Barack Obama, Leftist?  —  Two foreign newspapers introduce the notion of Barack Obama as a Leftist.  The Times of London reports that Republicans intend on painting him as such in the general election, based on his voting record in the Senate and in the Illinios state legislature.

Steadfast McCain ally sparks veep talk  —  Even through the McCain campaign's darkest days in 2007, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty remained a steadfast ally to the Arizona senator in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.  —  As a result, with John McCain as the clear GOP frontrunner …

“That Root,” “youths,” and why Reuters is a disgrace  —  In “Portrait of an Age,” G. M. Young's classic overview of early Victorian England, there are a few melancholy pages devoted to the devastating Irish potato famine of the mid 1840s.  Young notes in an aside that Sir Robert Peel …

Clinton Wants A Wisconsin Debate As Obama Adds The Beef  —  Hillary Clinton desperately wants to get Barack Obama in a one-on-one debate before the Wisconsin primary in order to pin her challenger to policy specifics.  Obama, meanwhile, has dodged the debate but gotten the message, according to the New York Times:

Israel kills terror chief with headrest bomb  —  Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Hala Jaber in Beirut and Jon Swain  —  NOTHING seemed very remarkable about the short, bearded man who mingled with other guests on Tuesday evening at a reception in Damascus, the Syrian capital …

The Charisma Mandate  —  TAKING office in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt confronted a country in crisis.  Four in 10 working-age Americans were jobless.  Banks were collapsing.  There were long lines outside tellers' windows as people rushed to withdraw their savings.

'I don't hate Muslims.  I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star  —  Geert Wilders, the popular MP whose film on Islam has fuelled the debate on race in Holland, wants an end to mosque building and Muslim immigration.  Ian Traynor met him in The Hague

It's an Election, Not a Revolution  —  IT has become common wisdom that the battle for the presidency is all about the economy.  Voters are being told that the country's economic health depends on pulling the right lever in the polling booth.  —  This election is certainly important.

The World's Worst Panderer  —  Even for those of us who shudder at many of John McCain's positions, there is something refreshing about a man who wins so many votes despite a major political shortcoming: he is abysmal at pandering.  —  What sets Senator McCain apart isn't so much his physical courage …

The Dumbing Of America  —  Call Me a Snob, but Really, We're a Nation of Dunces  —  “The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson offered that observation in 1837, but his words echo with painful prescience in today's very different United States.

80 die in bombing at Afghan dog fight  —  KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bombing at an outdoor dog fighting competition killed 80 people and wounded scores on Sunday, an Afghan governor said.  It appeared to be the deadliest terror attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Avoiding The Issue: Obama, Clinton And The Voting Demographics  —  Matt Stoller writes about a news story that argues Obama is gaining among women.  Matt likes that line and allows the important underlying story to be overshadowed.  Matt writes: … But what does that mean?

Kosovo Declares Independence From Serbia  —  PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo declared itself a nation on Sunday, mounting a historic bid to become an “independent and democratic state” backed by the U.S. and key European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia.

Bottled water ‘is immoral’  —  Drinking bottled water should be made as unfashionable as smoking, according to a government adviser.  —  “We have to make people think that it's unfashionable just as we have with smoking.  We need a similar campaign to convince people that this is wrong,” …