Free of internal criticism, national candidates looked daffy and reflexively aggressive John McCain sang "Bomb, Bomb Iran" and left the party looking that way, too.

WSJ: Noonan: Can the Republican Party Recover From Iraq?

The Lib Dem leadership has faced some internal criticism for supporting separate plans in the Justice and Security Bill to extend the use of so-called secret courts to hear sensitive intelligence material.

BBC: Lib Dems 'may ditch' Communications Data Bill

And with Nationalist expectations that they would win far more seats than they did having been dashed, Mr Salmond is already having to deal with internal criticism of the campaign he ran, especially the decision to promise to raise the basic rate of income tax by 1p in the pound.

ECONOMIST: From now on, Britain will have to get used to coalitions

The U.S. also restrained its criticism of Gadhafi's internal repression.

WSJ: Elliott Abrams: Our Bargain With the New Gadhafi

Addressing reporters on Nov. 3, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan launched an indirect criticism of Kuala Lumpur, saying that while the matter was Malaysia's internal problem, it had far-reaching effects on fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

CNN: NATION ON TRIAL

In a bid to mute criticism about its treatment of prisoners abroad, the White House released hundreds of pages of internal administration memos that set out the legal advice it had received on interrogating suspects in the war on terror.

ECONOMIST: A constitution for the EU

Scalia added he was dismayed at the criticism of Roberts, suggesting those who may have leaked information were not entirely privy to the internal discussions over the health care decision.

CNN: Scalia dismisses talk of internal court rancor