John Podhoretz thinks Congressman Charlie Rangel's real crime is how he has neglected the interests of the people in his district.

Paul Krugman thinks President Obama is neglecting the interests of his base supporters.

David Brooks sees a period of stagnation ahead.

Americans are less willing to move to find new jobs and opportunities. Many are held back by the fact that they are unable to sell their home without taking a big loss.

One auto analysts says GM's new electric car is a lemon.

Charles Krauthammer believes President Ahmadinejad of Iran is feeling the heat.

Stephen Hayes takes a look at political conditions in Ohio, and there seems to be some compelling evidence that Republicans will make a big comeback there this November.

Two visions of disaster...one man-made, and limited to the U.S., the other natural, which could strike anywhere on Earth. I am inclined to believe that the natural disaster is more likely than the man-made one, at least in this case.

Niall Ferguson also believes the U.S. could be faced with a sudden collapse of its global power due to our insatiable appetite for spending more than we take in. His view is more plausible, and worrisome.

Ralph Peters has determined, after a closer examination of the leaked documents about the war in Afghanistan, that it is a disaster that will cost Afghan and American lives. I wish we would return to the notion that people who leak classified documents are traitors, and should, if convicted of their treason, be hanged.

Arthur Herman believes congressional hearings on the release of the Lockerbie bomber were cancelled because they could be damaging to President Obama. If the Republicans take control of Congress in January, expect those hearings to happen.

Massachusetts lawmakers join the movement to bypass the Electoral College. Essentially, what they are doing (and it is being done in a number of other states) is passing a law that will require the state's presidential electors to cast their ballots for the candidate that won the most votes nationally, not the one that won the most votes in Massachusetts. Advocates for this approach want to eliminate the Electoral College without amending the Constitution. Since the Constitution (Article II, Section 1) expressly allows state legislatures to choose the manner in which they select their presidential electors, they are within the bounds of the law in doing this.

2010 is shaping up to be the year of the Tea Party voter. I have been saying all along that those who characterize the Tea Party as a bunch of racist, right-wing nuts (which is how many on the Left like to see them) are completely missing the point. The Tea Party movement is simply an expression of anger and frustration with the political system by mostly independent voters, much like the Reform Party was in 1992. It has attracted its share of nuts, as all political movements do, and it can be said that it is made up of mostly white, middle class folks, generally more conservative in their outlook than the country as a whole (but not much more). But it is significant because it points out the anger and frustration, which will come out in spades this November.

Michael Barone has sensed this coming political tsunami for many months, and looking at new polling data and some other signs while examining House races, he sees the Democrats headed for a thumping.

From the Left, Harold Meyerson sees corporations hoarding cash and finding ways to make even more money by not hiring new workers. Ruth Marcus says Congress should let the Bush tax cuts expire.

Japan is facing depopulation over the next four or five decades, and is struggling with a growing population of the old and sick, yet it will not make things easier for immigrants who want to come into the country to work, even the ones need to care for all those elderly folks.

Brian McGrory has a few barbed remarks for Massachusetts Democrats, all well deserved, I think.

Ralph Peters, who was an intelligence officer in the Army for many years, says the documents released by Wikileaks are mostly low-level stuff, generally classified as "Confidential", with a few at the "Secret" level, and nothing classified as "Top Secret". But the documents do tell the story of a war that cannot be won by continuing on the present course. I agree. We cannot win with a corrupt and illegitimate Afghan government, a corrupt and incompetent Afghan army and police and, most importantly, we cannot win with elements of the Pakistani government and security service actively working to aid our enemies.

Richard Cohen also believes the war cannot be won, and we should get out of Afghanistan.

Michael Gerson, on the other hand, believes the Taliban will not accept any of our fundamental conditions for entering into peace talks unless we are defeating them on the battlefield. He also points out that ceding any territory to the Taliban means women in those areas will suffer a return to virtual slavery.

House Democrats representing "Rust Belt" states feel betrayed by their leadership on the cap-and-trade portion of the energy bill.

Pat Buchanan says the real story behind the NAACP, Sherrod, Tea Party race controversies is the fact that President Obama is losing working-class, white America. Those voters, many of whom voted for Hillary Clinton in the primaries, were crucial for Obama in 2008. I suspect many of them will vote Republican this November and, if things do not turn around for the economy, will vote for the GOP candidate for President in 2012.

George Will, in a speech to the members of the Cato Institute, says Americans are not a "state-broken people" (a phrase from George Orwell).

The NFL continues to get serious about the ramifications of concussions by posting a stark warning in all locker rooms. It is a long overdue, but necessary step to raise awareness among players and coaches. Unfortunately, as a lover of American football, I fear that more and more data will reveal that the constant banging of heads that is an inherent part of the game is just as damaging in the long term as are the more spectacular hits that lead to concussions.

Fred Barnes writes about the vast left-wing conspiracy. He is referring, of course, to the Journolist controversy. Having worked in the media most of my life, I have long known that most people in the business are left-of-center in their political world view. You won't find very many Reagan Republicans in the newsrooms across the nation, nor many Christian Conservatives, or pro-military or pro-business types.

Karl Rove writes about the Democrats in disarray in Washington. They can all sense what is coming, which is an electoral debacle.

Michael Gerson writes about why British Prime Minister David Cameron is engaged in a domestic program of budget cuts in his country that, if successful, could make things much harder for Barack Obama to win re-election in 2012.

The climate bill is on the ropes in the Senate. Tom Friedman begs GOP Senators to join the Democrats in passing the bill. They won't, whether you (or they) think Friedman's reasons are good ones or not. The GOP (and the Democrats would do the same if the shoe was on the other foot) are going to do whatever is necessary to weaken the Democrats in the eyes of independent voters between now and November, and they'll do whatever is necessary to fire up their own base supporters during that time as well. This is how it is done, and how it has always been done, except in times of extraordinary national emergencies (and sometimes, even then).

A very scary unemployment graph.

Michael Gerson says there are signs of sanity in the Tea Party movement.

Katrina vanden Heuvel offers some left-wing solutions for our financial system.

An analysis of the Republican primary for U.S. Senate here in New Hampshire.

An analysis of President Obama's poll numbers, specifically his re-elect number, which is way down. The good news for the President is that his bad numbers are similar to President Clinton's bad numbers in July of 1994. Those numbers presaged a stunning defeat for Democrats that Fall, but Clinton had time to recover and win in 1996. That happened, of course, because the economy began to boom. That is exactly what Obama must have to ensure his re-election in 2012.

Michael Tomasky believes the President and the Democrats are losing the war of public perception. Like so many of the liberal elite, he believes his side is correct on the facts, but losing on perception, as all the ignorant rubes who make up the majority of the American electorate don't know what is good for them.

Mark Halperin says the reality of a coming debacle is beginning to sink in for the inside-the-beltway Democrats.

Natasha Simons writes about how conservatives and liberals perceive Mad Men differently. I perceive it as an enormously entertaining TV show.

Ralph Peters writes about a Christian backlash against radical Islam in Africa.

Paul Krugman gets something right when he asserts that, as far as electoral success or failure is concerned, its the economy, stupid.

Ross Douthat writes about the roots of White anxiety, and it really is all about working class, rural, Red State folks, discriminated against and despised by Eastern, urban, elite Whites.

Here is another way of expressing that anxiety.

Robert J. Samuelson writes about why the problems facing Massachusetts in the wake of their attempt at government expansion of health care is a cautionary tale as we contemplate the implementation of Obama's expansion of government-run and/or funded health care.

THOUGHTS ON THE MID-TERM ELECTIONS

Every day, almost without exception, I spend time in the morning navigating the Internet, reading news and opinion pieces that I find interesting. Most days I take a few minutes to put links to the ones I found most compelling on this blog, along with a bit of commentary of my own. As we get closer to the mid-term elections, more and more pieces appear with some kind of analysis of the mood of the electorate and the possible outcome that will ensue due to that mood. Generally, columnists who are partisans on one side or the other see things through their own rose-colored glasses. Sometimes I read them, sometimes I don't. I have covered elections as a newsperson, talk show producer, and talk host since 1990. I have been following American politics since, as a boy, I watched the Watergate hearings on television in the Summer of 1973. I have studied politics in school (and will some more as I attempt to earn a Masters Degree in Political Science starting this Fall), and watched it up close in real life. Cutting through all the noise and confusion I have come to one conclusion...the best we can do is make an educated guess as to the behavior of the American electorate.

How well I remember the New Hampshire primary of 2008 when, as an analyst for WBZ radio, I felt pretty confident, as did most every other analyst, most of whom much more prominent (and wealthy) than me, that Barack Obama would win the primary over Hillary Clinton. After all, he seemed to have all the momentum, and all the polls showed a substantial lead. But, as the early returns filtered in, and I looked over the breakdown of voting town-by-town, my knowledge of voting patterns and the demographics of each region of the state (learned from covering New Hampshire elections since 1994) led me to the conclusion that Hillary would win. I still feel pretty good about making that early call (and, of course, I was not alone, as just about everyone else who had similar experience could see the same thing, including my co-analysts at the time on WBZ, Arnie Arnesen and Michael Goldman). But it taught a lesson, which we already knew, but sometimes forget. Polls don't always catch what is happening, even the ones taken at the last minute (which are usually the most accurate).

So, take all the commentary on the mid-term elections with a grain of salt. We are all working from poll numbers, and a sense of historical patterns. But we really don't know. Will the President's job approval, which now stands at 44% approve, 48% disapprove, still be below 50%, which usually means bad news for his party? Will Republican partisans be more energized than Democratic partisans, as seems to be the case at this moment? Will independent voters swing heavily to GOP candidates, as current polling would seem to indicate? All these questions can only be answered when the votes are tallied.

Until then, relax, enjoy the fine Summer weather, and remain hopeful that the old saying is still true, that "God takes care of drunks, children, and the United States of America".

Some Democrats are finding an individual right to bear arms in the Constitution, and getting the NRA's favor in the process.

Anti-domestic violence activists find a silver lining in the rants and rage of Mel Gibson.

A new CBS News poll shows more bad news for Obama and the Democrats.

Some thoughts on the political atmosphere in Washington and the country.

Some tidbits from the MSM...

In The Boston Globe:

Remembering Jack Craig, who practically invented the role of sports television critic (and, with the Lebron James fiasco on ESPN, there is still much to criticize).

In The New York Post:

Benny Avni writes about why Iran is the key player in determining if another Israel-Hezbollah war will break out, and why that complicates Obama's Middle East policy.

Ralph Peters writes about the hard-charging Marine general who is taking charge at CENTCOM.

Is another King doomed at CNN?

In The New York Times:

BP has a history of boldness that may be the reason they have made some very costly blunders. The NRA expands its political agenda.

Is another war in Sudan inevitable?

In The Washington Post:

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows Obama's approval rating continuing to fall.

Dick Morris believes President Obama is in a left-wing political death spiral. As he tries to bolster turnout for the Democratic base, he moves further to the left, which increases the alienation of independent voters. Morris says this is exactly what happened to President Clinton in the months leading up to the November, 1994 election.

Michael Gerson believes the Republican wave could push the GOP up onto rocky shores. He thinks a big victory in November will lead many in the party to conclude that their ideology is now being embraced by a majority of Americans. This, of course, is what happened after the Republicans took Congress in 1994, as Bill Clinton (advised by Morris and others) moved to the center and took the place of the reasonable man standing against the fanatics. Can Barack Obama do the same? I think not, precisely because Bill Clinton really was more of a centrist, while Obama is even more a leftist than he has so far let on.

Amity Shlaes believes Obama's left-wing economic views could lead him to the same mistakes FDR made in the 1930s. She has argued that Roosevelt did not get America out of the Great Depression. Quite the contrary, as she believes he prolonged it, only being saved the by the military build-up required by our entry into the Second World War.

Victor Davis Hanson believes American decline is just a state of mind, not objective reality. I agree. We are a nation of 300 million, still growing, still the largest, most productive economy on Earth. We have a Navy larger than all the others combined. We have an Army and Marine Corps that not only is better equipped and trained than just about any other, but are filled with combat veterans, and there is no better school for soldiers than actual combat. Our Air Force can hit targets nearly anywhere in the world. We still have the best universities, win the most Nobel Prizes and, most importantly, we remain the destination of choice for so many people all the world over, many of whom will risk life and limb to get here. We remain the greatest nation on the planet that combines enormous wealth, significant freedom and nearly absolute security.

For Democrats in Congress, time is almost up.

Ralph Peters has some advice for General Petraeus as he tries to turn things around in Afghanistan.

It really is the Cold War revisited. U.S. and Russian diplomats are working out a spy exchange that would include the recently arrested Russian spies.

The Massachusetts health reform train wreck continues to unfold in slow motion.

A new program run by the NSA will help detect cyber-attacks on our electronic infrastructure.

Geroge Will celebrates the delightfully ungovernable nature of the American people by looking back at Prohibition.

Will the Tea Party movement bring back a government dominated by true Conservatives?

The Boston Globe takes notice of the political situation here in New Hampshire as the Democrats, who have enjoyed holding both U.S. House seats, a U.S. Senate seat, the Governor's office, and majorities in both houses of the state legislature, now face an angry electorate that could throw them back into their historic minority status.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard believes the U.S. economy is starting to resemble the situation in 1932. I happen to think it more closely corresponds with 1930, but either way it is very bad news for us and for the rest of the world. If we are in another Great Depression, then we can expect not only severe economic dislocation, but also political instability, the rise of new fanatical ideologies and the strengthening of old ones and, eventually, war.

Another economic analyst believes the Dow Jones is repeating a Great Depression pattern.

Mort Zuckerman says President Obama is treading water, barely.

Eugene Robinson, like so many liberal journalists, is having a hard time restraining his frustration at the President and the Democrats as they miss the big political fact facing the country, which is the large number of people (like me) who are unemployed, and have been for a long time, and are wondering if they will ever work again. These people are angry, will vote their anger and, for the moment, have only the GOP to choose as an alternative to Obama and the Democrats (which, no doubt, is also known by Robinson and drives him to distraction). Republicans would be wise to consider that if we remain mired in this Great Recession during their tenure, someone else will come along and drive them from office just as completely as the Democrats will be in November.

The U.S. economy lost 125,000 jobs in June as the unemployment rate stands at 9.5%. It is looking very much like we are going into a double-dip recession.

Was Robert Reich right on global competition for jobs?

Some manufacturers are looking to hire, but can't find qualified people.

A little snow in July atop Mount Washington.

Who are these Tea Party folks, anyway.

Obama and the Democrats are headed for disaster in November.