Get some perspective, for heavens sake!

Word is leaking out of Iowa that the Cedar Rapids Best Western gave John McCain a senior citizens discount for a busy weekday night, even though company policy provided that the senior rate should only be given on weekends or when the hotel was less than 80% full.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, the Union-Leader made an editorial decision to favor one policy over another in the editorial column of its newspaper.

I can't sleep at night wondering what awful things these "free presses" will do next to undermine my first Amendment right not to have to hear criticism of public figures that I admire.

The good news is that outside of committed supporters of the war and subsequent surge, no one is talking about the moveon ad or how much was paid for it. Petraeus's testimony and Bush's follow up had little or no effect on the way people feel. They know the war was bogus just as they know Petraeus's facts are bogus. The surge may have dampened down violence in selected areas but it cannot change the political reality which is that the Shiite majority has no intention of sharing power with Sunnis and whether American troops stay or go, there will be a reckoning.

If the Joint Chiefs of Staff are warning all and sundry that the surge cannot be sustained indefinitely, don't you think our enemies know this too? We need a better plan and we need to stop being sidetracked by issues that serve no other purpose than to distract us from confronting the seriousness of our situation.