(1)
Did George Bush inadvertently construct his own political epitaph yesterday?

…you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq.

(2)
Maybe you have wondered why Bush did nothing about Middle East peace for the first 7 years of his presidency? Well, now we know. There was no need to. Because ten months is plenty of time to achieve peace in the Middle East. Plenty of time even if we make sure we take one step back for every two steps forward:

With only 10 months left in his term and Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed over renewed violence, President Bush said Tuesday there is “plenty of time” to get a Mideast peace deal before he leaves.

“This is a process that always has two steps forward and one step back,” Bush said after meeting at the White House with Jordan’s King Abdullah II. “We just need to make sure that it’s just one step back.”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the region this week trying to rescue peace negotiations from a low point.

Yesterday I said of Condi and Bush: “they understand diddly squat about the Middle East and they understand diddly squat about peace.”

I would like to take that back today. And replace it by: “they understand diddly squat about diddly squat.”