What they shoulda said

Item one: Secretary of State-in-waiting Can'tbe Right told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that

there remain "outposts of tyranny" in the world that require close attention, citing North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Belarus, Zimbabwe and Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Somebody shoulda said "And Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates...."

Item two: She also insisted that

"We must remain united in insisting that Iran and North Korea abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions and choose instead the path of peace."

Somebody shoulda said "Uh, excuse me, but are you saying that any nation that possesses nuclear weapons is not pursuing a path of peace?"

Item three: At the same hearings, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) pressed Rice about her statements in pitching for the Iraq war.

"Your loyalty to your mission you were given overwhelmed your respect for the truth, and I don't say it lightly," Boxer said.

"I have never, ever lost respect for the truth in service of anything," Rice replied coolly. ... "And I would hope that we can have this conversation ... without impugning my credibility or my integrity."

Boxer shoulda said "I couldn't possibly impugn either your credibility or your integrity, Ms. Rice, because to do that you'd have to have some."

Item four: During one counter-inaugural protest in DC today,

a group of anti-war protesters a block away [from the White House] unfurled a banner reading, "George Bush: Your wars shame U.S." Eight protesters lay down in the street pretending to be dead, with flowers strewn over their bodies.

The demonstration attracted the attention of Bush supporters who were leaving the VIP viewing stands....

"Aren't you guys cold?" one of the Bush supporters asked the prone demonstrators.

Somebody shoulda said "Yes - about as cold as a naked prisoner in a concrete cell in Abu Ghraib."