Okay, I'll admit it, last night's All-Star game was a great, crisply played ballgame. And there does seem to be some validity in saying that there was a connection to the fact that "this time it counts!" Clearly, the managers were thinking a lot more about good match-ups late in the game rather than getting all the players in (six players sat the whole game for each team). And the Rocket threw a verbal bouquet to Bud Selig, saying that he accepted the extremely short-notice invitation to pitch only because it might help the Yanks in the fall.

And Jorge IV got to make another entrance.

Selig throws so much crap against the wall, of course every once in a while something's going to stick.

And I also have to admit that, in the last week of October, with the Yankees down 3 games to 2 against the Giants (this is a prediction, folks), I'll be thanking a rookie third basemen for the perennial loser Texas Rangers for letting 'em play games 6 and 7 in the Bronx.

*****

I guess Gen. Abizaid didn't get the memo.

In the days prior to the war in Iraq, it appeared that the administration wasn't making serious plans for post-war contingencies and wasn't taking seriously the concerns of the uniformed guys in the Pentagon -- you know, the guys who have been nation-building quite a bit over the past 10 years. But it was just appearance, right? Nope, Knight-Ridder has a devastating story that the appearance was the appalling reality.

So now we're in a truly appalling reality. The casualties are starting to be less acceptable to the public, it seems. NPR's "Morning Edition" did a powerful obit of Edward Herrgott, a soldier from Minnesota, this morning (scroll down to find the audio link). At the end of the story, the man's aunt says, "Last week, President Bush said 'bring it on.' Well, they brought it on and now my nephew's dead."

But maybe they're learning that exaggeration can be politically dangerous (thanks to talking points memo for the link). Bolten, Cheney's mole in the State Dept., was going to make the case before Congress that now it's Syria who are pointing a nuclear gun at our temple. It seems that the rank and file at the CIA are now more emboldened to say bull*#$! to the Bushies, even as their boss, George Tenet, gets more and more malleable.

TAPPED has an interesting piece on why Howard Dean isn't going to help us kick the bums out. I just haven't figured out the appeal of Dean. A quick look at his record suggests that, beyond being pro-gay marriage and anti-war in Iraq, he's not all that liberal. I realize the McCain straight-talk approach is appealing and that, frankly, the other candidates have been a bit blurred, but I have a feeling that when Karl Rove reads about Dean he grins and rubs his hands together.

Even more baffling is the left's love of Kucinich. I don't think a resume that includes race-baiting congressmen and helping to bankrupt Cleveland makes for an attractive candidate. Figures that Ralph Nadar, the Ross Perot of the Democratic Party, likes him.

The left always felt betrayed by Clinton (just as the righty wing nuts of the Republican party felt betrayed by Bush I), and they have been taking their revenge out on the DLC every since. Clinton, to them, was the epitome of Republicrat-ism, moving the party rightward. So they took it out on Gore in 2000 and they'll take it out on whoever wins the nomination next year, by supporting Nadar, or not voting, or whatever.

I don't care if the Democrats elect a talking monkey next summer in Boston. Bush simply must not be the POTUS anymore. Get with the program, already! After the right abandoned Bush I, the Republicans didn't respond with a right-wing firebrand. Eight years later they got Bush II, with his espousal of "compassionate conservatism." The right got what they wanted as he winked and grinned at them, but with a softer, more center right face. We now have an extremely rightwing administration as a result. The Democrats must relearn the lessons of Clinton and remember that we can't win on every issue, but we must win back power. And it's going to take better, more broadly appealing candidates than Dean or Kucinich to do that.

Funny thing, though. I recall writing a note to a friend back during Gulf War I in which I also said I'd vote for a talking monkey instead of G.H.W. Bush (when he looked invulnerable). And remember who turned up?

Defeating Bush is vital. Here are some reasons why.

Corrections: A devoted reader -- actually Mrs. Cura -- points out that I've been writing about Nigeria as the alleged source of the uranium referenced in Bush's SoU speech, when in fact it is Niger. Appreciate the note and I've corrected it.

Of course, it occurs to me that that's one defense the Bushies haven't tried: "We meant to say Nigeria, not Niger!"