Overall, a weak argument. The numbers from the Energy Information Administration report tell the story (which isn't mentioned in the article): That the excess production from the Outer Continental Shelf will make barely a dent in world supplies and have an "insignificant" impact on prices. What of the environmental damage wrought by offshore rigs? Nasty chemicals and potential spills. Destroying habitats, destroying fishing economies. None of this is mentioned.

Why is it that Russia feels threatened? Why did Russia make Georgia feel its "wrath" as the author writer put it?

If you can make any sense of this piece, you ought to get your head examined. Her big point is that Republicans have bungled national security issues for the past 50 years while Democrats have done their best to pick up the pieces. She decries the Bush effort in Iraq and Afghanistan and she accuses him of "mishandling" the Israel-Palestine conflict (By mishandling she means Democrats and Republicans helping Israel destroy a future state of Palestine). War crimes from the idiot JFK, ... More »

time to start pulling those 'biofuel diesel' bumper stickers off your car.

A boon for Obama, not because the comment was "cynical and divisive" but because it was accurate. If there is an attack sometime in the next 5 months, McCain will no longer be able to reap the dividends.

Fun tidbits about a floundering propaganda war. But it's odd that the writer seems to criticize the news channel for not 'succeeding' in its delivery of propaganda. Like he's trying to lay the blame at Bush's feet for doing yet another thing wrong. The only thing that's wrong is trying to create propaganda in the first place. All the poor management and the autonomy of the reporters at the station are things to be thankful for.

Self-serving tirade from the maiden of misery in the Balkans and Iraq.

Can't argue with the main point: the world can't wait to worship a charming US President. Friedman shines with insipid rhetoric about the U.S. and 'new beginnings'. It's a continuation of his recent turn to feel good environmentalism, away from pro-war diatribes and a fitting description of the way Friedman reinvents himself to appeal to the prevailing mood among the powerful.

Includes the Mossad agents found cheering within view of the just attacked WTC. Mossad spying evidently quite pervasive. Connections between known Mossad spies and Israeli telcom companies operating in US. Connection between Jack Abramoff, seedy Congressmn and Israeli telcomm company. Lots of circumstantial evidence. Still compelling. Oh, and almost forgot, it's like soooo anti-semitic.

Funny. "Obama touches me". This is like those self-proclaimed 'liberals' who come out as conservatives later in life. The expected response to the article is "He's so courageous". He even let you know how courageous he was by including the little tidbit that his previous writings were endorsed by the Bush family, and that by coming out of the closet, he might be losing some friends. But what a time to come out of the closet: just when the party's starting at camp Obama and things are ... More »

Is Obama 'soft' on Iran? No. He's a Nazi on Iran, just like John McCain. Who cares about the minute difference between their positions? Both Senator's assumptions about Iran and their threats toward Iran aren't based on hardly any facts. FactCheck should do a story about that.

Not too much to the article. Asks the question "has zionism made Jews more or less safe"? Doesn't really deal with it in a serious way. And then he uses the rest of the piece to briefly mention the brutal occupation, and then excoriate Jimmy Carter, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Big man. And the ultimate question: "[should] Israel be defended as if it were a part of the democratic West?" First it's a stupid question, just like "should Germany be defended as a part of the democratic West?" ... More »

Obama's position on Israel is like Bush's.

I like how the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians can only be criticized in terms of how its "counterproductive" to Israeli security interests. And how it takes for granted that Israel need be involved in future military actions with assistance from US money. The article may win over a few racists who only want to change their ways because it's in their interests, but it doesn't attempt to challenge prevailing orthodoxies of the Arabs as a bunch of savages; to the contrary, the ... More »

I think the reader is just supposed to feel Zakaria's sentiment in the first and last paragraphs, and then trudge through the swamp of contradictory rosey-eyed fluff that lies in between. One assumption, that reoccurs is an imaginary conception of America that he refers to as 'we' or 'us'. He thinks that 'we' are becoming worried by the rise of the third world (Does 'we' mean politicians/businessmen or does it mean my butcher? I'm pretty sure my butcher doesn't give a damn). To ... More »

The author uses the phrase anti-American without putting it in quotation marks. I think that's unfair because Reverend Wright likes many things that are American. Wright's parishioners even reported having seen him eat hot dogs before. I know it's kind of questionable that Rev. Wright is against slavery and unprovoked wars, but that doesn't mean that he necessarily has a problem with the Americans themselves that carry out slavery, unprovoked wars, and defamation campaigns against ... More »

Reasonable analysis of media reaction to Spitzer.

As is typical, apologists for war criminals and international outlaws have to resort to hypothetical situations to defend their positions. There's a reason, because they can't justify 'extreme-rendition' on its own record. Is it "tendentious" to call rendition flights "torture flights" as Kamm asserts? Well, why else would you drag someone up and fly them to another country if not to torture them? If you had credible evidence of any wrongdoing, perhaps local authorities might ... More »

Well, the author's half right, but he still misses the point despite obliquely referencing it. It's true that the press is not ideological as he says. Ideologues are weeded out pretty early, because ideologues would have a difficult time conforming to the rigid spectrum that's presented by newspapers owned by large corporations, selling advertising space to corporations, and garnering affluent readership that will act on the advertising. The author attempts to disprove the point that ... More »

Plagiarizer resigns in shame; never once committed a crime against humanity. Maybe he can get a job with Harvard Law.

helpful

Remember, don't get too caught up in the frenzy. The bulk of peoples' concerns aren't on the agenda this November.

Perhaps we should "raise the embargo", the author meekly suggests, if only because it has "failed to hurt the Castros for four decades". There's a problem when the liberal argument is "maybe we shouldn't punish a country despite their bold defiance of the US's claim to the western hemisphere."