“Bush, unlike Clinton [who recovered nicely when Dems lost control of Congress in ‘94], is in the middle of a bloody civil war, which can be ended only by the Iraqis themselves,” says David Broder, who thinks Bush shows signs of also recovering nicely.

But the war can be ended only by Iraqis?  Yes and no.  U.S. strategy says they need help in ending it, in addition to wanting to do so.

“There is going to be one question I’m not going to ask,” the Scooter Libby judge told the court, looking over questions submitted by jurors. “I’ve concluded that that question is not appropriate and therefore you should not speculate as to what the response would have been.”

What was he talking about? A moment later, Walton told the jurors: “What Mrs. Wilson’s status was at the CIA, whether it was covert or not covert, is not something that you’re going to hear any evidence presented to you on in this trial.”

In other words, Byron York explains in Wash Post, keep blinkers on, because all that matters is whether Libby lied.  So what if the whole business began with her being covert?  Prosecutor Fitzgerald says Libby lied to protect his job, which he would have lost if discovered to leak classified info.  But he won’t put that to the jury, only “that there was an investigation into whether the law was violated.”

Clever rascal.  It almost makes you sympathetic for Chi pols who do time after Fitzgerald prosecuted them.  Almost.