Yahoo! News: Opinion Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:30:12 GMT

What's good about McCain-Obama mudslinging (The Christian Science Monitor)   - The Christian Science Monitor - It's that time again. With the mud flying in the presidential race, pundits, journalists and political observers of all stripes are denouncing the campaign's new, strikingly negative tone. Keep choice in healthcare (The Christian Science Monitor)   - The Christian Science Monitor - Nearly 46 million Americans today are without health insurance. Premiums have doubled in this decade alone. At the same time, the cost of hospitalization and pharmaceuticals has escalated dramatically. So, sadly, many businesses and individuals now find themselves priced out of the market. People who desperately want health insurance often can't pay for it and see coverage as a luxury only the rich can afford. Mammal gamble (The Christian Science Monitor)   - The Christian Science Monitor - The world's most comprehensive study of mammals in the wild reveals that at least a quarter of species risk extinction. A staggering 79 percent of apes and monkeys in regions of Asia, for instance, face such danger. But while this study may be alarming, it need not come across like an alarmist. McCain's Radical Health Plan, Once Ignored, Now Hotly Debated (HuffingtonPost.com)   - HuffingtonPost.com - Growing voter concerns over the financial crisis are closely connected to worries about health care. The latest Institute for America's Future Op Ed ad in Tuesday's NY Times links the two issues directly, with the headline: WILL WE LET CONSERVATIVES DO TO HEALTH CARE WHAT THEY DID TO BANKING? As voters feel the economy go into a tailspin, they join the millions of Americans already fearful they will lose their jobs and their health coverage. Obama Campaign: Count Every Vote (The Nation)   - The Nation - The Nation -- Republicans have been raising a huge stink about voter fraud in recent days, but the much bigger question on Election Day is whether every vote (or at least most of them) will actually be counted. Alaska's Largest Paper Labels Palin "Orwellian" (The Nation)   - The Nation - The Nation -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says that she was "vindicated" by the report on her firing of Walter Monegan, the state's Public Safety Commissioner she removed after he refused to intervene on the governor's behalf to dismiss her brother-in-law as a state trooper. Where are the Protests? (RealClearPolitics.com)   - RealClearPolitics.com - It is surprising that with all the financial pain felt by the U.S. population including the many individuals with 401K plans invested in the stock market, there have been no street protests demanding more immediate and effective action from our representatives in Congress and the White House. The Bradley Effect - Selective Memory (RealClearPolitics.com)   - RealClearPolitics.com - Now that polls indicate Senator Barack Obama is the favorite to win, some analysts predict a racially biased "Bradley Effect" could prevent Obama from winning a majority on November 4th. That is a pernicious canard and is unworthy of 21st century political narratives. I should know. I was there in 1982 at "ground zero" in California when I served George Deukmejian as his general election pollster and as a member of his strategy team when he defeated African-American Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Tom Bradley, not once but twice, in 1982 and again in 1986. Letters to the Editor (The Christian Science Monitor)   - The Christian Science Monitor - Financial crisis will dominate next presidency Regarding the Oct. 9 article, "America as superpower: shaken, not deposed:" This article's thesis is confirmed in several contemporary books relating to America's decline. Financial firms need 'nutrition labels' (The Christian Science Monitor)   - The Christian Science Monitor - "Is my money safe?" That's question No. 1 for many Americans today. And it goes to the moral heart of the global financial crisis: lack of trust. Liquidating the Empire (Pat Buchanan)   - Pat Buchanan - "Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers." A CAMPAIGN GONE WRONG (Richard Reeves)   - Richard Reeves - LOS ANGELES -- In this great democracy, perhaps the real test of a president is whether he brings out the best or the worst in the American people. The tragedy of this campaign, or the tragedy of John McCain, a man who knows the difference, is bringing out the worst. Viva McCain! (The Weekly Standard)   - The Weekly Standard - It's been a dopey campaign. But they usually are. The Cabinet of Dr. Obama (The Weekly Standard)   - The Weekly Standard - Over the past few weeks, in a series of television ads, in stump speeches, and in the presidential and vice presidential debates, the Obama campaign has sought mightily to attack John McCain's proposal for health care reform. IDIOMS' DELIGHT (James Kilpatrick)   - James Kilpatrick - The Court of Peeves, Crotchets & Irks resumes its autumn assizes with a motion from Rebecca Bouldin of Columbus, Ohio. She seeks an injunction against "looking to," as in, "Our agency is looking to expand our network." She also asks the court to ban "waiting on," as in, "We are waiting on him for his answer." PLUNGING INTO THE ABYSS THAT OUR 'AFFLUENCE' HATH WROUGHT (Cynthia Tucker)   - Cynthia Tucker - "The Puritan ethos (save first and enjoy later) was not abandoned. It was merely overwhelmed by the massive power of modern merchandising." -- "The Affluent Society," John Kenneth Galbraith THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PRESIDENT (David Shribman)   - David Shribman - It is one of the great American stories, involving three great Americans and perhaps the most valuable piece of real estate in the United States. The principals were Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt along with Henry Adams, the fabled historian and intellectual. The setting was Adams' home right across the park from the White House. Playing the Race Card (Linda Chavez)   - Linda Chavez - Was John McCain playing the race card when he referred to Barack Obama as "that one" in Tuesday's presidential debate? Obama's campaign and its echo chamber in the media surely want us to think so. Within seconds, the campaign was sending out e-mails to reporters drawing attention to the phrase, and the media were quick to take up the charge. Fox's Lying, Slacker Jesus (Brent Bozell III)   - Brent Bozell III - Just like Bill Maher, "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane is discovering that atheist ridicule of Jesus Christ and Christianity draws nothing but yawns from today's media elite. If you want an angry media mob, you need merely spit out "Barack Hussein Obama" at a McCain rally and watch the Guardians of Social Taste bring out the torches and pitchforks. But mocking Jesus? Ho hum. Can McCain Still Win? (Pat Buchanan)   - Pat Buchanan - Two weeks after the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., John McCain and Sarah Palin were striding forward toward victory.