I was recently talking to Scott about how much better it feels after you have a chance to rant (still looking for studies on that, Scott), and I think it is even more true for me about laughing, though it is also a very delicate situation. Because you don't want to make light of a serious situation by laughing, but if I can't laugh at it, I will get so upset it could lead to feelings of despair. So in case I ever appear callous or unsympathetic, I hope you give me the benefit of the doubt. (What inspired this little commentary? This Salon piece on withdrawing from Iraq: "As the New York Times reported over the weekend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq has briefed senior Pentagon officials on a plan to reduce the number of U.S. troops there by 20,000 or 30,000 as early as spring. But as John Aravosis notes at AMERICAblog, the plan comes with a mighty big "if": Gen. John P. Abizaid told the Pentagon that he could cut U.S. troop strength in Iraq from 138,000 down to something like 110,000 "if conditions on the ground permitted."
That's good to know. In other news, War Room could afford to drive a $443,000 Porsche Carerra GT if conditions in our bank account permitted. But conditions don't permit -- not in our bank account and, it seems, not in Iraq, either. It seems to us that, when what comes after the "if" so completely swallows what comes before it, there's not a whole lot of point in having the conversation in the first place." It made me laugh, and then I felt guilty.)