Why is Osama Bin Laden still alive and free to make videos?

Because the "Bush Doctrine" has utterly failed.

Remember the Bush Doctrine? It had two ideological pillars to it. First, the stick: if your nation-state harbors terrorists, then the United States will consider you a terrorist nation -- and we will invade your country (pre-emptively, if need be) to remove you from power. Second, the carrot: America stands with freedom-loving and democracy-loving people everywhere in the world and we will stand with you if you have to defend your freedom and democracy from tyranny.

The Bush Doctrine, like everything the Bush White House touches, has had severe problems of competence and execution. But there's a bigger problem -- a fundamental and ideological problem -- with the Bush Doctrine. The fact is that United States has to deal with the real world, and not the fantasy world inside neo-conservatism's collective head. The Bush Doctrine is simply laughable when you point out all of America's strategic alliances which are based on Kissengerian realpolitik and not high-falutin' notions of "freedom" or "democracy."

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi,
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid;

This upcoming week is going to be perhaps the most important week of the 110th Congress. General Petraeus will give his report, Ambassador Crocker will likewise report; and the debate on what to do next in Iraq will begin in earnest.

So why are Democrats seemingly admitting defeat -- before the argument has even begun? Why are you essentially taking what should be a position of strength, and (by buying into the White House's spin) turning it into a position of weakness? Do you really think this is the best way to end the Iraq war, or (for that matter) the best way to convince voters to vote for Democrats in 2008?

To put it bluntly -- why are you speaking as if you are still the minority party? In all the years wandering in the minority wilderness since Newt Gingrich's dismal reign, have you truly forgotten how the majority party in Congress is supposed to act?

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If I've programmed my Bush clock correctly, the minute I post this is exactly 500 days from Inaugural Day 2008. It's kind of tricky to figure, since '08 is a leap year, there are time zones to consider, and that pesky daylight savings time thing, but I'm pretty sure that 1:00 PM today (East Coast time) is exactly 500 days until the end of President George W. Bush's term in office.

To avoid all these calculations, I strongly suggest you get a "Bush clock" of your own. It's even been reported that staffers in the White House have such clocks on their desks (to remind them of how much time they have remaining to get things done). It's a pretty safe bet, though, that their clocks are slightly different from the one I have:

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Another "three-dot journalism" column today, in the continuing tradition of the late great Herb Caen.

. . . Starting with the good news, the ACLU has won a legal victory (again) with a ruling by a judge who has actually read the First and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution. The ruling bans the federal government from issuing "National Security Letters" (NSLs) which are, in essence, a power usually reserved for royalty (I've actually written about this many times in the past). The FBI issued NSLs to avoid the pesky process of actually getting a warrant before searching or seizing evidence. The judge threw this mockery of the Constitution on the ashheap of history. Of course, the Bush Administration will probably appeal all the way up to the Supreme Court, so stay tuned.

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In the upcoming debate in Congress on the war in Iraq, Republicans are going to want to focus solely on the progress being made in al-Anbar province. Democrats are going to want to focus solely on the lack of political progress in Baghdad. But what could prove to be the tipping point in the debate is what the British are currently focused on: Basra. Because what happens there, in the next few weeks, may determine the outcome of the debate in Washington.

First, a little background on the military situation in Basra. To begin with, the British armed forces have been in charge of the southern region of Iraq since the war started. They were originally in charge of four whole provinces, and also in charge of the training programs (of the Iraq military and police) within their region. Three of these four provinces have already been successfully turned over to Iraqi military control. The remaining province -- Basra Province -- is still under British control, as is the city of Basra itself.

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It's September, and Congress is back in Washington. I hope they got nice and rested on their month-long vacation, because the next month is going to be critical in many ways. Democrats can either step up to the plate, show some spine, and get some things done -- or their chances for getting reelected are going to grow increasingly dim for next year.

Republicans, thankfully, are doing a good job of self-destructing on their own. This will serve to depress their base in the primaries and the election next year. But Democrats should be warned that their own base will likely desert them if they can't manage to win a few fights in Congress.

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The long weekend is almost over, which means it's time to announce the winners of our anti-war slogan contest.

Once again, there was a flood of excellent entries, making it extremely difficult to pick winners out of the field.

As always, winners receive absolutely nothing, other than bragging rights. A big thanks to everyone who entered, and without further ado, here are the top three winners in each of the following categories: Best Chant, Best Anti-Bush Slogan, Best Slogan To Influence Middle America, Best Slogan To Influence Congress, Funniest Slogan, Most Subtle Slogan, and Best Obscure Reference.

At the end, five awards for Most Profane / Tasteless (because of overwhelming interest in the category), and my five picks for Best Overall Slogan.

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