Free Republic

How's this for hubris: President Obama extolling his "new strategy" in Iraq -- even though it never would have succeeded had his original vision prevailed? The president struck a triumphal tone this week about the Iraq mission coming to an end -- but shunned the word "success." He spoke of "ending" the war, but took pains to avoid context. Sen. John McCain rightly called the address "small-minded" and "bizarre." Indeed, Obama couldn't bring himself to give a shred of credit to the man who most deserves it: George W. Bush. Bush's surge -- and Gen. David Petraeus' on-the-ground leadership --...

While the eyes of the political world were focused on Pennsylvania last week, I played hooky for a day at the invitation of the Lee County Library and bumped into a story as revealing in its way as the latest round in the struggle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Among other things, it explains why John McCain found it useful to spend last week touring poverty-stricken areas in the South, where Republicans rarely go. On the same day that Pennsylvanians gave Clinton a victory that still left unclear who will eventually be the Democratic nominee, voters in Mississippi's 1st...

An additional five divisions may not sound like a lot. But if we also change the "rules of engagement" that these troops are required to follow, that should be enough to quell the Sunni and Shiite militias that have brought death and disorder to Baghdad and Anbar provinces. So-called ROEs are secret, but the outlines for how our military must operate in a war zone are well-known. In Iraq they're so stringent, it's reasonable to wonder how we can even wage war at all — especially against an enemy that recognizes no rules or morality in its own fighting. This...

Democrats don't want to have another presidential candidate like John Kerry, and who can blame them? So, the AP reports, they're thinking of revamping their nominating process. Kerry got the nomination because he was standing nearby when Howard Dean imploded. The nominating process was so front-loaded neither John Edwards nor Wesley Clark had a real chance to catch him. Two plans presented at a meeting last weekend in Chicago would continue to allow Iowa and New Hampshire to have the first delegate selection contests. A third, presented by Michigan Democrats, would rotate the honor of going first. All three propose...

An Uncertain Trumpet Whatever pundits say, this election was not a wholesale repudiation of liberalism. By Robert Kuttner Web Exclusive: 11.21.04 Were the Democrats repudiated as too left wing for the country, especially on cultural issues? Or were they mainly outplayed? Depending on what one concludes, dramatically different remedies follow. In fact, the country was split almost evenly, as in 2000. Democrats would make a grave mistake to take 2004 as a wholesale repudiation. Rather, John Kerry lost the election and Democrats lost ground for four distinct reasons. First, the Republicans enjoy a structural advantage. As a party they...