As noted by the AP:

U.S. military deaths from Iraq and Afghanistan now match those of the most devastating terrorist attack in America's history, the trigger for what came next. Add casualties from chasing terrorists elsewhere in the world, and the total has passed the Sept. 11 figure.

It should be stated, as the article does, that milestones like this are not the way we measure a war. That said, it perhaps would be somewhat less hard-hitting if any of us knew exactly why we were in Iraq in the first place...

Whenever an issue comes down to how it's going to be played in the news media, which is, essentially, what's going to happen here (Devon, in another post, notes the soon-to-come political ads), the Democrats lose.

Especially on an issue as "arcane" (as Dana Milbank characterized it on Olbermann's show the other night) as torture.

The only reason it's arcane, of course, is because the GOPs make it so, and journalists like Milbank fall right in line. It's not arcane -- it's simple: Do we use torture or not?

The way to beat the GOP and the media is stick to a simple message: Torture is bad, and the GOP supports torture.

Dems, I bet, won't do that.

They'll wrap themselves up in arguments about how they really are tough on terrorists, and how they voted against this GOP bill or that one, and how they put up a different bill but the GOPs didn't support it. We'll hear Joe Biden explain all this on Meet The Press. We'll see Barack Obama come out and tell everyone how the Dems need to start leading and how the Dems need to start acting tough and how the Dems need to start talking more about leading and acting tough.

Note to Dems: Nobody cares.

You're either for torture, or against it.

End of story. 

Now that we know MLK was a Republican, I've scoured the history books and found a few others:

George Washington

Albert Einstein

Steven Biko

Gandhi

John Lennon

Jesus Christ