Today’s edition of quick hits. * Reuters: “Newly diagnosed cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among U.S. troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan surged 46.4 percent in 2007, bringing the five-year total to more than 38,000, according to U.S. military data released on Tuesday. The statistics, released by the Army, showed the number of new PTSD […]
It’s almost amusing. John McCain’s presidential campaign distributes a daily email to reporters, letting journalists know about the senator’s schedule. The big event, obviously, for McCain today is his event alongside the president of the United States, with whom he has not appeared publicly for months. In this morning’s email, “McCain’s campaign made no mention […]
One of the more glaring and obvious flaws in John McCain’s pitch to voters is that he’s fundamentally running on a more-of-the-same platform when voters are desperate for a change. It appears that McCain has realized it’s to his advantage to break with the president more than he has been. Unfortunately, in this case, McCain […]
Way back last October, Barack Obama tackled the issue of nuclear proliferation, and explained why the U.S. should drastically reduce its stockpiles to lower the threat of nuclear terrorism. The Obama policy was largely in line with the bipartisan approach taken a few months earlier by George Shultz, secretary of state in the Reagan administration; […]
Back in early April, Josh Marshall asked, “Now that Hillary’s fired Mark Penn, can she now fire Lanny Davis? Please? Or ask that he be put under some sort of house arrest?” It’s not an uncommon sentiment, though the Clinton campaign can’t fire Davis; he’s not actually on staff. He’s just a very vocal campaign […]
I genuinely believed, foolishly, that one of the unintended side benefits of the media’s fascination with Jeremiah Wright is that no one, anywhere, could still possibly believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. After all, everyone in the country got to see a whole lot of Obama’s Christian pastor and his Christian church. Sure, there […]
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: * The very last primaries in the Democratic nominating race are one week from today, when voters in Montana and South Dakota head to the polls. On ABC’s “Good Morning America,” George Stephanopoulos […]
Last week, after reports surfaced that radical televangelist John Hagee had described Hitler as fulfilling God’s will, John McCain, who had wooed Hagee for a year, had seen enough. After touting Hagee’s endorsement, and campaigning alongside him, McCain announced that he now “rejects” Hagee’s support. But what about Joe Lieberman? It was Lieberman, of course, […]
Almost immediately after securing the Republican presidential nomination in March, John McCain visited the White House for a get-together with the man he hopes to replace. Thanking Bush for his endorsement, McCain was effusive with praise for the president. “I’m very honored and humbled to have the opportunity to receive the endorsement of the president […]
One gets the distinct impression that Bush and McCain, both of whom announced their unyielding opposition to a bipartisan expansion of the GI Bill, are a little touchy on the subject. Given how wrong they are, I guess this isn’t especially surprising. Yesterday, the New York Times published a hard-hitting editorial questioning the White House’s […]