wardens haven't come out to take a look at it."

By the time Coleman arrived on Wednesday there wasn't much left. The internal organs and skull were gone. All that was left were some bones and skin.

Nonetheless, he came away with a paw and other body parts to be examined later. Another paw was taken by the Sun Journal, which was exploring the possibility of conducting DNA tests.

One person who remains convinced that the creature was no dog was the woman whose photos were carried in the Sun Journal and in news organizations across the country. Michelle O'Donnell doesn't know what it is, but she's convinced it wasn't a dog.

Nonetheless, she's surprised by the interest in the creature.

"I didn't know the story would be this big," she said. "My phone has been ringing off the hook."

We're officially going with the Hell-spawn theory, only because it makes for more sensationalism! Earlier post is here including links to pictures of the Hellhound.

France Chickens Out

France will not supply any meaningful amount of troops, in fact no fighting troops whatsoever, to a UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon. Jacques Chirac will only commit a token force of 200 engineering troops. Raise your hand if you did not see this one coming!

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 17 — France has rebuffed U.N. pleas to make a major contribution to a peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, setting back international efforts to send a credible military force to the region to police a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to U.N. and French officials.

French President Jacques Chirac instead committed Thursday to send a relatively small military engineering company of 200 soldiers to serve in a reinforced U.N. peacekeeping mission that is expected to grow to 15,000 strong and that will help Lebanon police a demilitarized zone in southern Lebanon. He also said that a force of 1,700 French troops and crew stationed in ships off the coast of Lebanon could be sent in to help the U.N. force during a crisis.

The French decision, which was first reported today in the Paris daily Le Monde, has thrown U.N. military planning into disarray on the eve of a major international meeting this afternoon of potential contributors to a U.N. force. It also seriously complicates U.N. efforts to get a vanguard force of peacekeepers from powerful European countries within the next two weeks.

Senior U.N. peacekeeping officials said they had hoped that a commitment to have French troops form the "backbone" of the U.N. peacekeeping mission would spur other countries to join.

In an earlier post I wrote:

The idea has merits. Unfortunately, it also has the French. It is about as likely as pigs to sprout wings as it would be to assume the French would actually make such a gesture to Syria much less follow through on it. The French are already expressing no interest in disarming Hezbollah. If they are unwilling to face up to the puppets, how likely are they to face the puppet masters?

You now have the answer. That would be "not at all".

Trouble

Breaking news - H/T Crosspatch. Explosive substance found in woman's water bottle at West Virginia airport.

Tri-State Airport in Wayne County has been evacuated. A perimeter has been set up, and evacuees are being asked to stand back 350 feet from the airport.

The Transportation Security Administration reports that a passenger's water bottle screened positive for an explosive material around 9:15 this morning. A second test was confirmed at 11:25. TSA is waiting for further testing to determine the exact substance.

NBC News reports that federal screeners found four containers of liquids inside a woman's carry-on bag during the screening process this morning. Larry Salyers, Tri-State Airport Director, tells WSAZ the woman is of Pakistani origin, lived in Jackson, Michigan and most recently lived in the Huntington area. She is being detained for questioning.

The flight in which the woman was going to board was on its way to Charlotte, North Carolina with a final destination of Detroit, Michigan.

FBI officials are on scene.

So much for all the people trying to pooh-pooh the London plot.

UPDATE: AP story here. Two positive tests and a hit from a bomb-sniffing dog.

UPDATE: Local Newspaper coverage from the Huntington Herald Dispatch.

UPDATE: Several television outlets are now reporting that this may have been makeup containers. But some sort of residue was present, it is unknown what the substance was or if there is some sort of false positive. Seems a bit odd that both a chemical test and a dog detected explosive, doesn't it?

UPDATE: Now the AP is reporting they found the woman's mother who had this to say:

The woman's mother told the Associated Press that her daughter, who is four months pregnant and lives in Barboursville, W.Va., was targeted because of her nationality and Islamic headcover.

"It was not only a false alarm, it was racial discrimination because there was nothing," Mian Qayyum said, refusing to name her daughter.

"She just had water to drink because she is pregnant and she had a face wash that had a drop of bleach on it," Qayyum said from her home in Jackson.

Bleach would not hit a positive on a check for nitrate nor get a dog interested.

Power Struggle Preview?

Is there a potential power struggle brewing in Cuba? It is very difficult to say at this point because the Cuban government has been staying mostly silent about what is going on at the moment. There are some signs that such an outcome is possible as Fidel and Raul Castro fade away (neither is exactly a young man). Reuters has a handy guide to some of the younger generation that fill the ranks below the old guard.

"The system can go on for some time, but it all depends still on the life of two old individuals," said a European diplomat, asking not to be identified by name.

Future leaders include long-time Castro confidant and parliament head Ricardo Alarcon, 69, Vice President Carlos Lage, 54, and pugnacious Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, 41, a staunch ideologue groomed for years by Fidel Castro.

"The Castro brothers have never anointed, or permitted, the emergence of a 'third man,"' said Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst and author of a recent book on the Castros.

"It has been one of the secrets of their success at holding on to power virtually unopposed on the island all these years. As Raul takes command he is no doubt concerned about precisely this problem," he added.

An influential military will play an even more decisive role in the selection of future leaders now that Defense Minister Raul Castro is at the helm, even though the Castro brothers insist that it is the Communist Party that, constitutionally, will lead the country.

In secretive Cuba, influence is exercised by generals, the 25 members of the "Politburo" who would choose a temporary Communist Party leader if Raul Castro were to become incapacitated, and the 30-member Council of State, which would select a temporary president under the same circumstances.

Cuba in July also established a new Communist Party executive committee. Most of its members are young up and coming stars in their 40s and 50s. Alarcon, Lage and Perez Roque are not on it.

There really isn't much more than a list of names and positions, but there may well be future leaders - or power players - in the group named above. Time will tell. Meanwhile, there are still a large number of political prisoners, including journalists, held in Cuban prisons. Val Prieto is spreading the word about a call for a mass burst of editorial support for those imprisoned journalists.

But tomorrow, as fellow independent journalists, you and I, we, all of us, can be their voices. We can use our own cozy blogs, our personal soapboxes, to help these fellow independent journalists, these now muted but one day when they are free to be future bloggers.

From Editor and Publisher:

IAPA Calls For Mass Editorials Urging Cuba To Free Journos

CHICAGO With Cuban President Fidel Castro apparently on the mend but still ceding power to his brother Raul, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) says now is the time for newspapers around the hemisphere to urge the immediate release of some two dozen imprisoned journalists, and an end to government harassment of the tiny independent press on the island.

IAPA is suggesting newspapers publish the commentary simultaneously on Friday Aug. 18.

We have a chance tomorrow to help some peers we've never met. Fellow independent journalists in dire need. Please, do what you can. Write about them on your blogs and webpages. Write your local media. Send out emails, make phone calls. Get the word out.

Speak for those whose speech has been systematically stifled and whose names - so you can meet them personally - are below the fold.

Help if you can.

UPDATE: Well, well, well. From the comments, Go Pundit Go provides some VERY interesting information indeed.

Lately, Reuters has come under fire from bloggers and media watch-dog groups for running manipulated photos of the Hezbollah/Israeli conflict in Lebanon. Now, adding damage to its already waning credibility is the revelation that Havana-based Reuters correspondent Marc Frank is a former writer for the People’s Daily World, a Communist Party USA publication.

In Frank’s little-known 1993 book, “Cuba Looks to the Year 2000,” he admits having written over 1,000 articles for the communist publication as their Havana-based Latin American correspondent during a five year period in the 1980’s. According to its website, the publication (which has since changed its name to the People’s Weekly World) shares a “special relationship” with the Communist Party USA:

The PWW is known for its partisan coverage. We take sides — for truth and justice. We are partisan to the working class, racially and nationally oppressed peoples, women, youth, seniors, international solidarity, Marxism and socialism. We enjoy a special relationship with the Communist Party USA, founded in 1919, and publish its news and views.

It also appears that Reuters may be pulling Mr. Frank's articles from its website. (Links removed, see Go Pundit Go for more.)

Anti-War, Anti-Business, Anti-Poor

The veer to the left of the Democrats is accelerating. Now there is a concerted effort to vilify Wal-Mart going on in the Democratic party. The politicians believe they have a good populist strategy in turning Wal-Mart into the bad guy. Never mind that the biggest beneficiaries of Wal-Mart's pricing are the poor. Never mind that forcing wages and benefits higher leads to higher prices that the poorer people will get hit with disproportionately. Never mind that Chicago is forcing much needed jobs inside the city away by passing "living wage" legislation.

The focus on Wal-Mart is part of a broader strategy of addressing what Democrats say is general economic anxiety and a growing sense that economic gains of recent years have not benefited the middle class or the working poor.

Their alliance with the anti-Wal-Mart campaign dovetails with their emphasis in Washington on raising the minimum wage and doing more to make health insurance affordable. It also suggests they will go into the midterm Congressional elections this fall and the 2008 presidential race striking a populist tone.

Some Democrats expressed concern about the direction the party was heading, saying it could turn back efforts by such party leaders as former President Bill Clinton to erase the image of the party as anti-business and scare off corporations that might be inclined to make contributions.

Still, what is striking about this campaign is the ideological breadth of the Democrats who have joined in, including some who in the past have warned the party against appearing hostile to business interests.

Yeah, bandwagons are like that. Politicians like to jump on them when they think it might bring in a few bucks. What is painfully obvious is that the backfire of this strategy is already forming.

Yet there are clear risks for Democrats, not least in alienating Wal-Mart employees and customers.

Wal-Mart has begun a counterattack. In interviews on Wednesday, company executives warned that they would alert their 1.3 million American employees to the anti-Wal-Mart campaign. They also pointed to a poll the company financed that reported that Americans were generally supportive of the company.

“There is far more evidence to show that this short-sighted political strategy will backfire than that it will actually work,” said Mona Williams, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart Stores. “We believe our associates vote, and it is our responsibility to let them know when a politician speaks out for or against our company.”

The Democrats are playing with fire on this issue, but they appear to be intent on playing to the left wing and to the union leadership (the campaign may not sit well with the rank and file, however). The unions are, of course, the chief sponsors of the campaign:

The criticism has become more intense as Wal-Mart has grown into an increasingly major influence on the American economy and culture. For example, there is an ongoing cross-country bus tour, now in Iowa, organized by Wake Up Wal-Mart, a union-financed group highly critical of the retailer. The campaign includes news conferences with elected leaders in 19 states, may be the most ambitious tactic to date.

Wake Up Wal-Mart’s communications director, Chris Kofinis, said a large cast of Democratic candidates was joining the rallies. They include candidates in Senate races in Ohio and Maryland, and the governor’s race in Maryland, where Wal-Mart’s practices have been the subject of a legislative battle. “Who can disagree with the proposition that corporations should provide affordable health care, pay decent wages, protect American jobs and help provide a safe and just workplace?” Mr. Kofinis said.

Ms. Williams, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the rallies would not resonate with voters. Democrats, she said, were “attending a union-sponsored protest with small crowds of faithful union activists, and there is not a swing vote in sight.’’

I rather suspect Williams is correct here. The groups that are attending are party faithful. It may play well with activists, but is really unlikely to be well received by the people who work and shop at Wal-Mart and count on the low prices to help them make ends meet or that much-maligned $10 per hour job that they need.

Top Al Quaeda Suspect Nabbed In Pakistan

Pakistani authorities have announced the arrest of a top al Qaeda commander believed to have been in close contact with Ayman al Zawahiri, the number two man in the organization. This man is suspected of being one of the masterminds behind the plan broken up in London.

A senior al Qaeda commander allegedly tied to the London airplane bomb plot has been arrested in Pakistan, Pakistani intelligence and law enforcement officials have told ABC News. Matiur Rehman, one of the most wanted men in Pakistan, is known to have met with the alleged plot ringleader Rashid Rauf, according to the officials.

Rehman’s capture could provide the most important leads in months to the whereabouts of Al Qaeda’s top two leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri. Rehman was believed to be in frequent contact with Zawahiri. 

Rehman was taken into custody in the southern Punjab city of Bawalpur, the same town where alleged London plot ringleader Rashid Rauf was arrested last week. ABC News saw a copy of the police report on Rehman, with an attached copy of his photo.   

Pakistani officials told ABC News earlier that 29-year Rehman was known to be planning a terror spectacular to mark the fifth anniversary of the 9/ll attacks, and the London plot may have been it.

ABC News consultant Alexis Debat, a terrorism expert at the Nixon Center in Washington D.C., says, "[Rehman] is the interface between al Qaeda's leadership and thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Pakistani militants who are able to provide the muscle for al Qaeda's operations not only in Pakistan but around the world."

This sounds like a very big deal.

Woman Facing Charges

The woman who caused a flight from London To Washington to be diverted to Boston will be facing charges for her actions. It does appear she had banned items in her carry on bag - which says that the security crackdown is not quite working as well as it should. Her behavior as described in the article today was extremely odd.

Catherine Mayo, of Braintree, Vt., muttered incoherently, occasionally saying "Pakistan," as she paced up and down the aisle of United Flight 923 on Wednesday, passengers said. She was eventually tackled by two plainclothes men and flight attendants, who threw her to the ground and handcuffed her, passengers said.

Her behavior — just a week after London authorities said they foiled a terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights — caused the pilot to declare and emergency. The flight, with 182 passengers and 12 crew members, was diverted and escorted by two F-15s into Boston's Logan International Airport, federal officials said.

Federal authorities said there was no indication that terrorism was involved in the disturbance.

There were different versions throughout the day from law enforcement and government officials on what Mayo was carrying on board the plane. But all quickly agreed that the woman and any items she was carrying were not connected to terrorism.

On Wednesday, George Naccara, security director for the Transportation Security Administration for Massachusetts' airport, had specifically denied she was carrying a screwdriver or any liquids such as Vaseline.

On Thursday, Gail Marcinkiewicz, spokeswoman for the FBI in Boston, confirmed on Thursday that Mayo, a U.S. citizen, was carrying banned items in her carry-on bag, including a screwdriver, an unspecified number of cigarette lighters and matches.

Mayo was held in federal custody overnight and was expected to be charged Thursday with interfering with a flight crew.

She appears to have been making frequent trips to the bathroom and appeared extremely agitated. One wonders exactly how she managed to get to England in the first place. She certainly scared heck out of the other passengers. The crew as well, I'd imagine.

UPDATE: Affadavits filed about the incident indicate that the woman was not restrained as early as she might have been. Her actions were bizarre in the extreme. He public defender all but said she's insane. One of her charming activities was to urinate on the floor of the cabin. Her son describes her as a "peace activist".

Later during the flight, according to the affidavit, Mayo asked a flight attendant: "Is this a training flight for United Flight 93?" The flight attendant didn't know if she made a mistake because the flight was actually Flight 923, or if she was referring to Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11.

She was "biting her fingers, rubbing her feet and in a constant state of movement. She appeared very agitated," the affidavit said.

She also wrote in a note and said to flight attendants that she had been in a country illegally, and later said she had photographs of Pakistan.

"She stated that the photographs would be awful, and she indicated that they related to the people that she had been with in the mountains of Pakistan," the affidavit said.

Flight attendants summoned the captain, who spoke to Mayo. During the conversation, she made reference to there being "six steps to building some unspecified thing."

"She made reference to being with people associated with two words. She stated that she could not say what the two words were because the last time that she had said the two words she had been kicked off of a flight in the United Arab Emirates," according to the affidavit.

The captain and purser both believed that she was referring to al-Qaida, Choldin wrote.

About 35 minutes later, when she tried to go to the bathroom, the flight attendants directed her to a different lavatory. Instead, she pulled down her pants and urinated on the floor, Choldin wrote in the affidavit, which was based on his interviews and those of other federal officials.

At that point, the captain ordered her restrained. Two male passengers helped a flight attendant tackle Mayo and restrain her in plastic cuffs.

I'm surprised he waited that long.

Must Have Taken A Wrong Turn At Albuquerque

A Turkish charter pilot manged to land her airplane at the wrong Polish airport. 

The plane, a Boeing 737 operated by Turkish charter airline company Sky, was bringing tourists back from holidays. It was supposed to land at the civilian airport of Poznan-Lawica at 7:50pm (17:50 GMT).

Instead it touched down at the Krzesiny military airfield, some 15 kilometres (10 miles) away on the other side of Poznan.

The female pilot was questioned by anti-terrorist security forces and border guards. She "explained that she must have made a mistake," said Bogdan Sobczak, head of the local border police.

The pilot maintains that her instruments showed that everything was just peachy. The aircraft was allowed to takeoff and go to the correct airport and has since returned to Turkey.

This story just brought this particular cartoon character to mind. 43 days going in a circle…….. (And of course, the post title comes from this rather famous character.)

Murtha Lies, LA Times Provides Cover

Patterico has made a direct inquiry to General Hagee's office to confirm when the Marine briefed John Murtha. Murtha first made has execrable statements about the accused marines on May 17th and repeated them endlessly. The LA Times and the Philadelphia Enquirer both have said that Hagee briefed Murtha before he made his comments. Unfortunately for Murtha, the general's office has specifically stated, with no ambiguity whatsoever, that the first briefing did not occur until the week after Murtha shot his mouth off. The LA Times, however, will not admit its mistake. Patterico:

But when I wrote the L.A. Times Readers’ Representative, she insisted that The Times’s report had been accurate, despite my having provided her with evidence to the contrary, including the Reuters story. Some suggested that Reuters might have gotten the story wrong, or overlooked an angle. So I contacted Gen. Hagee’s office directly.

I heard back yesterday from the Public Affairs Officer for the Commandant. She directly contradicted the L.A. Times’s version of the facts — but declined to criticize the article specifically. Here is her statement:

While it would not be appropriate to comment on any particular press article, I can confirm that the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Michael Hagee, provided a progress update on the Haditha investigations to Congressional leaders, to include Rep. Murtha, on May 24, 2006.

In a follow-up phone call, she confirmed that May 24 was the first progress update Gen. Hagee gave Murtha and others. I specifically asked her whether May 24 was the first time Gen. Hagee spoke to Congressman Murtha about Haditha, and she said “yes.” So Hagee first briefed Murtha on Haditha on May 24 — a solid week after May 17, when Murtha first accused Marines of killing civilians “in cold blood.” Yet the L.A. Times specifically said that Hagee had briefed Murtha first, and Murtha “later” made his “in cold blood” accusation.

What is quite apparent is that Murtha was lying when he told the Inquirer that the information had come from Hagee. The man is a disgrace to his office and to the people he is supposed to be representing in Congress. What is also apparent is that the LA Times is willing to wreck its own reputation to provide cover for Murtha. Well, what's left of its reputation, anyway.

Diana Irey could use your support if you are as disgusted with Murtha as I am. You can donate through Rightroots.

Lieberman Leading

The latest poll has Lieberman leading by 11 points, due to strong support from unaffiliated voters and even Republicans. Although it appears a number of Democrats have shifted support, as was to be expected, Lamont is still trailing badly.

The Quinnipiac University poll has Lieberman leading Lamont among registered voters 49 percent to 38 percent. Republican Alan Schlesinger gets support from 4 percent. Among likely voters, Lieberman was supported by 53 percent, compared to Lamont's 41 percent and Schlesinger's 4 percent.

Lieberman, a nationally known centrist who has been criticized by many Democrats for supporting the war in Iraq and a perceived closeness to President Bush, lost the Aug. 8 Democratic primary by 10,000 votes. Political pundits say the primary was evidence of voters' frustration with the war and predict it could have national political ramifications.

Lieberman's advantage in the general election comes from broad support among unaffiliated and Republican voters. Fifty-three percent of likely voters polled said he deserves to be re-elected, and nearly half doubted that Lamont, a political novice who founded a company that wires college campuses for cable television, has enough experience to be senator.

"Senator Lieberman's support among Republicans is nothing short of amazing. It more than offsets what he has lost among Democrats," poll director Douglas Schwartz said. "As long as Lieberman maintains this kind of support among Republicans, while holding a significant number of Democratic votes, the veteran senator will be hard to beat."

Lamont, however, is improving since a July 20 Quinnipiac poll. In that survey of registered voters, he trailed Lieberman 51 percent to 27 percent with Schlesinger getting 9 percent. The latest poll quizzed both registered voters and voters likely to cast ballots; the July 20 poll only questioned registered voters.

This really is shaping up to be the worst bit of strategic thinking pulled off in recent memory. I have maintained that this was a foolish fight to pick at an astonishingly bad moment to try it. In an Opinion Journal piece yesterday, Lamont came across as very sincere and very naive. I don't think that bodes really well for the man's candidacy.

By every available metric, the "stay the course" strategy in Iraq is not a winning strategy. Changing course is neither extreme nor weak; it is essential for our national security.

We start with the strongest, best-trained military in the world, and we'll keep it that way. But here's how we'll get stronger by changing course. We must work closely with our allies and treat the rest of the world with respect. We must implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and put in place real protections for ports, airports, nuclear facilities and public transit.

All platitudes and talking points - people don't respond well to that at all.