I seem to recall quite a bit of handwringing around here a few weeks ago when Obama returned from his visit to the Iraq, Afghanistan and Europe and his poll numbers showed no noticeable jump.

"He should have NEVER done that speech in Germany!"

The weeping and gnashing of teeth continued as the McCain campaign launched a series of inane personal attacks on Obama.

"He's not hitting back fast enough! Or hard enough!"

... and so on.

Then Obama went on vacation and, in some quarters, that was deemed yet another indicator of a misfiring campaign...

"How can he go on vacation NOW! And cede the spotlight to McCain?"

Well, lo and behold...

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While watching Putin and company roll over Georgia, I was reminded of an article I read last summer in the excellent international security journal published by Stratfor.

The article, published on August 21, 2007, was written by George Friedman, CEO of Stratfor. Friedman is a self-described "conservative Republican," but he warned then of the dangers to U.S. interests of Bush's growing lame duck status:

Russia's Window of Opportunity

Friedman's analysis was strikingly prescient...

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rex heer hoo iz bob jonsins dog. bob jonsin mi ohner iz not aroun rite now so i kin bee on de cumpewtur. bob iz stewpud lik de buhrok obommuh kampane hoo iz stepud to. i no moor abowt how ta win eelekshins den doze iteeits in da obommuh kampane. so i hoop day tak mi avise an starrt cawlin mcane stewpud and he smel lik poopee.

dat iz du waay ta win eelekshins not bi be in kwiut an stewpud. i maay bee jes a dawg but i am not stewpud lik bob jonsin or buhrok obommuh kampane.

atak atak atak!!!! lik bob sai ta mee wen i goo krazee forr a skwirel. dat wut i sai to obommuh or hee iz doomt. doomt. doomt.

lissun ta mee obommuh if uu wonn ta win!!!!!!! i rite stuf at da dalee koz!!!!!!

pleez don tel bob i wuz uzin da cumpewtur bee cuz den hee wil not gif mee enee sooshee. hee iz a jerk sum tim an not skrach mi bellee to.

bi fer now.

Good lord...

The Karl Rove second-stringers now running the McCain campaign launch a couple of truly inane "character attacks" on Barack Obama and the bedwetters and handwringers are out in force...

                                               "We're DOOMED! It's Bush-Kerry all over again!"

A couple of key points:

• Barack Obama is not John Kerry
• John McCain is not George Bush

Oh, but here's the really big one:

• 2008 is NOT 2004

Other than that, the situations are exactly alike!

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which was a rant about the first guy's commentary on a really important issue that wasn't ranted on hard enough by the second guy in the first place.

In addition, this diary is a rant about those various rants and less so a rant about the original really important issue which is really important though not as important as ranting about the other two important guys ranting about each others' rants about each other which stemmed from their original rants about the really important issue.

So if that one really important guy wants to rant about the rant of the other guy which was in response to that first guy's rant about the second guy's rant about the first guy's rant on the really important issue which wasn't properly ranted on by first guy according to the second guy because the really important issue is really important, then I feel compelled to rant about that rant.

I hope I am making myself clear!!!!!!!

Yep, it would have been great if Barack Obama had pulled a Russ Feingold and given a clear, full-throated denunciation of the FISA compromise legislation.

But he didn't. He hemmed and hawed and talked around it for the most part. One would think he's running for president or something.

So while I appreciate the very serious handwringing going on here over the last couple of days ("It's the Constitution!!!!!"), I note that a few Americans may have other things on their minds...

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Now that California has unleashed gay marriage on America, where will this madness end?

Already today, our very own droogie6655321 confessed to wanting to marry a piece of furniture.

I have found my marriage and family life in tatters as a result of today's marriage of these elderly lesbians.

And I'm sure many of you have found yourselves in the same boat, wondering, "What would it be like to marry my dog (or cat)?"

With the marriage floodgates now wide open thanks to the immoral acts of the State of California, I am asking the question:

Who or what do you want to marry now that anything goes?

Please... Take my pole. Completely. Honestly. And with love.

Amy Sullivan at Time has a piece up that turns Democratic primary conventional wisdom on its head...

Why Didn't More Women Vote for Hillary?

One of the Democratic campaign's great misperceptions has been that Clinton held an overwhelming advantage among women voters. But that isn't the case. As expected, Clinton captured the over-65 vote, and Obama won over younger women. But women in the middle split almost evenly between the two. And while both Senators boasted historic candidacies, Obama's seemed to resonate more deeply, translating into 70%, 80% and even 90% of the black vote in primary contests. No one expected Clinton to sweep 90% of Democratic women voters, but 60% wouldn't have been an unreasonable accomplishment for the first woman to have a serious chance of winning the presidency. Instead, Clinton won just over a majority of women's votes.

So what does that mean? Clinton and her supporters have charged that sexism is responsible for her loss of the nomination. But it seems more likely that women themselves cost her the nod.

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Good ol' Larry Johnson and his pal and fellow NoQuarter blogger, susanhu (SusanUnPC at NoQuarter), have spent the primary season spewing the most vile, racist, lying, thuggish assaults on Barack Obama that can be found online -- worse than even the most vile posts at freaky rightwing sites like littlegreenfootballs.

The irony is, of course, that Larry and susan claim to be Democrats.

Johnson's racist rantings and susan's vitriolic, lie-filled hate pieces have spawned a dedicated following of bigots and lunatics at NoQuarter.

No surprise, then, that Johnson was forced to post the following notice at NoQuarter yesterday:

WARNING

By Larry Johnson on May 30, 2008 at 2:45 PM in Current Affairs

This does NOT apply to 99% of you, however, a couple of lost souls have posted threats against Barack Obama on this blog. Be forewarned, I will turn all threats over to the Secret Service (they are investigating two at this moment). While I don’t believe Barack is qualified to be President, nothing justifies or warrants a death threat. Please play nice.

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Reading BTD's live blog of today's Clinton camp conference call on Florida and Michigan at TalkLeft was like coming upon the scene of an ugly accident.

Apparently, Harold Ickes and company have given up on their "100% seating" argument for the Florida and Michigan delegations. The take over at TalkLeft seems to be that this may be the beginning of Hillary's concession.

BTD's post and the comments contained are loaded with disbelief and disappointment. A sampling, below...

Frankly, I see far more reasons why Hillary Clinton would make a poor choice as Vice President than I see in her favor:

• She energizes the Republican fundraising machine in a year when Republicans are down and out, and not particularly overjoyed with their standard bearer, McCain.
• The revving up of the fundraising and attack machines would help downticket Republicans at the very moment they face crushing losses.
• She and tag-along Bill undercut Obama's core message of "change" in numerous ways.
• The brutal campaign has produced hundreds of clips of her undercutting Obama's credentials as presidential material making her a liability on the ticket.
• But here's the biggie: She and Bill (particularly, his post-presidential years and her campaign fundraising questions) have not been vetted and their baggage is likely to be a target-rich environment for the enemy.

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Bill Clinton, that is.

As usual, Bill upstages his wife and offers her concession speech before she does:

Her husband, for one, seems to have a pretty clear idea what he thinks she should get as a consolation prize. In Bill Clinton's view, she has earned nothing short of an offer to be Obama's running mate, according to some who are close to the former President. Bill "is pushing real hard for this to happen," says a friend.

Thanks, Bill.

So now can we stop all the pretending about Michigan and Florida?

What cynical posturing from Hillary Clinton, her campaign staff, and her virulent surrogates like Geraldine Ferraro.

They know it's over. But they continue with their slash-and-burn tactics, including a plan to send "busloads" of supporters to the May 31 DNC Rules Committee hearing in Washington.

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Much of the liberal blogosphere is up in arms over Hillary Clinton's comments regarding white, working class voters.

To remove any doubt that her comments may have been misstatements or taken out of context, one need only look at similar comments from Clinton's chief strategist, Geoff Garin, yesterday. Garin was also pushing the "white vote" argument in the campaign's post-Indiana/North Carolina conference call with the media.

So the emphasis on "white voters" is no accident. It is part of Clinton's final "strategy" as her campaign enters its death spiral.

And who else but Bill Clinton to provide all the proof needed that this is, indeed, a "strategy"...

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After spending the entire primary season bashing Barack Obama with lies, "radio host" Taylor Marsh (no, she does not have a radio show), today, began her pivot from Hillary-loving, Obama-hating, bile-spewer to "good Democrat."

The results could not have been funnier...

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Too little attention was paid to Hillary Clinton's recent comment that the U.S. could "totally obliterate" Iran if Iran were ever to launch an attack on Israel.

Senator Clinton said:

"In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them," she said.

"That's a terrible thing to say but those people who run Iran need to understand that because that perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic," Clinton said.

Yes, Senator Clinton, that is terrible thing to say. And here's why...

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This race will go on regardless of the outcomes of Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday. (Oh, and Guam on Saturday!)

The reason Hillary Clinton is battling to the death in the face of insurmountable odds is because she knows that a Democrat will beat McCain in November. Any Democrat. Forget the head-to-head polls, the state-by-state polls, the inane "electability" arguments six months out from the general election.

We could nominate Daffy Duck and he'd whip McCain's sorry, old ass.

No wonder Joe Trippi is crying in his beer today about not telling John Edwards to stay in the race until the convention...

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Now that Joe Lieberman has moved on, I am wondering if there is a bigger jackass in the elected Democratic ranks than good, ol' Evan Bayh.

Bayh has made a career out of being the Democrat who rips Democrats, especially anyone to his left which is just about everyone. Evan is the poster child for the Democratic Leadership Council and has been one of the most forceful advocates of the DLC's inane "more muscular foreign policy" hawkishness that brought us the Iraq war.

This is the same Evan Bayh who partnered with the despicable Rick Santorum in an effort to divert hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds to far right religious groups like Promise Keepers under the guise of "Healthy Marriages." (The bill failed but was later revived and passed.) Bayh's actions were particularly egregious because, had his bill passed, it would have funded these far right, "faith-based" organizations just before the 2004 general election.

In other words, the bill was a Karl Rove wet dream...

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The political pundit class is regularly pilloried by the leading lights of the progressive blogosphere. Maureen Dowd, for example, is rightly ridiculed for her penchant to dwell on inanities rather than issues. David Broder, the "Dean" of the Beltway pundits, is mocked for his myopic, inside-the-Beltway vision of politics.

And the press, in general, is torn to shreds by top progressive bloggers for a variety of sins: getting facts wrong; focusing on side issues; failing to cover serious gaffes of a Republican frontrunner while giving overblown coverage to the smallest Democratic candidate misstep.

The performances of ABC's George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson in the last debate were horrendous, and progressive blog honchos (except for a few ardent Clinton backers) chastised the pair for their shallow, trivial circus act.

So one would think that top progressive bloggers, many of whom have been arguing that they are, indeed, journalists, would try and do better than the very media elites they so often criticize.

Oh, if only it were so...

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