In a related story, while our soldiers are fighting and dying to establish a democracy in Iraq, press photgraphers were banned from taking photos during Bush's historic speech.

Perhaps the reason Bush is having such a difficult time establishing a democracy in Iraq is because he has such a hard time understanding the concept in the first place.

In the first place, of course, comparing the Cretin of Crawford with Lincoln is absurd and obscene.

In the second place, the statement that Lincoln "didn't listen to his generals" reflects either monumental ignorance of Civil War history or monumental indifference to the truth.

Lincoln reluctantly removed a few generals (McClellan and Hooker, for example) who proved incompetent, but for the most part he respected and deferred to his generals' judgment in military matters. He understood that they were professionals in this area and he was an amateur.

Because, you see, along with other qualities — intelligence, integrity, honor — that Lincoln possessed and Commander Blinky lacks, Lincoln possessed humility.

Uh, what were they doing before then?

That's almost as good as NSA advisor Fran Townsend's comment that the failure to catch Osama is a "success that hasn't occured".