This compromise is nothing but a self-protection act for the Democrats in Congress who went along with the President in breaking the law.

The articles of impeachment filed by Dennis Kucinich cannot be overlooked as a catalyst for this "compromise" suddenly appearing. The more it looks likely that legal accountability will be taken, the more people start to get scared - Republicans and Democrats.

The only question now is: will one Senator - who is not complicit in breaking the law - prevent this bill from becoming law?

Posted at June 19, 2008 10:47 PM in response to "Bipartisan" Solution on Surveillance Unveiled

With Bob Barr at the top of a Libertarian ticket, economic conservatives and religious conservatives will be siphoned away from John McCain. What we are on the precipice of seeing this fall is not just a stunning victory by Obama, but the disintegration of the Republican Party itself.

In eight short years, George W. Bush and Karl Rove have pushed the Republican Party onto the scrap heap of history.

Posted at May 31, 2008 8:14 PM in response to What's Obama's Route To The White House?

I like the statue as it has been designed by the sculptor. It bothers me that black men always feel the need to smile ("don't worry about me! I'm not dangerous").

Lincoln is not depicted smiling; why should King?

Posted at May 29, 2008 6:34 PM in response to The MLK Memorial: Too Black?

All good points. And let's not forget that it was - I think - Andrew Young who said that Bill Clinton had slept with more black women than Barack Obama.

The entire Clinton campaign - from the candidate-level down to the blogger-level - has been dismissive of Obama and not respectful. Which, by inference, means they have been dismissive of the 17 million people who have voted for him.

How exactly does that help her cause and how does that help to build the party unity every Democrat knows we need to win?

Posted at May 27, 2008 10:57 AM in response to How I became Hillary Hater

I became an unabashed Obama supporter during the hours in which I read his autobiography. I finished the book and realized that I was feeling something I long ago thought was lost forever: political passion. Here was as honest a retelling of a coming of age story by a young black man as I have ever encountered - and it was taking place right before my eyes!

I was not reading about Langston Hughes or Richard Wright or James Baldwin; no - I was reading about someone from my era - my generation - who saw the same hurdles that I saw and had cleared them with such grace as to remind me that yes, anything is possible.

I was left floored by the lyricism of his autobiography (this was a lawyer composing these words???) and the very thought of having someone so skilled in the art of communication as the President of the United States of America enticed me then and it does so now.

Of course, I picked up his autobiography after that speech he gave at the 2004 Democratic National Convention - simply the best political speech I had ever witnessed at the time. From 2004 through both of his books to the countless times he has been able to frame the conversation throughout this primary process, Obama has demonstrated a clarity of vision and a completeness of thought that is just awe-inspiring. His innate sense of reaching for our better angels as a means to embrace us all more closely together and lift us all up toward common goals shows me that politics does not have to be a contest of zero-sum games.

Posted at May 22, 2008 7:45 AM in response to Why I Support Barack Obama or Remembering Our Common Ground Part II

Let me add my own Amen! to this entry and let me further that by saying this is exactly why neither Hillary nor any of her backers can be added to the campaign as the VP candidate.

- Rendell is out for saying that a black candidate cannot win PA;

- Strickland is out for nodding like a puppy during that "Shame on you, Barack Obama episode"

- Bayh is out for jumping on board with that fallacious "gas tax holiday"

People keep saying that HRC has done well and that she has come close - as though that means something.

This is a contest; contests are about winning. I say pass over the silver medal to her, say "thanks for playing, we have some lovely parting gifts" and then move on.

Posted at May 21, 2008 6:57 PM in response to POOR HILLARY.

SC is an awesome placement for HRC. Obama should start floating that prospect before he makes his VP nomination, so that her supporters can see that she has a key role to play.

Posted at May 13, 2008 10:43 PM in response to It's Obama-Clinton

Yes - that was him. And that simple act and her wild statements in the first place, remove him from the list of potential VP candidates.

How could the top of the ticket have a VP that has video clips of "Shame on you!" echoing across the media landscape? This is a foolish and silly proposal.

Posted at May 13, 2008 10:40 PM in response to It's Obama-Clinton

Seebelius has my vote too, as the best potential VP nominee for Obama. She is in synch with his message of change; she is the governor of a "purple" state; she brings women back to Obama - and Catholics - and on top of all that, she brings a more practiced and level moderation to the campaign, to allow Obama the motivational/visionary focus where he excels.

Posted at May 13, 2008 10:37 PM in response to It's Obama-Clinton

Wow - I would not have published that last OTY post. You are a more patient man than I. One would think that more people would understand that it is not an easy role to play - moderator - and at least put on that hat themselves, even if just metaphorically.

Onto Mr. Zakaria: this might be an interesting tome. What we do not have - even almost eight years after we were attacked - are real metrics on just whom we are fighting and how many of them are there?

My consulting days taught me that "what gets measured, gets done". If we have no metrics for this "war on terrorism", how can we ever hope to win it?

We do not know how many members al Qaida had in 2001 or how many it has today; we do not know what the delta in their membership is from year to year - or even if that time period is too broad or too narrow and that we should be tracking their growth (decrease) from quarter to quarter or month to month. I could fill several pages of metrics that I might think we need - but I am not a terrorism "expert" (should any actually exist); how is it we are closing in on a decade into this war and we are so far away from progress on "the known unknowns"?

Condition orange? Spare me.

Posted at May 5, 2008 7:41 PM in response to We're Living in Scarily Peaceful Times