NIGHTMARE OVER FOR HADITHA MARINE: “A military jury acquitted a Marine intelligence officer Wednesday of charges that he tried to help cover up the killings of 24 Iraqis. Cheers erupted as the seven-officer panel cleared 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, who was the first of three Marines to be tried in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi deaths linked to the war. The verdict came just five hours after deliberations began.
“The judge, Maj. Brian E. Kasprzyk, admonished the noisy courtroom, saying: ‘There will be no more of that.’
“Grayson, who has always maintained he did nothing wrong, was not at the scene of the killings of men, women and children on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha. He was accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital camera and laptop computer.
“Outside the courtroom, a visibly emotional Grayson said the verdict was an end to a terrible ordeal. ‘It’s finally time for me to get to be with my family,’ he said, fighting back tears. His wife, Susan, cried as she said what she had only dared to think about for months: ‘It’s over.’”
- Associated Press, 6/5/08
STILL WET BEHIND THE (BIG) EARS
“From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That’s how many days the Senate was actually in session and working. After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan. 143 days. I keep leftovers in my refrigerator longer than that.”
- Columnist Cheri Jacobus
DAMN GOOD QUESTION
“Between them, the Clintons have made $109 million in the past eight years. Why does this man deserve a government pension?”
- Slate.com media critic Jack Shafer
HILLARY AS NUMBER TWO
“Should Mr. Obama become president, no doubt Mrs. Clinton will demand a relevant role shaping public policy — and one that could conflict with Obama priorities. There’s also the issue of Bill Clinton, who would soak up Washington media attention as the spouse of a vice president. Given the former president’s recent penchant for seemingly uncontrollable outbursts, not all the attention would necessarily be good.”
- John Fund, Political Diary, 6/4/08
BUBBA COMES UNGLUED
“Bill Clinton finished the grueling 50-state Democratic primary campaign with a series of outbursts yesterday that make him appear more like the paranoid Captain Queeg of ‘The Caine Mutiny’ than a former president.
“Huffington Post writer Mayhill Fowler reports that she asked Mr. Clinton in South Dakota for his reaction to a highly unflattering article in Vanity Fair magazine about his post-presidential life, entitled ‘The Comeback Id.’ Writer Todd Purdum, a former New York Times reporter who is married to former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers, concludes the piece by asking: ‘What’s the matter with him?’ Mr. Clinton’s response was to call Mr. Purdum ‘sleazy’ and a ‘scumbag.’
“‘He’s a really dishonest reporter,’ he told Ms. Fowler during a two-minute tirade that she captured on tape. ‘There’s just five or six blatant lies in there. But he’s a real slimy guy.’ Then the paranoia showed itself: ‘It’s all politics. It’s all about the bias of the media for Obama. Don’t think anything about it. But I’m telling ya, all it’s doing is driving her supporters further and further away — because they know exactly what it is — this has been the most rigged coverage in modern history. And the guy ought to be ashamed of himself.’
“But Mr. Clinton wasn’t done: ‘Let me tell ya — he’s one of the guys — he’s one of the guys that propagated all those lies about Whitewater to Kenneth Starr. He’s just a dishonest guy — can’t help it.’ Apparently, a vast left-wing media conspiracy has undermined both Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and is spreading lies about Mr. Clinton.”
- John Fund, Political Diary, 6/3/08
MCCAIN STILL HASN’T SEALED THE DEAL ON RIGHT
“There is probably less enthusiasm for McCain at the grass roots of the Republican Party than we have seen for a Republican nominee - and that includes Bob Dole in 1996. McCain definitely has not made his peace with all the conservative elements of the Republican coalition.”
- Columnist Bob Novak
THE NOVOCAIN CANDIDATE
“Dead Man Talkin’. That’s how MCain’s speech yesterday impressed me and I’m sure I’m not alone. Are we looking at another Bob Dole electile dysfunction candidacy? Unless McCain can get some energy and passion and fire in his eyes and voice to counter Chris Matthew’s tingle in his leg and a media at large that clearly loves Obama, McCain is the Novocain candidate.”
-News & Views reader Dan Gifford
RAY OF HOPE
“One South Carolina lobbyist tells me that a recent private poll found that GOP Gov. Mark Sanford, an advocate of school choice, enjoys approval ratings above 50% among African-Americans. In a year when so many signs are bad for the GOP, the Palmetto State is one place where the long-term prognosis may be looking up.”
- Brendan Miniter, Political Diary, 6/2/08
Posted on June 5th, 2008 by chuckmuth
Filed under: National
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