Since when does a statement -- especially in politics -- have only one meaning?

True. But sometimes a spade is just a spade.

And if we're going to view Michelle Obama's comments as a narrow political dig, it was aimed at Rudy Giuliani:

one of the most important things that we need to know about the next President of the United States is, is he somebody that shares our values? Is he somebody that respects family? Is a good and decent person?

Especially after the whole Giuliani daughter Facebook debacle, that's who I thought of immediately. Does Giuliani share our values? Does Giuliani respect family? If there's a front-runner who doesn't have his or her own house in order, it's Rudy Giuliani.

"So, the surge as designed by Petraus and the administration is working but the Iraqis are not. Will the dems see this as an opportunity to help the situation by working closely with the admin to move the Iraqis forward?"

tiberius is right that the surge is providing some much needed security in Iraq in specific locations. This surge is supposed to allow Iraqis the breathing room to implement needed political changes, revenue-sharing, build a true unity government and put aside centuries of tribal feuds and sectarian divisions.

But have the Iraqis done this in the past few months? No. What are Democrats going to do about it? What is the Bush Administration going to do about it? What are the Democrats going to do to help the Bush Administration do something about it?

These are important questions. Thank you, tiberius, for raising them. What are the answers, tiberius, to propel the Iraqis into peace, stability and unity?

By all accounts Hillary raised her daughter well. There is nothing in the out of context quote or the total quote that can be construed as anti Hillary, except by Right Wingers who believe Mrs. Clinton was a bad mother and is a bad wife.

I agree with nardwilly. Clinton's so-called deficiencies as a wife and mother are really just a reactionary jab against ambitious women. And the media is just salivating for a catfight, which is why they paired Michelle Obama's comments with Hillary Clinton.

Says Bush of Al-Maliki: "If the government doesn’t respond to the demands of the people they will replace the government."

Is he really talking about Iraq or is he talking about the U.S.? Didn't we do this with the midterm elections? Of course, the big problem is the guy in charge. Maliki isn't the "right guy" for Iraq anymore than Bush is the "right guy" for the U.S. Neither one can unify or govern.

At least Maliki has a good excuse--he's dealing with centuries of sectarian violence and people willing to blow themselves up. Bush is just blindly defying the will of the vast majority of Americans by prolonging our occupation of Iraq.

Yet Bush seems to be hinting around that the U.S. oh-so subtly encourage the Iraqi people to replace their democratically elected leader for their own good. We're probably working behind the scenes to find our new "right guy." A new "right guy" is the key to success.

Hey, world, anyone working behind the scenes to find a new "right guy" for the U.S.? Is that offensive when a leader is democratically elected?

"Sometimes Helicopters crash...It's not really a political or moral indictment."

Everything that happens as a result of war has a political and moral component.

If a politician or candidate is out there speaking loudly and standing firm in a position, then the media can not use these tricks of wordplay. Unfortunately Clinton et al, are wishy washing in their convictions and speech and are candidates for this type of manipulation.

Everyone is vulnerable when people take words out of context.

The President must be protected, at all costs, from "the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

I wonder if one were to compare the corresponding pages from Joseph Goebbels manual what differences there would be?

I bet all of those "[redacted]" sections are where the Presidential Advance Manual borrowed word for word from Goebbels.