Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical. ~ Jonathan Swift

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) War in Lebanon Escalates — “This post is an attempt to put some of the more interesting analyses (excerpts thereof) and a few breaking headlines on one post for easier viewing. My comments, when made, are in italics. This post will be updated through tomorrow morning so please check back.”

GOP Bloggers (Jonathan R.) Want Peace? Stop Iran — “From Gaza to Iraq to Lebanon, the prime mover behind events is Iran. Whether arming and supporting Hamas, Hezbollah or Shia militants in Iraq, Iran has its fingerprints on all manner of mischief.”

Dr. Sanity (Dr. Pat Santy) WHAT IRAN IS COUNTING ON — “It is no coincidence–as others have pointed out–that Iran has taken action on the eve of its nuclear deadline. The war it has initiated is designed to 1)deflect attention away from its nuclear program (not quite ready yet, are we?); and to force the U.S.’s hand in the region–i.e., forcing us to act before they think we were quite ready to act.”

Outside The Beltway (James Joyner) House Extends Outdated Voting Rights Act Provisions — “I remain convinced that applying different legal standards to a handful of states is blatantly unconstitutional in addition to being unnecessary. Indeed, I would argue that the preclearance requirement, which requires the federal judiciary to approve something that the Constitution makes a plenary power of state legislatures, is also unconstitutional. But politicians are too afraid of being labeled “racist” than about such trifles.”