May 16, 2008
Why House Republicans are worried
After the Republican Party’s recent third straight loss in strongly GOP-leaning House districts, party legislators are appropriately “shell shocked,” said John Fund in The Wall Street Journal. The GOP’s “one comfort” seems to be that presidential nominee John McCain is outperforming the party in polls, said E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post, but with the rest of the GOP slate facing an “anti-Republican uprising” . . .
May 15, 2008
Polar bears, oil, and global warming
Interior Secretary Dick Kempthorne agreed to list polar bears under the Endangered Species Act, but his “blatant undercutting of his own decision” gives “virtually no new protections” to the newly protected bears. Why should we protect an “endangered” species “whose population has more than doubled” . . .
May 15, 2008
Edwards gets off the fence
John Edwards, a former presidential contender, endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. Edwards praised Clinton’s “strength and character,” but said it was time for Democrats to unite behind Obama. Edwards seemed to be “going far out of his way to make sure his endorsement didn’t matter,” said Christopher Beam in Slate's Trailhead blog, "but it still matters" . . .
May 13, 2008
What Barr's presidential bid means for McCain
Robert Barr’s third-party bid probably won’t “amount to anything,” said Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo, but there’s “enough weirdness going on in the Republican party” that he might just siphon votes from John McCain. If he ends up being McCain’s “spoiler, he doesn’t seem to mind,” said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post, but there’s no indication . . .
May 9, 2008
Can Obama win enough ‘white’ votes?
Hillary Clinton crossed a line when she said that she's more electable than Barack Obama because she has more support from "hard-working" white Americans, said Joe Conason in Salon. Clinton’s comments may be “politically incorrect,” said Patrick Buchanan in RealClearPolitics, but they’re “also patently true" . . .
May 8, 2008
Should Clinton quit, and let Obama focus on McCain?
It's time for Hillary Clinton "to do something she is not wired to do," said The Seattle Times. She should "acknowledge the math" and help Democrats unite behind Barack Obama. Clinton “has every right to stay in the race,” said the San Francisco Chronicle in an editorial . . .
May 7, 2008
Rush Limbaugh: Clinton’s secret weapon?
Rush Limbaugh claims he pushed Hillary Clinton over the top in Indiana by urging Republicans to vote for her, said Michelle Dubert in Rolling Stone, and Barack Obama's campaign certainly believes in the "Limbaugh effect." It’s silly to deny that Limbaugh has influenced this race, said Kathryn Jean Lopez in National Review Online . . .
May 7, 2008
Should drug agents target colleges?
The San Diego State University students arrested in an undercover drug sting were, according to police, pretty "reckless," said Scott Morgan in The Speakeasy-Chronicle blog. But was it worth such "tremendous expense to the taxpayer" to lure them in and destroy them? Actually, Junichi Semitsu in the blog Poplicks, it's refreshing to see police shift away from targeting African Americans and Latinos . . .
May 7, 2008
What next for the death penalty?
Georgia has executed the first prisoner since the Supreme Court ruled last month that lethal injection is constitutional, said The New York Times, but the bigger question is whether the death penalty is ever justified. Of course it is, said Adam Yoshida in a Western Standard blog . . .
May 6, 2008
The smart thing about breastfeeding
The latest study on breastfeeding confirms it, said Jacob Goldstein in a Wall Street Journal blog. It seems clear that breast-fed kids are at least a little smarter. And why not? said Jennifer Lance in the blog Eco Child's Play. Breast milk is "the perfect food." . . .
May 6, 2008
How to prevent tragedy at the Kentucky Derby
The death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby showed that racehorses are bred for "lightness of build" that makes them dangerously fragile, said The New York Times. Racing authorities are trying to make the sport "as safe as possible," said Bob Mieszerski in the Los Angeles Times . . .
May 6, 2008
Killing sea lions to save salmon?
The U.S. was right to suspend a program to protect salmon after somebody shot six caged sea lions that were being relocated so they wouldn't eat the endangered fish, said the Vancouver, Wash., Columbian. The sea lions had plenty of enemies, said Anahad O'Connor in a New York Times blog ...
May 5, 2008
Microsoft and Yahoo!: What’s next?
Microsoft abandoned its $47.5 billion bid for Yahoo! after the two companies failed to settle on a price. The bid was an attempt for Microsoft to "buy its way out" of its Internet search and advertising problems, said Steve Lohr in the New York Times--but Ballmer showed "analytic discipline" by walking away. Anyway, it might just be a "negotiating tactic," said John Letzing in MarketWatch . . .
May 2, 2008
The sad fate of the 'D.C. Madam'
The apparent suicide of 'D.C. Madam' Deborah Jeane Palfrey is so sad, said Monica Hesse in The Washington Post, and not just because she paid such a price while so many powerful clients "remained unscathed." Palfrey was determined to stay out of prison, said Mike Nizza in a New York Times blog . . .
May 1, 2008
Al Franken's tax burden
Comedian-turned-U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken said he recently paid $70,000 in back taxes and penalties in 17 states, said Eric Black in MinnPost.com, and this should rekindle his supporters' "long-standing palpable nervousness" about his chances to unseat Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. Now that Franken has finally decided to “get in front” of the story, said the Minneapolis Star Tribune in an editorial, the question is whether his disclosure will do the trick . . .
May 1, 2008
Why Hillary Clinton needs Bill O’Reilly
What is going on with the Democratic presidential candidates? said Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle. First Barack Obama goes on Fox News, and now Hillary Clinton grants an interview to Bill O'Reilly? She has to reach out to conservative Democrats and NASCAR fans if she wants any chance to win next week's North Carolina primary, said Doug Heye in National Review Online . . .
May 1, 2008
Are Clinton supporters trying to suppress black turnout?
A voter-registration group's calls suggesting to African-American voters in North Carolina that they need to fill out new paperwork to vote smells like a dirty trick, said The Economist in a blog. And all signs point to Hillary Clinton's supporters. Nonsense, said Ben Smith in Politico. The board of this group has included supporters of Clinton and Barack Obama . . .
Apr 30, 2008
Grand Theft Auto IV: Glorifying crime, or just plain fun?
“‘Grand Theft Auto IV’ is a work of genius,” said Timothy Rutten in the Los Angeles Times, but by turning crime into a video game it's "genius in the service of nothing more than sensation and profit." All the hand-wringing over the violence in this wildly popular game sounds familiar, said Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle’s The Poop baby blog . . .
Apr 29, 2008
Would a gas-tax holiday help, or hurt?
The proposal for a gas-tax holiday, which Barack Obama opposes, could be a political winner for John McCain and Hillary Clinton, said Mark Binker in the Greensboro, N.C., News-Record. It's a bad idea, said Steve Benen in The Carpetbagger Report, but it's nice to be talking about a "genuine, Grade-A policy conflict" instead of trivia . . .
Apr 29, 2008
Fiorina: Teaming up with McCain?
Carly Fiorina has been touring poor parts of the country with John McCain, fueling speculation that she's on the short list to be the presumptive Republican nominee's running mate. Come on, said Shawn Wasson in The News Junkie blog. She failed trying to run Hewlett-Packard, so why would anyone think she could run the country? “Politically speaking,” Fiorina would also lend McCain some much-needed “economic credibility,” said Brian Watson in the blog Biz-Tech 3.0 ...
Apr 29, 2008
What Rev. Wright’s reappearance does to Obama
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright's string of speeches has forced Barack Obama to make a tough decision, said The Wall Street Journal. Now the Democratic presidential candidate will have to denounce his former pastor, or stop promising voters he'll help the nation "transcend racial politics." Politically, said Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post, Wright has thrown Obama "under the bus" ...
Apr 28, 2008
Did a Fox appearance help Obama?
Barack Obama probably did himself a favor by finally making an appearance on Fox News Sunday, said Dean Barnett in The Weekly Standard online. He came off as "likable" and countered the charge that he's an "elitist." Obama's Fox appearance made a "positive impression" on a new set of voters, said Greg Sargent in TPM's Election Central blog, but ...
Apr 25, 2008
Education reform: Fixing ‘No Child Left Behind’?
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was right to propose changes to the No Child Left Behind law, said the Springfield, Mass., Republican. Schools still need better tools to measure performance. Unfortunately, said The Arizona Daily Star, the proposed changes repeat the old mistakes by helping identify problems without providing ways to fix them . . .
Apr 24, 2008
Did the Pentagon feed us propaganda?
It's “outrageous” that ex-military officers let the Pentagon use them as “sock puppets” to “dupe Americans” into thinking the Iraq war was going well, said The Miami Herald. The administration has every right to “get out its side of the story,” said Max Boot in a Commentary blog . . .
Apr 24, 2008
Promoting Petraeus
Personnel decisions have never been one of President Bush's strengths, said The Wall Street Journal, but he found the right man for the job by nominating Gen. David Petraeus to oversee the military in the Middle East and Central Asia. Once Petraeus is in charge maybe he'll "answer some central questions" about our Middle East policy, said Ilan Goldenberg in the blog Democracy Arsenal ...
Apr 23, 2008
Can Obama ‘close the deal’?
Hillary Clinton should be asking why Barack Obama "can't close the deal" after her primary win in Pennsylvania, said Roger Simon in Politico, and he "clearly suffers from a failure to close." The real news is that Clinton has missed her "last chance to deliver a game-changing blow" to Obama's campaign, said Robert Creamer in The Huffington Post . . .
Apr 23, 2008
Where McCain stands on taxes
John McCain says Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will "raise your taxes," said Marsha Mercer in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, but calling Democrats "tax-and-spend profligates doesn't pack the punch" it did before President Bush ran up record deficits. Bush’s critics are unfairly pinning some of the blame for the current economic troubles on the tax cuts, said Peter Wehner in National Review Online . . .
