President Bush's five-day trip to the Mideast is partly ceremonial, partly substantive, but not much actual progress toward peace is expected. One analyst observes: It will "basically set a marker while everybody waits for the next president." 

As John McCain waits to see who his Democratic rival will be this fall, the Arizona Republican may have to keep swatting at a couple of libertarians who didn't get the message — or, more accurately, who heard and rejected it. Former Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia announced Monday that he'll be running for president as a Libertarian. And a few in the media noted that Republican Rep. Ron Paul hasn't gone away. 

By Sharon Schmickle

Monday, May 12, 2008

As President Bush prepares for his visit to the Mideast, two presidential candidates trade barbs over their prospective foreign-policy styles.

The presidential candidates and talking heads on cable TV have shown little interest in talking about education. Concerned parents, business leaders and others feel as if they are kids raising their hands at the back of the class while the teacher, er candidate, is preoccupied with other matters. 

By Susan Albright | Thursday, May 8, 2008

Five days after Cyclone Nargis battered Myanmar's coastal areas, estimates of its devastation are climbing dramatically. Meanwhile, the media are already speculating about the cyclone's potential effects on Myanmar's military junta. 

By Doug Stone | Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Barack Obama's decisive primary victory in North Carolina and Hillary Rodham Clinton's close call in Indiana allow Obama to maintain his lead in all categories: delegates, popular vote and elections. And that will make it increasingly difficult for uncommitted superdelegates to deny him the Democratic nomination. Still, Clinton shows no sign of going away.

By Frank Wright | Tuesday, May 6, 2008

For decades Joseph J. Collins was the model military insider, serving in the U.S. Army for almost 28 years, retiring as a colonel in 1998. After 9/11 he was recalled to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon to help plan the invasion of Iraq. With little media attention, Collins has issued an extensively researched and critical paper that is the most thorough critique yet of the invasion and its aftermath from a senior Bush administration official.

North Carolina and Indiana voters will provide the first solid test of the damage Sen. Barack Obama's campaign took from his long-time pastor's incendiary statements. The key will be the votes he collects from working-class whites. 

John McCain and Hillary Clinton have floated the idea of a summer gas-tax holiday. Few serious analysts have embraced the notion as sound energy policy. Actually, that's putting it mildly. Assessments of the proposal range from "dumb as we wanna be" to "the stupidest moment in policy ever." 

Those who read the Federal Reserve's tea leaves expressed a variety of opinions on the latest cut in a key interest rate, from anxiety over inflation to fears that we haven't seen the worst of the housing crisis.