Hello and welcome to the Slate Political Gab Fest for Friday, September 25th.

I'm John Dickerson in Washington with David Plotz, and Emily Bazelon is in New York City appearing

live in our little closet room completely out of focus.

Via holograph.

Yeah, which makes this feel like a very dreary piece of performance art.

The first topic for us today will be Afghanistan and the challenges for the president on that.

Then we're going to talk quickly about the United Nations and the president on the global stage, also at the G20.

And then finally we're going to talk about political comebacks, all of the people who are trying to make them, who may never make them, and the sad and increasingly disgusting tale of John Edwards.

So let's start with Pakistan.

The president over the weekend was on Pakistan. Sorry, Pakistan. You know, I think of Pakistan and Afghanistan together.

It's the same problem. I think that's fair. Well, it's interesting that you mentioned that because the president on the Sunday shows last weekend talked about Afghanistan and basically said we've got to reass-we've got to come up with a strategy before we add more troops to a day later on Monday in the Washington Post Bob Woodward released

or wrote a piece about the 66 page report from Stanley McChrystal the president's top commander

in the field in Afghanistan calling for more troops and assessing the state of play

in Afghanistan. There's a big question about what the president's going to do. The Pentagon would

like him to behave and do whatever he's going to do quickly. The president is saying he may take

weeks, if not months. It's all very unresolved. Emily, your thoughts. Oh, it's such a mess. I feel so sad that we are stuck again in

one of these morasses. And I mean, for me, the central chondry is just whether our staying makes

things better or is simply an expenditure of blood and treasure that then in the end we wonder whether it really had any effect.

And I feel really torn and uncertain about all of that.

Torn and uncertain. Are you torn and uncertain, David?

I suppose I am. First of all, I think, you know, it's interesting, and I think we see President Obama's decision-making process at work here because just six months ago they went through this huge kind of policy discussion within the White House and with the military about what should our Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy be.

And they came up with a strategy.

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