Dogs, Not Barking

1.  American casualties in Iraq did not spike up around the Iraqi elections.  In fact, American deaths in Iraq have hit new lows over the last three months.  I have no predictions about what will happen in Iraq, but I do think that as long as American deaths over there stay at or below five a month, there will be no direct political consequences should the Obama administration choose to leave troops there.  On the other hand, for those who worry that American will, Pacino-like, keep getting dragged back in, it may be reassuring to note that no one in America seems to care about what happens over there -- while there has been some coverage of the elections, there is little coverage of any other flare-ups of Iraqi violence.

2. American and allied casualties in Afghanistan have stayed below their July through October peak, despite the offensive in Marja.  Again, the importance here is that spiking casualties place constraints on policy.

3. Continuing item: Betsy McCaughey remains AWOL from the health care fight (she's out there, but pretty quiet).  Generally, Republicans have chosen against finding (or creating) new scary stuff from the Senate-passed health care bill, focusing instead on process and popularity.

4. Fairness Doctrine!