While the presidential candidates are poring over the latest polls and figuring out how to stick it to each other (slow death by stealing every last Hispanic voter), the world has a mind of its own.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is tightening his grip on power, buzzing one of our aircraft carriers this week, banning international observers from the upcoming election, threatening to cut off eastern Europe’s oil supply, and nailing back together big chunks of the Soviet Union. The cold war has come raging back. Where are any of the candidates on this?
The terrorist who was bin Laden BEFORE bin Laden — Hezbollah Chief Imad Mugniyah — was killed yesterday. He was the villain responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of American Marines in Lebanon and countless others in U.S. embassy bombings, car bombings, and suicide bombings in the 1980s. His elimination is a major victory in the war on terror. The president can’t say much because of Israeli sensitivities, but the candidates can. Where are they?
There’s a big story today in the New York Times — the New York Times, for goodness sake! —- that the Iraqi government has made real, benchmark success toward reconciliation, on Sunni participation, working toward distributing oil wealth, and so on, and nary a peep from the candidates.
Gaza is in flames. Egypt is complicit. North Korea is too quiet to be up to any good.
McCain needs to get on this stuff. It’s his strength. Up against Obama, it may be his only strength. He needs to hit these subjects every day. Force Obama to answer. Force Obama to demonstrate he doesn’t know the first thing about the dangerous world out there. That might be the only comparison that can neutralize the striking generational comparison.
I am stunned to see Hillary isn’t talking about any of this. Of course she’s smart enough to know what’s going on and what it means. But her silence says the downward slide of her campaign has her totally underwater.
We’re all obsessed with the latest polls, but the world doesn’t wait for the latest Gallup numbers. History doesn’t either.
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