Flogging a dead horse. Here's another example of a story moving from the left wing noise machine. a few days ago the Daily Kos suggested that the forged Bush memos originated with Karl Rove and passed through a conservative reporter using the name Gannon. Now, according to Little Green Footballs, this theory has been picked up by Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY). His proof? Well, if Bush actually was a draft-dodger then this would have helped him therefore it must be true.

Had Hinchey bothered studying Bush's record he would know that:

1. There was no waiting line for fighter pilots so Bush did not need help getting into the TANG.
2. Bush inquired about serving in Viet Nam but didn't have enough flight time.
3. By the time Bush requested an early discharge, the TANG had a surplus of pilots and was glad to get rid of Bush.

But he would prefer to keep spreading unfounded speculation as fact.

There's an article on TechCentralStation on the roll of the loyal opposition. The Democrats plan to pursue what they see as a Gingrich strategy - opposing everything that Bush proposes. They have threatened to "break the back" of any Democrat who dares to compromise with Bush.

The article points out that this was only half of Gingrich's strategy. The other half was a long list of ideas - some good and some bad. The Democrats have nothing like a Contract With America to offer, only the status quo.

This reminds me of Kerry's strategy on Iraq. During the Fall he kept insisting that Bush had done the right thing but in the wrong way and that he would do better. How? He could never give a specific. We were simply asked to trust him.

(After the election he finally came up with a specific, that Bush shouldn't have used Saddam's army to keep order. He probably did not suggest this during the campaign because it is easily shot down.)

In the strange world of politics, "conservatives" are now the idea people and "liberals" are the ones fighting change.

My mother heard Hillary making positive statements on the war in Iraq. Hillary is trying to position herself as the moderate successor to Bill. This may work although she was always rumored to be to his left. More importantly, Howard Dean made his big splash in 2003 y running against Clinton moderation. Will the Democrats be willing to nominate a moderate candidate in 2008 or will they insist on another liberal? We will not know for another four years.

In the meantime, there are a couple (here and here) of Condi for President sites. I don't know if a black woman Republican can win but the country could do worse.

It's hard to gauge Colin Powell's success as Secretary of State. Clinton's two appointees were so bad that anyone looks good in comparison. I think that Powell did a fairly good job. Relations with China were terrible in 2001 and they are much better now. For a while it seemed like India and Pakistan were going to nuke each other and he calmed them down. Libya shut down its nuclear program.

Still, the initial reaction to Condi is to treat her as a superstar. Reportedly she already smoothed relations with Europe. Also, with Powell, there was always the chance that Bush might undercut him. That is unlikely with Rice.

Powell was a political appointee - his appointment made Bush look good in 2001. Rice, on the other hand, is one of his closest confidants. It should be interesting to see how the next few years go.