August 10th, 2008
When asked to respond to the escalating conflict in Georgia, John McCain took a much harder line on Russia than Obama, the Bush Administration, Europe and The UN:
While Obama offered a response largely in line with statements issued by democratically elected world leaders, including President Bush, first calling on both sides to negotiate, John McCain took a remarkably — and uniquely — more aggressive stance, siding clearly with Georgia’s pro-Western leaders and placing the blame for the conflict entirely on Russia.
Ben Smith, The Politico
This is not the first time John McCain has taken a curiously confrontational stance on Russia; his calls for The Federation to be expelled from the G8 is particularly alarming (especially considering that no other G8 nation has any intention of complying with McCain’s proposal, and as such must be construed as an example of personal animosity rather than a well-reasoned political maneuver or posture). Someone needs to let McCain know The Cold War is over.
June 23rd, 2008
Dr. James E. Hansen is a World-renowned climatologist at NASA, widely praised for being one of the first scientists to recognise the effect of man-made carbon-dioxide production on the environment in a congressional testimony in the 1980’s.
Today, Dr. Hansen is back before congress, renewing his 20-year-old call to action:
On Monday, Dr. Hansen, 67, plans to give a briefing organized by a House committee and say that it is almost, but not quite, too late to start defusing what he calls the “global warming time bomb.” He will offer a plan for cuts in emissions and also a warning about the risks of further inaction.
The New York Times
Although he is vilified by some on the right for his stance on global warming, Dr. Hansen is one of the most credible climatologists in the World, and deserves to be heard. He is currently the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Al Gore’s chief science advisor.
June 17th, 2008
It certainly took some time, but tonight Al Gore will endorse Obama in Flint, Michigan.
As many point out, this will not win Barack Obama an awful lot of new votes but it does get some hardcore Democratic activists and fundraisers on board.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Gore performs on the stump (assuming he’s going to campaign for Obama); while he was not an incredibly gifted speaker eight years ago, his style has matured significantly over the years, and would make for a commanding presence on the campaign trail.
