With the 2008 elections a little more than a year away, it's not easy to avoid reaction and comment on some of the things that are going on out there. Iraq continues to be the single most discussed element in the campaigns for the President and Congress. The vast majority of Democrats and a few Republicans want us to pull out of Iraq while most Republicans are standing by the President's plan to stay there until the Iraqis show they can handle matters on their own. All are awaiting General Patraeus' report on the situation due in September. Some have expressed concern that the President and his staff will "filter" the report before it's made public. Of course, the fact that Patraeus is in the military chain of command and Bush is Commander-in-Chief means nothing to the Bush attackers.


Very likely, Patraeus will report that significant progress has been made militarily on the ground since the start of the"surge". He will also report political progress is lacking, a situation that will not change until the Iraqi parliment reconvenes and even then it is unlikely to change.
If that proves to be the case, look for pressure to build to withdraw our troops. I expect withdrawal will begin by year end but it will proceed at a very slow pace.



The Democrats and the liberal media have begun to make hay out of the scandal involving Senator Craig of Idaho. I expect he will announce his resignation any time now which should lower some of the rhetoric. I agree, he should resign but let us not think for one moment that homosexuality is exclusive to any political party. It's a human defect known to all political parties, nationalities, races and religions. The Democrats have their Barney Frank and the ex-governor of New Jersey, now the GOP has their Larry Craig. No doubt there are others in both parties yet to be revealed.



Let's see how much publicity the media gives to the Hsu/Hillary Clinton campaign contribution scandal including his contributions to other Democrats as well. Hillary announced today that she will send $23,000 of Hsu's conributions to a charity. It is believed that much of Hsu's contributions were funneled to Clinton and other Democrats through another entity to get around campaign funding laws. I guess it's asking too much to expect honesty in any campaign, Democrat or Republican.