In an extremely interesting column in CounterPunch Gareth Porter documents the evolution of administration rationalizing of the Afghan War escalation. Full Article at Counterpunch

In Bob Woodward's book Plan of Attack, he recounts then–national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice offering her support for a congressional resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq with the cynical observation, "How much debate do you need?" Full Article at Newsweek

Comparing the Candidates, as I see it Two Kinds of Democrats Capuano/Coakley: There are a number of differences, but the big one for me is civil liberties. Full Article at Blue Mass. Group

The war in Afghanistan is now less popular than Facebook's Mafia Wars These are the times that try men's approval ratings. As you know, my Afghanistan policy has taken more hits than the rear window of Tiger Woods' SUV. Full Article at Huffington Post

(Note: this is a copy of part of a post on Pajamas Media, which can be found here.) When I read the Washington Post’s disgraceful editorial the other day on the Climategate scandal, I thought of how far they have fallen since their big moment in the... Full Article at GlobalWarming.org

The front page of the final edition of The Weekender newspaper in South Africa. Full Article at The National Newspaper

Ever since Watergate hero Bob Woodward revealed a 66-page secret Pentagon report Sept. 22 in The Washington Post that revealed U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal was seeking an additional 40,000 American troops for Afghanistan, the White House has deftly... Full Article at The Politico

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! This is an interesting piece by Michael Gaddy about Hasan, and the Fort Hood Shootings. Full Article at The Classic Liberal

Afghanistan is the largest and the most difficult crisis Obama confronts away from home. And here the trap was fashioned largely by himself. Full Article at Huffington Post

A new CBS poll says 69 percent of Americans think things are going badly in Afghanistan. Only 27 percent of Republicans think things are going well there. Yikes. Full Article at at-Largely

Indeed, the tale of the "reconstruction" of Kabul's electricity supply is a classic story of how foreign aid has often served to line the pockets of both international contractors from the donor countries and the local political elite. Full Article at Salon

"Follow the money" is a term familiar with those of us old enough to remember Watergate, the political scandal that caused Richard Nixon to be the first and only sitting president to resign from office in order to avoid impeachment. Full Article at Pittsburgh Entertainment

[*] STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning and welcome to “This Week.” Eight years later, New York City is still recovering. Confronting 9/11 again. As President Obama considers more troops for Afghanistan. Full Article at CQ Politics

So Belle de Jour was real after all. The Internet’s most famous anonymous sex blogger – turned best-selling author – turned internationally successful TV series – has finally outed herself in the UK’s Sunday Times. Full Article at The Bloggers' Times

So Belle de Jour was real after all. The Internet’s most famous anonymous sex blogger – turned best-selling author – turned internationally successful TV series – has finally outed herself in the UK’s Sunday Times. Full Article at TechCrunch

Get FREE Mother Jones newsletters in your inbox three times a week. He'll be appearing with other powerhouse panelists Bob Woodward, Gwen Ifill, George Will, and David Brooks. Full Article at Mother Jones

Starting with General Stanley McChrystal's confidential strategy assessment, which wound up in the hands of Bob Woodward, the Obama administration's typically tight ship has been leaking like a sieve when it comes to the ongoing strategy deliberations... Full Article at Mother Jones

Too Big to Fail" is a big, ambitious book that tries to establish by sheer accumulation of detail and anecdote primacy in explaining what exactly happened during the crisis-wracked months of 2008. Full Article at The Deal: Blogs

Paul Johnson has been an immediate success at Tech, and that makes him attractive to other schools. (Johnny Crawford/jcrawfordajc.com) Sports writers have a reputation for being cynical. I have no problem with that. Full Article at Atlanta Journal Constitution Blogs