The Huffington Post has some more tidbits from Speechwriter Matt Latimer’s new book about his days working for George Bush — and what went on at the White House. Here are a few tidbits. First the setup: Disclosure: Latimer’s bookis officially embargoed until Tuesday. I read it in manuscript form months ago and blurbed it on the back of the book, saying good things about it. But the following...

WASHINGTON — It’s time to cast aside the political shorthand and ideological pigeonholing that distort our debates over health care in particular and government’s role in American life more broadly. The way words such as “centrist” and “bipartisan” are now deployed turns the discussion away from useful arguments over how various proposals might work and toward...

The controversy — with people lined up along party and ideological lines — rages on. But what is the real difference between the two plans? This makes it easier to understand…

David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

I will never forget then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s answer to a question by Army specialist Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, back in December of 2004, nearly two years after the start of the Iraq war. The setting was a town-hall style meeting Rumsfeld was holding with over 2,000 Iraq-bound troops in a cavernous hangar at a remote desert camp in Kuwait. Set out on display...

I have a blog post up at Comments from Left Field on the upcoming battle over reauthorization of three provisions of the Patriot Act.

The most notable fact about President Barack Obama’s Sunday morning media blitz has been that he is making the rounds of the networks’ news shows — except Fox News. This has led Fox News’ Chris Wallace to go after the White House for being a bunch of crybabies and being thin skinned. But if Wallace expected a sudden invitation from the White House — he is wrong. He has been met...

As President Barack Obama makes the rounds of network talk shows (except Fox) and the conventional wisdom is that his political fortunes are starting to sag at an alarming rate, a new CNN poll of polls finds that Obama’s poll numbers are holding remarkably steady: President Barack Obama’s approval rating is holding steady in the mid-50′s, according to a new CNN Poll of Polls. Fifty-five percent...

I caught some flack from my conservative friends last week when I agreed with President Obama on the decision to shelve the star wars missile defense boondoggle in Eastern Europe. While anyone could rightly question my bona fides on such issues, they may want to pay a little more attention when no less a personage than Secretary of Defense Robert Gates weighs in on the subject. Last week, President Obama —...

I’ve been munching popcorn out here in the Empire State and watching next year’s gubernatorial race shape up for some time now. It’s been very entertaining in an electoral off year, with Governor David Paterson’s approval ratings cycling somewhere between dismal and “they’re just not that into you.” (He just ticked off a lot more Democrats by suspending fiscal support...

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

This is not the sort of topic I usually write about, but there’s a New York Times article today by Neil Lewis — mostly based on a book proposal by Andrew Young for a book about the affair between John Edwards and Rielle Hunter. Here is one of the more arresting passages (emphasis is mine):

Mike Keefe, The Denver Post This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Is Barack Obama trying to hide some innate shyness? After being on 60 Minutes almost as often as Andy Rooney and rivaling Oprah on weekday TV, the President will go for overexposure records with five Sunday talk shows tomorrow to be followed by Letterman Monday night. The All Obama All the Time blitz is meant to explain and sell health care reform to confused Americans, but it calls up that ancient resistance...

Reuters reported on this study done by researchers at Harvard Medical School:

In Afghanistan, the US is heading towards futility if not defeat mainly because no policy maker in Washington or its allied European capitals is willing to notice the bull in the china shop obvious to others. Washington and its NATO allies are focused on the awful recent elections. They are running in circles trying to establish democracy and rule of law in country where the lifestyle of rural folk dominated...

Frankly, my dear, I didn’t give a damn about ACORN’s community organizing for the impoverished until I saw the videos on You Tube obtained by a self-described nerd who is more of an icon-shattering crusader than staunch conservative as some would have us believe. That caught me attention. In case you missed it the edited snippets show low-level ACORN representatives telling the filmmakers how to...

Andrew Sullivan ponders: from Irving Kristol to Glenn Beck?

It’s not news that the CIA does not want the torture investigation to go forward. It’s who they are lobbying to achieve that end that is truly egregious:

Let’s Make a Deal: Beltway Edition by Michael Winship If you ever needed proof that Washington is governed by the Golden Rule – the one that says, he who has the gold, rules – you only have to look at the wagonloads of cash being dumped by big business into crushing President Obama’s domestic agenda. Good gosh, how the money rolls in. And I’m not only talking about the millions...

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday by Rick Moran A lot of things have happened this week that have entered the airy cavity sitting atop my neck and floated around waiting to be recognized as conscious thought. I can imagine all these little snippets of inner dialogue waiting patiently in line, bitching about how slow a goose I am at moving them from the dark of my subconscious where they effect my thinking in...

Anyone who has worked in the media knows about a “fatal” in a story: it’s an error so big that if it isn’t corrected fast and prominently, it can discredit the info-outlet that carries it. This is the kind of error newspapers correct on the front page (versus some of the bigger ones buried inside). Fox News — the network that says it provides fair and accurate reporting —...

I want to say something about Irving Kristol’s passing at the age of 89. The neoconservative movement, which Kristol founded and which, at least for now, is being led by his son, William Kristol, has had, in my view, a very pernicious effect on U.S. foreign and domestic policy. I did not admire Irving Kristol, and I cannot feel grief or sadness at his death. But neither can I feel happy about it.

I have always been in awe of the incredible acts of valor and selfless sacrifice our military are capable of. More recently, I have been puzzled—and have questioned—why there have been so few Medals of Honor awarded to our heroes who have continued to “distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty” in combat in...