Twice in the past 48 hours, I have felt proud to have John Hall (NY-19) as my representative in the House.  On Thursday, Hall voted against the Iraq Supplemental Appropriations Bill.   This he did,  despite his strong support for the new GI Bill of Rights which was contained therein.  As he wrote to his constituents:

I remain firmly opposed to the U.S. military presence in Iraq. I will not vote to fund an open ended commitment to President Bush’s mistaken war and have thus always refused to vote against any funding that is not tied to a timeline for withdrawal.

Very strong words from a freshman who represents a district that went for Bush in 2004.

More below the fold

This week the McCain campaign tried to tell us that his administration would not in any way be, in effect,  a third term for George W. Bush.  Apparently, someone forgot to send that memo to McBush advisor, Douglas Holz-Eakin, who, according to this morning's  New York Times, has sent a letter to the National Review stating that :

We do not know what lies ahead in our nation’s fight against radical Islamic extremists, but John McCain will do everything he can to protect Americans from such threats, including asking the telecoms for appropriate assistance to collect intelligence against foreign threats to the United States as authorized by Article II of the Constitution.

Emphasis mine.

More after the jump

So, John McCain has "rejected" the endorsements of Rev. John Hagee and Rev. Rod Parsley.  We all know that these two icons of the Religious Right have said some pretty loopy things.  And, as has been pointed out elsewhere, Senator McCain appears to have known about these remarks long before the current contretemps, but  still sought out their endorsements.

But, in announcing the rejection of endorsements which he actively sought out in the first place, the McCain campaign tried to distinguish his "Reverend" problem from Barack Obama's problems with Reverend Wright.  The quote from the campaign:

I have said I do not believe Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright’s extreme views. But let me also be clear, Reverend Hagee was not and is not my pastor or spiritual adviser, and I did not attend his church for 20 years.

In making this statement, McCain is saying that what he has done is different from what Senator Obama has done.  In saying so, he is right.

More after the jump.

Look, I am no fan of Jamie Ruben (I worked with him 15 years ago and found him arrogant and woefully ignorant on foreign affairs), but his piece in today's Washington Post exposes John McCain's hypocrisy on dealing with Hamas.

Here is the third part of the Indiana JJ Dinner Live Blog.

We're all watching the JJ Dinner together!

Check out the live feed at www.indystar.com or www.cnn.com.

Even at www.wishtv.com.

Apparently it's on live at Fox and CNN as well.www.wishtv.com

Barack has finished his speech, and we are now discussing it.

In her Op-Ed piece in today's NY Times, Gail Collins all but endorsed Barack Obama.

Writing about the proposed gas tax holidy, Collins calls it

the dumbest idea in the campaign.

She excoriates both McCain and Clinton for pandering a) when they know it is a bad idea and b) doing so because they know it will never be implemented.

I know, its a Zogby poll, so we will all take it with several grains of salt.

However, these polls were conducted on 30 April and 1 May and are the first to really measure Obama's denunciation of Rev. Wright.

The results are here.

It has often been said that "there are no atheists in foxholes".  The point, I guess, is that soldiers under fire will discover their belief in a higher being.  However, it is not meant to exclude non-believers from the armed forces.  Someone needs to tell that to our military commanders, apparently.

A story in today's New York Times details the travails of Specialist Jeremy Hall, who, while serving in Iraq, had the temerity to hold a meeting for atheists and non-believers.  When a superior officer upbraided him, and when he was subjected to continual harrasment, he was sent home early from Iraq due to threats directed against him.  He has filed suit against the US Army charging them with religious discrimination.

A recent WNBC/Marist had listed McCain as beating Obama 48-46 in NY (while Clinton was leading McCain by the same margin).  A new Quinnipiac poll shows Obama up 47-39 over McCain (with Clinton holding a 49-37 lead).

That is how the New York Sun termed the debate.  Saying that

Charles Gibson sounded like a charter member of the Club for Growth or Americans for Tax Reform.

, they praise him right and right.

CQ politics has published an analysis of Pennsylvania, CD by CD, which shows how Hillary can win by 55-45 and still only pick up less than 10 delegates.

Clinton rates slim edge over Obama in PA district delegate race.

Former Moynihan aide and West Wing writer Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr., has written a script imagining the scene at the Democratic Convention in Denver in August.  The story, an article in New York magazine, can be found here

Four Days in Denver

Read it first.  Spoilers below the fold.