To be sure, the growing tensions - and stakes - over the Iranian nuclear program are different in kind and degree from the brinksmanship of the Cuban Missile Crisis 47 years ago. But events of the past week have stirred the echoes of that confrontation with the Soviet Union. In each case, an international gathering […]

Among the most discussed if least enlightening polls in recent months is the PPP survey revealing that Republican "birthers" far outnumber Democratic "truthers." That is, there are many more delusional right-wingers who doubt President Obama was born in the United States than confused left-wingers who believe President Bush allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen. But […]

One day after the Washington Post's Bob Woodward published the confidential McChrystal report on Afghanistan, the Politico asked, "Who leaked and why?" But while the article speculates on the identity and motivation of the leaker, one issue - the punishment of Woodward's source for revealing national security documents -remains off the table. Which is a […]

With his seriously compromised and deeply flawed legislation, Senator Max Baucus has achieved rare bipartisan consensus on health care: virtually everyone from both parties hates his bill. But with his feeble acknowledgement that despite all of his kowtowing to his GOP colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee "no Republican has offered his or her support […]

As President Obama's make-or-break health care speech to Congress approaches, the focus of media tea leaf readers is on what specifically he will say. Will the President overcome his marketing failures to date and commit his political capital to a reform plan? Will he draw a line in the sand on the public option, viewed […]

On Monday, the AP portrayed President Obama's struggle to pass health care reform as the second coming of George W. Bush's unpopular and ultimately disastrous attempt to privatize Social Security. But while man each left the bill crafting to Congress and faced a growing backlash from frightened American seniors, the parallels end there. Democratic health […]

In response to the manufactured outrage over President Obama's planned address Tuesday to America's schoolchildren, the White House as promised has released portions of the text of the speech in advance. Here are excerpts from President Obama's prepared remarks: Preliminary Excerpt of the President's September 8 Address to America's Schoolchildren* For Immediate Release September 6, […]

The Mayo Clinic, the world famous institution cited by all sides in the contentious health care debate, defines schizophrenia as a serious brain disorder "in which reality is interpreted abnormally" resulting in "hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking and behavior." Apparently, that affliction is now running rampant among supporters of the Republican Party. As recent polling […]

Back in January, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman presciently warned President Obama about the GOP's bad faith in negotiating the stimulus bill, announcing, "Look, Republicans are not going to come on board." Now Krugman's paper is reporting the White House may finally be learning its lesson and planning to "go it alone" on health […]

Following President Obama's lead, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Sunday announced that a public option is "not the essential element" of the administration's health insurance reform push. Sadly, that development seems to signal that, as with the stimulus package, Obama has again fallen into a trap of his own making. In his […]