A series of remarkable -- and remarkably timed -- editorials in the military press calling for Donald Rumsfeld to resign. This revolt  strikes me as unusual, perhaps unprecented, in modern U.S. history.

Why now? We are almost four years in, for one thing, with no end in sight.  The  difference seems to be the current administration's unwillingness to admit mistakes, to incessantly contrast "stay the course" with "cut and run." I've recently been reading Richard Carwardine's Lincoln -- the best biography I've read of our 16th president, although no one has read them all -- and one point emphasized by Carwardine is Lincoln's ability to sustain the loyalty of the northern, evangelical public that supplied his armies with troops and supplies by shifting generals and military strategies  mid-stream.