In April of this year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended several military budgetary cuts, including for the production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet to stop at 187 aircraft, which means that only four more F-22s will be produced. It was a move that drew a firestorm of criticism from Congress, the military, the military aerospace industry and the military aerospace community. The move, however, wasn’t...

If you read nothing else online this week, read Jonathan Chait’s book review (of two new biographies of Ayn Rand) cum extended essay on Rand’s philosophy and continuing influence on the American right. It’s a long article, but don’t let that stop you — I usually get restless reading lengthy pieces on the Internet, but this one had me riveted.

It’s hard to know how to react to this article in China’s state-controlled People’s Daily. But it’s certainly interesting. An ode to the ideals held by the Kennedy family and the recently deceased Senator Ted Kennedy, columnist Li Hong writes that ambitious families in so-called communist China and other countries like Brazil, could learn a lot from the Kennedy clan, and ‘run...

Our friend Ed Morrissey has today jumped on the bandwagon of Republicans who have decided that President Obama’s penchant for appointing “czars” such as Van Jones, who recently moved into new digs under the Obama bus, is a bad thing. Describing them as a “proliferation of unaccountable commissars in government,” Ed sees this as a dangerous trend. It’s well past time for the Republicans...

Joe Wilson’s blurtout last week lit a fuse to set off a slow-motion exposure of race in the national anti-Obama rage. Today the House Black Caucus takes the lead in censuring the South Carolina Congressman with what are clearly mixed feelings about dealing publicly with an issue that seemed to have been settled by the inauguration of a “post-racial” president only a few months ago. House Majority...

Guest post by Jonathan Powers Jon Powers is the Chief Operating Officer of the Truman National Security Project. He is a veteran of the Gulf War and the founder of War Kids Relief. He was previously Veterans Program Director at the Eleison Group, where he worked on outreach efforts by the progressive community to veterans and military families. This post, co-written with Jon Soltz, was originally published at...

‘THE TRIAL OF EMBASSY WORKERS’ Who detests the other more: The United States government or the regime at the helm of the Islamic Republic of Iran? Based on this article from the tightly state-controlled Kayhan newspaper, one would have to think that the Iranian Mullahs come out on top on that question. For Kayhan, that newspaper’s regular columnist on foreign affairs, Kian Mokhtari, writes...

The debate on all sides goes on. Here’s a good roundup.

An attempt At a Real “Reset Button” on Health Care” by Jon Wells With the convening of Congress, the debate over health care reform has once again reared its ugly head. Despite promises of pushing a “reset button” on the back-and-forth rhetoric, the President’s speech served more as a further partisan rebuke to critics rather than a genuine moment of leadership and bipartisanship....

If you assert that most Americans support Rep. Joe Wilson’s shouted comments during President Barack Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress, then you lie, a new Gallup poll shows: Americans come down strongly in opposition to South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson’s “You lie!” outburst during President Obama’s address to Congress on healthcare last Wednesday, though majorities...

A lawsuit has been filed in New Jersey after three teenagers refused to stand during the playing of God Bless America at a minor league baseball park. There is some debate as to whether the teens refused to stand deliberately as some protest against the US or if they simply didn’t think about it one way or the other. There is also some dispute as to the exact details of the confrontation with the stadium...

Via Mahablog:

What is it about Libyan despot Mouamar Qaddafi that Western leaders find so irresistible? There’s no mystery about that, nor the unmistakable hypocrisy it represents. Expressing bile over Western tolerance for the man known in Libya as ‘the Guide,’ this editorial from France’s Le Monde sums it up this way: “His record is damning. The dashing officer who modeled himself on Egypt’s...

Victory Day in Russia, 1945 Continuing with our coverage of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, this article from Izvestia reflects the outrage Russians feel about being called allies of Hitler, as responsible as Germany for the last ‘War to End All Wars.’ For Izvestia, Vyacheslav Nikonov writes in part: “What a remarkable thing: the more time passes since the Second World...

Jake Tapper: This afternoon at his house on the Eastern Shore in Maryland, Powell had an apparent heart attack, a family friend said. The former press secretary for President Jimmy Carter was the CEO of the PR firm Powell Tate. He was 65.

This past weekend reflects the state of anti-Obama invective as literally countless American patriots in Washington rage against the President while the dean of terrorists delivers a mild harangue against him as “powerless.” In both cases, there are fact-check problems. The bin Laden message comes in a ten-minute audiotape with an undated photograph while the Tea Party crowd, estimated at tens of...

I am and have been in favor of publicly honoring our fallen heroes when they touch American soil for the last time at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. My personal motto is “Nothing to hide here. Everything to Honor.” A lot of controversy and apprehension had surrounded this issue. Finally, on February 26, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a policy consistent with what we presently have at Arlington...

I mean really — read this. I’ve run out of words to use that mean “vile…..reprehensible.” I’m about to leave today on a long trip that will require me to drive long distances throughout the West. I just installed satellite radio and will use it on this trip. Can you guess why?

The Difference Between Passion and Paranoia by Rick Moran I have been taken to task in the past for railing against those whose rants against President Obama have crossed the line of reason and entered the dangerous world of paranoia. I include in this category the Birthers, of course, as well as those who believe Obama wishes to set up some kind of dictatorship, and those who believe our freedoms have been...

A zilllion blog posts on centrist, liberal and progressive Republican websites have addressed part of this but now the Los Angeles Times brings it all together: there are growing fears that the Republican conservative resurgence is being matched by a drift to the extremes. It’s not a small issue — IF a party’s goal is to not just consolidate its base but to expand its “customers”...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

WASHINGTON — If you saw a woman struck by a car, would you call an ambulance right away? Or would you first ask for her papers to make sure she was not an illegal immigrant? If someone living down the street from you were suffering from the H1N1 flu, wouldn’t you want him to get immediate medical help? Would you rather see him in pain and perhaps spread the disease to others in your neighborhood? ...

I don’t know how much time would have to go by before this became obvious, but following the anniversary of 9/11 it’s not only a good time to remember the fallen and our losses of that day, but to continue to try to understand why it was that we were attacked. It’s hard to defeat your enemy unless you know them and have a grip on what motivates them. While it draws not only argument, but outrage,...

I don’t know what to say about this. Obviously, it’s extraordinary, disturbing, deeply depressing, that the one country in the world that for so long was known for innovation and technological brilliance — a nation that was founded on Enlightenment principles of reason and open intellectual inquiry — is now sliding back into a primeval muck of ignorance, superstition, and religious zealotry:

Pres. Obama gave a rousing, campaign-style speech in Philadelphia today in which he spoke up strongly for the public option.