“It’s the state of America now that is the most gripping source of anxiety for Americans, not Al Qaeda or Iraq. Anyone who thinks they are going to win this election playing the Iraq or the terrorism card — one way or another — is, in my view, seriously deluded. Things have changed.”
- Thomas Friedman, [...]

As hinted at yesterday, it’s happening and this decision will no doubt have far reaching consequences…
The announcement came after North Korea handed over a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear work to Chinese officials on Thursday, fulfilling a key step in the denuclearization process.
Bush called the declaration a positive step along a long road to get [...]

Some surprising data here, but what’s not surprising is that the economy is at the very top of the priority list. And that has to be good news for Obama since he has such a wide lead.
Energy, Gas Prices - extremely important to 51%
Obama - 47%
McCain - 28%
Economy - extremely important to 49%
Obama - 48%
McCain [...]

Maybe…
From NY Times:
Mr. Obama, who spoke to the Iraqi foreign minister [Hoshyar Zebari] by telephone this morning, said he was “encouraged” by the reductions in violence in Iraq. But he said the United States still must begin gradually withdrawing troops, at a pace of one to two brigades a month, with a goal of [...]

And considering we have about 26,000 troops in Afghanistan, the overall percentage proves that Afghanistan has been a much, much deadlier place for quite some time.
Not surprisingly, I found this news in a story about an attack by the Taliban that freed hundreds of inmates from an Afghan prison:
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - U.S. and NATO troops [...]

I’m sure many in the Bush administration are probably remembering that old saying, “Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.” Because while we freed the Iraqis from Saddam’s control and helped them get elections going, guess what they’re doing with this newfound influence?
From Washington Post:
BAGHDAD, June 13 — The Bush administration’s Iraq [...]

I think yes. McCain thinks no.
First, his side…

Now, mine…
Once again it appears that McCain is trying to reframe the goal of the surge by saying it’s a success because fewer troops are getting killed. And while he’s correct that casualty rates are dropping, our men and women are still dying at an average of 1 [...]

How did the BBC find out what happened to untold billions in Iraq, but we somehow haven’t yet?

I’ll be checking this out later tonight, so I’ll have more thoughts then.

Bush has said in the past that while Iraq may not be going to swimmingly right now, history will ultimately vindicate his decision to go to war.
However, now he’s admitting that his own rhetoric poisoned the well.
From Times of London:
President Bush has admitted to The Times that his gun-slinging rhetoric made the world believe that [...]

Apparently, the BBC has been able to find where some of it went…
The search for the missing billions also led the programme to a house in Acton in West London where Hazem Shalaan lived until he was appointed to the new Iraqi government as minister of defence in 2004.
He and his associates siphoned an estimated [...]

I can’t believe I haven’t seen this until now. He just flat out admits it.

Of course many people don’t see Fox as an objective news organization, but for Murdoch to confirm exactly that is stunning.
My question: what are the grounds for getting a broadcast license revoked? Isn’t there some sort of rule that says news [...]

Folks, $4 gas isn’t going away any time soon.
From the AP:
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices made their biggest single-day leap ever Friday—clearing $139, dragging the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 400 points and raising the once-unthinkable prospect of $150 oil and even higher gas prices by the Fourth of July.
The meteoric rise of nearly [...]

What are Americans thinking when it comes to our foreign policy strategy for the future?
Pubilc Agenda, a non-partisan research company, has the numbers [pdf] and they’re consistent with what we’ve been seeing for the past couple years as we’ve seen more terrorists pop up and no discernible political progress being made in Iraq.

Why so unpopular?
First, [...]

This is very good news, but what about the billions we continue to spend over there with no discernible gain? Remember, lowered troop deaths doesn’t mean political progress, it just means there’s more security and fewer families devastated stateside.
From Reuters:
U.S. troop deaths in Iraq fell to their lowest level last month since the 2003 invasion [...]

On the President’s tendency to lie to himself…

On misleading the American people…

On being part of the propaganda campaign to sell the war…

On knowing that the book would have an impact…

Frankly, this doesn’t sound like a guy who’s afraid of speaking his mind. I wonder if he will indeed testify, especially about the Rove/Libby/Plame stuff.
More as [...]

A new Rasmussen Poll shows that John McCain is more trusted than Barack Obama on the economy. 47% trust McCain compared to 41% trusting Obama. McCain also edges Obama on Iraq (49% to 37%) and on general national security 53% to 31%.
So, what does this tell us? Well, as we already know, McCain’s strength is [...]

First this…

Obviously this is a really bad call on McCain’s part, especially since the Joint Chiefs have recently said, very explicitly, that members of the military should not be involved with these political campaigns…
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning [...]

The full 15 minute interview. I’m watching it now, and I’ll post thoughts when I’m done.
Part 1:

Part 2 (after Dan Bartlett):

I don’t know about you, but this seems like the same Scott McClellan I saw for years behind that podium.
So apparently, two things set him off. First, when he found out that that Rove and [...]