Largely irrelevant, perhaps…

…but occasionally infuriating nonetheless. Senator Warner asked Gen. Petraeus, point blank and repeatedly, if the war in Iraq was making America safer, and after a futile duck and dodge, Petraeus confessed that he couldn't answer the question.

He doesn't know.

He sends men and women into battle, with the certain knowledge that some will die, some will be maimed, all will be forever changed, and he can't tell them that their mission makes their country safer.

He doesn't know.

Damn.

I hate what they're doing to my Army.

Lugar?

OK, maybe. And Warner, too. I mean, they're Republicans, but they are (or at least seem) relatively sane and arguably have a measure of expertise worth considering before rejecting, but this?

"I would also seek out people like Tom Coburn, who is probably the most conservative member of the U.S. Senate. He has become a friend of mine."

On what issues, I wonder, would Senator Obama seek Coburn's counsel.

Seriously.

I wonder, too, about the basis of their friendship. Could it be satisfaction on Barack's part that he found a white guy as crazy as Alan Keyes?