As will surprise no-one, I'm perennially upset with the Democratic party for it's weak and waffling nature. I think a fair amount of this is just plain mediocrity, and certainly a non-trivial portion is a way of covering establishment ass without overtly stabbing your alleged "constituencies" in the back; but fundamentally it really feels to me like most of these people don't know how to (rhetorically) throw a punch.

Here's a hint:

Effective ads have been run that morphed a triple-amputee vietnam veteran (Max Cleland) into the face of Osama, without actually having the thematic tie of religious extremism or dominion over women. The "Taliban" moniker is provocative, but that's not a bad thing. Let's talk about this issue, and how scuzzo's "Submit to Me" mentality is really very different from that of the erstwhile rulers of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, I think the President is doing a B-minus job addressing the current situation. He's on the defense, talking about how the glass is half-full, about all the great things that he and Congress did. That's an argument which can be debated in a debating club, but it's seriously not going to fly in reality. He needs to acknowledge and grok the fact that things are really terrible for a lot of people, and rather than whine about all that's been done understand that it hasn't been enough and he needs to do more, and then talk about that.

Dwane Alizandro Mountain Dew Herbert Comacho shows the way:

Firing the assault rifle into the air would be optional, but pretty bad ass.