Seldom has fate dealt us such a fortuitous hand.  The single most important bit of news this year and it's not getting nearly as much play as it should.  I can only hope that the right people notice it.

Per the AP:

Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

The comments by Mouwaffak al-Rubaie were the strongest yet by an Iraqi official about the deal now under negotiation with U.S. officials. They came a day after Iraq's prime minister first said publicly that he expects the pending troop deal with the United States to have some type of timetable for withdrawal.

President Bush has said he opposes a timetable. The White House said Monday it did not believe Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was proposing a rigid timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals.

It is looking more and more like the Iraqis won't agree to a security deal without a date certain.  The White House seems to be balking.  This is great news for a few reasons.  More after the jump...

Over-reach is good. Eyes bigger than your stomach are good. Cat-killing curiousity is great. Knocking a bunch of dingers out of the park is fantastic.

As has often been the case of late, my thoughts turn to the November election. While others have found cause for concern I have rejoiced. Senator Obama is plotting a course that substantively mirrors what I expected of him last year. He is demonstrating a pragmatism and frankly ideological consistency that many folks are missing. Far too many have accused him of peddling this "New Politics" and then delivering a centrist platform. They claim that this is some kind of "bait and switch." I find this notion hilarious.

Crossposted from my new blog, Seldon's Gambit:
http://reaper0bot0.blogspot.com/2008/07/ swing-for-fences.html

Howdy all!

I've reduced my car driving to about a fifth of what it used to be.  I'm commuting by bicycle about 12 miles per day, all told.  I've noticed some things as I've done this, and surprise surprise!  This has changed some of my policy views.

We need more bike lanes.  We need more bike lanes.  We need more bike lanes.

And we may need to change how we educate budding new drivers.  Seriously!  This ain't easy.

Read on?

Good afternoon, everyone.

There are few topics more radioactive than abortion.  There are folks on either extreme that simply can not and will not abide by any sort of compromise.  I can certainly respect deeply held morals.  If someone considers abortion murder then I can see why it would be a hot-button issue.  If someone considers the right of the prospective mother to decide whether or not to bring the child to term is a sacred and unassailable right, then I can understand why some might see any restriction as the thin end of the wedge.

I can understand these points of view, and I can respect them.  However, these extremes are if not actually wrong, certainly unhelpful in resolving this matter.  The current regime of Roe v. Wade (as heavily modified by Casey v. Planned Parenthood) is unsustainable.  It is not the place of the judiciary to decide broad issues of policy as I see it.  Moreover, such a regime lasts as long as there is a majority of Supreme Court justices whom support it.  That may be more durable than a legislative regime, but it is far less reflective of the views of the electorate.

I have some thoughts on what may prove a workable legislative solution.  It would make neither extreme happy, but I think it would accomodate everyone as well as anything possibly can.  And I think reading Casey would be a great primer!

Read on?

Good afternoon.

Not everybody who has grievances is a troll.  Those of us who are pleased with who won our nomination have been a bit trigger happy with the terms "troll" and "concern troll" and so forth.  We have to be able to accept honest dissent and some of that honest dissent will come from people with whom we strongly disagreed during the primary season.  Some of those people still have the same concerns as they had before, but are either on board with us, or are working their way towards it.  Every time one of them writes something critical of our nominee they get pounded.

Stop that!

On the other hand, if those of you who previously supported Senator Clinton wish to be taken seriously in your complaints, I would urge you to stop replaying the primary season.  It's over.  It's done.  Your candidate lost, and no amount of sniping will change that.  

And yes, we have real trolls too.  So how do we achieve civility hereabouts?  Why not read on...?

I'm going to pony up and make another donation to the Obama campaign this evening.  It will be small (I'm not exactly awash in cash), but it will matter.  I am going to chip in again because I want a small slice of ownership in our future.  Senator Obama opted out of the public finance system because he had faith in us.  Well, I still have faith in him.

And in all of us.  Please read on...

Well, I seem to have found a nice niche here saying things that few want to hear, and I find I rather like it.  Nobody sane would question my status as a Democrat, but given the fact that we've been a bit monolithic of late, I'll stir the pot a bit more.

We need the Blue Dogs!  Or, well, at least some Blue Dogs.  Frankly, the netroots has behaved like a pack of children, most of the time anyway, on this issue.

Feeling mashochistic?

I think that these quiet murmurs about the possibility that Senator Obama may "flip" on Iraq are correct.

You guys are gonna go absolutely ballistic when that happens, so I want to share my thoughts on this one, because it won't mean what a lot of you will probably think it means.  I'm not saying you're children (far from it) but your passion will mean that you miss a very obvious signal, and you won't read the details of what's suggested.

And that's a terrible mistake...