Bill Kristol:

Here, judging from the debate, is what the 2008 Democratic nominee is likely to be for. Abroad: ensuring defeat in Iraq and permitting a nuclear Iran. At home: more illegal immigration, higher taxes, more government control of health care, and more aggressive prosecution of the war on smoking than of the war on terror. And this is only a bit of an exaggeration. Going into last night, I had no great expectations of the Democratic field. But the level of routine irresponsibility demonstrated throughout the debate was jaw-dropping. Bush may remain unpopular, and the Republican "brand" unattractive. But I believe the toughness of Giuliani, the sobriety of Thompson, the gravitas of McCain--any of these would be very difficult for the Democratic nominee to overcome.

When change occurs, sometimes it's a big one:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons could destabilize the world and lead to war, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the United Nations on Tuesday.
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In his maiden speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Sarkozy said: "There will be no peace in the world if the international community falters in the face of nuclear arms proliferation."

Iran was entitled to nuclear power for civilian purposes, he said, "but if we allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, we would incur an unacceptable risk to stability in the region and in the world".

In a broader warning against the dangers of appeasement, the new French leader said: "Weakness and renunciation do not lead to peace. They lead to war."

Red State:

"...the most important reason is that "money talks." How many alumni of Jewish descent threatened to pull the plug on the institution? How many veterans who saw their band of brothers killed at the hands of Iranian terrorists protested? How many supporters of the university who experienced little pain directly from the Iranian monster, but had abundant enough common sense to not tolerate such a choice by the university?"

One word describes why: Money

Bollinger knew he and the school were going to lose a lot of it, and that's why he beat up on the Iranian despot.

It likes Iranian President Ahmadinejad, but it really doesn't like the U.S. military.

Charles Krauthammer:

Iran's assets in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq are poised and ready. Ahmadinejad's message is this: If anyone dares attack our nuclear facilities, we will fully activate our proxies, unleashing unrestrained destruction on Israel, moderate Arabs, Iraq and U.S. interests -- in addition to the usual, such as mining the Strait of Hormuz and causing an acute oil crisis and worldwide recession.

This is an extremely high-stakes game. The time window is narrow. In probably less than two years, Ahmadinejad will have the bomb.

The world is not quite ready to acquiesce. The new president of France has declared a nuclear Iran " unacceptable." The French foreign minister warned that "it is necessary to prepare for the worst" -- and "the worst, it's war, sir."

Which makes it all the more urgent that powerful sanctions be slapped on the Iranian regime. Sanctions will not stop Ahmadinejad. But there are others in the Iranian elite who might stop him and the nuclear program before the volcano explodes. These rival elites may be radical, but they are not suicidal. And they believe, with reason, that whatever damage Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic folly may inflict upon the region and the world, on Crusader and Jew, on infidel and believer, the one certain result of such an eruption is Iran's Islamic republic buried under the ash.

If there is one thing that Hillary Clinton has proved during the last week and a half is this: She really is not the the perfect senator for New York, but the is the perfect senator for MoveOn.org. Thus, Hillary Clinton can be properly labeled Hillary Clinton (D.-MoveOn.org)

Really? You can always count on old Jimmy Carter to come up with a good one, completely at variance with reality. Carter must have missed the statement from Iran's deputy air force commander yesterday, who said Israel "is within range of Iran's medium-range missiles and bombers."

Most media is covering the psychopath O.J. Simpson, so you may have missed this:

TAMPA - A laptop computer deputies found when they pulled over two University of South Florida students in South Carolina contained a video made by one of the men showing how to use a toy to detonate a bomb remotely, a federal prosecutor said Friday.

On that video, the student, Ahmed Mohamed, said the detonator could "save one who wants to be a martyr for another day, another battle," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hoffer said.

The prosecutor said that video was posted by Mohamed on YouTube, a popular Web site.

Also on the laptop were "jihadi" images and footage of rockets used by Hamas, Hoffer said.

Although a judge granted bail for the other student, Youssef Megahed, prosecutors immediately appealed, delaying his release until at least next week. Mohamed waived his right to a bail hearing.

Hoffer disclosed the computer evidence Friday as he laid out the prosecution's case that Megahed should be denied bail because he is a danger to the community and a flight risk.

More here.

Yes, George W. Bush should indeed dare to nominate Ted Olson to the post of Attorney General.

Rudy's right on top of this one.

Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney should do the same thing.

***

Prof. Larry Sabato of the Univ. of VA was on Bill O'Reilly's radio show today, and wanted to know how to get a discount himself:

"I didn't know these rates were so flexible and variable, and I'll bet you that a lot of their other advertisers didn't know this, too."

If you're an advertiser that regularly runs expensive ads in the New York Times, you might just want to get in touch with their advertising department tomorrow and ask for one of those discounted prices. Tell them you want the MoveOn.org special.

And Rudy Giuliani is criticizing the Times.

Video here. One thing is clear: Fred is good on the stump. No doubt about that. Anyone who thinks he is too lethargic is not going to be credible after a performance like this. Just watch the crowd's response to him. I'd say he has game.

No condemnation yet from Hillary or Obama. Seems that they must agree with MoveOn. That is the only logical conclusion that one can draw.

John McCain issued the following statement today on the failure of the Democratic presidential candidates to condemn the unpatriotic (yes, I'm challenging its patriotism) MoveOn.Org's slander of Gen. David Petraeus:

"I remain deeply disappointed by the failure of leading Democrat presidential candidates to personally and publicly denounce the smear tactics used against General Petraeus by MoveOn.org. There is no greater slander to a soldier than an accusation of betrayal to his nation. I do not understand why those seeking to be commander-in-chief have yet to forcefully denounce, in their own words, this McCarthyite attack on our commander. I hope they would reconsider their silence and not let this slander of an exceptional American stand."

The President has no interest in picking an attorney general that the Democrats will consider to be acceptable. It won't gain him any points, as the Democrats are intent on destroying him politically all the way up to November 2008. The Democrats have no intention of accomodating the President, and therefore he doesn't need to attempt to pacify them.

The Democrats will be taking a big risk if they try to hold up a nominee after so vigorously pushing for the resignation of Alberto Gonzales. Let them squawk, squeal, complain and threaten if he picks a good, solid conservative for the position. It's highly unlikely that they will do anything other than that.

George W. Bush should use this occasion to nominate someone like Ted Olson and pick a good fight with the Democrats. It will energize the Republican base, and put Democrats on notice that Mr. Bush is not about to accomodate them when they seem so intent on creating such a poisonous political atmosphere purely for their own gain.

Howard Fineman:

Laconic by nature, and intent on proving his disdain for the mundane exertions of public life, he seemed half-asleep at times. Ambling onto the stage, he spoke in deep, almost mournful tones about terrorism, profligate spending and bureaucracy; about his Tennessee roots and his "core values." Then he ambled to the bus. The message: after the Clintons' personality pyrotechnics and Bush's Armageddon-every-minute thinking, maybe it is time for a grown-up who reads the fine print before he makes a decision. "Fred is comfortable in his own skin," says Haus, who is working for Thompson. Others were left cold. "He didn't excite the crowd," Cutshall complained. For conservative Republicans, however, maybe that is the most potent anti-Clinton pitch of all: hasn't the country had enough excitement for a while?