If last week's Georgia crisis showed anything, it is that John McCain should not be president. There is a Cabinet post for which he is well-qualified: that's Secretary of War. Too bad it's been abolished.
Seriously, look at McCain's reaction to the crisis in the Caucasus. It was crystal...
Paul Abrams | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
Unlike the Republicans, who could not even find a qualified candidate for President, much less VP, the Democrats have a very deep bench. I have written about Bill RIchardson (still my favorite), Wes Clark, and even Robert Rubin. If, as the punditocracy seems to be certain, the nomination goes to...
Howie Klein | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
When 9-term Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad (MN-03) decided to pack it in and retire from politics this year, he was doing a favor for the residents of the Hennepin County suburbs surrounding the twin cities. Ramstad isn't some kind of radical right extremist like bizarre neighbors John Kline and Michele...
Dave Johnson | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
If you are going to be in Denver next week for the Democratic Convention check out the Starz Green Room. Their description:
The Starz Green Room at the Starz FilmCenter offers major movies, newsmakers of all stripes and a place for delegates, media and notable guests to gather. Just a...
Eric Dezenhall | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
Since John Edwards admitted to an extramarital affair, the aftermarket media buzz has been rife with the requisite exclamations of "what was he thinking" and "men are idiots when it comes to sex." This logic assumes that because the affair was sexual, the primary catalyst for Edwards' relationship with Rielle...
Linda Hirshman | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
The legendary cartoon -- I think it was the New Yorker -- had a bunch of men and one woman sitting around a conference table. All eyes are on her, but it is the man at the head of the table who is speaking. "Nice point, Mary," he says. "Now...
Derek Shearer | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
The guns of August are heard again.
The unexpected, sudden and brutal incursion by Russian troops into the small, former Soviet Republic of Georgia, has provided hawkish voices in both the US and Russia with an opportunity to talk tough. Republican nominee John McCain has had...
James Love | Posted August 20, 2008 | Media
Is Maureen Dowd a bit obsessed with the Clintons? These are the number of times that she has mentioned either Bill or Hillary in her last 12 columns. 
Mark Green | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
5,535 of you responded to our First Air America Poll about the 2008 Election.
True, our poll might not represent a scientific sample but a) it is five times larger than the usual national poll sample and b) we do represent a growing progressive movement. And collectively, you all did...
Mark Nickolas | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
If you want to know why it's going to be next to impossible for Focus on the Family's James Dobson to publicly support John McCain (R) -- at least in a manner that he can straight-face -- you need only look at the condemning statement of McCain that Dobson issued...
Jennifer Nix | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
As Mr. Dickens might say: It was the best of books, it was the worst of books. And the rest of it fits, too: It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was...
Amy Tara Koch | Posted August 20, 2008 | Style
Packing for Como, visions of Donatella, George and Michael Kors' jet setter ad campaigns danced in my head. 16 hours later, I blink my sleep deprived peepers in dismay. Was I hallucinating or was my glamorous dream vacation more Coney Island than Capri? Instead of the beaded tunic and gladiator...
Jon Soltz | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
VoteVets.org is back with one of our hard-hitting ads, holding public officials accountable on issues of importance to the troops and veterans. This time, we're exposing the dreadful record of former Congressman Bob Schaffer. Here's the ad:
Out...
Celia Alario | Posted August 20, 2008 | Media
How can China and the International Olympic Committee be so, well... lame?
With both Burston Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton on retainer for the Beijing Olympic games you'd think China would have all its Peking ducks in a row. But they are flailing and a great example...
Chellie Pingree | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
A new study from the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund confirmed what I hear on the campaign trail every day: Americans are deeply unhappy with our healthcare system, and they believe we need nothing short of a complete overhaul.
In the study, "Public Views on U.S. Health Care System Organization: A...
Steven Weber | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
Detach.
Detach and save your soul.
Because there isn't anything you will learn that you already don't know in your heart. You've seen this movie before, over and over and you know what they'll say, what they want to do. They will say John McCain is a hero and...
Paul Waldman | Posted August 20, 2008 | Media
Observers of politics know they can count on at least one constant in presidential campaigns: Whenever the Republican candidate is down in the polls, he begins to complain about the media (Democrats do it sometimes too, but not nearly as often). But when that candidate is John McCain, one would...
Greg Mitchell | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics
A surge of "investments" in Sen. Joe Biden has now made him the heavy favorite to get the nod for Vice President to run with Barack Obama.
Intrade, the well-known "prediction market" where people can buy and shell shares in candidates (among other things), reports today that Biden "has overtaken...
Czerina Salud and Sandra Wong Geroux | Posted August 20, 2008 | Chicago
-The Overture-
It was the end of World War II in Germany and the beginning of a new life for Gisela Krause.
 |
| Gisela Erika Waltraud Krause-Ford Goettling |
The American opera houses didn't know it...
Jay Rosen | Posted August 20, 2008 | Off The Bus
Is the concept really so hard for the editors of Mother Jones to grasp? Hype-busting and the exercise of hype are very closely related things; one may easily turn into the other if you're not careful, in the same way that playing the race card and accusations of playing the...
Last night, John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis...
UPDATE: A day after Roseanne's blogs from below...
Update: Keith Olbermann had Rachel Maddow on "Countdown" Tuesday night to celebrate...
"How honest are we if we tell the truth most of the time &...
I must admit that listening to McCain answer Pastor Rick Warren's questions...
Obama's been to Hawaii. We're moving...
In a candid interview via satellite from China, Olympic...
RENO, Nev. — So much for hugging in church. A day after Barack Obama and John McCain exchanged...
Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps, Michael Phelps. With all the play his name gets right now,...
NEW YORK — The suspense didn't quite compare to the identity of "Deep Throat,"...
As much as I dreaded turning 30, believe it or not I'm actually starting to...
Turning conventional neuroscience on its head, new research suggests the...
BURKE, N.Y. -- Everywhere that Janet and Ken Tacy...
James P. Rubin | Posted August 20, 2008 | Politics