Obama’s Surge Purge Emerges, Demonstrates Nerve, Verges on Scourge, Reactions Diverge
Barack Obama has taken things off his campaign site that might be used by opponents to embarrass him, James Gordon Meek reports in the NY Daily News under the headline "Obama Purges Web Critique of Surge." Why, it's our Outrage of the Day! Barack Obama's campaign scrubbed his presidential Web site over the weekend to remove criticism of the U.S. troop ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 15, 2008 12:27
The Importance of the Deficit
In commenting about John McCain's budget plans, Matthew Yglesias threw out this comment: Given the present circumstances, I can't think of any good reason for a presidential candidate to be promising to that we'll be at balanced budgets in four years. It would be nice to see the deficit on a decreasing trajectory rather than an increasing one, but achieving short-term ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 15, 2008 11:15
Google Walking Directions
Google Maps is beta testing a new "walking directions" feature, Alex Chitu reports. Apparently, it's just being tested out on a small number of randomly selected users. Since I wasn't among those selected, I was a bit dubious since I was unable to personally verify, let alone test, said service. A quick search of another of Google's products, its ubiquitous ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 8, 2008 16:31
By Any Other Name…
Jonah Goldberg has sparked a minor blogospheric furor for a recent column in which he castigated Barack Obama, John McCain, and others for promoting a compulsory national service program, which he compared to slavery. There's a weird irony at work when Sen. Barack Obama, the black presidential candidate who will allegedly scrub the stain of racism from the nation, vows to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 8, 2008 13:26
Al Qaeda in Iraq Defeated?
Al Qaeda in Iraq [AQI] is all but defeated, Marie Colvin reports for The Sunday Times. A huge operation to crush the 1,200 fighters who remained from a terrorist force once estimated at more than 12,000 began on May 10. Operation Lion’s Roar, in which the Iraqi army combined forces with the Americans’ 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, has already resulted in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 6, 2008 07:56
Obama to ‘Refine’ Iraq Deadline, Keep it Exactly Same
Barack Obama gave a speech yesterday in which he said there was some flexibility in his plan, touted throughout the Democratic primary season, to withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months followed by another speech in which he explained that he meant no such thing. Michael Cooper and Jeff Zeleny have a solid summary and analysis piece for the NYT, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 4, 2008 07:27
Conservative Bloggers Silent On Torture?
Shaun Mullen wonders "Why Are Right-of-Center Bloggers So Silent On Torture?" He searched high and low and could find no right-of-center bloggers who made any mention at all, for example, of yesterday's NYT story "China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo." I'd note that Andrew Sullivan wrote roughly 600 posts on the subject yesterday, including this one, which pretty well covered our bases. ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 3, 2008 11:28
Obama’s ‘Sweetheart’ Home Loan
The Manufactured Outrage of the Day comes to us from Joe Stephens and his page A3 piece for today's Washington Post, "Obama Got Discount on Home Loan." Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. To finance the purchase, he secured a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 2, 2008 15:15
Rush Limbaugh Signs $400 Million Contract
Rush Limbaugh isn't going to have any trouble affording good cigars, having just re-upped with Clear Channel through 2016 for $400 million, including a $100 million signing bonus. And you thought pro athetes got paid a lot. Said to be Limbaugh's most lucrative deal ever by far, the new agreement runs through 2016 and includes a previously unheard-of nine figure signing ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 2, 2008 13:48
Obama, the South, and the Black Vote
Thomas Schaller, the author of Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South, argues that the notion that Barack Obama has a good chance of winning Southern states because he'll energize black turnout is based on fallacious reasoning. The first myth is that African-American turnout in the South is low. Black voters are actually well represented in the Southern ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 1, 2008 13:37
