I . . . I . . . I agree with Maureen Dowd: There was a poignancy about the moment, seeing Hillary crack with exhaustion from decades of yearning to be the principal rather than the plus-one. But there was a whiff of Nixonian self-pity about her choking up. What was moving her so deeply was her recognition that the country was failing to grasp how much it needs her.

“I had hoped that a strong showing here in New Hampshire would show the overwhelming voter support for my brilliant, realistic Exit Plan to exit Iraq immediately, prevent any genocide, and bring peace and stability to the Middle East.  I thank my supporters, all 45 of you. In hindsight, crying a little probably would have made me seem more human and likable, but that’s really not my thing.”

I have noticed that some of the “regulars” here have been scratching their heads over the recent influxes of new commenters, some of whom are strange and exotic, along with the odd racist nutjob or two. Although the Dan Collins post on Glenn Beck’s surgery generated a lot of traffic from Google (and is still doing so as I write this), most of the really odd commenters are being referred here by

and Tom Whoseadinghy have a new B-Cast up, following their long holiday break. 

Botanico-sexist pig.  I warned them against this gene splicing!

no longer flocking to Canada to donate organs.

He apparently doesn’t have a mouse in his pocket. 

James Kirchick of The New Republic has discovered Rep. Ron Paul’s newsletters: What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. Little Green Footballs rightly notes that Charles Johnson flagged this story months ago, based on excerpts posted at Free Republic. At Reason magazine’s Hit & Run blog, Jesse Walker publishes Paul’s response and writes that Paul

at Dartmouth, where some students walked out on him.  Video.

Only 18 percent of the U.S. Foreign Service think Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is doing a good job protecting their profession, according to a recent survey conducted by the service’s union. Forty-four percent rated her performance “poor” or “very poor,” the same percentage of respondents who said that “developments of the last few years” had made it less likely they would complete their careers in the Foreign Service. According to an informal