The Commander in Chief test

Add comment July 30th, 2008

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One flip-flop too many to suit Wall Street Journal

9 comments July 30th, 2008

 

John McCain’s firm pledge against tax increases turns out to be not so firm, which AROUSES THE IRE of the conservative editorialists at The Wall Street Journal.

Freeporter Dan Balz and colleague destroy McCain’s slur on Obama over hospital trip

2 comments July 30th, 2008

 

My old childhood chum from Freeport, Dan Balz, and one his Washington Post colleagues have a front-page story this morning that PUTS THE LIE to John McCain’s scurrilous charge that Barack Obama dishonorably skipped a visit to wounded U.S. troops at a military hospital in Germany last week.

The story says there is “no evidence that the charge is true” and adds that a McCain adviser admits that it’s part of an effort, in the words of Balz and his colleague, “to portray the Democratic presidential candidate as a craven politician more interested in his image than in ailing soldiers.”

Despite widespread refutations of McCain’s charges, his campaign seems bent on continuing to push the bogus story.

POSTSCRIPT: Jeff Zeleny of The New York Times also has a GOOD PIECE on the controversy this morning.

UPDATE: McCain’s negativism WORRIES some Republicans.

UPDATE II: And then there’s THIS.

UPDATE III: The McCain camp is DISOWNING at least part of its attack ad concerning the hospital visit.

To the gates of hell, but maybe not to Pakistan

Add comment July 29th, 2008

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First trailer for Oliver Stone flick on Bush

21 comments July 29th, 2008

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Does this nix Romney as McCain’s veep choice?

13 comments July 29th, 2008

 

John McCain has labored mightily — and hypocritically, it might be said – to ingratiate himself with evangelical right-wingers  after having disparaged their leaders as “agents of intolerance.”

But now the Religious Right is WARNING Mr. Straight Talk not to choose Mitt Romney as his running mate.

The Mittster, as you may know, reportedly has been on McCain’s short list of veep possibilities. Some polls rate him the most popular choice, and some analysts say he could help the GOP ticket carry Michigan, an important swing state.

But would McCain dare defy Tim LaHaye and others of his ilk on this matter?

(NOTE: The link above may not work right away, presumably because of heavy traffic.  If so, try it later or Google “Romney McCain Washington Times.”)

UPDATE: For SOME REASON, I doubt that McCain will pick Sen. Ted Stevens.
 

Did the surge succeed? Or was there just a lot of ethnic cleansing in Iraq?

11 comments July 29th, 2008

 

Juan Cole SUGGESTS that people who deem the surge in Iraq to have been successful might have fallen for a logical fallacy known as post hoc ergo propter hoc: If event X comes after event Y, it is natural to suspect that Y caused X.

It’s like saying that once the baseball season starts, drownings increase. Therefore, baseball causes drownings.

This is just ducky!

3 comments July 29th, 2008

 

House and Senate lawmakers AGREED Monday to ban a family of toxins from the manufacture of toys and other children’s items amid concerns that kids can suffer ill effects from merely chewing on rubber ducks.

But President Bush, ever the tool of the oil and chemical industries, opposes the ban and may veto the measure.

A federally-funded study conducted in 2005 found that male babies born to women with high levels of the targeted toxins in their blood exhibited changes related to low sperm count, undescended testicles and other reproductive problems. Other studies have connected some of the suspect chemicals, known as phthalates, to liver and kidney cancer.

A new campaign ad aimed at young voters

Add comment July 28th, 2008

This one is scheduled to run on Comedy Central and MTV:

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Bob Novak diagnosed with brain tumor

1 comment July 28th, 2008

The veteran conservative journalist, better known for his aggressive reporting than his opinionizing, was RUSHED to a Boston hospital on Sunday.