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On this quite busy Thursday, there is much to be learned on the ol’ Wrap. For example: Confronting an angry group that was the victims of your biggest campaign gaffe can often lead to absolutely priceless video.

The fracas over General McChrystal departing Afghanistan is a reminder that impressive fireworks exist year round in our nation’s capital. I’m hoping everyone got a good refresher on civil-military relations out of this experience because we, as a nation, really need it. And despite what you think of the situation, McChrystal has exited gracefully. A manner of departure which, in itself, is another credit to his public service. Something we Americans often forget is that our country is widely admired for the civilian dominance in our governing DNA.

The only thing more blatant than the fraud and corruption that is killing our country is our current leaders’ unwillingness to stop it. Now, as we are faced with the unspeakable damage from both the Gulf oil spill and the financial crisis, our leaders still insist that the best people to deal with the aftermath are the very people who caused it in the first place. Imagine how silly this reasoning would sound if we decided to let the spouses of murder victims be in charge of the crime scene. After all, they know the area the best and are very familiar with the victim.

The only things more astounding than conservatives’ record of failure, are their denials of "personal responsibility" for the ensuing disasters, and their attempts to blame somebody — anybody — else. Their response to the growing ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is taken straight from Bart Simpson .

Layne Gray isn’t your typical investigative journalist. Philanthropist and founder of Vivanista , her mission is to empower women to be better fundraisers, organizers and volunteers. Yet when she poked around, she discovered that billionaire Meg Whitman may not be walking her talk with her foundation. While Whitman’s campaign for Governor of California is rolling in the dough, spending reportedly $59 Million, her foundation, by comparison, has been largely dormant, with only a couple of questionable contributions.

Are We On The Road From Ruin Yet? This week, the stock market flirted with the 11,000 mark and the AP reported that “Unemployment rates fell or remained unchanged in two-thirds of the 372 largest U.S. metro areas in February”. From this news, you’d think America has turned the corner and is on the road to recovery. Far from it. There are major, structural deficiencies in our system that point in very negative directions. And by “system” I don’t just mean economic system. I mean our social system, our culture.

President Obama dismissed criticism by Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Thursday over his administration’s proposal to limit the use of nuclear weapons. Pointing to Palin’s lack of expertise on the policy surrounding nuclear weapons, Obama brushed off Palin’s claims that the move would make the U.S. more vulnerable. “I really have no response. Because last I checked, Sarah Palin’s not much of an expert on nuclear issues,” Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos .

The Times March 06, 2010 - Ginny Dougary Pauline Prescott talks to Ginny Dougary about public humiliation, private anguish - and why her husband now does the housework Pauline Prescott and I have been instructed to keep the volume down by a prefectorial therapist down the corridor from our tiny “treatment” room, where we are sitting opposite one another across a table, mercifully, rather than a collapsible massage bed. For one of us, at least, the pre-emptive admonition is redundant.

Although Dick Cheney has yet to appear and be questioned, we know that he will not be asked–and followed up when he fails to answer–the key questions regarding his role in national security in the Bush Administration. 1. You recently commented that you kept the US safe after you started “taking al-Qaeda seriiously”. Although the American public was not attuned until after 9/11, al-Qaeda had been well- known by the US government as a major threat.

Either outcome of January 19’s special election would have left us wondering what Democrat would step up to challenge the junior senator from Massachusetts. The fact that Scott Brown won, while unfortunate in every other way, probably produces a stronger field than would have been willing to primary a sitting senator, however clearly she needed to be primaried. As it is, the entire party will be looking to unseat Brown.