Re Hillary’s opposition to the surge: If I were a cynical Democratic political adviser who cared far less about the outcome of the war than I did about strengthening my party’s hand, I would counsel Washington Dems to do exactly what they’re doing — oppose the president in every way and try to split the GOP apart without making any substantive moves to end the war now. By doing this, in every way, Iraq is entirely and solely Bush’s war. If things improve, they will have done nothing to impede him. If things continue to worsen, they will be on record having opposed the surge.

The only problem with it is that it’s not an honorable course. But who ever said crass political calculations were honorable?