Two Interesting Articles...well...three, really.

Unfortunately, I just don't have time today to blog at length, but there are two interesting articles up today that I just CAN'T let go completely by the boards.

"I would suggest respectfully to the president that he is not the sole
decider," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said during a hearing on Congress' war
powers amid an increasingly harsh debate over Iraq war policy. "The decider is a
shared and joint responsibility," Specter said.

Despite the bad English ("The decider is a shared and joint responsibility" ???! But then, hell, who am I to throw stones. I can't spell. )
I must applaud the sentiment. You can read the rest of the AP Story here, at Kare 11-TV, or use Google news.

It is amazing how that old constitution seems to start swinging back into balance eventually, no matter what happens...the House overreaches (Clinton's Impeachment) it gets knocked back into line...the executive branch gobbles up more than it's fair share...(Dubya) and the legislative starts pushing back.

We ain't out of the woods, but that's a kind of bipartisanship that gives me hope.

The other article that's worth taking a gander at is over at New Donkey dot Com, where Ed Kilgore discusses the third article I haven't had time to read yet today. THAT one appears in the New Republic.

From New Donkey...

Peter Beinert has an article up on
the New Republic site examining the Powell parallel in detail, suggesting that
Obama represents an implicit repudiation of other, more "authentic"
African-American politicians, which could create a backlash among black voters
generally.

Kilgore wonders, however, if Obama's appeal might be better framed in terms of his broad message rather than by his race.

New Donkey writes:

What is that message? It could be described as "The New American Patriotism," or "The Politics of Higher Common Purpose," or "Towards One America," or even "Meeting the Big Challenges." But whatever the precise rhetoric, its core is to suggest that Democrats can and will lift politics and government out of the slough of polarization, culture wars, smears and sheer pettiness characterized by the Bush-Rove era, transcending party and ideology to unite the country around an agenda that really matters.

As I've noted, I'm trying really, really hard not to even start thinking about 2008 until 2008...but Obama does have a way of catching my attention, I must admit.

Speaking of Obama, there's a very funny Obama parody posted on Neil "More Al Gore Than Al Gore" Jensen's blog...worth checking out.