Thank you especially for this:

Here's what General Patraeus said about jihadists online ...

The babble was becoming unbearable. Senator Whitehouse was, by comparison, admirably concise and to the point.

Graham could not say anything very useful so he said it profusely, annoyingly and irrelevantly. After all, as Chair of the subcommittee he could hardly say nothing.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."