'Well Done' Indeed

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The East's Nasty Housekeeping

I'm trying to stay in full R&R mode, and thus have held my tongue even on the nominating conventions. This comment, though, from Georgia's foreign minister -- stating that ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia was almost complete -- compelled me to mount a link.

Meanwhile, In Georgia

Georgians celebrate as Russian tanks roll out, but U.S. State Department officials say Russia is not living up to the agreement it signed.

Philadelphian Protesters Arrested in Beijing

"In jail, all fine," texts South Philly video blogger Brian Conley who, along with Wayne native Jefferey Rae, was taken into police custody early Tuesday.

Distant Early (Electoral) Warning

Get ready, Ohio!

The State of the Georgia/Russia Border

This from the State Department earlier this week, and this from the Russians today.

iTibet Unplugged

This on top of the detention of U.S. citizens for protesting in Beijing. The world is watching: Now international athletes and the people of China can't even listen.

Megabucks

According to MSNBC, tickets to tonight's event went for as high as $2,000, although several hundred were given away to church-goers.

Meeting at the Megachurch

Tonight's presidential forum -- unprecedented in modern presidential history for both its location (a house of worship) and its timing (before the nominating conventions) -- will be broadcast on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Saddleback will stream video of the meeting live.

The event was sold out before it was announced in the mainstream media, it seems, with tickets going for as much as $1,000.

Judgment in Georgia

Russia and Georgia accuse each other, in the conflict over South Ossetia, of ethnic cleansing. Is it remotely possible that both accusations are correct? What are we as a nation to do if that's the case?

Purpose Driven(tm) Politicians

Fox News reports John McCain and Barack Obama will meet Saturday night at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church (wikilink) for what Warren is calling the "Saddleback Civil Summit." Fox will broadcast the event, which is scheduled for eight p.m. Eastern time. Unknown whether other broadcasters will have a shot at airing it.

Warren, the best-selling author and populist mega-church pastor, will interview the candidates. Questions will be taken; no direct debate is expected. Should be interesting.

The church meeting will be the candidates' first joint appearance of the campaign, and could help set the stage for the summer nominating conventions which follows closely on its heels.

A comment Tom Ridge made in a brief chat he and I had after John McCain's visit to York this week is worth relating here.

I told Gov. Ridge how pleased my family had been that, in his capacity as Director of Homeland Security, he had been the commencement speaker at the United States Merchant Marine Academy when a young relative of mine graduated. Ridge's next, very next, thought was that he was aware that some of the mariners who'd graduated have died in service to their country.

It is so easy -- for me, for anyone -- to assume those in elective office don't really feel the pain the way the families who send their sons and daughters off our shores and into harm's way do. To an extent, that may be a safe assumption. Within the walls of that conversation, though, it startled me to realize how closely he must live with the knowledge that he has sent our men and women out in the name of keeping civilians safe.

The Milli Vanilli Revolution?

I'm trying to figure out why people who don't give a rat's patoot's worth of care to intellectual, political, economic and religious repression are so exercized about a lip-synching child. Well, I guess we have to draw the line somewhere.

Pennsylvania Shows Some Love

Depending on who does the counting, somewhere between 3,000 and 5,500 folks lined up in York, Pa., today -- many for hours -- to listen to Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and to ask him questions. Also in attendance: Senate colleagues Joe Lieberman and Arlen Specter, former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, Congressman Todd Platts and, front and center in the arena, McCain's iconic Straight Talk Express campaign bus.

As is his habit, McCain spent twice as much time taking questions as he did making his stump speech. Much of his remarks centered on the still unfolding situation in South Ossetia, although he did take time to remark on Barack Obama's seeming inability to recognize the success of the troop surge in Iraq. He was questioned on Social Security reform, technology in the classroom, defense, veterans' benefits and conservative values. He took a teacher's concerns about a lack of technology in American classrooms as an opportunity to riff on themes of school choice and educational standards -- but in most cases gave, at least by political standards, fairly straightforward answers on the issues. Most notable was his response when asked if thought he could muster a passionate defense of conservative ideals, which I'll quote in its entirely: "Yes."

Word is John McCain was pleased with his reception in York. He had every right to be: The town sure seemed to appreciate him, too. If he can build on successes in Pennsylvania's conservative "T" and make a good appeal to suburban and urban voters around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the senator just might have good reason to keep coming back to visit Pennsylvania voters.

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I'd also like to post a shout out to my family in Spring Grove, Pa. As cool as the York event was, the neatest thing about it was that it was a darned good excuse to hang out with them.

Robbed of Closure

I'm still trying to process the dump of information on the sole suspect in the Amerithrax investigation. While there would have, no doubt, been security concerns in bringing Bruce Ivins to justice in open court, I cannot help but feel there should have been a trial.

I have pointed out to many, many people just how remarkable it is that no further terrorist attacks have claimed mass casualties on American soil over the past eight years, and I appreciate the efforts of the agencies, from the most local to the federal and international, that have helped assure our safety. Yet I still cannot help but think that the American people would have been better served if they'd been more assured that whatever corrective measures needed by the Department of Defense and other federal agencies in the wake of the anthrax attacks have been or will be put into place. I cannot shake the feeling that a conviction in absentia (for that is what this is) is hollow at best, frightening at worst from the standpoint of both human liberty and national security.

Having said that, I will add that it is easier to be a citizen than it is to be a lawman: I do not envy the job of those who must keep us safe.

Look Who's Not Talking

Seems Barack Obama had enough energy and ideas when he was trying to appeal to the left and defeat a large field of Democrats who would be president. He participated in more than 20 debates in the primary season. Twenty-six to be exact! Once he had the nomination he boasted he'd meet his senate colleague, Republican nominee John McCain "anytime, anywhere" to discuss the issues in front of the American people.

Apparently, though, Obama either doesn't like the town hall format or he's reluctant to take on McCain mano a mano any more than he must. He's agreeing to debate only the bare minimum: just three debates before November. C'mon, you fellows can do better than that. Show us you can handle something other than a super friendly crowd, Barack! Your competitor already has.

Anthrax Investigation's Dead End?

I don't even know what to say about this AP story on the fate of a suspect in the investigation to find out who was responsible for sending anthrax-laden letters through the U.S. Mail. I suppose it's good to know the investigation had been ongoing; I have absolutely no comment at this point about the tactics federal investigators have used in their work, and I note that my colleagues at the New York Post who suffered when a tainted letter was sent to us were not included in specific casualty list in the news story.

I guess I did have a little to say, but I still don't know quite what to think.