There is debatable evidence that right-wing radio and TV commentator Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" resulted in Sen. Hillary Clinton's narrow victory in Indiana's Democratic primary on Tuesday.

Operation Chaos is Limbaugh's effort to encourage Republican voters to reregister as Democrats or cross over in primaries that permit it, like Indiana's. A vote for Clinton, in Limbaugh's master plan, assures an extended Democratic primary, weakening the eventual nominee.

Lost in the turmoil and media coverage of the Democratic race for president is the protest vote being cast against Sen. John McCain in the Republican primaries despite his lock on the nomination.

Roughly one fourth of Republican voters have taken the trouble in recent weeks to cast votes for others whose names still appear on ballots.

NIJMEGEN, NETHERLANDS—Foreign policy analysts and citizens in the United States should pay attention to the words of a retired Dutch diplomat. Whether we agree with him or not, his words have context in today's problems.

Nicolaas Wegter says Europe and especially his native Netherlands will never forget what American troops did for the Dutch in World War II. This city, close to the German border, was freed from the Nazis by American forces after a fierce and bloody battle.

The Democratic presidential nominee this fall—whether Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton—is going to be flawed.

And this is long before the Republicans and their wild-eyed, right-wing allies unload on either one.

Senator Clinton bears more of the blame than her younger rival. At nearly every crazy turn in this long race, she has behaved as if she is entitled to the nomination come hell or high water.

Score 1 against the military-media complex.

On April 25, the Pentagon announced it would suspend its briefings for retired brass hats who often go on TV to give the military's line on the war. At last, it was recognized that this practice has amounted to a surge in propaganda on the Pentagon's part.

Two disturbing questions linger on the follow-up to the New York Times story exposing that former military officers presented as experts on TV were actually spouting Pentagon spin on the war in Iraq:

1. Why did TV outlets, the networks as well as the more culpable cable units, rush these folks on the air with little regard to potential conflicts of interest?

2. Why did the story attract little or no interest from other print organizations when it certainly should have?

With only nine months remaining until George W. Bush returns to Texas, let's examine some of the associates who made the journey with him during these eight long years. It is not a pretty roll call.

• Dick Cheney is a Wyoming transplant who started making his millions when he moved to Houston to head Halliburton. The vice president's former company has made big bucks as a contractor in Iraq, and Cheney has become a strange and unpopular figure with his dissembling on the war.

• Alberto Gonzales came to the capital as Bush's legal adviser before becoming attorney general. Members of both parties were not amused at his convenient memory loss while testifying before Congress. He can't seem to land a job now.