Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama was recently accused of being too much of a downer about the economy. Well, he certainly made up for that this week with his highly optimistic "yes-we-can" campaign-style speech to Congress. "We will rebuild, we will recover and the United States will emerge stronger than ever," Obama declared. "It is time for America to lead again." His upbeat remarks in a 52-minute State of the Union-style address to a joint session of Congress frequently brought the lawmakers to their feet as they roared their approval. The nationally televised event put the changing face of America...

If history repeats, the loser of this year’s presidential election will blame the news media. Richard Nixon, in the wake of his loss in the 1962 California gubernatorial race, bitterly taunted reporters, telling them, “You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.” (Turned out he was wrong on that point.) Barbara Bush also had some choice words about the press when her husband, President George H.W. Bush, lost his reelection bid in 1992. The media could be even a larger target this year because of the influence of blogs and talking heads...

The successor to President George W. Bush has a clear-cut choice of saving lives or saving face. Bush wants to leave to the next president the burden of ending the debacle he started five years ago when he ordered the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, against a people who had done us no harm. Bush cannot explain his reasons for the war without compounding his folly. To this moment, Bush has not given a logical explanation for his disastrous militarism. How can he tell American families that their sons and daughters died for a terrible, tragic mistake committed by...