It isn’t only a dog that can be a boy’s best friend.

Legal Fiction has an excellent post on why Democrats are responding the way they are to the Bush administration, and why Bush’s poll numbers aren’t going to break out of the 40s any time soon. As a Duke fan, I protest the specific analogy he makes (and it only took us 54 seconds to erase that 10 point lead), but still, good post.

Has the momentum finally shifted toward withdrawing the troops? Things look grim for the “stay the course” crowd.

…has confused many, but perhaps the secret underlying it has been discovered.

Red State suggests there is…

A dramatic political development in the House. UPDATE: His most peppery comments are aimed at Vice President Dick Cheney and you can already hear the Discrediting Machine revving up when you read this New York Times piece: Mr. Murtha, a 73-year-old Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam combat, lashed back at Vice President Dick Cheney, who in a speech to a conservative group on Wednesday night condemned critics of...

It’s far too long to post here at TMV in its entirety, but I’ve done a round-up of blog reaction to the Woodward revelation and the latest Plamegame news over at The Reaction. You can find it here. One little game I’m starting: Robert Redford played Woodward in the great All the President’s Men. If a movie were made about The Plame Game, who would play him now?

…the dog must have eaten the homework.

It’s official: Pajamas Media, has now been launched but they’ve axed the old name for the new name Open Source Media (TMV doesn’t even OWN pajamas). But a new controversy has erupted over whether they’ve usurped someone else’s name. Read what the original Open Source Media has to say about that. Then explore the many links on this post and you’ll see lots of comment on this...

An intriguing look at a still-simmering crisis that is being derailed in the U.S. media as it turns (as always) to the latest controversy can be found in THIS POST by Donklephant‘s Cicero. A small part of it 4 U: France’s reaction to the unrest in its cites — amounting to more methadone for the addicts — has lead me to conclude that social democracy cannot fundamentally tackle militant...

Talkers Magazine has published a ratings-based list of the top talk show hosts. As expected, at the top of the heap is conservative talker Rush Limbaugh. The top progressive host is Ed Schultz. See the list HERE.

Last week, I posted on the story of the possible use of white phosphorus as a weapon by U.S. forces in Iraq, specifically in Fallujah. Essentially, the story originated with a documentary broadcast by Italy’s RAI TV network. It was then picked up by the BBC, The Independent, and The Christian Science Monitor. That post elicited some excellent comments from readers and I invite you to check it out —...

Read this and you’ll see. (Sometimes he inserts things that help the average voter as well).

Apparently President George Bush’s poll numbers have not bottomed out yet. But Democrats shouldn’t take heart: the public holds them in low regard, too: President Bush’s positive job rating continues to fall, touching another new low for his presidency, the latest Harris Interactive poll finds. Bush’s current job approval rating stands at 34%, compared with a positive rating of 88% soon...

A centrist GOPer calls for new leadership.

Can you guess who can complicate her march to the 2008 Democratic nomination by throwing some political rocks in her path? No. It’s not Dennis Kucinich. It’s this guy.

From The Silverwood Institute Soldiers killed daily, Bombs exploding ev’rywhere, Condi Rice sees progress. Markets are booming, Economic growth is brisk, So whose got my job? Cherry blossoms fall And season follows season; Don Rumsfeld remains. Congress cuts taxes, Federal deficits soar, What¹s the connection? Should Beltway makers Of really bad policies Commit sepuku? ©2005 The Silverwood...

Vice President Dick Cheney is now so far down in the polls that he should beware of sniffing dogs. But that hasn’t stopped the administration from sending him out as the attack dog to go after Democrats for allegedly “rewriting history” on Iraq: “Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favor of authorizing force against Saddam...

Especially if you’re a prosecutor blogging under a fake name and making snarky comments about judges: NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) — The author of a sassy blog about the federal judiciary, “Underneath Their Robes,” is no longer cloaked in mystery, and it turns out it’s a federal prosecutor. The writer of the Web log, which had humorous references to judges as “hotties” and...

And a fat man will slide down your chimney this Christmas, too… I studied Harry Truman, I read Harry Truman, I watched the TV show in the 60s with Harry Truman, I did term papers on Harry Truman and he’s no Harry Truman…

SurveyUSA has released its November polling (accidentally perhaps — you must click each state’s tracking graph to see the new numbers), and once again, the situation looks grim for the President. A majority of voters in only three states — Utah, Idaho and Wyoming — approve of the President, with Bush scoring exactly a 50 percent approval rating in Mississippi. Voters in Nebraska and Oklahoma...

A new mini-firestorm is raging over the Los Angeles Times’ decision to show liberal columnist Robert Scheer the door. Here’s part of the newspaper’s explanation: Assessing the merits of a column, like assessing the merits of a movie, is a subjective exercise, so readers can agree to disagree over the wisdom of our decision. It’s inaccurate, however, to ascribe ideological motives to our...

He’s a good man and, here, he’s absolutely right: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) strongly criticized yesterday the White House’s new line of attack against critics of its Iraq policy, saying that “the Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. MORE: To question your government...

From Andrew Sullivan: What strikes me in the numbers is not so much the slightly waning GOP support for Bush and the intense Democratic opposition, but the shift among Independents. Last October, in response to the question: “Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with President Bush on the issues that matter most to you,” 46 percent of Indies agreed with Bush and 50 percent disagreed: a pretty...

Tom Watson looks at the subject HERE in a must-read. One small quote 4 U: When we are reduced to defending torture by the standards of our enemies, we fail the grandest of our national ambitions and our arrogance looks weak and pitiful…The terrible irony in this defense of torture by the Bush Administration is that these men came to power through the efforts of a coalition of Christians. And yet our western...