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)
Clinton says she can win it - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama each said this morning they see a path to the Democratic presidential nomination as their teams braced for at least seven more weeks of campaigning. (READ MORE)
McCain grabs GOP bid, faces divided party - Sen. John McCain, having survived the Republican primaries, now needs to bind a fractured Republican Party as he looks to the presidential election this fall. (READ MORE)
Clinton's Obama digs don't deliver big margins - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's relentless attacks on Sen. Barack Obama exposed his weaknesses and helped her regain support among her core voters in last night's contests, but did not deliver the decisive margins that several Democratic superdelegates said they were looking for to keep her candidacy alive. (READ MORE)
Rice: Israeli-Palestinian talks on again - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today, before departing Jerusalem at the end of a two-day trip, that Israelis and Palestinians had agreed to resume peace talks. (READ MORE)
U.S. sway in Latin crisis hit - President Bush yesterday pledged to stand by Colombia, but the U.S. administration has lost so much influence in the region, that it is being advised to leave regional countries like Brazil and Mexico to negotiate a drawdown. (READ MORE)
Sikhs choose daggers over event with pope - Followers of a major Indian religion have been frozen out of an upcoming interfaith meeting with Pope Benedict XVI because of the group's insistence on wearing ceremonial daggers. (READ MORE)
California court weighs gay marriage - In a hearing on California's landmark gay marriage case, justices on the state's highest court yesterday peppered lawyers with questions on why they should overturn state marriage law and allow gays to legally marry. (READ MORE)
On the Web:
John McCain: Remarks Upon Securing the Republican Nomination - ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today released the following remarks by John McCain as prepared for delivery tonight in Dallas, Texas: Thank you. Thank you, Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island. I am very grateful for the broad support you have given our campaign. And I am very pleased to note that tonight, my friends, we have won enough delegates to claim with confidence, humility and a sense of great responsibility that I will be the Republican nominee for President of the United States. (READ MORE)
John Stossel: Influence-Peddling - Since The New York Times published its Page One story alleging an inappropriate link between Sen. John McCain and telecommunications lobbyist Vicki Iseman, we've heard much more about the evil of "influence-peddling." The day the Times story ran, Sen. Barack Obama debated Hillary Clinton, saying, "Washington has become a placewhere good ideas go to die. They go to die because lobbyists and special interests have astrangle-hold on the agenda in Washington". (READ MORE)
Michael Medved: Our 50-50 political world - As the 2008 electoral calendar moves inexorably from primary season to the climactic partisan battle of the fall, both parties prefer to ignore the painful reality of a narrowly divided electorate and to consider their candidates in the light of false nostalgia. Democrats view Barack Obama as a youthful savior in the mode of John F. Kennedy or the Bill Clinton of 16 years ago — a handsome political magician who will electrify the country and sweep to overwhelming victory. (READ MORE)
Debra J. Saunders: At War with History - "Now, I have to say, when it came to making the most important foreign policy decision of our generation, the decision to invade Iraq, Sen. Clinton got it wrong," Barack Obama said Sunday in response to a Clinton campaign ad that suggests only Hillary Clinton would be ready to answer a late-night emergency phone call to the White House. "She didn't read the National Intelligence Estimate. Jay Rockefeller (the present Senate Intelligence Committee chairman who endorsed Obama) read it, but she didn't read it. (READ MORE)
Walter E. Williams: Liberty Versus Socialism - A fortnight ago, I wrote about Mississippi Legislature House Bill 282 that would have imposed fines or revoked licenses of food establishments that served obese people. Fortunately, the measure died in committee. State Rep. Ted Mayhall, one of the bill's sponsors, justified it by saying that he wanted to bring attention to the fact that "Obesity makes people more susceptible to diabetes, which puts a further strain on the state's financially-challenged Medicaid program." His sentiments were expressed by quite a few readers who didn't necessarily support such a measure but opined that if a particular behavior or lifestyle imposed costs on others through tax-supported health care, the government had a right to intercede. (READ MORE)
Michelle Malkin: The Death Cry of Gloria Steinem - Behold with me the politics of gynocentrism. What a depressing and desiccative sight it is. Just look at Gloria Steinem. From once-ripe feminist icon to idea-barren harridan, she offers nothing to young women but anachronistic man-hate, anti-military bigotry and woe-is-me wallowing. Hope and change? Try harp and whinge. Some things get better with age. The women's rights movement isn't one of them. In the dark and desperate days of gyno-candidate Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Team Hill dragged Steinem out of the leftist dustbin for a grieve-a-thon in Austin, Texas. (READ MORE)
Mario Diaz: Pink Bunnies and the Pledge - Many people think the battle over the words “under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance is over. They remember that some extremist judges struck the words down saying they violated the now deified “separation of church and state,” but they also vaguely remember the Senate passing a resolution in support of the Pledge and the more than 100 House members gathered outside the Capitol reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in a spectacular show of support. That display made us feel really good, but there’s just one problem: it did nothing to protect the Pledge of Allegiance. (READ MORE)
Dr. Matthew Ladner: Inner City Kids Benefiting From School Choice - Democratic activist Steve Barr, founder of the Rock the Vote campaign, has dived into school reform in Los Angeles. Predictably, this has run him straight into the teeth of opposition from the education union. Barr has been busily kicking out those teeth. Barr’s Green Dot is a group of charter schools with a strong record of accomplishment with very disadvantaged students. Public school teachers in Watts have been using a California law to secede from the dysfunctional Los Angeles district to join Green Dot as charter schools. The education establishment in the city, led by the education unions, has fought Barr every step of the way. But so far, Green Dot is winning. (READ MORE)
Lawhawk: Talk Is Cheap - Once again, the diplomats think that they can restart the dead peace process and get the Palestinians talking with the Israelis. Talk is real cheap. The rockets and attacks against Israel continue, and the Palestinians talk (well, it's mostly a whining and seething about how Israel continues to kill Palestinian terrorists who have either already attacked Israel causing mayhem and injuries, or who were on their way to attack Israelis). (READ MORE)
Gabriel Malor @ Ace of Spades HQ: Storm the Court on Global Warming - The founder of the Weather Channel, John Coleman, is sorely disappointed with his creation's direction, including its traffic coverage and acceptance of global warming. “Coleman also told the audience his strategy for exposing what he called ‘the fraud of global warming.’ He advocated suing those who sell carbon credits, which would force global warming alarmists to give a more honest account of the policies they propose.” Interesting idea, but this is not a good way to push back against global warming alarmists. (READ MORE)
The Belmont Club: Dostoevsky at the movies - "Who notices?" A cabdriver and a hit man who's forcing him to drive argue about the meaning of life en route to yet another murder and come to the logical conclusion in a 2004 movie dialogue. The cabdriver, played by Jamie Foxx realizes that the flip side of Tom Cruise's hitman nihilism is the freedom to do good and not to care about the costs. And the question is whether there is still an argument for ramming the taxi into the barrier, even if you didn't hope to rescue the next victim as happens in the movie? And oh, Hamas has "placed children on rooftops as human shields preventing Israeli attack on Qassam workshops and warehouses". Why not, why the hell not? (READ MORE)
Uncle Jimbo @ Blackfive: Feingold raises bar for cluelessness - My Senator, who I did vote for since he was inevitable and it aggravates lefties, is a Muppet. And speaking as Jim Hanson I have some authority on this. He is a near perfect example of why I fear for our country under a Democrat-influenced foreign policy. After listening to the Messiah tell us all how the world will all just get along because of his audaciousness, we get the deeply profound musings of Russ Feingold on the few penstrokes he needs to unscrew Pakistan. Heh. “‘The historic, relatively peaceful parliamentary elections in Pakistan have ushered in a new opportunity to build strong institutions that can bolster and build a strong democracy, address the increasing insecurity throughout the country in a balanced manner, and ensure that our assistance is consistent with the needs of the people of Pakistan -- rather than with a president who has been rejected by Pakistan's voters and who has increasingly repressed political space and undermined democracy,’ U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., told the committee.” (READ MORE)
Mark Grimsley: Bateman on “Mr. Bigmouth” -LTC Bob Bateman, in today’s Small Wars Journal Blog: “For years I struggled with many of my peers, trying to convince them that journalists are not the enemy. It was an uphill row to hoe, but a worthy one. Over time most seem to have accepted the proposition that journalists and their editors really do take a lot of time and effort to determine if they should run with a story, particularly one which might damage us, so the terrain shifted. More and more I came to find myself engaging with either veterans or “pro military” civilian bloggers. Their positions are more hardened than those of us serving today.” (READ MORE)
Noah Shachtman: Hamas Replaces Rocks With Rockets - During the 2006 war, Hezbollah fired long-range rockets from Lebanon into towns in northern Israel. And Israeli military officials warned that it might just be the start of the bombardment. Instead of throwing rocks -- or setting off suicide bombs -- "the next Palestinian uprising could be 'a ballistic intifada,'" those officials told The Washington Post. Unfortunately, it looks like they were right. Israeli forces just ended a raid into the Gaza Strip, after months of longer-range Hamas rocket strikes -- including ones on the northern edges of the city of Ashkhelon, which has escaped such attacks in the past. (READ MORE)
Paul Mirengoff: Bad news for al Qaeda. . .and for liberal talking points - For years now, the American left has been arguing that the war in Iraq is a distraction from the "real" war against al Qaeda and is counter-productive because it's "creating" new terrorists. Apparently, it never occurred to these deep-thinkers that inflicting a defeat on al-Qaeda in Iraq -- a defeat made possible because a previously sympathetic population turned with our help against al Qaeda -- might constitute a devastating blow to al Qaeda's standing in the Arab world. The idea that losing a war hurts one's standing may be a novel one for our sophisticated liberals. But Osama bin Laden has long grasped it, famously stating years ago that "when people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature, they will like the strong horse." (READ MORE)
Don Surber: The lefty reaction? - Dissatisfaction. Taylor Marsh is happy: “A fighter, but not just to win. To lead. To change the world. A woman at the helm. It can happen. Believe.” And they said Obama was the fairy tale. Libby Spencer? Not so much: “I wanted Obama to win because the way I see it, Hillary eked out her victories based on fearmongering and Republican grade dirty tricks and I don’t want those to work anymore.” Yes, there is no Democratic Attack Machine in Leftyland. The Carpetbagger Report: “When you get hit with a kitchen sink, it hurts.” Finally, humor. (READ MORE)
Baron Bodissey: Ideological Violence Against Muslims - We are hoist on our own petard. The Arabs know it. They know we’re running away as fast as we can, with our buttocks full of multicultural shrapnel. Muslim leaders are fully aware of the rules of Western discourse. They can talk the talk as well as the most progressive Swarthmore alumna, and they know how to turn every phrase into yet another little grenade detonating under our infidel tushes. Just read the press release published yesterday by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Every word lines up perfectly with Western politically correct thinking — tolerance, discrimination, incitement, cultural understanding, harmony, etc. etc. — and every word adds another peck of gunpowder to the explosive device being prepared at our gates for the siege engine of the Great Jihad. (READ MORE)
Gateway Pundit: Student Uprising!... Protests Continue Against Regime In Iran -Hundreds of brave university students continued to protest against the brutal regime in Iran this week. Shiraz University students continue to threaten the regime with an uprising. The students at Shiraz University in Iran promised they will rise up against the regime during their protests this past week. (NCR) At the protests the students are shouting: "Resign, Resign, we don't want a corrupt chancellor... This is our last warning, students' movement is alive." The students posted more video from their protests at the university: (READ MORE)
Jihad Watch: Is The American Muslim even capable of telling the truth? - I have long suspected that the Clinton Machine would not allow the nomination, and the presidency, to escape its grasp, and this morning that seems more accurate than it has in awhile. But this isn't about that, it's about the soon-to-be-faded-away Obama and the Persistent Muslim Rumor -- and about The American Muslim, a publication that seems somehow incapable of uttering a true and accurate statement. Jihad Watch reader James has kindly brought to my attention an article entitled "Attacks on Obama Highlight Racism and Islamophobia," by Sheila Musaji. In the middle of a long fulmination and whine about how everyone is piling on Obama and claiming he is a secret Muslim, she says: (READ MORE)
Ed Morrissey: The unanswered Rezko questions, courtesy of Chicago media - Barack Obama insists that he has answered all of the relevant questions regarding his relationship with Tony Rezko, the Chicago political activist on trial in federal court for alleged corruption. The Chicago media begs to differ. The Sun-Times goes so far as to put their phone number in a headline and give Obama the questions ahead of time (via Memeorandum): “For months, Sun-Times investigative reporters have had a standing request to meet with Obama, face to face, to get answers to questions such as these:” (READ MORE)
Allahpundit: More exit polls: Did Rush win it for Hillary? - I’m going to guess no, for the simple reason that a man who couldn’t sway enough conservatives to tip close primaries from John McCain to Mitt Romney probably isn’t capable of getting them excited about Hillary Clinton. But just because Rush’s fingerprints aren’t on it doesn’t mean something didn’t happen last night. Have a look at the party ID/ideology numbers for three of the closest contests thus far — New Mexico, which Hillary (barely) won, and Connecticut and Missouri, both of which were won by Obama. (READ MORE)
Amy Proctor: Maliki: Christians Are Essential in Iraq - Commenting on the abduction of Chaldean Catholic archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, who was kidnapped Friday by gunmen soon after he left Mass in Mosul, Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called Christians essential in Iraq: “Christians in Iraq are an essential component of the Iraqi society and a part that cannot be separated from the Iraqi people and civilization. Any assault on the Christians is an assault on all Iraqis.” When the leader of a Middle Eastern country vocalizes this sort of unity between religions, it’s significant. This is what makes Iraq arguably the most unique countries in the Middle East with a ton of potential for change. Even Bill Clinton recognized that in 1998 when he said: (READ MORE)
DJ Drummond: The Republican Primaries 2008: What Went Wrong? - Congratulations to Senator John McCain, who clinched the 2008 Republican Party Nominee for President of the United States last night, yet who is also a man disliked by a significant portion of the party and a man who generates enthusiasm less often than a year-old box of corn flakes. McCain's advocates fall into three broad categories; those who emphasize his war credentials and ignore his record on other issues, those who are afraid of the Democrats' nominee and want a Republican in the White House, any Republican, and so are willing to settle for McCain, and those who actually like censorship of political speech during an election, for a minority of the Senate to decide the fate of judicial nominees, and for the Global Warming Ponzi Scheme to be allowed to constrain business and rob taxpayers. How on earth did the Party of Ronald Reagan come to this? (READ MORE)
Loren Heal: The Undeciders - The Democratic primaries are serviing to provide some excellent entertainment for those of us who are interested but don't care who wins, which is close to being a null set, to be sure. All Democrats are almost by definition interested, and most interested Republicans would rather have either Hillary out of the way in the primaries or would rather face her than Obama. I don't care who wins, since there's a nickel's difference between them substantively. And that seems to be the way the Democratic Party primary system is structured. Since they all have the same policies, the Party bosses don't care who wins. Or rather, they don't want anyone to lose. The totally proportional delegate system is serving to prolong the primary race. The Republicans have managed to select a winner and have begun the process of unifying behind Senator McCain. The Democrats, however, have not. (READ MORE)
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