Gates: Destroying our ability to field a Powell Doctrine level army by diverting artillery units to supporting counter-insurgency. Now, I agree that CI is a primary component in dealing with the current situation in Iraq, but not at the expense of making our military unfit for an actual conflict.

Powell: It is generally recognized that Powell did everything he could to delay the invasion; he was more of a fifth columnist than a believer. Also, as the author of the Powell Doctrine (and I know I sound like a broken record here), he's the best person to bring our military back to combat readiness.

Auto-Dem: No argument here, though I think that you're emphasizing the dem-at-all-costs point more while kos was talking about the image of dems as soft on defense.

Kos and bloggers: Frankly, I consider you to be more relevant than any of the others. I used to work at a dot-com, you may remember, and web traffic is one of the least reliable indicators of relevance. But hey, if your blood pressure's not high enough, you could always stream KPFA; those guys make me laugh.