Wednesday Super-Sized Post ...

Lock & load, baby ...

• WaPo: "Interventionism's Realistic Future" - Robert Kaplan
  No excerpt does this justice ... just read the whole thing.

• WaPo: "Lessons from the Saudis" - Ignatius
  I'm not sure which is sadder ... that Ignatius is looking to the Saudi royal government for solutions in Iraq, or that he's got a point. That aside, I'm not convinced that his hope for a solution to keeping Iraq intact is realistic. It also strikes me as odd that Ignatius recognizes that we cannot substitute our will for that of the Iraqis with regard to their security, but then turns around and suggests that Iraq's neighbors would do the very thing. There's a role for Middle Eastern nations to play in getting together, which most of the sane class of political observers realize has to happen. But I have a hard time seeing that stunt the fissures already in place. At best, it mitigates some of the worst aspects that might result from the dissolution of Iraq ... but within 20 years, it's hard to see Iraq remaining intact. Maybe (as opposed to "hopefully") far fewer than that, even.

• WaPo: "One Syllable of Civility" - Ruth Marcus
  Marcus has been growing on me lately ... but this is just a bit too vapid of a suggestion. Sure the history of "Democrat Party" as a derogatory term is mildly interesting (to be generous), but there's far more than adding one syllable to one word that would qualify George W. Bush as working in good faith with Democrats. My money's on him "staying the course." Betterment of the country be damned.

• Congrats to Marshall Wittmann, Joe Lieberman's new spokesmoose. I look forward to a much fiestier line of communication to come out of that office.

• Let the good times roll ...
  Hillary - 33%
  Barack Obama - 15%
  John Edwards - 14%
  Al Gore - 14%
  John Kerry - 7%
  Wes Clark - 4%
  Joe Biden - 3%
  Bill Richardson - 3%
  Evan Bayh - 2%
  Tom Vilsack - 1%

  I'm not of the opinion that Hillary's 33% is substantially firmer than Joltin' Joe's was four years back, but I don't think it's anywhere near as soft, either. My hunch is that there's at least 20% of that 33% that isn't going anywhere. And Obama easily has more upside potential than either Kerry or Gore. The rest of the pack is simply hoping that at least three of those folks bow out. Otherwise, it's all about running for VP, in which case they better be praying that Mark Warner runs for Senate in 2008.

  Seriously, if the ticket isn't Clinton-Warner, I'll be more than a little shocked. But hey, at least I confess my bias as a Hillary supporter. Reminds me, I did a bit of bookstore shopping last week. Picked out a whole row of books that I was behind on checking out. Among them was Obama's. If I might be so bold, I'd like to introduce a new word to describe his book that I haven't seen in many articles about the Senator: boring.

  I opted for "The Way to Win" by Halperin & Harris as it was a bit more professionally relevant in my case (assuming it translates down to the local level, that is). A few drabs of conventional wisdom-itis, but it more than makes up for it.

• Cripes, nothing new from the Holiday Congresswoman today? Damn these slow news cycles!

• Switching gears to Black Friday and the ensuing shopping season afterwards, I just want to point out that I'm still lacking a DVD of The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. I think I'm in the mood for a Turkey Day movie in front of a big screen, though. I'm ruling out Borat. Call me crazy, but I just don't get it and the comparisons to Andy Kaufman are ridiculously illfounded.

  For Your Consideration, on the other hand, looks like it can't miss. Harry Shearer ought to be good enough of a reason, but the entire Christopher Guest enseble is in tow as well. If I'm up for a doublebill, Bobby also begins that day.

• Playing somewhat contrapoint to Rick Moranis' Thanksgiving-themed sendup in the NY Times, I'll note one final lament prior to a day of thanks: Bo Outlaw is averaging only 7 minutes per game. This, truly, is a travesty. Still, it's a rather nice moment to recognize and tip the hat to a Coog that's lasted thirteen seasons in the NBA despite not even being drafted.

And of course, there's one day till Thanksgiving Day. Sadly, I'll be blogging up a storm since holidays tend to be very suitable for me to catch up on news, research, and other worthwhile endeavors. But if you're travelling, have a safe one. And whether you are or aren't, have a memorable one. And above all else, remember this one thing ...

Trojans Rule!