Moreover, there is a bombshell accusation in her letter, though until there is evidence it will remain just an accusation. Namely, this veteran and other of a currently serving marine seems to have reason to believe that the contractors who corrupted our country's honor by introducing torture into interrogations may have actually influenced the SERE schools to be more harsh than perhaps necessary, in order to advance the use of such practices there as an excuse for the use of actual torture in the field.

This would be a bombshell development if it were true. It should be paid attention to if only to confirm that she is mistaken.

50% more likely was too high, though, no doubt. I would say it rose in my mind from a likelihood of 10% to, say, 35%. Still more unlikely than likely. But it definitely jumped. A good part of the jump, maybe two thirds, probably relates to what I thought about Obama before, and what this tells me (willingness to confront pressure, stick by his people/decisions, etc.) But some part of it relates to the reality of what this demonstration of power means for how future NIEs will be spun in the media, how emboldened American Israel hardliners will be because of it, and also simply what the NIEs will say. (That will depend partly on who replaces Freeman, but I don't imagine it will be more of a realist or questioner of U.S. support for what the Israel government wants than Chas Freeman would have been.)

Scenarios?

Is that the promise he campaigned on? I must have been listening to someone else.

The Dems do need seriously to assess this if the final margin is the 18 points at which it now stands. What they will find is that this is Obama's party in a big, big way.

For the record: even if it were winnable, the last thing Obama needed with a task on his hands like directing a presidential transition in the midst of the serious problems the country faces right now was to be ensconced in an at-best-uphill political battle in unfriendly territory that would have taken a good bit of the post-election bipartisan gloss off of his unity transition strategy.

Just a thought.

I still wonder why you think you know enough to proclaim what this guy should be thinking about in his business.

I guess it must be all that Kearns-Goodwin they've been reading. But doesn't the subordination problem come up just as much with State as it would have with VP?

[Our children] "could actually grow up perceiving our political system, and our leaders, as functional, effective, even sane."

...had John McCain been elected borders on the absurd.

The more interesting question is whether we could have said it had Hillary Clinton been elected.

***

On a lighter note: everyone do yourself a favor and pull up the video of Condoleeza Rice’s statement at the State Dept. briefing this morning. Just sit back and get a load of it. She’s absolutely beaming, almost despite herself. I don’t want to say she shouldn’t be proud at this moment regardless of party, but it makes you really wonder who she voted for. It’s something to behold.

***

On a lighter note: everyone do yourself a favor and pull up the video of Condoleeza Rice’s statement at the State Dept. briefing this morning. Just sit back and get a load of it. She’s absolutely beaming, almost despite herself. I don’t want to say she shouldn’t be proud at this moment regardless of party, but it makes you really wonder who she voted for. It’s something to behold.