A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
A Dramatic Second Act for the Senator From Arizona - The architects of John McCain's 2008 campaign set out last year to avoid exactly where the Arizona Republican found himself last night: an insurgent emerging victoriously from New Hampshire with little money, little national presence and only the hope that momentum would take him to the White House. (READ MORE)
Clinton and McCain Rebound to Take N.H. - MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 8 -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the early Republican front-runner whose campaign imploded last summer, handily won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, dealing former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney his second loss in the GOP nomination contest. (READ MORE)
President Calls Action of Iranian Boats 'Provocative' - President Bush warned Iran yesterday that its confrontation with three U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf on Sunday was a provocative act, as the Pentagon released audio and video recordings of the dawn showdown. (READ MORE)
New York Presses To Deploy More Bioweapons Sensors - NEW YORK -- City officials last month quietly activated some of the nation's newest generation of early warning sensors to detect a biological attack, turning on a limited number of filing-cabinet-size air filters in sensitive, high-volume areas of Manhattan. (READ MORE)
Odinga Rejects Talks With Kenyan Leader - ELDORET, Kenya, Jan. 8 -- Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga rejected a presidential invitation for talks, calling the offer "public relations gimmickry" that would undermine international attempts to end a violent election standoff in which more than 500 people have died. (READ MORE)
Move to Arrest Journalist Sparks Backlash in China - BEIJING, Jan. 8 -- Government officials from a county in northeastern China's Liaoning province were not pleased by a magazine story criticizing their local Communist Party leader. So they traveled nearly 500 miles to Beijing seeking to arrest the author. (READ MORE)
Major Offensive Targets Insurgents - ZAHMM, Iraq, Jan. 8 -- The U.S. military launched a major offensive early Tuesday against one of the largest known redoubts of al-Qaeda in Iraq, part of a new nationwide campaign to destroy remaining pockets of the Sunni insurgency. (READ MORE)
'Comeback Kids' Score Big Wins - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton scored a dramatic victory yesterday, edging Sen. Barack Obama, and joining Sen. John McCain, who defeated Mitt Romney, as the comeback kids of New Hampshire. (READ MORE)
Resurgent McCain Bests Romney - Sen. John McCain of Arizona yesterday rose from the ashes to win the nation's first primary, delivering a humiliating loss to Mitt Romney, a former governor of neighboring Massachusetts who held a commanding, double-digit lead in the state just a month ago. (READ MORE)
Republicans Prepare to Take Aim at Obama - Republicans, who have spent years preparing to face Hillary Rodham Clinton, are now switching gears to also aim at Barack Obama — a tougher target. (READ MORE)
Luster Returns with Lawmakers in Annapolis - Dino Wright will reopen the State House shoeshine stand today for the first time in four years, as state lawmakers return to work just seven weeks after the grueling special General Assembly session in November. (READ MORE)
Huckabee Retreats on Birthright Citizenship - Mike Huckabee yesterday contradicted his own top immigration surrogate, announcing he will not support a constitutional amendment to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal aliens. (READ MORE)
Defining Diversity Down - The world gets more competitive every day, so why would California's education elites want to dumb down their public university admissions standards? The answer is to serve the modern liberal piety known as "diversity" while potentially thwarting the will of the voters. (READ MORE)
McCain's Mojo - Iowa voters sent a message last week that they want to shake up politics, and now New Hampshire voters have seconded the emotion. By handing a big victory to John McCain, the Granite State has guaranteed a wild Republican January. And with Hillary Clinton's rebound triumph, it guaranteed that Barack Obama is going to have to show that he can scrap as well as he can speak. (READ MORE)
From the Front:
Bill and Bob's Excellent Afghan Adventure: By Request Again: COIN Operator Question – “Army Sergeant has left a new comment on your post COIN Operator: ‘This is an amazing explanation of the Afghanistan situation. My only question is: this seems like a great common-sense explanation, especially given your USA metaphor. Would it work for Iraq, in your estimation? And does the fact that we're not using that model hurt us?’”Yes. That's the simple answer to both questions. The fact is that there is a simple answer and then a more complex and detailed answer. (READ MORE)
Desert Dude: 7 January - So here it is 8pm (6 Jan) and I just get notified that I am rolling out on the mission tomorrow—as a gunner…the last gunner using my assigned weapon just came by to drop off my M249 for tomorrow …here’s the reason for the trip—for the new EPR(Enlisted Performance Reports) we have to digitally sign the form, as does the ratee…well, for this digital signature we have to slip our ID card into a reader hooked up to the computer and type in a PIN and the form recognizes that it’s us—as long as nobody has stolen our card and got our PIN...(READ MORE)
IraqPundit: Meanwhile, back in Iraq - While 2008 presidential candidates discuss whether the U.S. forces should stay in Iraq or go, a longterm deal is being negotiated between the two countries. Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zibari, tells the Arabic Asharq Al Awsat that a deal between Iraq and the United States is set to be signed in mid-July of this year. (READ MORE)
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: Anarchy in the U.S.A. - Anarchy has always been an essential streak in the American psyche, and the verity that it’s fading may be the strongest evidence yet that our country needs stimulation. Does that statement surprise you? Did you write off all of these words as some romanticized, populist tribute to nationalism and xenophobia? I could understand if you have – between the haughty subtitle and my omnipotent soldierisms, that reaction is probably an inevitability. And yet … (READ MORE)
A Surgeon's Letters Home From Iraq: 8 JAN 2008 We clean up our act - I start by bidding a sad farewell to Army Major Andrew Olmsted. He was killed by a sniper in Iraq on 3 JAN. Before he died, he entrusted a friend with his final blog post to be published posthumously. You don't have to read long before you realize that our great nation is eternally in the debt of troops like him who risk and sometimes lose their lives in their faithful service. As he asks that his life not be used by anyone to make a point, I'll say no more, but let his words speak for themselves. Here at the hospital we have been told that we are too M*A*S*H-like. I took it to be a high compliment. (READ MORE)
Michael Totten: The Rings on Zarqawi's Finger - Since Abu Musab Al Zarqawi formed the Al Qaeda in Iraq franchise, the terrorist group that destroyed the World Trade Center has fought American soldiers and what they call the near enemy, fellow Muslims, instead of civilians in the homeland of the far enemy, the United States. This may be good for Americans, but it has been a catastrophe for Iraqis – especially in Baghdad, Ramadi, and Fallujah. I had lunch with several Iraqi Police officers and spoke to them afterward about this searing conflict that raged for years in their city and that only quieted down a few months ago. (READ MORE)
Sgt Hook: On the Run - Your Soldiers are keeping the pressure on al-Qaeda in Iraq, chasing them out of Baghdad and into the Bread Basket. "ZAHMM, Iraq, Jan. 8 — The U.S. military launched a major offensive early Tuesday against one of the largest known redoubts of al-Qaeda in Iraq, part of a new nationwide campaign to destroy remaining pockets of the Sunni insurgency." (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Kuwaiting is the hardest part - My apologies to Tom Petty for the title, but the least enjoyable time going home on leave and returning is the time spent at the in-between places. Waiting in airports, on airplanes, in buses and then at camps and bases other than Camp Vulcan makes for the worst parts of the trip. When I made it home on leave, I was at home so there was really nothing not to like about that. But now I'm heading back and I want to get to Camp Vulcan to get back to work. (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Rudy Giuliani: The Resilient Society - In the first decade of the 21st century, the United States has confronted both the deadliest attack and one of the most destructive natural disasters in the nation's history. The term "homeland security" wasn't part of the national debate during the 2000 election. Now, after September 11 and Hurricane Katrina, every American understands that homeland security is at the heart of a president's responsibility. (READ MORE)
John Fund: Voter-Fraud Showdown - Supporters and critics of Indiana's law requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls square off in oral arguments before the Supreme Court today. The heated rhetoric surrounding the case lays bare the ideological conflict of visions raging over efforts to improve election integrity. Supporters say photo ID laws simply extend rules that require everyone to show such ID to travel, enter federal office buildings or pick up a government check. An honor system for voting, in their view, invites potential fraud. That's because many voting rolls are stuffed with the names of dead people and duplicate registrations--as recent scandals in Washington state and Missouri involving the activist group ACORN attest. (READ MORE)
A Newt One: NEW HAMPSHIRE SHOCKER BREATHS NEW LIFE INTO CAMPAIGN - It has been a while since all of the major pollsters got it so wrong and the internal numbers tell the story. The independent vote broke towards the Republicans at the last minute. This not only gave Hillary Clinton the upset win over Barack Obama, but helped John McCain beat Mitt Romney by over 16,000 votes. Last week, pollsters were saying that the independents were breaking towards Obama and that Obama was on his way to an easy win (9-12 points among the major pollsters). Projections were that voters for Democrats would outnumber those of Republicans 2-1 or better. (READ MORE)
Lawhawk: Will Other Shoe Drop On Ron Paul - Weeks after Charles Johnson at LGF and others exposed Ron Paul's background as being unseemly at best, and downright scary at worst, Matt Drudge came around to posting a link to The New Republic's expose on the same subject. Pajamas Media has more (TNR is suffering from a Drudgelanche as they are currently unable to keep up with the demand - their link is here should it be available). When LGF exposed this stuff, no one really paid attention, but for the Paul followers who smeared LGF (and left their mark on this blog) for being everything under the book. (READ MORE)
Acute Politics: New News - For those of you who didn't hear it on the radio: I am going back. I am not going back with the Army, this time, though that may still occur at some point in the future. I am going back of my own free will- I am becoming a participant in this great experiment of independent, citizen journalism. I am going back to Iraq as a photojournalist, accredited by the recently developed Public Multimedia, Inc. (READ MORE)
Dave In Texas: Maybe it's Me - IF. As has been mentioned here and there a few times over the past few days, by myself and one or two others, IF it came down to Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, I'd vote for Obama. There isn't any ambiguity there, I hope. It does not say "I think Huckabee will be the nominee". Nor does it say "golly here's what I'd do if it was Hillary" or even "what the hell about Bloombritches?" It says "what do I do if it's Huckabee?" That's what I'm trying to say. (READ MORE)
Atlas: Steinem Pussys Out - How morbidly amusing that Dame Steinem would emerge out from under her rock today to poison pen an oped piece in the NY crimes grimes slimes Times. Was it to blast the political elites and feminazis for their conspiratorial silence over the brutal murders of our daughters in the name of Islam? NO! Was it to sound the battle cry against the craven, barbaric practice of mutilating little girls across the Muslim, Third and now Western worlds by cutting off their clitorises? NO! Perhaps she never found hers. Instead this feminazi man hater came out crying like a little girl. Yes, that's right, Ms. Equal Rights herself (I never saw the purpose of that silly amendment, a very dangerous redundancy....as if. (READ MORE)
Basil: Polls - You know what's funny about the New Hampshire primary results? All the polls showed Barack Hussein Obama leading Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton in that state … and Clinton up and beat Obama. Okay, I'll admit it. The conspiracy theorist in me says it was all a setup to make Clinton "the comeback kid II." But that's silly. Here's what I really do find interesting, though. The polls were wrong. Very wrong. And all the Democrats seem okay with that. (READ MORE)
Dafydd: New Hampshire: Hillary Pulls Huge Upset; McCain Does Predictably - Well, another state has passed into the rear-view mirror in our breakneck drag race through the abbreviated primary season. New Hampshire is now irrelevant once more. On the Republican side, the night started out looking like John McCain was going to swamp Mitt Romney, crushing him like a grape beneath an elephant's foot. But in the end, it appears that a later swing to Romney left the race at just about what the pollsters had predicted: McCain won by 5%, slightly more than the 3.8% predicted on today's RCP average, according to CNN with 90%+ of the precincts reporting. The more-or-less total count (here is CNN's primary page) has McCain up 37% to Romney's 32%. (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: Simple as ABC - Gary Langer at ABC blogs struggles with trying to explain Hillary Clinton's victory -- in defiance of the polling results -- in New Hampshire. Langer's approach is to examine every possible technical reason for the election results without resorting to conspiracy theories. One academic has an interesting hypothesis, the slight bias created by the alphabetical listing on the ballot ("Clinton" comes before "Obama") may have been enough to nudge Hillary upward in a close contest. (READ MORE)
Big Dog: Bill Clinton is Spinning Lies - This video from ABC is Bill Clinton answering some questions on behalf of his wife. During this video he calls Obama's campaign the biggest fairy tale out there and insinuates that Obama has gotten an easy ride from the press. Clinton also said that he [Bill] had been attacked as a crook. He then said that Ken Starr spent 70 million dollars to indict a bunch of innocent people and to find out I [Bill] would not take a nickel. Now that whopper Bill just told was the biggest fairy tale out there. (READ MORE)
Blackfive: Did the Democrat Political Victories Cause the Surge to Be a Success? - Of course not. The Surge is a military success (but not yet an Iraqi political one) for a variety of reasons. But if you want to give politicians credit for the Surge being the right move, you have to give Senator John McCain his due. It wouldn't have happened without him. The best word, however, comes from something that I wish I wrote. Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard writes a piece you should all read. This part is what I wish we could see - because it would mean that we have a chance at making Iraq free: (READ MORE)
Blonde Sagacity: Poetry From the Religion of Peace - Islam Online (IOL), a popular online Muslim site, hasn't denounced the gruesome practice of beheading that is the new trademark of Islam...but instead paid homage to it in poetic form: The online magazine has also justified "suicide bombings and throwing homosexuals off of buildings." "In advertising the poem to its viewers, Islam Online posted a graphic image on all of its web pages. It depicted the words “How to Behead!” on it, with letters that were done in a macabre font. (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: Republicans Will Always Have Hillary - The amazing rebound of Hillary Clinton may have a beneficial effect on Republican fortunes. Instead of facing an inexperienced but inspirational opponent in the general election, it now appears that the GOP nominee will have to fight the Clintons and their political machine. And that could make a big difference in party turnout and cohesion in November: Winning states that candidates should have lost provides momentum. Losing states they should have won kills it. Hillary had little chance of winning Iowa, but Obama had New Hampshire in his grasp and got outfought in the waning hours. With Hillary's advantage in the coastal states and a fresh wind in her sails, she has once again established herself as the overwhelming favorite to win the nomination. (READ MORE)
Blue Crab Boulevard: Bad Polls? - As frequent commenter feeblemind points out in comments, the polls predicting a Clinton defeat in New Hampshire were - virtually across the board - wrong. Spectacularly wrong, in fact. Clinton pulled off a victory by about 3% instead of losing by double digits. Why were the polls so wrong? Sorry, I have no clue. Something was wrong, as I said, in almost every poll. The media is scrambling right now trying to figure out what went wrong. The Washington Post looks at the breakdowns in the numbers this morning: (READ MORE)
Democracy Project: Columbia Professors Plan to Visit Iran to Apologize to Ahmadinejad - The apology would be for Columbia president Lee Bollinger's introduction for Ahmadinejad last year, according the Iranian news agency MehrNews.com. I have no independent confirmation of it yet, but if true, this would be both an abomination and, unfortunately, no surprise. Middle East studies professors are reportedly part of the group, but no names have surfaced yet. (READ MORE)
Dr. Sanity: "WE SHOULD HAVE SUNK EVERY ONE OF THEM" - Ralph Peters is 100% correct: The Mullahs are religiously-sanctioned bullies. The President of Iran is a short, pathetic thug. What is the best way to deal with these grownup bullies and thugs? They are already engaged in killing Americans and have been for quite some time. And they know that they have several layers of protection that make it safe for them to behave as they like. They have deduced on the basis of past responses to their provocative actions that there will be no consequences for such behavior--wither from those who are the direct recipients of that behavior; or from the international community at large. (READ MORE)
Don Surber: Byrd takes charge - He gets Democrats to change their appropriations tactics for 2008. This should be good. Reports of Robert C. Byrd’s demise as chairman of appropriations were premature. And I fell for them. (Note to Politico: Drop dead.) Oh Patty Murray, D-Wash., may hold the gavel and his chairmanship may largely ceremonial, but he still knows what the hell he is doing — unlike a certain Democratic senator from Nevada. (READ MORE)
Fortress of Solitude: The Epitome of Bias - In the midst of the Presidential election, it becomes more important than ever to expose the mainstream media’s left-wing bias. Sadly, many in this country watch broadcasts on CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC and actually believe that they are getting a balanced presentation of the candidates and their platforms. But, this simply isn’t the case. Take, for instance, ABC’s Good Morning America. On Monday, Good Morning America dedicated several segments to Presidential candidates. During the two-hour program, a total of 15 minutes was given to Democrat candidates. So, how much time was given to Republican candidates? Being an objective, fair, and balanced news network, I’m sure that ABC dedicated an equal amount of time to the other side. Not even close. (READ MORE)
Freedom Eden: Hillary Finds Her Own Voice - I thought what Hillary Clinton offered Democrat voters was experience. She said she had 35 years of it under her belt. On Tuesday night, after her upset victory over media darling golden boy Barack Obama, Hillary told her supporters and the nation that something magical happened to her over the last week since she lost in Iowa. She found her own voice. I didn't realize that this brilliant woman with decades of experience had still been searching for a voice. How can one be experienced and ready to lead without command of one's voice? (READ MORE)
Dymphna: “There Must Be Violence Against Women” - Before getting to the editorial below, I want to present my point of view and my biases. What this author presents — a Koranic justification for the physical abuse of women and children — is outrageous. But I want to remind you that while it is forbidden de jure in our culture, it is nonetheless far too frequently a de facto reality. No one is quite sure how many women in the US die each year at the hands of their husbands or partners. This site suggests somewhere between 1,000 to 1,600 — and they admit that their numbers don’t take into account the number of suicides that occur in order to get out of an intolerable situation. The problem of domestic violence is complex. Unfortunately, the feminists who have the leash on this movement are largely from the left. (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Taliban commanders clash in South Waziristan - Tensions within the Taliban ranks in South Waziristan have risen for the second time in a year. The powerful Taliban commanders Baitullah Mehsud and Mullah Nazir are close to clashing after two of Nazir's offices were attacked. Nazir is blaming Baitullah's forces for the attacks, which claimed the lives of nine of Nazir's tribesmen. The conflict began on January 6, when the office of Mullah Nazir in Wana was attacked, Dawn reported. Three of Nazir's associates were killed and four wounded. The second attack occurred against the office of Haji Khanan, a close ally of Nazir's based out of Shakai. Six were killed and five were wounded. (READ MORE)
Mountain Runner: America's upper classes have gone AWOL - Peter A. Gudmundsson makes much the same argument I've been making in my presentations and papers on the expanding use of private military companies in the conduct of U.S. national security policy, Gudmundsson smartly puts the problem of disassociation of war from the upper class as a factor in presidential campaign discourse. “During this presidential campaign, voters will hear much about the divergent economic realities between ‘the rich’ and ‘the middle class.’ Yet there is another partition in America that is less visible, but no less troubling. The great divide between the civilian and military communities leaves the nation and its electorate ill-equipped to make informed judgments about military and international affairs.” (READ MORE)
Neptunus Lex: Hand me another lance, Sancho - There are windmills to tilt against. Writing in comments to an earlier post, Our Paul presents the numbers as he sees them and links to this post decrying the Obamanon’s message of hopeful reconciliation. No, what is apparently needed is yet more scorched earth political warfare leading to the complete destruction of The Other. In order to get cracking on some of that good old fashioned “eat the rich” class warfare. People have been more successful than others, comrades - it’s time for some smart kid-driven leveling. Our Paul has been much too generous and kind in his presence here to attribute to him the attitudes of the Corrente poster, who quite lives up to his blog’s moniker of “boldly shrill.” So I won’t, and will instead focus on the link he provided. (READ MORE)
Kim Zigfeld: Democratic Doings in New Hampshire - New Hampshire went to the polls to choose presidential candidates in the nation's first primary election yesterday. Hillary Clinton, just like her husband before her, became the "comeback kid" (she actually won, her husband only came in second in 1992, but still claimed victory in a classic bit of Slick Willy) and John McCain once again fueled the flames of hope that this nation might once again have a real foreign policy. As an excellent analysis on Pajamas Media points out, many pundits (including William Kristol) were left with a bit of egg on their faces, having predicted Obama would be anointed in New Hampshire based on polling data that proved utterly false. Clinton squeaked by him 39-36. What these pundits failed to remember is that while Clinton may be weak, Obama may be even weaker. (READ MORE)
ShrinkWrapped: On Hope: Audacity and Pandora - In yesterday's post I commented on the paradoxical use of the mantra of Change as used by various candidates for the Presidential nomination of their party. Several candidates insist they are the agents of Change, even though they exhibit little that indicates either what they would change or how they would Change it. The most obvious component of Change is an poorly disguised wish to "stop the world" and take another vacation from history. Perhaps it is a little unfair to examine the words our candidates use, since in the Post-Modernist era of deconstruction, Humpty Dumpty's comment apparently reigns supreme: “‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.’” (READ MORE)
Rhymes with Right: Ron Paul -- Refusing Real Responsibility - We've got years of frightening statements that appeared in Ron Paul's newsletters. Racism, Conspiracy theories. Just plain wackiness. “Most voters had never heard of Paul before he launched his quixotic bid for the Republican nomination. But the Texan has been active in politics for decades. And, long before he was the darling of antiwar activists on the left and right, Paul was in the newsletter business. In the age before blogs, newsletters occupied a prominent place in right-wing political discourse. With the pages of mainstream political magazines typically off-limits to their views (National Review editor William F. Buckley having famously denounced the John Birch Society), hardline conservatives resorted to putting out their own, less glossy publications.” (READ MORE)
John Hawkins: Did Diebold Help Hillary Rig New Hampshire Or Was It The Bradley Effect? - Did Diebold Help Hillary Rig New Hampshire Or Was It The Bradley Effect? - I know, you're probably thinking: "Wait a second, I thought Diebold was supposed to be a firm that was in the bag for Republicans, so why would they be helping Hillary Clinton steal the election in New Hampshire?" I have no idea, but when Hillary took New Hampshire despite poll after poll after poll that indicated Obama would win, I knew that liberals would say the fix was in -- and I wasn't disappointed. Here's the The Brad Blog with an explanation: (READ MORE)
Melanie Phillips: Blowing the whistle on justice - Great news just in from the British courts. Derek Pasquill, the Foreign Office civil servant who was accused of leaking documents about government policy towards Islamism, has been acquitted at the Old Bailey after Crown prosecutors dropped all six charges against him. This was a prosecution that should never have been brought, and it is an absolute scandal that Pasquill was put through the mill in this way. The OSA is supposed to protect this country against its enemies; Pasquill’s whistle-blowing alerted the country to the danger into which it was being put by the government’s lethal embrace of Islamist radicals. (READ MORE)
Cassandra: No Greater Love - What they all said about him, after he was gone, was that he could have gone anywhere, accomplished any task, chosen to be anything he wanted to. What he chose to do was serve his country. Nathan was no underprivileged drifter forced into the military for lack of better options. He was one of America's best and brightest. A child of privilege who, if one believes the Gospel according to our Congressional overlords, should have known better than to settle for life in the armed forces. But as it did for so many Americans, the world changed for Nathan Krissoff on a brilliant September morning in 2001: “‘He would not and could not stand idly by,’ Marine Corps Capt. Michael Dubrule said Saturday during a memorial service for Krissoff in Reno.” On the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attack, Nate Krissoff left for Iraq. (READ MORE)
Dale Carpenter: A damning indictment of Ron Paul - I've never thought Ron Paul's presidential candidacy was serious enough to merit much attention. But I have to acknowledge that it has caught fire on the Internet and that he's done surprisingly well in the voting so far. He's raised substantial money and has gotten support from some very serious bloggers and other commentators. Ilya and David have previously pointed out the problematic nature of his campaign in posts, for example, here and here, noting especially his failure to repudiate some of his extremist supporters. It does neither libertarianism nor conservatism any good to be associated with a fringe of hateful conspiracy mongers. (READ MORE)
Ron Winter: A Woman's Tears Trump the Color of a Man's Skin. Deal With It! - In the days preceding the New Hampshire primary Democratic candidate and former First Person Hillary Clinton was at wits end, trying to figure how to deflect the tsunami of support that was swinging into Barack Obama's camp. Nothing she said or did seemed to work. Well, that is what the media kept telling us. We saw Barack at huge rallies where an enthusiastic corps of newly converted supporters chanted and whistled and waved placards proclaiming "Change," while in the Hillary camp there were dwindling crowds, and misstatements by her supporters, especially her husband. It was dark days for the Hillary campaign. What to do? What to do? (READ MORE)
Wolf Pangloss: All eyes on Baitullah Mehsud - It is time for some news from the Far End of the World, the region that touches the sky where the Pashtun tribes live between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Baitullah Mehsud, the rising young al-Quaeda/Taliban commander who has been accused of responsibility for the assassination/murder of Benazir Bhutto, is all of a sudden very popular with the Pakistani military, which is seeking him out in order to kill him as dead as vulture vomit, and then kill him some more. It is possible that some want the military to capture him first. Judging from what seems to happen to captured Taliban commanders (free and clear after a little bribe), I’m against capture. Mehsud, who captured five Christians recently, has freed the the Christians under intense political pressure. (READ MORE)
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