To expand on my post below...

Let me elaborate.

First, I don't like Joe. I don't like the man himself - he strikes me as an arrogant sonofabitch, although I don't necessarily disagree with the things he says. However, I don't know much about Lamont. Since I'm not a registered Democrat, I probably won't have a chance to vote for either one, but obviously the outcome of the primary will be very important to me.

I think there's a lot of anger on the left not because of what he is saying but how he is saying it. I.e., there's a difference between coming out and supporting the war and coming out and attacking your own constituents for undermining the effort. I think that's what gets me most about the guy - you can support the war and still criticize its handling without being unpatriotic - not that being 'unpatriotic' is something undesirable, in any case.

Besides, did you see that ad he made attacking Lamont? It was just silly.

As to the second, well, let's just say I found this article in Time recently. I guess that answers that. Still, I can't help but feel like our course is still muddied, in comparision to our action in Iraq. Even after reading, I don't get an overriding sense of action that is guiding this administration's actions. But maybe that's for the better?...

{Update 5:34 PM July 11} And this response from Fred Kaplan at Slate