That’s the question conservative California Republicans are angrily demanding an answer to. Because there is no doubt in their minds that Karl Rove, the guy who runs GW’s election campaigns, is behaving as if he intentionally wants his boss to lose the Golden State in November.

Contrary to what you have been told all your life, history is not written by the victors. If this were true, why, then, is there not a single statue of Hernando Cortez in Mexico City? History is made by the victors, but it is the poets who write it. Spain - and Mexico’s - great tragedy is that there never was a Spanish Homer who immortalized the monumental heroism of Cortez. Instead, the Spanish got a smart-aleck novelist, Miguel Cervantes, who ridiculed Spanish heroic values in Don Quixote. It has been downhill for Spain ever since.

To The Point salutes Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who issued the following press release in response to Israel’s targeting Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin: (Washington, D.C.) Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46), who at times has been critical of Israel, supports the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. “The Israeli attack focused specifically on the head of Hamas, a terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for slaughtering innocent civilians,” Rohrabacher said. “No one on either side of this conflict should target women, children, and the elderly.” “Killing a murderer like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin makes noncombatants safer because it eliminates one threat and sends a message to other killers. Sheikh Yassin had the blood of innocents on his hands, and was a danger to Israelis and Palestinians alike. Had he lived, he would certainly have master-minded more killing and destruction, which would then have led to more retaliation. His death is a matter for celebration. It serves the cause of peace and security in the region.” To The Point also salutes our soldiers serving in Iraq on the anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq to topple the regime of Saddam Hussein. One year ago, I wrote “Prouder Than Ever,” in celebration of George Bush’s determination to take the fight to America’s enemies and of the American military’s competence in doing so. I remain prouder than ever of our president, our military, and of our efforts to defeat the terrorists by bringing peace and liberty to the people of Iraq. “Prouder Than Ever” is now posted in the “Classics” section.

Remember Robert Torricelli? He was one of the biggest crooks ever to infest the United States Senate (and that’s really saying something, isn’t it?). How crooked was he? “The Torch” was so crooked that… (Johnny Carson drum roll please…) he was too crooked even for New Jersey.The investigations of his taking bribes reached such a fever pitch that in late September of 2002, with less than five weeks before the election, he resigned and gave up his run for re-election. New Jersey law was quite specific that this was too late for the Democrat Party to nominate a replacement. But the Dems got a crooked judge to waive the law, allowing them to put Frank Lautenberg in at the last moment, who then defeated the Republican nominee Doug Forrester.A few days ago, my buddy Capt. Larry Bailey - former Commandant of the Naval Special Warfare Training Center (the place that trains the Navy SEALs) - made an interesting prediction. “You know, Jack, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kerry ends up like Torricelli.”This is not - NOT - to accuse Hanoi John of being a crook. To the best of my knowledge, John Kerry has never used his office to extort bribes like Robert Torricelli. The parallel is different and it is this:

Last week, Vladimir Putin was re-elected President of Russia with over 70% of the vote. Does this portend the re-animation of the Soviet Russian Empire, led by a man with an unchallenged grip on power, possessed with a deep nostalgia for the glory days of the USSR, and determined to bring back those days again? No, it means that Russia has taken itself out of the global game. It means that Russia has no future. It means that Russia is resolutely determined to screw itself.