The False Prophesy Of Jeremiah Wright
by Leon Wieseltier
Maybe We Can't: The Black Case For Obama-Skepticism
by Cinque Henderson
My Conversation With Obama, In Which He Admits That He's 'Skeptical' About The Middle East Peace Process
by M

• How 'Team O' Plans to Take On the GOP - R. Wolffe & E. Thomas, Newsweek
• Obama: Flawed or Fantastic? - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
• Unity Ticket Brings More Minuses Than Pluses - Michael Tomasky, TNR
• It's Not Over Quite Yet - Jay Cost, RealClearPolitics
• Will Obama Squander the Dems' Lead? - Paul Krugman, New York Times
• Desperate Clinton is Danger to Dems - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
• Obama Needs a History Lesson - Jack Kelly, RealClearPolitics

A respectable liberal blog
Edwards, Obama and the cynic.
Posted at 3:03 a.m.

Broaching That Other Off-Limits Obama Topic
Marc Sheppard
When it comes to Barack Obama, only one subject infuriates the swooning mainstream media more than his father's race -- and that's his father and stepfather's religion. More

Summer Soldiers by Any Other Name: Act II
Kyle-Anne Shiver
American patriots should have known better, I suppose, than to think that the Winter Soldiers would have enough pride not to show their faces in public again after their March tomfoolery in Detroit. More

Human Rights Regression
Jonathan D. Strong
Despite the success that liberal democracy has experienced since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Western concepts of freedom may no longer be progressing, but in fact regressing. Ask Mark Steyn. More

If Clinton Wants VP, Obama Can't Stop Her - Bob Beckel, RealClearPolitics
Obama-Backing Edwards Elbows Aside Clinton - John Nichols, The Nation
The GOP Must Stand for Something - Karl Rove, Wall Street Journal
Are the Republicans Doomed? - Jim VandeHei & Mike Allen, The Politico
Clinton's Biggest Mistake - Tom Bevan, RealClearPolitics
Controversies Have Strengthened Obama - Douglas Schoen, LA Times
McCain Joins Global Warming Cult - Cal Thomas, Sacramento Bee
Obama's Flag Pin Flip-Flop? - Jay Newton-Small, Time
Why Carly Fiorina is So Important to McCain - Daniel Gross, Newsweek
The Housing 'Crisis' Isn't, Really - George Will, Washington Post
Keep the Immigrants, Deport the Multiculturalists - Jason Riley, WSJ
Winning the White Working Class - David Moberg, In These Times
In Britain, the Economy, Stupid - Steven Malanga, RealClearMarkets
Losing the Mideast Center - David Ignatius, Washington Post
Israel's Survival is Tied to That of the West - David Warren, Ottawa Citizen
The Tragedy of Deborah Jeane Palfrey - James Kirchick, The Politico
45 Years of Columns - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
RCP Blog: Battling VPs | AM Roundup / Politics Nation: Edwards is Back

Editorials
The Republican Panic - Wall Street Journal
Angry Voters - USA Today
McCain's Path to Victory - Washington Times
Bush's Farewell Mideast Tour - Boston Globe

Political News & Analysis
Edwards Backs Obama, Sends Signal to Clinton - Washington Post
Rules Committee Has Critical Role in Clinton's Hopes - New York Times
Clinton's 11th Hour Push - The Hill
Obama Gets Edwards Endorsement - Grand Rapids Press

• How 'Team O' Plans to Take On the GOP - R. Wolffe & E. Thomas, Newsweek
• Obama: Flawed or Fantastic? - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
• Unity Ticket Brings More Minuses Than Pluses - Michael Tomasky, TNR
• It's Not Over Quite Yet - Jay Cost, RealClearPolitics
• Will Obama Squander the Dems' Lead? - Paul Krugman, New York Times
• Desperate Clinton is Danger to Dems - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
• Obama Needs a History Lesson - Jack Kelly, RealClearPolitics

Best of the Blogs
Loathing of Fear on the Campaign Trail - Power Line
Is Obama the Apostate, or is Bush? - Juan Cole
"The John McCain Doctrines" - Protein Wisdom
The GOP Brand is Broken - All Spin Zone
The Contrarian Black - Oliver Willis

GLOBAL WARMING -- POLAR BEAR THREATENED, LISTED AS ENDANGERED SPECIES: Yesterday, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that the polar bear will be placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The polar bear's "summertime Arctic hunting grounds have been greatly reduced by a warming climate," but "Kempthorne also made it clear that it would be 'wholly inappropriate' to use the listing as a tool to reduce greenhouse gases, as environmentalists had intended to do." However, according to an "unprecedented study" by experts including members of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "Global warming is disrupting wildlife and the environment on every continent." The experts found that "at least" 90 percent "of environmental damage and disruption around the world could be explained by rising temperatures driven by human activity." Having "examined published reports dating back to 1970," the scientists also found that "[b]ig falls in Antarctic penguin populations, fewer fish in African lakes, shifts in American river flows and earlier flowering and bird migrations in Europe are all likely to be driven by global warming."

CONGRESS -- CONSERVATIVES USE GI BILL AS 'POLITICAL GIMMICK' TO THWART PASSAGE OF FIRST RESPONDER LEGISLATION: Yesterday, the Senate debated the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 (H.R. 980), a bill strengthening the collective bargaining powers of firefighters, police officers, and first responders. But the Senate quickly "devolved into a procedural mess" when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attempted to attach Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) watered-down GI Bill as an amendment. McConnell immediately seconded his own measure and then filed cloture, "prohibiting Democrats from filing their own version of the proposal." The amendment was meant to be a poison pill that would not only kill the Public Safety bill but also block Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) more generous GI Bill from being considered. In a fiery floor speech, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) called it a "parliamentary gimmick" that "is a slap in the face to every firefighter and police officer and first responder in the country." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) angrily reacted to the GOP maneuver by issuing a quorum call and denying Sen. Judd Gregg's (R-NH) right to speak three times. Eventually, the Senate voted 55-42 to table the Graham amendment.

HUMAN RIGHTS -- ACLU UNCOVERS DOCUMENTS SHOWING DEATHS, CHILD IMPRISONMENT IN US DETENTION CAMPS: Through a Freedom of Information Act request, the ACLU "has obtained previously withheld documents from the Defense Department" that shed light on the deaths of detainees in Iraq. One of the documents is a list of "at least four prisoner deaths" that were investigated by the Navy, including one detainee at Abu Ghraib who died after "his head was beaten with a stove." "These documents provide further evidence that the torture of prisoners in United States custody abroad was not aberrational, but was widespread and systemic," Amrit Singh, an ACLU staff attorney, said. Other documents reveal that the U.S. "has detained approximately 2,500 people younger than 18 as illegal enemy combatants in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay since 2002." Currently, there are two prisoners still detained at Guantanamo -- a 21 year-old and a 23 year-old -- who were captured when they were juveniles. Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's human rights program, said, "Juveniles and former child soldiers should be treated first and foremost as candidates for rehabilitation and reintegration into society, not subjected to further victimization." View the previously undisclosed documents here.

More Spin Uncovered
Last month, in a major exposé, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon had created a domestic propaganda program that made use of more than 75 "military analysts" to disseminate favorable coverage of the Bush administration's war efforts. The program included, for example, private briefings with former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top officials, commercial airfare, and the distribution of favorable "talking points" to analysts prior to media appearances. Virtually all of the major networks were involved in the program, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR. The retired military officials serving as media analysts often had contracting ties with the government but pushed the Pentagon line on air without revealing the conflict of interest. Earlier this month, the Pentagon released a major document collection in response to the Times's article, shining even more light on the magnitude of the operation. In a recent letter, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) called on the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a "full investigation of this program and report its findings." Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) also wrote to the GAO, observing: "Allegedly, the Pentagon discouraged the analysts from publicly describing the nature of their relationship with the Pentagon. This clearly violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the law."

PRO-BUSH SPIN OPERATION: An examination of the Pentagon's internal conversations confirms that the Pentagon created "a kind of media Trojan horse -- an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage," as the Times put it. A July 6, 2006 e-mail from Pentagon official Jeffrey Gordon circulated "thoughtful" words by right-wing talkers Bill O'Reilly and Michelle Malkin on Guantanamo Bay. In the Malkin column, she decried the "unseriousness and hypocrisy of the terrorist-abetting left" on Guantanamo. O'Reilly said there were only "minor cases of abuse" at the prison. A "talking points" document from the summer of 2003 pushed the infamous words "dead-enders" and "bitter-enders" to refer to Iraqis who attacked American troops. A later memo reiterated that "the dead-enders are not driving us out of anywhere." Other e-mails reveal a deliberate attempt by the Pentagon to cover up its heavy hand. In a Feb.16, 2006 exchange, Pentagon media staffers discussed coordinating with the Heritage Foundation for a speaker on Guantanamo. An anonymous staffer suggested retired Army Sergeant Major Steve Short because "he seems to be on message and very articulate." "Important to remember that heritage can invite anyone to present and that we don't really have an opinion on anyone," responded Allison Barber of the Pentagon. "[G]asp. are you telling me to tell a lie???? surely not ," the anonymous staffer responded.

WHITE HOUSE INVOLVEMENT?: Last month, reporter Eric Brewer asked White House Press Secretary Dana Perino about whether the White House was involved in the military analyst program. Perino responded, "I just said, no." But the Pentagon's document collection raises questions about the White House's role. A March 16, 2006 e-mail from Pentagon official Dallas Lawrence referenced "a closed call opened only to our retired military analysts...to get them on message heading into the weekend on Iraqi troop strength, advances, etc." A follow-up from an anonymous e-mailer said he or she was "hoping to have Hadley brief these guys next week," referring to National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. Responding to this e-mail, Lawrence added, "Id love to see if we ocould [could] get them in with potus [President Bush] as well. (I think that was submitted to karl and company...last week)." A May 23, 2006 from Lawrence also references "karl." As Salon's Glenn Greenwald noted, the "karl" references strongly suggest that at least former Bush political adviser Karl Rove was involved.

MEDIA STILL QUIET: The media has been curiously silent on the Times's exposé, despite clear involvement in the program. "Did we drink the government kool-aid? -- of course," said CNN military analyst Don Sheppard in a June 23, 2006 e-mail about his government-sponsored trip to Guantanamo. In the week after the story broke, the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that out of roughly 1,300 news stories, "only two touched on the Pentagon analysts scoop," both airing on PBS. "I can only conclude that the networks are staying away...because they are embarrassed about what some of their military analysts did or don't want to give the controversy more prominence," said Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post. As Media Matters reported, the military analysts cited in the Times article have been quoted more than 4,500 times by a range of news outlets since Jan. 1, 2002. On April 24, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) wrote letters to the heads of the major networks on the "specifics about each outlet's policies surrounding the hiring and vetting of military analysts reporting on the Iraq War." As of May 8, only ABC and CNN responded.

BERNIE HORN
How Progressives Can Be Making Sense in 2008 A large group of Americans favor both progressive policy and conservative philosophy. As a result, they can be persuaded to side with either progressives or conservatives, depending on how a political question is framed. The "Making Sense 2008" project is producing and distributing research-based talking points on a variety of issues that can be used to reach these persuadable voters.

Obama: The New Great Redeemer - Gerard Baker, Times of London
The GOP's Ideas Deficit - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
Democrats Offer Thrills n' Chills - Kathleen Parker, RealClearPolitics
What Obama Owes the Clintons - Peter Beinart, Time
The McCain Doctrines - Matt Bai, New York Times Magazine
Obama Plays Middle Name Game - Michael Goodwin, New York Daily News
How McCain, Obama Define Each Other - John Dickerson, Slate
Obama Admires Bush I - David Brooks, New York Times
GOP Brand on the Run - E. J. Dionne, Washington Post
Public Has Lost Confidence in Republicans - Rich Lowry, New York Post
Kansas' Suffrage History for Dems - Diane Eickhoff, RealClearPolitics
King's Anger and Jeremiah Wright's - Michael Gerson, Washington Post
Will Gay Marriage Doom the Democrats? - Joan Walsh, Salon
The Right Way to Get Same Sex Marriage - Debra Saunders, SF Chronicle
China Shows a Human Face - Con Coughlin, The Telegraph
Burma Victims Pay Price for Realism - Phillip Stevens, Financial Times
The Miracle, at 60 - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
RCP Blog: Morning Roundup

Editorials
A Disgraceful Farm Bill - New York Times
Striking Obama's Nerve - Investor's Business Daily
Affirming Marriage Equality - San Francisco Chronicle
Democrats' War Games - Wall Street Journal

Political News & Analysis
Bush Assails Appeasement Touches off Storm - New York Times
McCain Names Drawdown Date - Wall Street Journal
Clinton Finds Herself a Belittled Woman - Washington Post
McCain Adviser Ousted in Uproar - The Politico

Transcripts & Speeches


McCain Outlines Vision for First Term - John McCain
President Bush Addresses the Knesset - George W. Bush
Edwards Endorses Obama - Barack Obama
Clinton Admits Poor Choice of Words, Presses On - The Situation Room
Panel Discusses Edwards Endorsement - Special Report w/Brit Hume

Best of the Blogs
John McCain: Tolstoy in My Inbox - Patrick Ruffini
Israel is Not the 51st State - Brilliant at Breakfast
The Left's Latest Hissy Fit - Dean Barnett
Is Health Care a Right? Only in a Sense - The Corner
Denver, Site of DNC: The Scramble to Pay for It - The Moderate Voice

Hawking Retro-Change and Misplaced Hope
Lee Cary
The old media is warming up to fully engage its next new storyline featuring Barack Obama, slayer of the Clinton Dragons, soon to become America's Post-Modern Uberpolitician. More

The Lessons of West Virginia
Rosslyn Smith
I suppose it is fitting that the news media and the super delegates are ignoring the significance of a thrashing of monumental proportions. More

If The GOP Wants To Govern Like Democrats, Why Have a Separate Party?
Patrick J. Casey
We're watching the culmination of the decade-plus deterioration of the conservative Republican brand. No one, including base conservatives, trusts the Republicans to govern effectively. More

American public opinion on Islamist issues
May 16, 2008
What do Americans think about demands for Sharia courts, or Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to carry dogs or passengers carrying alcohol? A new poll has some answers. More

Arizona Governor Fights Illegal Immigration Task Force
May 16, 2008
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano decided this week to pull the funding designated by the State's legislature to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's illegal immigration task force. More

Can McCain be tamed?
May 16, 2008
McCain is behaving like a wild mustang, untamed and unbridled, which gives support to his claim of maverick status. More

Calling our troops cold-blooded killers
May 15, 2008
Not that I want to bring any attention to that loser on MSNBC, but the comments made recently by Keith Olbermann on his "Countdown" show should be addressed More

Lawyers and Judges Presiding over a Breakdown of Basic Justice
May 15, 2008
The claims for injuries allegedly caused by the painkiller Vioxx have seemed rather dubious to me. It always felt like another example of justice run amok More

The Obama campiagn senses the glove fits
May 15, 2008
The Obama campaign seems to know they have a problem -- their man is perceived as soft on terrorists, and way too accommodating to the world's worst thug regimes. More

Euro-appeasers can't wait for Obama Presidency
May 15, 2008
What kind of political change is a major European energy company waiting for to avoid the issue of sanctions on Iran? More

Turning lemons into lemonade
May 16, 2008
Remember that old bromide "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade"? Double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius improved on this. More

Bush's 'Appeasement' Comments Honored Ailing Israeli Leader
May 16, 2008
What the "outraged" Democrats and mainstream media are completely ignoring in Bush's "appeasement" words used in yesterday's Knesset speech is that they addressed concerns originally raised by Ariel Sharon. More

A few glitches on comments feature
May 16, 2008
We have been delighted with the quality of comments our readers are posting. Unfortunately, a glitch this morning prevented comments from being available on our blog pposts. The problem has now been corrected. More

What Went Wrong With Hillary's Campaign?
May 16, 2008
Michelle Cottle's TNR piece exposes the campaign and the candidate in not very flattering terms.
More

Obama Thinks Hamas, Hezb'allah Have Legiimate Grievances
May 16, 2008
Barack Obama was asked about the statement he released regarding the situation in Lebanon in an interview with the Times David Brooks.
More

A**easing the A**easers
May 16, 2008
The politically correct Left has declared yet more of our natural language off limits to all except themselves. More

Gay Marraige Back as a Campaign Issue
May 16, 2008
Yesterday's ruling by the California Supreme Court that lifts the ban on gay marraige in that state - a ban approved by 60 of voters in a referendum - will no doubt revive the same issues that were fought over in the 2004 election. More

More 'Chicago Way' Politics from Obama
May 16, 2008
Sweetheart deals with state pension boards for one of his best fundraisers? Welcome to the "new" new politics. More

Bush Throws, Obama Yelps
May 16, 2008
Was President Bush launching an attack on Barack Obama. Or, was it a trap into which Obama, and other Democrat politicians, stepped? More

Did Bush Really Call Obama an Appeaser?
May 16, 2008
Just who was the target of President Bush's "appeaser" comments yesterday. More

Hey There, Sweetie
May 16, 2008
Obama called a reporter sweetie. Gasp. Welcome to another national conversation. More

The California Supremes and gay marriage
May 16, 2008
Here's the key to the California same-sex marriage decision: "Although all parties in this proceeding agree that the right to marry constitutes a fundamental right protected by the state Constitution...." More

Hawking Retro-Change and Misplaced Hope
Lee Cary
The old media is warming up to fully engage its next new storyline featuring Barack Obama, slayer of the Clinton Dragons, soon to become America's Post-Modern Uberpolitician. More

Hillary Revealed That Women Can Be Nasty, Deceptive Candidates Too

Barbara Ehrenreich, Barbaraehrenreich.com

Election 2008: Hillary Clinton smashed the myth of innate female moral superiority in the worst possible way -- by demonstrating female moral inferiority.


Howard Zinn: Anarchism Shouldn't Be a Dirty Word

Ziga Vodovnik, CounterPunch

Democracy and Elections: In this interview, Zinn explains why anarchism is often ridiculed as violent and chaotic.


Sex And The American Mom: 1 In 3 Report Having Affairs on the Side

Colleen Dealy, Taylor Baldwin, Huffington Post

Sex and Relationships: A survey reveals that a majority of married moms are not sexually satisfied in their marriages. Many are making up for it on the side.

The Poblano Effect: Obama Could Score Huge Electoral Victory over McCain

Josh Kalven, Progress Illinois

Election 2008: If the huge African-American turnout numbers Obama received in the primaries occurs on Nov. 5, Obama could win 350 electoral votes.


U.S. Sergeant Refuses to Go to Iraq: "This Occupation is Unconstitutional and Illegal"

Karin Zeitvogel, Middle East Online

War on Iraq: On Capitol Hill yesterday, an American soldier named Matthis Chiroux publicly announced his refusal to deploy to Iraq.

'08 An Unconventional Election - Michael Barone, RealClearPolitics
Negotiating Isn't Appeasement - Peter Scoblic, Los Angeles Times
Obama an Appeaser? How Dare You - Mark Steyn, Orange County Register
Why Hillary Tanked - Michelle Cottle, The New Republic
Hillary Turns Fire on Media - Kenneth Vogel, The Politico
California's Gift to McCain? - John McCormack, Weekly Standard
Rep. Davis Calls for GOP Separation from Bush - Al Hunt, Bloomberg TV
GOP Hurting Because It's Governing Like Dems - Patrick Casey, Am Thnkr
The Stark Health Care Divide - Ronald Brownstein, National Journal
Why Doctors Are Heading for Texas - Joseph Nixon, Wall Street Journal
Alex Castellanos on the GOP's Chances - John Heilemann, New York Mag
Hillary's Spending - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
Obama Can Take Florida - Adam Smith, St. Petersburg Times
Opening China to the World - Peter Herford, Washington Post
Striking Out on Energy - Lawrence Kudlow, RealClearPolitics
Need for Religion in Foreign Policy - Adrian Wooldridge, World Affairs
Real Spies Grow Harder to Find - Christopher Caldwell, Financial Times

Editorials
'Appeasement': How to Enrage a Democrat - Wall Street Journal
The President Goes Negative - New York Times
The Problem Obama's Stuck With - New York Daily News
Bush Weighs Down McCain - Los Angeles Times

Political News & Analysis
Obama Says Bush & McCain are 'Fear Mongering' - New York Times
McCain Shows Strong Pro-Gun Side - Washington Post
Obama Says Dems Will Be United in Fall - Argus Leader
Clinton Talks Housing and Fuel - The Oregonian

Best of the Blogs
Crazy Spin from House Republicans - Daily Kos
The Problem with Identity Politics - QandO
Why Are These Republicans So Happy? - Instapundit
McCain's Meandering Mendacity - Carpetbagger Report
In 24 Hours Obama Proves Bush Right - Gateway Pundit

McCain's Path to Victory - Dick Morris, Washington Post
Obama's Culture War - Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune
McCain Can Run, but Bush Won't Hide - Frank Rich, New York Times
Off Key, Obama Sings Kumbaya - Michael Goodwin, New York Daily News
Who's The Real Appeaser? - Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek
Unwise Haste on Gay Marriage - Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
The Prize Clinton Isn't Owed - George Will, Washington Post
Schwarzenegger Calls for 'Rebranding' GOP - Carla Marinucci, SF Chronicle
In November: McCain & the Dems - John Brummett, LV Review-Journal
The Old Titans All Collapsed. Is the US Next? - Kevin Phillips, Wash Post
Redeeming Dubya - Ross Douthat, The Atlantic
Israel's 'American Problem' - Jeffrey Goldberg, New York Times
The Trouble in Burma - David Warren, Ottawa Citizen
Save Us From the Rescuers - David Rieff, Los Angeles Times
A Tale of Two African Countries - Marian Tupy, The American
Robert F. Kennedy, My Father - Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, NYDN
The Iconography of Obama - Jonathan Last, Weekly Standard
Democratic Tracking: Gallup: Obama +9 | Rasmussen: Obama +2
McCain vs. Obama Tracking: Gallup: McCain +3 | Rasmussen: McCain +1

Editorials
Democracy and Marriage - Chicago Tribune
Burma's Desperate Hour - The Nation
Hezbollah's Power Play - Washington Times
Venezuela's Support for Terrorism - Washington Post

Political News & Analysis
Kennedy Not in Immediate Danger, Seizure Cause Sought - Boston Globe
Rival Camps Plan Inevitable Merger - Washington Post
Obama to Return to Iowa, Possibly to Claim Victory - New York Times
McCain, Obama Grow Closer on Iraq as Election Nears - AFP

Best of the Blogs
History Lesson for Liberals - Jules Crittenden
Romney Bigger Threat to Obama than McCain - Huffington Post
Is the AP Good for America? - Pajamas Media
After Guantanamo - Foreign Policy Watch
Sexism and Misogyny - Booman Tribune

Let's Give Obama the Benefit of the Doubt
Paul Shlichta
We know all too well what makes Hillary tick and McCain seems to be an open book. But Obama is a man of mystery; I propose we give him the benefit of the doubt, though he may not apprecaite the gesture. More

The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: A review essay
Robert Kaplan
Were Jews living in Islamic societies victims of antisemitism? If so, to what extent? How did conditions for Jews in the Moslem East compare with those in Christian Europe? More

A Specter haunts the NFL
Geoffrey P. Hunt
Sen. Arlen Specter announced that he wants to have an independent US Senate investigation into how Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner has handled the New England Patriots videogate/spygate cheating scandal. More

Authors against Obama
May 18, 2008
How on earth did Barack Obama merit the kind of treatment he got from the publishing world when he was still a law student? More

Obama's health plan
May 17, 2008
Barack Obama's very ambitious plan and it's not free health care as some believe. He plans to lower costs by spending more. More

Jihad in India
May 17, 2008
In the media focus on the Great Satan (America) and the Lesser Satan (Israel), we often overlook the jihadist terror directed at India. More

Obama's historical ignorance proves Bush's point
May 17, 2008
Too bad Barack Obama does nto know the diplomatic history of the 1960s. He drew the wrong conclusion trying to rebut Presdient Bush. More

Everything is caused by global warming (continued)
May 17, 2008
What is the latest addition to the list of maladies supposedly on the rise thanks to supposed global warming? We bet you can't guess. More

UN Sending Racism Investigator...Here
May 17, 2008
From our "This must be a joke because it's to ridiculous to be true" files comes the news that the UN is going to send an investigator from its Human Rights Commission to investigate racism in America: More

Election Activists Win Three Key Battles

by Steven Rosenfeld - 4:56 PM

Republicans Are Hoping That Democrats Will Win - Then Fail

by Digby, Hullabaloo - 2:39 PM

Wages of Sin, We Keep Paying

by Spencer Ackerman, Attackerman - 1:06 PM

The Impact of Our Nation's Choices

by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake - 11:31 AM

Obama Stands Up to Bush, the FCC, and Big Media

by Matt Stoller, Open Left - 9:58 AM

McCain the Flip-Flopper

by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report - 8:26 AM

McCain: Military Culture, Pragmatism - Linda Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor
Barack Obama: Muslim Apostate? - Shireen Burki, Christian Science Monitor opinion
A 'League' By Other Names - Jackson Diehl, Washington Post opinion
Talking to an Adversary Isn't Necessarily Appeasement - USA Today editorial
Bring On the Foreign Policy Debate - John Bolton, Wall Street Journal opinion
None Dare Call it Appeasement - David Limbaugh, Washington Times opnion

The Omniphobia Epidemic
James Lewis
Omniphobia is all around us, and it'll get us in the end. More

Your Energy Future Under the Democrats
Larrey Anderson
The "energy plan" announced by the Democrats offer one thing: a significant slowdown of our economy for at least twenty years. More

Some Logical Corollaries of California's Gay Marriage Decision
Paul Shlichta
In order to appease an intransigent minority group, the California Supreme Court has resorted to inventing a new legal principle to justify their predetermined goal. It could lead in unexpected directions. More

Has CAIR Violated its Tax Exempt Status?
May 19, 2008
In today's FrontPage.com, Joe Kaufman has an excellent piece detailing numerous violations by both local chapters and the national organization of CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) of the tax code as it relates to political activities by non-profit groups. More

Primary Preview
May 19, 2008
Clinton ahead big in Kentucky. Obama up in Oregon. More

Friends in high places
May 19, 2008
People in high places seem to have a weakness for Barack Obama's friends Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, as well as the candidate himself. More

Democrats recycling commie art themes
May 18, 2008
What is it about Democrats that attracts them to retro-Communist posters? More

The New Geography
May 18, 2008
What if Barack Obama was making a promise when he spoke of 57 states? More

Giving peas a chance
May 18, 2008
Have enough people in your group, and you earn a parade in New York City. More

'Lebanon will not become the next Gaza'
May 18, 2008
Some grim words from Michael Totten on Lebanon. More

Is the US too big a country for Obama?
May 18, 2008
Or perhaps he thinks the country is bigger than it is. After all, just the other day he said there were 57 states More

Madame Speaker has Reality Slap her in the face in Iraq
May 18, 2008
It will be hard for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to go back to her Democratic colleagues and keep declaiming on the House floor about how the surge isn't working in Iraq now that she has been there and seen for herself. More

The Myth of 'Anonymous Emails" Against Obama
May 18, 2008
The Obama campaign protests too much about emails that are far from anonymous. More

The Next American Frontier - Michael Malone, Wall Street Journal
McCain Needs to Run a Campaign for Reform - Yuval Levin, Wkly Standard
The Fall of Conservatism - George Packer, The New Yorker
Can McCain Exceptionalism Save GOP? - William Kristol, New York Times
Will Jewish Votes Cost Obama the White House? - Mike Madden, Salon
Obama-McCain: Round One Goes to Obama - Mike Tomasky, The Guardian
Dems Will Lose This Foreign Policy Debate - John Bolton, Wall St. Journal
Clinton-Obama Grudges Fester - Krissah Williams, Washington Post
The Year of the 'Sweetie'? - Susan Estrich, FOX News
The Fear of White Decline - Gregory Rodriguez, Los Angeles Times
Joke Farm Bill Sums Up GOP Disarray - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
Greedy Gov't vs. America's Freedom - Deroy Murdock, New York Post
The Scars of Losing a Home - Robert Shiller, New York Times
The Big Easy Rebuilds, Bottom Up - Nicole Gelinas, City Journal
Are Today's Immigrants Assimilating? - Jacob Vigdor, Boston Globe
Putin's Gulag Stability - Oleg Kozlovsky, Washington Post
Pendulum Swings to Tories - William Rees-Mogg, Times of London
Sunday Talk: Kyl, Dodd on FNS | Webb on MTP | Boehner on This Week
RCP Blog: Is It Over? | KY, OR Polls | McCain on SNL | AM Roundup

Editorials
Pigs in the Trough on Capitol Hill - Washington Examiner
Modern Finance Under Attack - The Economist
Foreclosure Bill Won't Fix Mortgage Mess - Chicago Tribune
Medicaid Money Laundering - Wall Street Journal

Political News & Analysis
Obama Rallies Over 70,000 in Portland - The Oregonian
McCain to Rely on Party Money - New York Times
McCain's National Finance Co-Chair Resigns - Associated Press
Clinton-Obama Grudge Lingers for Some Voters - Washington Post

Best of the Blogs
The GOP War on (Democrats) Voting - Talking Points Memo
The Schwarze-fication of the GOP - Michelle Malkin
Jamie Rubin's Dirty Trick - Power Line
Look Who's Trashing Hillary Now - TalkLeft
Obama: Americans Must Do As World Says - The Strata-Sphere

Bush Returns With Little To Show
Winding up a five-day trip to the Middle East, President Bush delivered a speech on Sunday to the World Economic Forum, hosted by the Egyptian government at the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh. Exhorting Middle East leaders to open up their political and economic systems, Bush said, "Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail." He added, "The time has come for nations across the Middle East to abandon these practices, and treat their people with the dignity and respect they deserve." While the speech was a strident defense of liberal democratic ideas, in the seven years of his presidency, Bush has not shown any good strategy for encouraging them abroad. With Hamas in control of Gaza and surging in the West Bank, Hezbollah now dominant in Lebanon, and Iraq still mired in chaotic violence, most of the Middle East is further away today from the goal of political and economic reform than when George W. Bush originally unveiled his "democracy agenda" early in his presidency. According to a Freedom House report from last year, the march of democracy has stalled not only in the Middle East, but all over the world.

AN UNPRECEDENTED POLITICAL ATTACK: While in Israel to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Jewish State, Bush used his speech before the Israeli Knesset to attack his domestic political opponents. Condemning those who advocate "negotiation" with America's enemies, Bush claimed, "We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement." Many American legislators expressed shock and disgust at the President's comments. Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) called the speech "raw politics," saying it was "outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country...and make this kind of ridiculous statement." Bush's condemnation of "negotiation" cast a wide net over a broad section of American political leadership which advocates some kind of responsible diplomatic engagement with regimes such as Iran and Syria. The bipartisan 2006 Iraq Study Group report advocated just this kind of engagement in the hopes of producing cooperation from Iran and Syria in stabilizing Iraq. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has also advocated engagement with Iran, stating last year that "America's strategic 21st century regional policy for the Middle East must acknowledge the role of Iran today." Numerous officials in Bush's administration, including Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker, have regularly held meetings with Iranian diplomats. Last Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated, "We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage...and then sit down and talk with them [Iran]."

INEFFECTIVE 'JAWBONING': After Israel, President Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he appealed to Saudi King Abdullah to increase oil production and help lower oil prices. Bush's appeal was rejected. "Supply and demand are in balance today...The fundamentals are sound," said Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush had criticized the Clinton administration for high fuel prices, saying that a president must "'jawbone' oil producing nations" and persuade them to drop rates. Back then, Bush promised that he would bring down gas prices by creating "political good will with oil-producing nations" stating that he would "work with our friends in OPEC…and convince them to open up the spigot." At that time, oil was nearing $28 a barrel. Last week oil hit $127 a barrel, with many analysts "seeing a medium-term rise…to $200 a barrel as a genuine prospect." It's unlikely, however, that even increasing oil flows would reduce the price of crude. The oil market is "well supplied," according to Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, who said that prices are being driven by "speculative flows," and not supply and demand.

SCOLDING ARAB REGIMES: Upon arriving in Egypt on Saturday for the World Economic Forum, Bush was attacked by Egypt's state-owned press. Bush's Knesset speech "raised question marks over the credibility of the U.S. role in the Middle East," wrote Mursi Atallah, the publisher of Al-Ahram, the flagship daily of the Egyptian state press. "Bush aims to do nothing but appease Israel." The New York Times added that Bush was perceived to be "insensitive to Palestinian concerns." After he notably avoided meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his Israel visit, Bush met with Abbas on Saturday. Abbas told reporters that he had "demanded an explanation from Mr. Bush" for his Knesset speech. "What the president said at the Knesset made us angry, and to be honest, we don't accept it," Mr. Abbas said. Although Bush has steadily maintained that a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement is possible by the end of his term, he is virtually alone is this view. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley acknowledged that "we are not yet at the point" where the Israeli, Palestinian, and American leaders were going to meet "and declare a vision." Bush's keynote speech to the conference on Sunday was filled with exhortations to Arab political and economic reform, but the President's newly strident tone of advocacy served mostly to highlight the stark differences between his words and his administration's policies. These policies, especially the invasion of Iraq and the lack of engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, have seen the increase in power of radical movements such as Hezbollah and Hamas, a rise in influence by Iran, and an increasingly destabilized Middle East.




MILITARY -- WEBB SLAMS BUSH FOR THREATENING VETO OF GI BENEFITS: On NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) discussed his <a target="_blank" href="http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/er.aspx?s=785&lid=3520&elq=2CA6879CC7EC40D48E13757C00F58DA4">21st Century GI Bill, which would dramatically expand educational benefits for returning veterans. President Bush, however, has vowed to veto the bill. Webb blasted Bush for this unprecedented action, saying that "no president in history has vetoed a benefits bill for those who served." "The president has a choice here to show how much he values military service," said Webb. The Pentagon has suggested that Webb's bill is too generous in conferring benefits to soldiers after "only" two years of service. However, as Webb pointed out, soldiers would still have to finish their enlistment term. As a recent CBO report showed, any loss in reenlistment rates would be entirely made up for by increased military recruits. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and other conservatives have introduced their own version of the bill, which would reserve the most generous benefits for those who have served at least 12 years in the military. Webb pointed out that the alternative bill would exclude the vast majority of service members because "70 to 75 percent of the ground troops in the Army and the Marine Corps have left the service by the end of their first enlistment."

JUSTICE -- REPORT APPLAUDS FBI FOR NOT PARTICIPATING IN ABUSIVE INTERROGATIONS: A new Justice Department Inspector General report concludes that "no agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took part in the military's rough interrogations, a key validation for the bureau." The report finds that torture techniques "became a major source of friction" between military interrogators and FBI agents, who "complained to superiors beginning in 2002 that the tactics they had seen yielded little actual intelligence, prevented them from establishing a rapport with detainees through more traditional means of questioning and might violate F.B.I. policy or American law." However, the report also faults FBI agents for being slow to report their concerns. For example, the agency did not formalize an order to not participate in or remain present in interrogations involving torture until 2004. Last month, FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress that the FBI had "reached out to DoD [Department of Defense], DoJ [Department of Justice], in terms of activity that we were concerned might not be appropriate." After the CIA acknowledged it had waterboarded at least three prisoners in February, Mueller defended his agency's refusal to torture, stating, "We have lived by" the protocol "not to use coercive techniques."

MEDIA -- STUDY CONCLUDES PENTAGON BENEFITED FROM U.S. MEDIA 'EMBED' PROGRAM IN IRAQ: The New York Times recently documented the Pentagon's domestic propaganda program using so-called "military analysts" in the media to garner support for the Iraq war and the Bush administration's war polices. A new study now shines light on another aspect of the Pentagon's use of the media during the war. Writing in the American Sociological Association's "Contexts" magazine, sociologist Andrew M. Lindner found that the program of embedding journalists with American troops during the invasion of Iraq "proved to be a Pentagon victory because it kept reporters focused on the horrors facing the troops, not the horrors of the civilian war experience." The end result, says Lindner, was "a communications victory for an administration that hoped to build support for the war by depicting it as a successful mission with limited cost." The report, "billed as the only sociological study to date of the substantive content of media coverage during the first six weeks of the Iraq war," is the result of a "content analysis of 742 news articles written by 156 English-language print reporters" embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq.

Obama-McCain: Round One Goes to Obama
- Mike Tomasky, The Guardian
GOP Drinking Its Bath Water
- Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times
The Year of the 'Sweetie'?
- Susan Estrich, FOX News
Will Jewish Votes Cost Obama the White House?
- Mike Madden, Salon

Best of the Blogs
Managing the Obama-Clinton Merger - The Fix
More Unforced Errors from McCain on Lobbyists - MyDD
Same-Sex Marriage and Polygamy - Volokh Conspiracy
Obama's 'Victory' Isn't All That - Taylor Marsh
The Significance of Sen. Byrd's Endorsement - Booman Tribune

Why Clinton Fights On - Richard Cohen, Washington Post
Obama Vulnerable on Nat'l Security - Steve Huntley, Chicago Sun-Times
The Case for Diplomacy, Loud and Clear - Peter Canellos, Boston Globe
Farm Bill Was a Test for Our Leaders - David Brooks, New York Times
Bush and McCain's Awkward Embrace - Ramesh Ponnuru, Time
A New Map in November? - Reid Wilson, RealClearPolitics
You Can't Soak the Rich - David Ranson, Wall Street Journal
Why Do the Poor Feel Squeezed? - Bob Herbert, New York Times
Success in Iraq: A Media Blackout - Ralph Peters, New York Post
Hyping the Threat from Iran - Barbara Slavin, San Francisco Chronicle
Obama's Unique Appeasement Style - Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post
McCain's Least Favorite Issue - Dick Polman, Philadelphia Inquirer
CA Decision Will Radically Change Society - Dennis Prager, Creators
Obama's Corrupt Union Ties - John Judis, The New Republic
So Much for 'Settled Science' - Lorne Gunter, National Post
Putin's Puppet Press - Masha Lipman, Washington Post
Foreign Policy: Before and After Iraq - Robert Kagan, Charlie Rose Show

Editorials
When Spouses Join the Fray, They're Fair Game - USA Today
Bush's Travels Highlight Failed Policies - New York Times
Bush Bashers Beware - Investor's Business Daily
Meddling in Gay Marriage - Washington Post

Political News & Analysis
Front and Center, Obama on the Verge - Chicago Tribune
Mail-In Vote Complicates Oregon - Washington Post
Clinton, Obama Appeal for Votes - Louisville Courier-Journal
Obama Backers See Dream Ticket as a Nightmare - The Hill

The Obama-Ahmedinejad Summit
Ed Lasky
Barack Obama has enshrined the principle of unconditional summitry with Iran as one of the central foreign policy planks of his campaign for President. What would be the consequences? More

Democratic Primary Matters
Jonathan Cohen
The closeness of the primary contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has made the mechanics of the primary process itself the central issue of the campaign. More

Obama and the Black Media
Ray Robison
Senator Barack Obama tries to be all things to all people with his vague language of change and hope. But sometimes he makes the mistake of promising something More

The Rule Book for Criticizing Obama
May 20, 2008
Barack Obama needs to issue a rule book for exactly what criticism opponents are allowed to make. More

Is Iran a threat or not, Senator Obama?
May 19, 2008
Within the space of a day, the candidate has changed his position. More

Some lessons for Obama
May 19, 2008
Tom Maguire teaches International Relations major Barack Obama some lessons like why size matters and what the phrase "only Nixon could go to China" means. More

Does a new 'radical' religious group threaten Britain?
May 19, 2008
In this article for the UK Telegraph, David Model is concerned that a "radical" and "hard-line" religious group has set up shop in Great Britain. More

Are 32,000 Scientists Enough to Question Global Warming 'Consensus?'
May 19, 2008
"How many scientists does it take to establish that a consensus does not exist on global warming?" More

The backstory on Obama's books
May 19, 2008
If one had to name Barack Obama's chief accomplishments in public life, his two books would outweigh anything he has done in politics. More

Deficiencies in American military doctrine in War on Terror
May 19, 2008
LTC Joseph Myers is a man whose name ought to be on the lips of all who care about victory in the Global War on Terror. More

Obama Stupidity Part II
May 19, 2008
Via the excellent Q & O Blog comes more Obama lunacy - this time giving us a taste of what McQ calls "global class warfare:" More

Reflections on Bush's Knesset speech
May 19, 2008
This speech was a tremendous insult to the Saudis, in that it celebrated the anniversary of Israel's birth as though it were a great American holiday. More

Obama Tells 75,000 Oregonians Iran is "not a threat" to US
May 19, 2008
Yesterday in front of 75,000 adoring fans, Obama really let his inner liberal take over and made one of the most outrageously stupid comment of the campaign to date. More

Racial violence against immigrants soars
May 19, 2008
Horrific racial violence has immigrants seeking shelter. France? Arizona? Guess again. More

Are Obama's view on Israel informed by radical Palestinian Activist?
May 19, 2008
Barack Obama's connections once again present questions that the candidate has yet to answer sufficiently. More