“On July 3, news reports said Sen. John McCain, worried that he might lose the election before it truly started, opened his doors to disciples of Karl Rove from the 2004 campaign and the Bush White House,” said a New York Times editorial. “Less than a month later, the results are on full display. The candidate who started out talking about high-minded, civil debate has wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Rove’s low-minded and uncivil playbook.
“Mr. McCain used to pride himself on being above this ugly brand of politics, which killed his own 2000 presidential bid. But he clearly tossed his inhibitions aside earlier this month when he put day-to-day management of his campaign in the hands of one acolyte of Mr. Rove and gave top positions to two others.”
The Obama campaign has a new Web site noting McCain’s move from his pledge to conduct a “respectful campaign” to his taking the “low road express.”
Meanwhile, the two campaigns battled Thursday about whether Obama played the race card.
It’s good news that federal authorities may have finally solved the case of the 2001 anthrax mailings, which killed five people and further terrorized a nation already traumatized by the Sept. 11 attacks. The FBI says a top Army microbiologist and anthrax expert, Bruce E. Ivins, committed suicide Tuesday as federal prosecutors prepared to indict him and seek the death penalty for the crimes.
Let’s hope they got their man this time. An earlier “person of interest,” Steven Hatfill, was wrongly hounded by the government and has received a $6 million settlement for his troubles.
Rush Limbaugh celebrates the 20th anniversary of his national political talk show today. Columnist Brent Castillo wrote that Limbaugh is a successful because he “finds a balance between humor and politics” and he “stands for ideals that have made America strong.”
China is on the verge of an automobile boom, according to this Washington Post article. And many Chinese like SUVs and other big gas hogs. While SUV sales are tanking in most of the developed world, they’re up 43 percent in China. In fact, more big Buicks are now sold in China than in the United States.
Fifteen years ago, few Chinese owned a car. Now there are more than 15 million autos in China — and the numbers are expected to explode in coming years.
That’s not only bad news in the global fight against climate change. The growing Chinese demand for oil likely will keep U.S. gas prices high, too.
Transcription doesn’t do justice to Stephen Colbert, but for what it’s worth: In the process of apologizing Wednesday to Canton, Ga., for calling it “the crappy Canton” last week, Comedy Central’s faux conservative inexplicably unloaded on Canton, Kan., population 829, in McPherson County: “You can smell that dump all the way from Topeka. You know what they say about Canton, Kan.? Nothing. Nobody talks about it. I would say we should convert it to a landfill but that is insulting landfills. If Dorothy was from Canton, Kan., she would have wished that the house dropped on her. Hey, say, that reminds me of a joke. How many Canton, Kan., residents does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None. They don’t use lights ’cause they don’t want to see where they live.” Gov. Kathleen Sebelius responded in kind Thursday, inviting Colbert to spend a night in Canton’s historic jail.
The Wichita school district made the right decision in dropping its effort to expand its northeast boundary. It was understandable that Bel Aire wanted to be served by one school district, rather than be split between Wichita and Circle districts. But Circle opposed the boundary change, and a state mediator declared an impasse in the negotiations. As interim Wichita superintendent Martin Libhart said, it was time to stop and move on. “It’s not a good idea to pit school districts against each other,” he said. No, it isn’t.
“On July 3, news reports said Sen. John McCain, worried that he might lose the election before it truly started, opened his doors to disciples of Karl Rove from the 2004 campaign and the Bush White House,” said a New York Times editorial. “Less than a month later, the results are on full display. The candidate who started out talking about high-minded, civil debate has wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Rove’s low-minded and uncivil playbook.
