Although the discomfiture of the Republican Party delights any partisan of the opposing party, after the laughing dies down it seems quite clear to me that Senator Craig should not resign. Indeed, Democrats ought to make themselves quite clear on this topic.

I've read enough of the transcript to conclude that the police shouldn't have arrested him; conduct in question -- no words expressed, no assault of any kind -- shouldn't be criminalized; Senators shouldn't be driven from office for such minor offenses; the Constitution may bar such arrests.

So why aren't those who believe in law and tolerance standing up for (even) Senator Craig?

Check out the Vanity Fair piece and ask yourself, why do these reporters, having committed this atrocity of coverage, still have jobs? If they were lawyers or doctors, the malpractice claims would have driven them out of the profession. If they were politicians they'd have more accountability than they have now, and that's saying something. And anyone would have more remorse than they show, even with the benefit of hindsight.

There are a lot of reporters I know and respect, but I will never forget the one (not named in VFair, which listed only some of the perpetrators) who put down his pen after a long and cruel interview about my friend and high school classmate Al Gore, and explained that he was so hard on Al because "we expect more from Gore; he knows what to do but just won't show leadership. He just lacks courage to say what he believes."

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Chris Hill of State has cut a deal with North Korea: they will give up the a-bomb for food and oil. It's a bit more complicated than that, but apparently even if they are "evil" we don't have to invade to accomplish our goals.

Why the new approach (same as the Clinton approach, basically) to NK doesn't apply to the Middle East is something Secretary Rice ought to be examining; why in that strife-torn region are we spending hundreds of billions on weapons and war and so little on infrastructure, economic development, education, or anything else useful? It's long past time to insist that the violence must end before we can create jobs or hope. The lesson that butter precedes guns applies not just to Iraq but to all the Middle East. Such is the lesson of North Korea, and the "surge" does not contradict it.