Democrats have proven that they can intelligently frame an issue about a place nobody visits, since they have consistently shut down Republican efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). When people hear ANWR, they think of caribou. There's a reason they do, and that reason is because Democrats successfully framed the issue (for once). Protecting streams for fishing is another image they could be just as successfully utilizing to show the American public the face of the Republican Party, up close and personal.

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The White House even tried to stop Petraeus from testifying before Congress in the open (as opposed to a secret hearing), until they noticed that the law specifically said that he would be made available to Congress for testimony in both "open" and "closed" settings. The White House quickly backpedaled on that one, thankfully, which means that both Petraeus and Crocker will indeed be answering Congress' questions in public, in open hearings.

I'm actually kind of surprised President Bush didn't try to claim executive privilege, which seems to be his knee-jerk reaction to anyone testifying before Congress. Even if Bush thought he'd eventually lose in court, it would take months if not years to resolve, just like all his other executive privilege claims

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. . . The military, meanwhile, is apparently beginning to plan for a withdrawal from Iraq. Yes, that's right -- beginning to plan. From the AP article: "The military has not yet developed a plan for a substantial withdrawal of forces next year."

Hmm... that's strange, considering Hillary Clinton's war of letters with the Pentagon not too long ago. She politely asked, you will recall, to see the Pentagon's withdrawal plans for Iraq. The Pentagon responded that she was aiding the enemy by even asking for such a thing. Then the new Secretary of Defense apologized to her and told her that of course the Pentagon had plans for withdrawal, since they plan for every contingency (ignoring the fact that we're still stuck in Iraq precisely because they failed to plan for such a contingency as an insurgency).

But now the Pentagon admits that they haven't yet developed a plan for withdrawal? So which is it? And did the Secretary of Defense lie to Senator Clinton?

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It isn't all that often that a political tactician at Karl Rove's level gives you a sneak preview of their campaign strategy, but that's exactly what happened on Meet The Press yesterday. Democratic candidates should marshal their arguments against these talking points, because they're going to need them next year.

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There are a number of other cases pending which also deal with dissenting opinions being expressed at presidential appearances, and the fact that the Bush Administration has settled one of these for $80,000 is certainly good news for these cases, and for the First Amendment. I have written before about the ACLU's evidence in one of these cases, a heavily-redacted copy of the "Presidential Advance Manual," which shows a clear White House policy of unconstitutional disdain for such opposing viewpoints.

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I don't get no respect. I played hide-and-seek, and they wouldn't even look for me.
-- Rodney Dangerfield

Wyoming Republicans must know how Rodney feels. They attempted to get some media attention (and some attention from the candidates) by passing an impossibility into law, but nobody noticed. No respect indeed.

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The irony is that whoever wins the upcoming September battle in Congress will likely lose in next year's elections, because the American public will not like the outcome -- no matter which political party wins the debate in Congress.

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There are two parts to the Petraeus-is-trustworthy spin: that he's competent and knows what he's doing, and that he's not political and not partisan. But when you examine the evidence, this fantasy falls apart.

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