Day's End Round-Up

Though the House adjourned Friday for August recess, Republicans stuck around to press for domestic oil drilling, giddy conservative bloggers note. Now that an old-school scribe has turned on John McCain for his latest attack ad on Barack Obama, a liberal blogger wonders what the rest of the press will do. And Obama hears it again from conservative bloggers unimpressed with his response to the McCain ad.

House Republicans gave speeches on an empty House floor to protest the Democrats

The John McCain campaign insisting Thursday that Barack Obama is playing the race card has bloggers debating which candidate did or didn

Even though it

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) getting indicted for concealing gifts has conservative bloggers blasting Republican leaders for allowing the 84-year-old senator to run for reelection. The Republican National Committee has put up a mock Facebook page attacking Barack Obama and liberal bloggers are starting to think it is time to break ranks with the Blue Dogs.

GOP leadership was either "too stupid or too weak" when it decided to allow Stevens to run for reelection knowing that he was under investigation, Hot Air's Allahpundit writes.

A piece of skin removed from John McCain

Barack Obama's explanation for canceling a visit with wounded U.S. soldiers in Germany fails to satisfy conservative bloggers, while John McCain's comments on Iraq timetables and Social Security reform during an interview with George Stephanopoulos today is received poorly by liberals.

Obama essentially scrapped a visit to a military medical center in Germany because one campaign adviser couldn't go, Jim Geraghty complains at The Campaign Spot. Obama explained yesterday that the Pentagon's late warning that campaign staff couldn't attend alarmed his camp, who though the visit might be viewed as political, but Obama could have simply left his campaign staff behind, John McCormack argues at The Weekly Standard.

Stephanopoulos cornered McCain on Iraq timetables during his Sunday interview, TPM Election Central's Eric Kleefeld asserts. McCain denied he used the word "timetable" when he said Obama's withdrawal schedule looks "pretty good," which Kleefeld disputes while adding that the Arizona Republican was flustered while trying to stress the importance of security conditions. McCain also dodged Stephanopoulos's question on Social Security, Jonathan Cohn charges at The Plank. McCain has previously supported privatization, and his statement today that "everything has to be on the table" distorts his previous stance, Cohn claims.

And the housing bill, passed yesterday by the Senate, is blasted from the right. With the bill's passage, the U.S. has officially embarked on a New New Deal, Blackhedd argues at RedState. The shift toward expanded spending may pave the way for other big-government concepts, such as using tax money to buy cars for poor people, Blackhedd warns.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Fight over Adviser Scrapped Visit - Jim Geraghty, The Campaign Spot
McCain's Static Position in the Polls - Matt Stoller, Open Left
Nice Try - Josh Orton, MyDD
McCain Takes Obama to Task - Dan Spencer, RedState
Quote of the Day - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Conservative Guide to VP Picks - Matt Lewis, Open Left
Obama on "Meet the Press" - Noam Scheiber, The Stump
Trip Gives Obama Initial Bump - John Aravosis, AMERICABLOG
The Iraq Convergence - Marc Ambinder
Obama Talks about Landstuhl - John McCormack, The Weekly Standard

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Mahdi Army Sees Its Power Wane - NY Times
Embraced Overseas, but to What Effect? - Washington Post
Obama Admits Iraq Violence Dropped More Than he Anticipated - LA Times

John McCain ceded major ground to Barack Obama in the Iraq debate by saying Obama's withdrawal timetable looks "pretty good," bloggers agree, while the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) has others crying foul for banning Iraqi athletes this week from competing in the upcoming games.

McCain has admitted he's wrong on Iraq by acknowledging that Obama's timetable looks good depending on security conditions, MyDD's Josh Orton decides. Opposing a withdrawal timetable was McCain's signature stance on Iraq, and after yesterday's statement on CNN, he can no longer argue that he stands for victory while Obama stands for giving up, Orton says. And McCain has relinquished his chance to hammer Obama on the timeline in the future, as the public will eventually realize a 16-month withdrawal is not actually feasible, Hot Air's Ed Morrissey argues from the right.

The IOC has let bureaucratic squabbling interfere with a chance for Iraqis to unite behind their Olympic athletes, The Plank's Josh Patashnik writes. The IOC's decision, which stemmed from the dissolution of Iraq's Olympic committee by the Iraqi government, is hypocritical as Iraqi athletes were allowed to compete under the torture-ridden leadership of Uday Hussein, Patashnik argues. House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), who called the decision "outrageous," earns appreciation from The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez for speaking out.

And the House Judiciary Committee held a kangaroo court Friday when it heard testimony on the pros and cons of impeaching President Bush, RedState's Pejman Yousefzadeh charges. The hearing showed that the committee's Democrats are out of touch with Americans' concerns, as the rest of the country doesn't agree with House Democrats demonization of Bush, Yousefzadeh claims.

FROM THE BLOGS:
The Impugnment Hearings - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
The Naivete of Barack Obama- Carol Platt Liebau, Townhall.com
Cleanup, Aisle Four... - Josh Orton, MyDD
Because Whining Is So Presidential - SusanG, Daily Kos
Pelosi's Bizarro-World of Ethics - Teddy Partridge, Firedoglake
Partners in the New McCarthyism - Big Tent Democrat, TalkLeft
Don't Let Them Fake It - John Hinderaker, Power Line
Go, Hoekstra! - Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner
Congress's Kangaroo Court - Pejman Yousefzadeh, RedState
For Once, GOP on Leading Edge of the Tech Curve - Marc Ambinder

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Can Paulson Defuse This Crisis? - NY Times
Obama's Popularity as Anti-Bush Is Telling - LA Times
Senate Passes Housing Bill - The Hill
Pakistan May Get U.S. Funds for Fighter Upgrade - Bloomberg

Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) touting a nonexistent award in a radio ad has both conservatives and liberal bloggers attacking the Alaska Republican. Barack Obama appears to be buddies with French President Nicholas Sarkozy and bloggers debate just how much Batman and President Bush have in common.

Young incorrectly claimed that he had received an award from Tax Payers for Common Sense, a group that has repeatedly panned him, TPM reports. The Next Right's Soren Dayton points out that Young did receive an award from Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform, but Norquist won't give him another, saying the 18-term congressman is like a "rat head in a Coke bottle."

The GOP's favorite European seemingly endorsed Obama today, AMERICAblog's John Aravosis writes. The Plank's Jason Zengerle reminds readers that when Sarkozy visited the U.S. last year, Obama was one of the few American politicians he met, so there may have been a good relationship between the two before Obama become the presumptive Democratic nominee.

And a Wall Street Journal op-ed comparing Bush to Batman has the blogosphere divided on how much W shares with the Dark Night. Matthew Yglesias calls the comparison a valid interpretation of the new film, though says the Joker doesn't quite substitute for Osama bin Laden. Firedoglake's David Neiwert mocks the comparison, writing that "Batman is, you know, competent."

FROM THE BLOGS:
McCain Double Standard on Military Visits - The Huffington Post
Obama Meets Sarkozy - First Read
The Surge & Obama - The Corner
Only Making Him Stronger - Josh Orton, MyDD
Why Obama Snubbed the Troops - Hot Air
Obama's Media Affair - Scarecrow, Firedoglake
Batman and Bush - Ben Domenech, RedState
Don Young Is Like a 'Rat Head in a Coke Bottle' - TPM
Young's Campaign Nearly Bankrupt? - Erik Erikson, RedState
Obama and the Media - Michelle Malkin

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Obama Says Pressure on Iran Is Building - New York Times
Don Young Radio Ad Cites Wrong Group - The Hill
McCain Rejects 'Audacity of Hopelessness' for Iraq - AP

Reactions to Barack Obama's speech in Berlin dominate the blogosphere as liberals applaud the Democratic presidential candidate and conservatives mock him and the media for overhyping the speech. Conservatives meanwhile are celebrating good polling news for John McCain while liberal point to a new ad attacking McCain for not supporting troop withdrawal.

Two clear lines of the thought are emerging following Obama's speech. Open Left's Mimikatz summarizes the liberal view, writing that Obama's speech was a "terrific reminder" of United State's ability to "lead" in the world. Conservative blogger Allahpundit pokes fun at what he says the media are calling "the greatest speech ever" pointing out that there was not an especially memorable line.

A new Quinnipiac shows McCain is making strong gains in several key swing states, Chris Cillizza reports. Powerline's John Hinderaker thinks the polls show McCain is closing the gap and speculates the bump comes from Obama's opposition to offshore drilling.

The new ad from VoteVets cuts at McCain's position on Iraq by showing a soldier saying that he will leave if asked to do so by Iraq, Matthew Yglesias writes. Daily Kos's mcjoan says the ad makes McCain look stubborn for sticking to a plan that doesn't have a whole lot of support in Iraq.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Best. Ad. Ever. - Chris Bowers, Open Left
The Speech, First Thought - The Fix
Christ Appears in Berlin -

Former White House adviser Karl Rove issued a written denial that he had any involvement in the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) to the House Judiciary Committee and liberal bloggers are not buying it. Michigan Democrats are taking a preemptive strike against possible veep Mitt Romney and conservatives are mocking Barack Obama for claiming the Senate Banking Committee as his own.

Rove offered a written response to committee inquiry because he is refusing to testify, and he didn't provide a whole lot of new information, TPM reports. Firedoglake's emptywheel points out Rove's responses are carefully parsed, although many of the questions are not specific enough to warrant real answers.

Anticipating that John McCain will pick the former Massachusetts governor to be his VP, Michigan Democrats have put out a web ad painting Romney as a robber baron who profited by cutting blue collar jobs, Marc Ambinder writes. The Swamp says that the ad flies in the face of conventional wisdom in Washington, that Romney's business experience would help for McCain on the economy.