Everyone, pretty nearly everywhere, has seen the images of abuse at Abu Ghraib. The name of the prison alone has become synonymous with torture and humiliation, and the acts committed by Americans weakened our collective name on the global stage like almost nothing else in recent years. Oddly enough, reflecting on the events, one of […]
In “This Week in God” the other day, I noted that the Southern Baptist Convention agreed to adopt a new, more progressive declaration on global warming. In a welcome change, the new position explained, “Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless […]
On Monday, Hillary Clinton gave a big speech on Iraq in DC, hitting John McCain for supporting the Bush policy, and hitting Barack Obama for not having done more to stop the Bush policy. Today, speaking in North Carolina, Obama gave his big Iraq speech, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the start of the […]
When John McCain got confused yesterday about Sunni and Shiite, Iran and al Qaeda, his campaign issued a statement insisting that McCain “misspoke and immediately corrected himself.” The explanation is far less plausible when McCain makes the same mistake and pushes the same bogus argument four times in two days. This time, in a statement […]
Before the political world moves on from the controversy surrounding the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama’s stirring speech on race in America, it’s worth taking a moment to consider Michael Gerson’s WaPo column today, which I believe is misguided, but is largely representative of the conservative response to the week’s news. Unlike the cartoonish, […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * It looks like the Obama campaign has effectively ruled out the idea of a Michigan revote, making it unlikely the state will host a second primary. In a campaign memo, Obama aides […]
John McCain’s relationship with the religious right has been, shall we say, a little awkward since he denounced the movement’s top leaders as “agents of intolerance” eight years ago. I have a hunch the tensions are about to get a little bit worse. Yesterday, representatives of the Clinton, Obama and McCain campaigns spoke before the […]
By now, everyone can see the advantages of ending the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Reasonable people can disagree about whether or not this prolonged process is a disaster for the party, but if we’re making lists of pros and cons, I think it’s clear that the latter would be longer than the prior. […]
At first blush it sounds pretty silly. Realistically, it seems foolish to think there are voters in Florida who think, “I prefer Democrats to John McCain on Iraq, the economy, the environment, and taxes, but I’m not going to vote for them in November because of a dispute over convention delegates.” Sure, people can base […]
During a press conference yesterday, John McCain, a self-described expert on matters of national security and international affairs, made a very high-profile screw-up — he falsely insisted that al Qaeda terrorists are being trained in Iran to fight in Iraq. What’s more, he asserted without hesitation that this is “common knowledge.” Of course, McCain’s claim […]