In an NPR story this morning, David Gergen, professor of public service at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of its Center for Public Leadership, comments on Sarah Palin’s book tour and whether it has anything to do with her possible candidacy for the GOP nomination to the White House in 2012: I don’t think this looks like a presidential campaign…[it has] more the sense...

These are nothing more than placeholders, based on nothing more than a random reading of the tea leaves this morning. Obviously, a lot could happen in the next one to five years, and these predictions could easily prove to be very, very wrong. But what the hell. 1. Concerned independents and a re-motivated base will hand Republicans control of the House of Representatives in 2010, but not the Senate. 2....

Some feel that those who did not support the invasion and occupation of Iraq do not support the troops. It is my conviction that supporting the troops is more than just supporting a war. There are millions of Americans who do not support this or that war, but certainly respect, honor, love, and, yes, support the troops—not just through bumper stickers or yellow ribbons, but through concrete acts of charity,...

Make a decision — any decision. That is the Dean of Washington Journalism’s advice to Pres. Obama on Afghanistan:

The right-wing tsk tsk tskers are at it again. This time it is a deep bow of respect President Barack Obama offered when greeting Japanese emperor Akihito this weekend in Tokyo. That bastion of conservatism, The Drudge Report, signaled its disgust by shouting in 42-pt. boldface headlines “How Low Can He Get?” And, get this. Drudge uses as an example of diplomatic decorum none other than former Vice...

Brain Chemicals, Not Will Alone We don’t know the qualified diagnoses of Nidal Hasan. But it may have markers of a serious chemicological and brain disturbance. The subject about how the brain chemicals in the body can go haywire, wrongly signaling a person about events and stimulii around them, causing interpretations and behavior that are either too much or too little– is a subject so large that...

A Congressman offers a lesson today about how politics and the media collude to distort rational discussion. In an Op Ed, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon explains how his bipartisan proposal to have Medicare pay for voluntary end-of-life discussions morphed into death panels: “I found it perverse that Medicare would pay for almost any medical procedure, yet not reimburse doctors for having a thoughtful...

I was reading Rick Moran’s analysis of the Great Obama Japanese Bow Disaster of Ought Nine today because, well… I’m not really sure what it is about this topic that snagged my attention, but I read Right Wing Nuthouse pretty much every day anyway, so there you are. The fact is, I didn’t get terribly excited when Obama decided to bow to King Abdullah either. Though I do agree with Rick...

Mix Apple with Politics – Not a Good Recipe By Daryl Cagle I’m holding my breath. I’m now into my third month of waiting for Apple to approve my iPhone app. Yesterday I heard from Apple that they need more time to think about it. My app is pretty cool; it is called “MSNBC.com Cartoons” and it features a real time news feed of political cartoons by top cartoonists from around the world. My app will...

Obama Obama Obama. A name that evokes passion (and divides) so many. Not even a year has passed since he stepped into the Circular Office and everywhere you read, everyone and their dog has a bone to pick with the President. “Why is Gitmo still open? Why are we still in Iraq? Why are we still in Afghanistan? Where are the jobs? Where’s our rights?” There is also an interesting narrative that is starting...

Once again, Barack Obama has demonstrated his appalling hatred for America, and his elitism, and his arrogance, and his tearing down and bashing of his country and his predecessor’s foreign policies, by greeting Japan’s prime minister with a deep bow in a culturally appropriate way.

This article from the China Daily either indicates an opening up of China’s state-run media, or officials in Shanghai have done something serous to anger Beijing. Whatever the case, in this China Daily op-ed, columnist Hong Liang uses the imminent visit of Barack Obama to explain why young people in Shanghai love the president – and loath the ‘authoritarian excess’ that critics regard...

I’m a bit conflicted about Eric Holder’s decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 defendants to New York City to stand trial for their parts in planning the attacks. Today, on Mid Stream Radio — 1 pm eastern, Noon central, 10 am left coast — we’ll have some special guests on to discuss this subject, if you’d care to stop by and contribute your thoughts,...

I’m looking forward to reading Sarah Palin’s book. Like Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, Palin’s Going Rogue will likely give insights into how she thinks, and who she is at a much deeper level than hyper-partisan electoral politics could ever give. I expect to come away from reading it with an even stronger liking for her personally — just as I did Obama’s book. She...

I have consistently supported publicly honoring our fallen heroes—with the consent of family members—when they touch American soil for the last time at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Much apprehension and controversy have surrounded this issue. Finally, this spring, the Obama administration implemented a similar policy as we have at Arlington National Cemetery which allows the family to decide...

Remember when conservatives used to say that “enemy combatants” like the guys at Gitmo had no right to basic legal protections because they weren’t U.S. citizens? You know, like in the post I wrote just before this one?

Charlie Savage on the Obama administration’s plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four of Mohammed’s alleged accomplices in federal court in New York City — and to use the military tribunal system at Guantanamo to try five other high-profile detainees. This decision is part of a strategy Obama revealed in his National Archives speech last May:

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has announced that she will keep her Senate seat while running for Governor of Texas. She had previously indicated she would resign the seat to allow for a special election. Officially she is doing so because she wants to remain in Washington to participate in the ongoing debates over health care, financial issues, global warming, etc. This is not an implausable explanation...

As President Barack Obama deliberates — no, Dick, he’s not “dithering” — a revised strategy and troop levels in Afghanistan, some people in the White House and Pentagon have loose lips and leaked some startling news this past week. If true, consider these developments: The president has rejected four options on strategy and troop levels from his military intelligence team and instructed...

…with the McCain camp. There is yet another controversy associated with the McCain-Palin ticket in which McCain’s associates are saying Palin is factually challenged. UPDATE: The AP gives this list of specifics about how Palin’s book may be at variance with the facts.

That’s the word: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and four other men accused in the plot will be prosecuted in federal court in New York City, the United States attorney general announced Friday. I couldn’t be more neutral on this subject — though I’m apparently one of the few. By now, the screaming is at full volume: ...

CAPTIONS SAYS: ‘DREAM OF THE ARABS’, AS A ‘ZIONIST’ ARM PUNCTURES THE BALLOON OF THE DREAM Continuing our coverage of the global reaction to the Fort Hood killings, this morning we posted this Arabic op-ed from the United Arab Emirates – a moderate Arab state considered friendly toward the United States. Writing for the Dar Al Khaleej, columnist Saad Mehyo suggests a common Arab...

Fox News’ Sean Hannity got a little egg on the right side of his face recently. He ran a segment about a recent conservative protest in Washington that was by all accounts not a mega-attended event and used some footage from an early tea party protest that showed far bigger crowds. And Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart caught him on it and noted the footage discrepancies (little things like the color...

John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

David Brooks scans the horizon for a potentially winning GOP presidential candiate in 2012 or 2016. In the process, he discovers Sen. John Thune (SD). The money lines, in my opinion, are these … [Thune] is a gracious and ecumenical legislator, not a combative one. And … The first person who told me I had to write a column about Thune was a liberal Democratic senator who really likes the guy. In...