Category: The Dish

"When I was a governor and young and thought I was the best politician in the Democratic Party, I didn’t run the first time.  I could have. I knew in my bones I shouldn’t run. That I was a good enough politician to win, but I didn’t think I was ready to be president," – president Bill Clinton, trashing Barack Obama’s readiness for the Oval Office. Marc notes:

Toward the end of the interview, his hands began to shake and his face reddened as he discussed the political thicket his wife finds herself in.

The strange failure of law enforcement to find, you know, any actual evidence of terrorist plots against America remains a mystery:

At some point, you’d figure we’d bust open a ring where there is actually hard evidence of wrong-doing.  Where are the weapons caches? The bomb factories? The foreign trained jihadists with forged papers? Where are the guys who have actually done dry runs against targets? The guys who have deposited "martyrdom" videos with AQ central?

It almost seems as if AQ is not even trying to strike the U.S. homeland because the "plots" we are disrupting show virtually no signs of have been devised and planned with the professionalism we usually associate with AQ activities.

Joyner suggests a reason:

The more likely answer, I think, is the fact that U.S. counter-terrorism policy is in the hands of a 1920s-style law enforcement agency whose bureaucratic incentives stress busts and convictions as the key metric.

On the other hand, maybe torture as the primary means of intelligence-gathering has turned out to be not-so-effective. But don’t tell Cheney. He doesn’t like it when the dark side just leads to more … dark.

Or not, as the case may be:

Campaign staffers are calling the tour a five-day blitz across Iowa’s 99 counties, but Clinton herself will only appear in 12. Husband/President Bill and "others" will hit the remaining 87 checkerboard jurisdictions that make up the Hawkeye State.

If you enjoyed the recruitment ad for the Ukrainian army, you’ll love this one for the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. I’m guessing they don’t have a gay ban:

"The fire in the belly that Trippi exhibited on Hardball yesterday reflected perfectly Edwards’s populist fighter persona, just as Axelrod’s mellow above the fray style echoed Obama. What does Penn’s slimy shiftiness say about his candidate?" – Todd Beeton, MYDD.

Larison is already gaming the future for Clinton. I agree: she is by no means out of this. And it is very important not just to wound her candidacy. She has lots of money and plenty of party clout. Expectations, expectations …

I think I have come down with a bout. More enjoyable than this fricking flu. Ross explains.

A reader writes:

As a loyal Dem, I was angered several months ago by the MSM’s sensational and disproportionate coverage of Hillary’s cackling on Meet the Press. However, after watching that spectacle yesterday – I’ve had enough. Her sense of entitlement and "who-does-he-think-he-is" presumptiveness is offensive. Those 15 seconds yesterday were her Howard Dean moment. It wasn’t poll tested. Mark Penn didn’t tell her what to say. That was HILLARY.

My favorite part, which I didn’t notice until the third time I watched the clip: After Hill blurted out "I wanna hear that" and began her roaring laughter, Obama quietly and self-assuredly asks "Oh, you wanna hear that?" – as if to say "Oh really? Do you really want a piece of me?" He then went in for the kill. He’s got her rattled. The wheels are coming off and its not a pretty sight.

Another adds:

I think I have given you grief in the past over not supporting Hillary. After the last two weeks, I am disgusted with her. I really hope Obama takes this.

She didn’t pass the legislation she just said she did.

An interesting tally from the Concord Monitor:

Romney 28, McCain 21, Paul 16, Giuliani 14

I’d say McCain’s main problem is Obama, because Obama is attracting many of the independents that McCain won in 2000. But Huckabee is not doing well. New Hampshire could be the brake on his momentum.