John Kerry’s a stiff. Doing tonight’s final debate, he looked like he just came off the embalmer’s table. That’s the bad news — for George W. Bush. Simple fact is that Bush lost all three debates to this guy. Bush was certainly at his best tonight. But that ain’t very good. Not if you get [...]

Wed 10 PM PST Just got off a plane from Chicago and will see the debate delayed and TiVoed. For the moment: Whatever David Corn says.

Christopher Reeve’s fight for stem cell research can certainly be termed heroic. though some cynics might argue that there was, after all, a self-serving aspect to it all. But Reeve was, indeed, a real hero. And a brave one. Those of us involved with Chile learned that almost 20 years ago. In 1987 when 77 [...]

In today’s Cuba, if your husband is in the clink as a dissident and you peacefully assemble to petition Fidel Castro for better prison conditions… you get dispersed by the people’s police. And this is because…? Because what? Such protests betray some greater principle? I suspect this sort of visually and morally arresting protest is [...]

Las Vegas 2:00 AM Monday Very busy working here. Really, I am. Coming back to L.A. later Monday. But then there’s more work. So light posting for a day or two. Only thing I will say about this trip to Las Vegas: It’s really something to be in a city where almost everybody seems to [...]

The bottom line is that beyond any individual perceptions, the general view is that the debate last night was a close call with Kerry winning a slight edge. That’s what most snap polls are showing. On the electoral front, the race continues in much the same way: more or less even with Kerry ahead by [...]

Anyone who has read this blog knows I’m a bit of a Kerryphobe. I can’t remember the last time I voted Democrat (or Republican) in a Presidential election. That much out of the way: Bush bombed tonight. He was brittle, unsure, unsteady, raspy and bordered on angry. To use a favorite cliche: he was not [...]

I’ve caught myself feeling sorry for Bush so far. So much for Mass Media Conventional Wisdom: in this Oprah-like setting Kerry seems MUCH MORE at ease than the President. Kerry is speaking calmly and making succint arguments and striking targeted blows. Bush is angry, his voice is raspy. His points are obscure. Worst line so [...]

With today’s anemic job report, George Bush now officially becomes the first president in 72 years who has seen a net job loss during his administration. More than 580,000 jobs by the most pro-Bush interpretation possible. In reality, probably twice as much. I’m usually shy about blaming or lauding a president for job creation because [...]

I’ll be watching the debate Friday nite from Las Vegas where I’m spending the weekend wearing my hat as advisor on the upcoming PBS “American Experience” series on… Las Vegas. I’ll do my best to blog some post-debate commentary sometime late Friday nite. Before I fly out, however, I’ll be doing a half-hour’s worth of [...]

For those who now loudly protest that two years ago”everyone” thought Saddam Hussein had WMD I have only two words for you: Scott Ritter.

I was amused to see what journos calls a major “rowback” taking place Wednesday night as significant chunks of the pundictocracy were busily paddling away from their orginal assessment that Dick Cheney had “won” the VP debate –or that Edwards hadn’t. From across the cable universe into the newsweeklies, second thoughts are erupting. Cheney, of [...]

A new acronym for our political lexicon– W-WMD. What Weapons of Mass Destruction? The hunt is over. America’s chief weapons inspector in Iraq has now made it official. Here’s the lead in the Washington Post: The government’s most definitive account of Iraq’s arms programs, to be released today, will show that Saddam Hussein posed a [...]

We can debate whether or not John Edwards beat Dick Cheney in the Vice-Presidential debate. What is certain, however, is that as a debater Edwards beat the hell out of John Kerry. And, for that matter, cranky old Cheney did better than his junior partner, George W. Bush. So maybe that’s the headline of this [...]

My two cents on the Edwards-Cheney debate will be soon deposited here.

Roll over, Al Capone. Chile’s former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, has now been formally accused of tax fraud . The new charges stem from the still-breaking scandal of Pinochet having stashed unaccounted-for millions in the Riggs Bank. The indomitable Randy Paul has the full wrap-up report on the aged dictator’s latest travails. This is the definitive [...]

That’s what Bruce Hoffman, the head of the Rand Corporation’s Washington Office and a former counter-insurgency adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority says today of the conflict in Iraq. That’s a fairly startling appraisal from a veteran counter-terrorism expert with absolutely no leftist agenda. It would be re-assuring to hear some sort of acknowledgement in [...]

Finally. a comprehensive, in-depth dissection of the myriad forces that converge to form the Iraqi insurgency. Writing in the Boston Review , Naval War College professor Ahmed S. Hassim paints a vivid and rather chilling picture of the armed opposition to the U.S. occupation. These are no Boy Scouts. But rather a volatile mix of [...]

I’ve been busy this weekend so light posting. But we’ve spent so much time on this blog the past ten days talking about Christopher Hitchens, I’ve decided to post his reaction to Bush’s failure in the Thursday night debate. It might surprise those of you who think only in rigid black and white. I dare [...]