A Few Words About...

Bill Kristol takes a jab at the HuffPost:

"Arianna disapproves of those of us who called attention to the comments posted on her site Tuesday morning lamenting the failure of a suicide bombing in Afghanistan Tuesday to kill Vice President Cheney. These commenters 'make up a very, very small unrepresentative portion of our readers,' she now assures us.

"How does she know? If the HuffPost commenters are unrepresentative of HuffPost readers, how does she divine the views of her readers?

"Enlighten us, Arianna. Poll your readers. Ask them: Are they pleased that the attempt against Vice President Cheney failed? Are they grateful that he is alive and well? Do you hope the U.S. prevails in Afghanistan? In Iraq?"

But Andrew Sullivan says the Weekly Standard editor is out of line:

"I think some Huffposters' desire to see the vice-president assassinated is repulsive on every level, and indicative of real sickness on the far left. But I would be more impressed if I had ever heard Bill Kristol ever take on the extremists that dominate his side of the aisle. Has Kristol ever said that he finds Ann Coulter's books to be disgusting? Has he ever disowned his Fox News [colleague] Sean Hannity's equation of liberalism and terrorism in the subtitle of a recent book? Did he offer a squeak of opposition to a book titled 'Party of Death,' clearly referring to the Democrats? Did he dress down the more extreme anti-Clinton elements in the 1990s? Not that I recall.

"Maybe I have missed his criticisms of fellow 'conservatives.' If I have, I'll gladly post them. But for a man who has made a career appeasing and co-opting extremists on the far right, he is in a pretty elaborate glass house with respect to Arianna."

John McCain said one unfunny thing on Letterman while making his announcement:

"Sen. John McCain yesterday apologized for saying the lives of the troops killed fighting the war in Iraq were 'wasted,' becoming the latest White House hopeful recanting his word choice within hours of announcing 2008 candidacy," says the Washington Times.

Barack Obama had to make the same apology. But I think in both cases, we knew perfectly well what they were trying to say.

Rudy Giuliani has been trying to placate the right on the subject of judicial appointments. But Ben Smith of the Politico, a former Daily News reporter, has done a little digging:

"When Rudy Giuliani faces Republicans concerned about his support of gay rights and legal abortion, he reassures them that he is a conservative on the decisions that matter most.