Last night I posted my reaction to the Fox Brit Hume panel's initial comments on Hillary's speech in "Bill Kristol and His Fox Team See No Good, Hear No Good and Say No Good in and about Hillary’s Speech." After listening a while to what I felt were Mizaru, Kikazaru, Iwazaru, and Shizaru doing an antithetical version of "see no evil, hear no evil, and say no evil," I could … [Read more...] about Fox Panel’s Critique of Hillary’s Speech Revisited
Quote of The Day: The Battle Over The Lieberman Vice President Option
Ailing conservative columnist Bob Novak is still going to write occasional columns, and he provides us with the quote-of-the-day over the battle within the McCain ranks as to whether Connecticut independent Sen. Joe Lieberman should get McCain's Vice-Presidential nod: Reports of strong support within John McCain's presidential campaign for Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph … [Read more...] about Quote of The Day: The Battle Over The Lieberman Vice President Option
Bill Clinton Sends Yet Another Signal
Yet another signal from former President Bill Clinton, in an increasingly long list of news reports indicating that, unlike most professional politicians, he is unable to put on a happy face to show that he favors party unity over a specific candidate: he's going skip Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech. … [Read more...] about Bill Clinton Sends Yet Another Signal
More Indications McCain Could Announce Vice Presidential Pick Thursday Night
Thursday night is the big night for Democrats when their certain-nominee Sen. Barack Obama gives his acceptance speech -- a speech that, for years and years, party nominees have given as the opposition party steps back and lets it be delivered as a kind of unspoken courtesy. But that may change this Thursday night... According to Marc Ambinder, an earlier report that McCain … [Read more...] about More Indications McCain Could Announce Vice Presidential Pick Thursday Night
Book Review: ‘The Star Machine,’ Making A Product That Couldn’t Even Be Defined
I'm no actor and I have sixty four films to prove it. -- VICTOR MATURE If you want to see the girl next door, go next door. -- JOAN CRAWFORD There is a marvelous scene in the 1956 hit High Society that distills the greatness of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby not as terrific singers, which they of course were, but as consummate movie stars. It is their rendition of … [Read more...] about Book Review: ‘The Star Machine,’ Making A Product That Couldn’t Even Be Defined
Russia ‘Dying’ to Be What it Hates Most: A New America – Le Monde
The Sign Says: 'Russian Sphere of Influence' NATO Representatives Tell Georgia: 'They Are Withdrawing' Why has Russia gone on a rampage in Georgia? Thornike Gordadze of the Caucuses Observatory at the French Institute of Anatolian Studies has an interesting and compelling take: "Russia is dying with desire to be what it hates most - a new America. An America which goes … [Read more...] about Russia ‘Dying’ to Be What it Hates Most: A New America – Le Monde
‘Obama’s Flaw: The Electorate Doesn’t Understand His Plans’ – From O Globo of Brazil
It's the question that's been on almost every political junky's lips: Why has Obama failed to connect to parts of the electorate his candidacy promises to help the most? For William Waack, chief international affairs columnist for O Globo of Brazil, his message either has not - or cannot be packaged in a way that those he needs to reach can grasp. In their lack of nuance, … [Read more...] about ‘Obama’s Flaw: The Electorate Doesn’t Understand His Plans’ – From O Globo of Brazil
Clinton Shows Class
On the day after the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, I wrote a piece in which I asserted that Senator Hillary Clinton's post-election speech indicated that she knew her quest for the presidency was over for 2008. Near the end, I said: ...for the first time in my recollection, Senator Clinton allowed for the possibility of defeat and, in a possible effort to assuage the … [Read more...] about Clinton Shows Class
Clinton’s Twin Killing
I wrote earlier that Hillary Clinton needs to eviscerate John McCain. She obviously did not take up all of my suggestions, but she certainly made it abundantly clear that nobody who remotely supported her in the primary could, in good faith, support John McCain. She tied her entire agenda to Obama's and declared that the fate of the nation rested on Obama's election to the … [Read more...] about Clinton’s Twin Killing
Bill Kristol and His Fox Team See No Good, Hear No Good and Say No Good in and about Hillary’s Speech
Immediately after Hillary Clinton's passionate speech praising, supporting, endorsing Barack Obama and urging her supporters to elect Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States, Bill Kristol and Brit Hume's Fox "Election '08" panel declared that Hillary not once urged her supporters to vote for Barack Obama and that she did the absolute minimum to support … [Read more...] about Bill Kristol and His Fox Team See No Good, Hear No Good and Say No Good in and about Hillary’s Speech
Clinton Speech: Good On Style But Will It Last
In considering Senator Clinton's speech tonight, I have tried to take a few minutes to let things absorb before I posted my reaction. There is little doubt that her speech was powerfully-delivered with a good deal of soaring words and rhetoric. Her review of the people she met along the campaign gave the speech more of a human touch. The decision to cite the memory of two … [Read more...] about Clinton Speech: Good On Style But Will It Last
The Aces
Gut reaction? Clinton nailed that speech. As it turns out, the best thing she could do to accomplish her aims in that speech was to lay-into John McCain. It unifies, it delegitimizes McCain's outreach efforts, it obviously weakens McCain (to the extent that any partisan political speech does that), it forthrightly lines up her supporters with Obama -- attacking McCain … [Read more...] about The Aces
Brian Schweitzer: A Voice From The West
Having already sung the praises of former Virginia Governor Mark Warner as the man the Democrats should have chosen for President, I now find myself watching the man that could have been a superb running mate, current Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. Schweitzer was elected Governor of Montana, a normally Republican state in 2004 and is so popular now that the Republicans … [Read more...] about Brian Schweitzer: A Voice From The West
Mark Warner Keynote: A Nominee That Should Have Been
Tonight the Democrats were treated to their keynote address by the man that I wish they were nominating for President this week, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Warner is a former businessman who made a fortune in the early days of the cellular phone industry and went on to become Governor of his home state. He is currently a lock to become the state's next US … [Read more...] about Mark Warner Keynote: A Nominee That Should Have Been
Contents of the Draft U.S.-Iraq Security Deal ‘Must Be Revealed’: From Sotal Iraq
With the final push on to reach a long-term U.S.-Iraq security agreement, Iraqis still don't know what's in it. According to this op-ed by Abd Al Hadi Mahdi, the managing editor of Iraq's Sotal Iraq newspaper, it's time that the Iraqi government reveal its contents - before a final agreement is reached. Clearly a supporter of the deal, Mahdi writes in part: "Despite … [Read more...] about Contents of the Draft U.S.-Iraq Security Deal ‘Must Be Revealed’: From Sotal Iraq
Obama goes after 527s
One of the big questions on Democrats' minds when it became apparent that Barack Obama would be the nominee was how he would handle the 527 attack ads in the fall. Many Democrats blame John Kerry's 2004 loss on his lack of response to the independently-funded Swift Boat ads, and some had reservations about whether Obama's promise of a "new kind of politics" would allow for a … [Read more...] about Obama goes after 527s
Australia: Legendary Don’s 100th Birthday
While it is curtains for the great world event the Beijing Olympics, the sports lovers all over the globe are today celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of the Australian cricketing legend, Sir Donald Bradman (1908-2001). As the ABC News says: "Bradman will always be remembered for his cricket, but as Richie Benaud (another cricket star) said when delivering the eulogy … [Read more...] about Australia: Legendary Don’s 100th Birthday
You Tell Them Tonight, Hillary!
Robert Stein provides a pretty good outline as to “What Hillary Should Say Tonight.” In particular, I like the words: A decade ago, I saw first-hand the politics of personal destruction and the lengths to which those who practice it will go in their lust for power. The bitter irony now is that they are invoking my name in an attempt to destroy the opponent with whom I … [Read more...] about You Tell Them Tonight, Hillary!
Bill Clinton Swipes At Obama In Remarks Again
In the history of both parties we have seldom seen such a spectacle: Bill Clinton appeared to undermine Sen. Barack Obama again Tuesday. The former president, speaking in Denver, posed a hypothetical question in which he seemed to suggest that that the Democratic Party was making a mistake in choosing Obama as its presidential nominee. He said: "Suppose you're a … [Read more...] about Bill Clinton Swipes At Obama In Remarks Again