Some things are too horrible to be true. I'm just in awe at the actions of guys like Frank De Martini and Pablo Ortiz. Good men.

So much was lost that day. So much wasted. And what becomes so infuriating is remembering how much has been squandered by the Bush administration since then. Good will. Credibility as a a nation. Allies. Here's a piece I had not seen, by Wesley Clark, who reminds us how the war on terror cannot be won unilaterally. Thanks to TAPPED for the link. Will Clark run? No matter what, it's going to be ugly, and the more threatening the candidate, the nastier the products of the GOP attack machine.

Or is it the GIP? They're good at attacking, spin, and mandaciousness, but lousy at everything else. Thanks to Amy Sullivan for the link. Josh Marshall has been riffing similarly for months, but focused specifically on Dick Cheney and how everything he touches turns to shit.

Amy Sullivan also points us here, where we can Rate the Presidents!

"Still, even the government of a superpower can't simultaneously offer tax cuts equal to 15 percent of revenue, provide all its retirees with prescription drugs and single-handedly take on the world's evildoers — single-handedly because we've alienated our allies. In fact, given the size of our budget deficit, it's not clear that we can afford to do even one of these things. Someday, when the grown-ups are back in charge, they'll have quite a mess to clean up."

Can you imagine anyone in the Bush administration doing this?

*****

Baseball in Portland? Rob Neyer says it's not crazy. But I think funding a new ballpark is. Come to your senses Portlanders! There is no evidence that a major league team in a new ball park will provide jobs. There is no evidence that people will support a team in a new ball park if that team doesn't start winning, and fast. Geez, just ask the commiss about his own team!