In the Spocko v. Rodent dust-up, supporters of the Rodent have accused Spocko of attempting to deny the minions of the Rodent their rights of free speech.

To be denied your rights of free speech the government must be involved, as in this Associate Press story, Pa. Man’s Letter Brings Secret Service:

An elderly man who wrote in a letter to the editor about Saddam Hussein’s execution that “they hanged the wrong man” got a visit from Secret Service agents concerned he was threatening President Bush.

The letter by Dan Tilli, 81, was published in Monday’s edition of The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, “I still believe they hanged the wrong man.”

Tilli said the statement was not a threat. “I didn’t say who _ I could’ve meant (Osama) bin Laden,” he said Friday.

… [snip]

“He said, ‘Keep writing, but just don’t make no threats,'” Tilli said of one of the agents.

See the difference. Spocko didn’t send armed men from the government to the radio station to warn the announcers to watch their language, as happened in the case of Mr. Tilli.

As has been widely reported: Chavez tells U.S. government: ‘Go to hell’. Having won multiple elections by overwhelming majorities, and with a legislature controlled by his supporters, Mr. Chavez doesn’t want to waste time submitting his decisions to that legislature, so he had them pass a law that allows him to rule by decree for 18 months.

The US government has raised all kinds of complaints about Mr. Chavez’s “anti-democratic” actions, without explaining the difference between what he is doing and what the Shrubbery has been doing for 6 years with a Republican Congress and no oversight.

I would note that Mr. Chavez has very high approval ratings, hasn’t invaded anyone, and doesn’t have a huge budget deficit, so there are differences between his presidency and the Shrubbery’s.

The electorate voted against the war. The generals on the ground said McCain’s surge wasn’t necessary. Now, via Bill Scher, we find a Washington Post article, Embattled, Bush Held To Plan to Salvage Iraq, providing us with the view of the Iraqi government:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had a surprise for President Bush when they sat down with their aides in the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman, Jordan. Firing up a PowerPoint presentation, Maliki and his national security adviser proposed that U.S. troops withdraw to the outskirts of Baghdad and let Iraqis take over security in the strife-torn capital. Maliki said he did not want any more U.S. troops at all, just more authority.

So, we now know that Kristol, Kagan, McCain, and Lieberman are about the only people who support this incredibly stupid idea.