WASHINGTON — A sadder but wiser J. M. (Mike) McConnell, Director of National Intelligence (DNI), told a senior Republican House member last weekend that the next time he dealt with congressional Democrats he would make sure a Republican was in the room or on the phone. After a lifetime navigating the murky waters of intelligence, Admiral McConnell at age 64 was ill prepared for the stormy seas of Capitol Hill.

Democratic presidential candidates in their Tuesday night debate were ragging, as usual, on “cool hand” George W. Bush’s “failure to communicate,” but I don’t think they get why the president, an intelligent fellow, does a poor job of explaining his actions.

That New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has maintained, even in some cases widened, her lead for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination in national polls is a tribute to her own polished performance, especially in the candidate debates, and to the professional campaign organization she has assembled.

Amid all the hand-wringing and finger-pointing as housing markets collapse, mortgage foreclosures skyrocket, and financial markets panic, there is very little attention being paid to the fundamental economic and political decisions that led to this mess.

The last (but unfortunately not the final) “debate” among Republican presidential candidates aired Sunday at 10:30 a.m. EDT in the apparent hope that no one would watch. Few did. But among those who watched, or who read the transcript, ideology once again seemed to take precedence over something the voters might consider of greater importance in next year’s election. That something is competence.

In the past few weeks I’ve been in communication with two names, one known to most Americans, the other probably only remembered by media and political leaders. Both are part of the 2008 presidential drama. It remains to be seen if they will become full-fledged participants.

Global warming has become a big-ticket item in the eyes of its supporters. At stake are research funds, jobs and the ability to control lives all over the globe. Most climatologists agree that over the last century, the Earth’s average temperature has risen about one degree Celsius.

In their latest demonstration of how much they love the troops, liberals have produced yet another anti-war hoax.

The New Republic has been running “true war” stories from a brave, anonymous liberal penning dispatches from Iraq. The famed “Baghdad Diarist” described his comrades joyfully using Bradley fighting vehicles to crush stray dogs, mocking a female whose face had been blown off by an IED, and defacing Iraqi corpses by wearing skull parts on their own heads.

We continue this week with the story of one of the many Jones families in Fayette County, that of Jesse Jones and his children. Anne Westbrook is a descendant of this family and has generously shared her research with us. It is hoped that someone out there may see something familiar and make a connection, helping to separate this common surname into family groups.

It’s too hot to go back to school! Up in the Midwest, school doesn’t start for another two weeks and, for the most part, it’s cooler up there than it is in Georgia.

It took a collapsing bridge in Minnesota to alert people across the country to the fact that many other bridges in many other places have been allowed to deteriorate without adequate maintenance.

Triple H days: hot, humid, and hello. At least that’s what Bubba Hanks use to call the sticky days of August. If you understood what he meant by hot, humid, and hello, then you understood Bubba.

With Rupert Murdoch having won his war for control of The Wall Street Journal, we can begin to reflect on the Meaning of It All.

First, the disclaimer: I appear on Fox News Channel, one of Rupert Murdoch’s media properties, as a paid contributor. I received neither instructions, nor promises of benefits, in exchange for what I am about to write. We now rejoin our regularly scheduled column.

Plopped down in a restaurant in the supposedly Southern city of Charlotte, N.C., the proclamation came as a shock to me.

Where do these people come from, and how do they know when we are at our most vulnerable? When in the grip of the medical industry, even if for only a few weeks, one also learns that most of the ads in evening news are directed at oneself. Who’d have thought I’d ever care which brand of artificial knee has advantages over another or what granny panty gives enough protection but not too much?

Want to refresh your spiritual life? Want to benefit from the joy of giving of yourself? Then go on a mission trip. Take time away to serve the Lord in a missions context.

WASHINGTON — Mid-term elections 13 days earlier had been disastrous for Republicans, but Sara Taylor on Nov. 20, 2006, gushed in her thank you message to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The 32-year-old White House political director praised drug czar John Walters and his deputies for attending 20 campaign events for vulnerable Republican members of Congress. On Friday this week, Taylor as a private citizen will testify under oath about the propriety of this political activity.

I did it again — opened my mouth.

I drove behind a car carrying two guys. Their bumper sticker read, “War Is Not the Answer.” I knew better, but I pulled up next to them at a red light, rolled down my window, and said, “OK. If war is not the answer, what is?”

While politicians have hacked and sloughed their way through the issue of illegal immigration, one sheriff in Atlanta has taken matters into his own hands by doing what the law already allows law enforcement to do — begin deportation proceedings against illegal aliens who are charged with crimes.

Unlike most kids on Flamingo Street, I always looked forward to the first day of school. Okay, so I’m a little odd. But there’s just no other day like it in the entire year. A new school year always means a fresh start, a chance to see old friends, make new ones, and most importantly, a chance that you-know-who would end up in someone’s else’s class besides mine.

WASHINGTON — Speaking at his $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser at the J.W. Marriott hotel in downtown Washington Monday night, Fred Thompson began by introducing “my campaign manager — oh, I mean my wife.”

I was eating lunch alone a few days ago in Newnan, Ga., at the Red Lobster. It was one of those rare times when I had some down time, no appointments, was in non-clerical clothing, and the cell phone remained quiet.

Occasionally, I’ll send Brandon, the nice young man who helps me out around the house, over to Mama’s to do errands or yard work for her.

In the reporting and commentary that preceded Sunday’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony for San Diego’s Tony Gwynn and Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr., one ESPN sports journalist observed: “They did it the right way.”

When Judi-ann Rutherford resigned from the Peachtree City Council recently, I took notice because she seemed to be a decent lady whose voting record was in line with my attitude on issues like TDK.

The trip appeared jinxed from the very beginning. The weather was hot and traffic was heavy, although it could have been worse heading north through town late on a Monday morning. I drove the first leg, and got us to Greensboro, N.C., where we left I-85 and latched onto U.S. Highway 29.

WASHINGTON — The morass in Iraq and deepening difficulties in Afghanistan have not deterred the Bush administration from taking on a dangerous and questionable new secret operation.