I can’t believe I’m looking back on George W. Bush with nostalgia, but these words — from a speech to Muslims at the White House on October 17, 2005, just 4 years after 9/11 — make him seem like a raging liberal compared to Palin, Newt-ster, BONE-r, and the rest of today’s Republican Islamophobes and crazies.

America is fortunate to count such good-hearted men and women among our fellow citizens. We have great respect for the commitment that all Muslims make to faith, family, and education. And Americans of many backgrounds seek to learn more about the rich tradition of Islam. To promote greater understanding between our cultures, I have encouraged American families to travel abroad, to visit with Muslim families. And I have encouraged American families to host exchange students from the Muslim world. I have asked young Americans to study the language and customs of the broader Middle East. And for the first time in our nation’s history, we have added a Koran to the White House Library.

All of us gathered tonight share a conviction that America must remain a welcoming and tolerant land, in which our people are free to practice any faith they choose. We reject every form of ethnic and religious discrimination. As I said in my second Inaugural Address, we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.

Bush also said, “Extremists distort the idea of jihad into a call for terrorist murder against anyone who does not share their radical vision” and “The killers who take the lives of innocent men, women, and children are followers of a violent ideology very different from the religion of Islam.”

Wow, I’m actually starting to like this Bush guy!

State Senator Donald McEachin isn’t particularly impressed with Bob McDonnell’s “surplus.”

“When I hear the word surplus, I assume that we’ve met all of our unmet needs, and clearly we haven’t done that in Virginia,” said Sen. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico)….”I think the overarching problem is we do not have the political will to raise revenue,” McEachin said, referencing the idea of raising the gasoline tax, or freezing car tax relief.

Another “overarching problem” is what Doug Mataconis calls “creative accounting… used to make people think that the financial picture of the state is better than it actually is.”  “Creative,” as in “skipping payments to the Virginia Retirement System to the tune of $620 million.”  Nice.

It isn’t civilian casualties. It isn’t the party hearty drinking, lurid behavior or frequenting Kabul brothels. It isn’t even the bribes paid by contractors to the Taliban. Karzai sees an opportunity to take control of the funding and the patronage it buys, bringing potential challengers close to the breast.  

The majority of the contractors are not Americans or third country nationals. They include local militias large and small; mafia-like “insurance” providers. They are organized paramilitary forces and bands of thugs whose loyalty is bought and paid. This payoff money is funneled directly to them without the opportunity for a cut at the federal or provincial levels. To the Karzai government, they are a parallel shadow government. In reality they may be.

With more than 50 private security “arrangements” and upwards of 30,000 armed “guards” wandering the countryside in support of the International Security Assistance Force, the Kabul government sees a serious threat to its “sovereignty;” particularly after ISAF departs, leaving these armed and equipped groups equal to the government forces. These groups roam the streets without uniforms or identification and will melt into the countryside once the payments cease. In the province north of Kandahar, the “contractors” control the countryside.

The Karzai government is focusing on “foreign contractors” as a nationalistic distraction. The foreigners could be phased out in relatively short order, but the stability of the countryside hinges upon this legitimized graft. Karzai simply wants the patronage it buys directed toward his authority rather than ISAF’s. And he wants his 10%.

Waldo Jaquith points us to a new poll of the 5th Congressional District by the conservative American Action Forum.  The results, for what they’re worth given the group’s obvious pro-Republican bias, are that Robert Hurt leads Rep. Tom Perriello by 6 points, 49%-43%.  These results are wildly different than the SurveyUSA poll conducted a few weeks ago, and which had Hurt leading Perriello by a whopping (and most likely, implausible) 23-point margin. Have things changed that much in a few weeks, are all these polls garbage, or was one of these accurate and other one totally off base? Got me, except that I never believed Tom Perriello was really down by that wide a margin to Robert Hurt.

By the way, also worth noting is that Hurt’s “name recognition” is 75%, while Perriello’s is 95%. As Waldo writes, “I think it’s good news that Hurt’s name recognition is comparatively low, because that gives Perriello a chance to define him.” Good point, and that’s where Tom’s money advantage – not to mention his far superior public speaking and debating skills, intellect, integrity, work ethic, raw courage, etc. – comes in handy. This should be interesting.

P.S. Welcome back Waldo to the world of blogging. As he points out, it’s been a rough month for him. Ugh.

Thanks to Tom Whipple for the Tuesday “Clips.”

1. MCDONNELL ANNOUNCES ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR HEALTH-CARE

6. MCDONNELL: NO TO MOSQUE

8. MCDONNELL, BOLLING HEADLINE FUNDRAISER FOR FLORIDA’S MARCO RUBIO

9. BOLLING SEES SIGNS OF HOPE IN STATE’S ECONOMY

10. VIRGINIA OFFICIALS MAKE CASE FOR GATES TO KEEP JOINT FORCES COMMAND OPEN

11. WEBB CALLS FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS INTO DEFENSE CUTS IN VIRGINIA

16. MCDONNELL TRIES TO INCREASE SMALL, WOMEN AND MINORITY BUSINESS PROCUREMENT

18. 2ND DISTRICT INDEPENDENT GETS SEAT AT DEBATE TABLE

19. DOZENS IN CHATHAM TURN OUT FOR TOWN HALL

21. VA. COLLEGES AMONG TOP-RANKED SCHOOLS

31. U-VA. GETS SERIOUS ON RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE

39. DESPITE DROUGHT, OUTLOOK IS GOOD FOR VIRGINIA APPLE CROP