First Things First

Mission Accomplished

Gov. Rendell to Bill: "Get Over It"

It's been reported that Bill Clinton is miffed at Senator Barack Obama.  Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said bluntly Bill's got to "get over it" and "shake it off."

Bush Greets Philippine President

Conservatives And "Appeasement"

Trash-talk Or Truthful Exchange

One wonders where the current state of American journalism will take this country?  Watch the discussion below on The Verdict with Dan Abrams on MSNBC. Then, ask yourself: can America be better served by trash-talk or truthful exchange? Doesn't integrity count for something?  

It seems to me the answer is clear.

 

Huckabee: Lay Off Obama!

(CNN) – Former GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee called Barack Obama's candidacy "a landmark achievement" Tuesday, and warned fellow Republicans not to demonize Obama.

"Republicans will make a fundamental if not fatal mistake if they seek to win the election by demonizing Barack Obama," Huckabee told reporters in Tokyo, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

Huckabee praised the country for getting "to a point where we did not see his color but we truly saw his charisma, his message and what he brought to the campaign trail."

"When people are really hurting — and they are right now — they're not looking at a person's race," he added.

Huckabee said he hopes John McCain beats Obama, but that Republicans should focus on policy differences, not race.

Huckabee suggested questions about whether he might join McCain on the ticket were premature.  "You can't accept an invitation to the prom until the football captain asks you.  So I'm not going to go out and buy the outfit just yet," said Huckabee, according to AFP.

Troubles

Joel Pell, Lexington-Herald Leader

Obama's Father's Day Speech

Vidal: “100 years to recover from Bush”

“Madrid - It will take the United States a century to recover from the damage wreaked by President George. W Bush, US writer Gore Vidal said in an interview published on Saturday.

“The president behaved like a virtual criminal but we didn’t have the courage to sack him for fear of violating the American constitution,” Vidal told the El Mundo newspaper.

The author, a trenchant critic of the US-led invasion of Iraq, said it would take the United States “100 years to repair the damage” caused by Bush.

“We live in a dictatorship. We have a fascist government …which controls the media,” he said.

Vidal also said presidential aspirant Barack Obama was “intelligent” adding that it would be a “novelty” to have an “intelligent” person in the White House.”

And The Music Plays On!

Robert Ariall, The State, Charleston, South Carolina