Years ago, I came across a saying, paraphrased, that essentially says that if you come across a guy who point at the sky and calls it "the ground", there is just no point in debating him. That was pretty much my reaction when I saw a link in small type on WashingtonPost.com with the words Why Bush Will Be a Winner. Later on, I learned it was a piece written in earnest by William Kristol of The Weekly Standard, who on matters of the war in Iraq is the pundit who points to the sky and calls it ground.

Which leads to the quote of the day from him:

I've been pretty consistent, pretty upfront and straightforward about my views. I had the same views when they were reasonably popular as I do now when they're unpopular. It would really be pathetic to adjust one's analysis based on public opinion.

Not as pathetic I guess as revising opinion based on public fact. It's not like those views became unpopular by happenstance. But I'm not a highly paid pundit (and if they hire you on output of commentary, I wouldn't even be highly paid if these words appeared in the Washington Post itself).

In other news, I caught my first debate -- the CNN-YouTube debate. I'm still split between Obama and Clinton, which I have been throughout the year. Like I said in a chat, Obama is my choice in idealism, while Clinton is my choice in pragmatism.