Condi Rice summarizes the entire W administration in one sentence (WaPo)

[twa]

from dictionary.com:

Speculate - 1.to engage in thought or reflection; meditate (often fol. by on, upon, or a clause). 2.to indulge in conjectural thought

What's the problem?

I think she was plainly using meaning 2

http://www.answers.com/topic/speculate-1

speculate

talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way and with an element of doubt or without sufficient reason to reach a conclusion; "We were speculating whether the President had to resign after the scandal.

particular ways to speculate:

* guess, venture, hazard — put forward, of a guess

* suppose, say — express a supposition

Having contingency plans has nothing to do with not wishing to engage in speculation about a plan not yet implemented.

Nor is it a good idea for any leadership position. :2cents:

[Midnight Judges]

Help us out chom, and show us where any politician has offered a plan other than leaving.

This is now the fourth time I've told you about Biden's partition plan. You don't like it, fine. But stop deluding yourself out of partisanship.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12572371/

WASHINGTON - The senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee proposed Monday that Iraq be divided into three separate regions — Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni — with a central government in Baghdad.

Biden and co-writer Leslie H. Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, acknowledged the opposition, and said the Sunnis “have to be given money to make their oil-poor region viable. The Constitution must be amended to guarantee Sunni areas 20 percent (approximately their proportion of the population) of all revenues.”

Biden and Gelb also wrote that President Bush “must direct the military to design a plan for withdrawing and redeploying our troops from Iraq by 2008 (while providing for a small but effective residual force to combat terrorists and keep the neighbors honest).”

[Larry]

This is now the fourth time I've told you about Biden's partition plan. You don't like it, fine. But stop deluding yourself out of partisanship.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12572371/

I may even be able to make a proposal for how to divide the governments between the regions.

My proposal is that we give the Iraqis a proposal. Three "states", I think I'll call them, and a government over them that has limited authority domestically, but has authority over defense and international affairs. I even know where we could find a written plan for how to create such a government. A straight up-or-down vote of the people would seem appropriate to me. (Perhaps with the same restrictions we had on their previous constitution: To be ratified, all three groups have to approve of it. Maybe the same restriction on any attempts to modify the, I think I'll call it, "Constitution".)

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(However, one big problem with the "three-way" solution. Turkey's just about claimed that they'll go to war to prevent it, because Turkey doesn't want their Kurds getting any ideas about independence.)

But to me, I'm not that certain that we really need to keep Turkey as an ally right now. I seem to have the impression (can't remember why, right now) that they've just about become a mid-east country, lately.