All in all, I agree with Bill Kristol: it wasn't a bad speech given who and what it was all about:

President Obama opposed the war in Iraq. He still thinks it was a mistake. It's therefore unrealistic for supporters of the war to expect the president to give the speech John McCain would have given, or to expect President Obama to put the war in the context we would put it in. He simply doesn't believe the war in Iraq was a necessary part of a broader effort to fight terror, to change the Middle East, etc. Given that (erroneous) view of his, I thought his speech was on the whole commendable, and even at times impressive.

But like Nick Gillespie at Reason, my one problem with the speech may be, though, that it's premise is not entirely truthful. I mean, it's not like the war is actually ending or anything. Unless you're an idiot celebrity or something that believes that shit, or has a difficult time understanding the complexity of international involvement.

I am not a supporter of the war in Iraq. I was at first when everyone was and over the years the utility of fighting in Iraq got lost on me, particularly given that we didn't bother to secure one country before heading off to invade another. So to me, this new development is pretty much cold comfort: 4,400 lives lost and countless others injured or changed with violence still a regular occurrance. Not that any of that can be changed now, nor is it worth rehashing the reasons for going or staying, but it felt strange hearing Obama issue only vague assurances and weird, recycled platitutdes from earlier speeches in an effort to convince me and millions of other Americans that he has a handle on what's going on. As many have said, he is a domestic policy President, whose focus is on improving conditions within our borders, and it felt, last night, as though he were just arbitrarily ending something he had little interest in anyway.

That last part isn't just an observation -- Obama opposed the war and ultimately opposed the troop surge that led to the primary successes our time in Iraq achieved -- and quite possibly brought that country back from the brink of total chaos. Say what you want about George W. Bush, who got a weird, uncomfortable shout out for his efforts, but the troop surge was a brilliant strategy that allowed us to be in this position -- and although many lives were lost, allowed those whose blood spilled on the battlefields of Iraq to have not died in vain. After eight years and billions of American dollars, the war may very well be considered by history to be a success, as strange as that sounds to me personally. Whether we met the goals that we set for ourselves upon entering Iraq, well, that's entirely dependent on how we define success in the Middle East for ourselves. President Obama defines success much more loosely than the previous administration, so who knows.

But that's not to say the war is actually over. About 50,000 troops will remain in Iraq, and as the Associated Press points out, those 50,000 troops aren't out of harms way. In fact, their main mission will still be counterterrorism, which will likely put them into contact with armed enemies on a regular basis. Actually, not likely... almost certainly. Among those left will be Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets whose mission will be to root out and destroy Al Qaeda. Which, I think has been basically the same combat mission all along. So there's that.

I also found the economic quip at the end rather disconcerting, blaming the Iraq war for the growing deficit and our country's recession on the lack of focus on domestic issues blah blah blah blah. First of all, it's a war. Second, given the numbers, it actually seems that our failed efforts at stimulating the economy with billions of tax dollars has actually cost taxpayers significantly more than the Iraq War effort. During the height of the war, spending on operations in Iraq was less than a quarter of national spending on things like Medicare, and it accounted for less than 15% of deficit spending throughout its duration. In other words, President Obama wasted more tax dollars in the first two months of his presidency on useless federal economic stimulus projects than George W. Bush did on Iraq efforts during his entire eight years in office.

Suffice it to say, I'll be waiting and watching with the rest of America to see what happens next. I hope that President Obama takes a long, hard look at the Middle East and how it affects American lives both at home and abroad. I hope he takes the next steps very serious and with extreme caution and recognizes the impact that both foreign and domestic policies have on the longer American outlook.

Every time I think this administration had grasped the modern vernacular, they say something that is so utterly tone deaf I can't hope to believe it's true except that it was probably said on national television.

This time, though, Joe Biden isn't accidentlaly referrring to every Dunkin Donuts employee as being from the Asian subcontinent. This time, Kathleen Sebelius is scaring the shit out of America with the promise of re-education should you find yourself opposed to your new healthcare overlords.

"Unfortunately, there still is a great deal of confusion about what is in [the reform law] and what isn't," Sebelius told ABC News Radio in an interview Monday.

With several vulnerable House Democrats touting their votes against the bill, and Republicans running on repeal, Sebelius said "misinformation given on a 24/7 basis" has led to the enduring opposition nearly six months after the lengthy debate ended in Congress.

"So, we have a lot of reeducation to do," Sebelius said.

The administration is particularly concerned about the views of senior citizens - who "have been a target of a lot of the misinformation," according to the health secretary.

You know, following a weekend like the last weekend, where thousands of people gathered to hear Glenn Beck preach from a pulpit about vauge notions of Americanism or something, the last thing the administration really needed in this public relations war was a statement that makes them sound like they're planning to execute martial law and move everyone into those creepy booths they had for Stormtroopers in Clone Wars where the hose attaches to your forehead and you suddenly remember how bad life was under the Jedi. I mean, how stupid do you have to be? Especially to use the term in connection with a program that's already threateningly bureaucratic and kind of creepy in the mid-40s propaganda film strip sort of way.

The worst part is, if they're actually planning on doing any kind of re-education, grainy instructional videos in public schools or otherwise, they've got a really tall order: support for the program took a nosedive in August - ironically after some of the programs consumer protection provisions set in.

Hopefully they'll set up a nice schedule so that we can all do our day jobs on the side.

Also, Kathleen Sebelius kind of looks like Grand Moff Tarkin. We all need to be afraid.

You know, I always love a happy ending. Bristol Pain may have ended up single with her boyfriend and baby-daddy somewhere in LA apologizing for apologizing to her mother and faking an engagement and reconciliation while scoring some sort of reality television program, but she's not staying down. Nope. She's back in the saddle with a fall commitment of her own: celebrity competition program Dancing with the Stars.

Bristol Palin, daughter of conservative powerbroker Sarah Palin, will test her dance moves against former "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff and R&B singer Brandy in the new season of "Dancing with the Stars."

The lineup for the 11th season of the TV dancing contest, set to premiere on September 20, will also include crooner Michael Bolton, reality TV star Mike Sorrentino, and actress Jennifer Grey, who twirled to fame in the film "Dirty Dancing."

I cannot f***ing wait. This is going to be amazing. Not simply because my worlds of politics and horrific reality teleivision programming will collide in a blaze of glory surpassed only if the Palins were to appear on screen with a handful of Kardashians (although according to Meg Whitman's Twitter feed, meetings with the Kardashians are not out of the ordinary for politicians). The best part? The season also features 80s pop music icon and my karaoke idol, Michael Bolton, Dirty Dancing star and cautionary tale Jennifer Gray, the Hoff and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino. And badass comedian Margaret Cho who, frankly, based on her spittle-filled political rants I can see trying to sabotage Palin Miss America style.

Personally, I predict Bristol will hook up with the situation, take to fake baking and show up on the next few seasons of Jersey Shore. He's more stable than Levi Johnston, after all, probably because of the 'roids, and she could really have a fascintaing reality television run as she prepares for their inevitable boardwalk wedding extravaganza. Or better yet, bash at the Real Housewives mainstay, the Brownstone. The possibilities are endless. And so is the spandex.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Brady picking up 48% support, his best showing to date, while Quinn earns 35% of the vote. Six percent (6%) favor some other candidate, but 12% are undecided at this point.

Two weeks ago, Brady led the incumbent 44% to 37%. In early July, Quinn pulled within three points of his challenger following an announcement that he was cutting state spending by $1 billion as he wrestles with one of the worst state budget deficits in the country. 

But the Republican has been ahead since early March when he posted a 47% to 37% lead just being declared winner of the state GOP Primary. Since then, his support, prior to the latest survey, has ranged from 43% to 47%, while Quinn has earned 37% to 40% of the vote.

Some Democrats are upset and advocacy groups are outraged over the raiding of the food-stamp cupboard to fund a state-aid bailout that some call a gift to teachers and government union workers.

House members convened Tuesday and passed the multibillion-dollar bailout bill for cash-strapped states that provides $10 billion to school districts to rehire laid-off teachers or ensure that more teachers won't be let go before the new school year begins, keeping more than 160,000 teachers on the job, the Obama administration says.

But the bill also requires that $12 billion be stripped from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, to help fund the new bill, prompting some Democrats to cringe at the notion of cutting back on one necessity to pay for another. The federal assistance program currently helps 41 million Americans.

As juror contemplate the fate of former governor Rod Blagojevich for the tenth day Tuesday, Chicago taxpayers have something of their own to contemplate.

They could be kicking in for his legal bills.

Blago's campaign fund, which thus far has been paying his team of lawyers, is all but depleted. There's only about $75,000 of the $2.8 million left in the coffers and Sam Adam Jr. and the rest of the crew still haven't been paid for the month of July.

What restaurant is fit for a sitting president's birthday? If you're President Obama, you headed to Graham Elliot's Bowles eponymous restaurant Wednesday night. Obama celebrated his 49th birthday with Oprah Winfrey and O Magazine editor Gayle King as a crowd of onlookers waited outside the River North restaurant. The New York Times is also reporting that they were joined by White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, and friends Eric Whitaker and Marty Nesbitt.

Johnston's lawyer told us he doubts the couple is truly broken up for good. "These young folk have a lot of pressure on them right now," said Rex Butler. "All you have to do is watch that show 'Bridezillas' -- it's on and off, on and off, depending on the pressures."

Butler denied the couple's unlikely reconciliation this summer -- following a a year of public feuding -- was motivated by profit, though it's believed they were paid well for the Us Weekly exclusive. But he offered his own armchair psychology: "Bristol, if she's going to be honest, she doesn't want him in Hollywood ..... She wants him to sort of be like Todd Palin in the background while she does the running around. Levi on the other hand is not ready to settle into that role while he has other options."

Now lawyers are said to be good judges of character, but I don't know, exactly. I've watched Bridezillas and those chicks are generally deficient in social engagement skills from the very beginning, not the trusting victim of a repeat offender. Most of those women would have long ago chewed up and spit out Levi Johnston, or at least tried to pull his hair out by the roots in the parking lot of a pancake house the night of their rehearsal dinner. Bristol seems to want to complete a two-parent family for her weirdly adorable child, not dress up a groom for her fairytale New Jersey wedding. Levi, on the other hand, probably wants to keep his options open in case he runs out of material.

At any rate, I hope our long national nightmare has finally ended. If Bristol's smart, she'll let Kathy Griffin hang on to Levi or wait for him to enter obscurity, get relegated to VHI "I love the 2010s" commentary and become desperate enough to give up his limelight for a cold light beer. If Levi's smart he'll start a 401K and hire a new lawyer.