From last night’s Special Report with Brit Hume:

—On Iraq—

BILL SAMMON: Well, it seems like the people who took the [Iraqi opinion] poll they noticed a lot more optimism from the Iraqis, so it almost seems like Bush is more in sync with the Iraqi population, which is seeing some of the first signs of the surge’s success, than perhaps even the American population, which I think is sort of caught up in pessimism.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: [There is] disgraceful stuff inside the [Democrats’] bill — . . . it’s pork and retreat. That’s what this bill is, an amazing combination — irresponsible on national security, irresponsible on spending.
But, it’s going to fail because it was never intended to succeed. . . . It’s going to . . . be determined by what happens on the ground. What essentially is happening now is the president has about six months into the fall to demonstrate success, and we see some inkling of that in Baghdad today.

—On Alberto Gonzales—

SAMMON: He should probably be circulating his resume. When your employer starts making noise about, well, who knows what the future holds, that means get the resume out there.
You know, the only way this could change, I think, is if Bush came out with both guns blazing and said, look, I’m making a stand, I’m keeping this guy . . . I’m going to exert executive privilege.
JEFF BIRNBAUM: I don’t think has a very good shot at making it through the week. There are all sorts of landmines that are up coming. There will be more emails that will come out soon. Gonzales, himself, may — is being asked to testify on Capitol Hill . . .
KRAUTHAMMER: When the boss . . . is asked about the chances of your escaping his firing you and his answer is “I hope so,” you better start packing.
Look, I said earlier, last week, he’s a dead man walking, and it’s on the grounds of incompetence. He had an easy way to defend the administration on this issue early on. I would not have the president waste his ammunition in defending him now. . . .Wrong guy, wrong issue, wrong time.