I must admit -- I don't feel altogether comfy with these old-school politicians in advisory roles to solve current problems .... And this criticism cuts both ways.
Bush is meeting with Baker .... Dems are meeting with George McGovern. Neither of these "advisors" have a history of non-partisanship ....
Not that these folks weren't top-of-the-line in their day, but the world has changed considerably over the last 20-some years. Principles of diplomacy may not have changed that much --- but we're dealing with an enemy that could care less about diplomacy. They want to kill us. Indiscriminately, too. They want to fly their flag from our White House (which will be hard to do if they burn it first, but their point is well taken).
Back in July, McGovern spoke at an anti-war conference in Canada.
Former US presidential candidate senator George McGovern called the conflict in Iraq a "needless and mistaken" war.
And he accused the administration of President George W. Bush of misleading the American people in pursuing the war.
"We are jeopardizing the very liberties we profess to be fighting to save in these costly and, in many respects, self-defeating wars," McGovern, 83, said on Saturday at a conference of Vietnam War draft dodgers and resisters held in this British Columbia Interior community over the past week. "I think it jeopardizes the quality of our lives and the standing of America in the world."
McGovern was a major opponent of the Vietnam War, the draft for which many of the delegates to the conference fled to Canada to avoid.
"We haven't learned as much as we should from the lessons of the past," he said.
McGovern, the Democratic candidate for president against Richard Nixon in 1972, stressed there are wars worth fighting. A World War II bomber pilot, McGovern said he is a supporter of the US military.
"I support our troops in that I don't want them involved in needless and mistaken wars," he said.
He said the Iraq conflict is heading the same way as the Vietnam War.
"This time we're bogged down in the Arabian desert in a country that is no threat to the United States, that had no weapons of mass destruction," McGovern said.
Further, he said, Iraq had no connection whatsoever to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York's Word Trade Center.
But, he said most Americans believe the assertions from the White House that Iraq was involved in those attacks.
McGovern was first elected to the Senate in 1962 and re-elected in 1968 and 1974. He served UN appointments under presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
He left the Senate in 1980 and taught at several institutions.
He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US' highest civilian honor, in 2000.
Also at the conference was Jeffrey House, a draft dodger turned Canadian lawyer who represents American soldiers seeking asylum in Canada.
House called the Iraq war "a gigantic crime."
Many of the speakers encouraged Canada to remain a haven for those who choose not to fight in Iraq.
Mr. Baker spoke on ABC in early October:
Former Secretary of State James A. Baker told "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" in an exclusive appearance that the current Iraqi government is capable of sustaining peace in the war-torn region.
But he warned, "If they think we're going to leave, then they won't be able to do it."
Baker is leading the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan group charged with making a "forward-looking assessment of the situation in Iraq."
He said, "[Iraq is] capable of doing it if it gets the political will."
The Iraq Study Group is expected to make its formal assessment after the midterm elections this November. Baker told ABC News that the report may be ready by December, but that deadline could slip into next year.
Most important, Baker stated, the report must "take this thing out of politics."
"We're going to try very hard to stay away from the political terms, change the course, stay the course, and all that stuff," Baker said.
With the president's blessing, Baker is acting with Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman and the vice chair of the 9/11 Commission, and others. Baker described their efforts.
"I think the administration knows that we are working hard to come up with a consensus recommendation," he said. "We've got a lot of good Republicans and Democrats on this commission, and we are determined to come up with a consensus report."
But Baker admitted he's "not sure" that the Bush administration will heed any advice given by the independent group.
This past week, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a stark assessment of the situation in Iraq.
He told reporters, "In two or three months, if this thing hasn't come to fruition and if this level of violence is not under control and this government able to function, I think it's a responsibility of our government internally to determine: Is there a change of course that we should take? And I wouldn't take off the table any option at this time."
Baker said he concurs with Warner.
"We're taking a look at other alternatives," he said, "We haven't rejected a lot of ideas."
On the separate but pressing issue of North Korea's latest threats of another nuclear missile test, Baker disagreed with the Bush administration's refusal to engage directly in bilateral talks with the rogue nation.
"I believe in talking to your enemies," Baker said. "In my view, it's not appeasement to talk to your enemies."
I have no idea what influence the ole boys (including new Secretary of Defense Gates) will have on a solution for Iraq. For the sake of our troops and national unity, I hope they each contribute to bipartisanship.
And I still like MY plan.
Part 1: Divide Iraq into states. Divide larger cities into districts. Let each state/district elect local governors (and representatives to the national governing body).
Part 2: Hire existing Iraqi militias to control/patrol the states/districts. Give bonuses to militia chieftans and their "police" force for kicking out foreign thugs, protecting and promoting businesses and keeping communities safe.
Part 3: Use US/coalition forces as advisors. Keep coalition "strike" forces in strategic areas. Continue to train/develop an Iraqi military.
Part 4: Redeploy US troops home and/or to other Middle East locations.
Part 5: Focus Iraqi militias and military forces on protecting Iraqi resources -- including oil drilling, refineries, transportation routes and borders.
When I was in Vietnam, I lived with a civic action group (PHILCAG) in TayNinh. They built schools, hospitals and trained local villagers to develop their own utility systems. They also carried big guns to protect themselves. Made sense to me.
To win hearts and minds -- you sometimes have to carry a big stick to ensure that bodies follow suit ....
.... to be continued ....
What if Rove intentionally "let" Democrats win -- to punish Repubs and RINO's who distanced themselves from the President during the campaign?
to 
On that thought -- maybe they did. The majority of Democrats who won Tuesday were at best moderates and social conservatives. Blue dog Democrats, they're called. Not exactly what many would have wanted, I suspect.