http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMB-lOZo0PA

The accents are Napoletano. Aspetti! Fatti cazzi tuoi, eh!

I ask because foreign affairs should be more than just Iraq. This provocative piece causes me to wonder about John McCain's other foreign policy views.

John McCain believes we should kick Russia out of the G8:

Do we agree with John McCain, or not, on this point?

Of late, I’ve been burnishing Bush 41’s reputation. I now take up the cause of John McCain again, as I have before, in hopes that you, too, will give the man a fresh look, freed from the litanies and shibboleths of Gotcha Politics.

Politico finally broke the polite silence today, running a piece that calmly enumerates Senator McCain's various lapses over the last few weeks.

- An Iron Curtain country that no longer exists.
- An imaginary border between Iraq and Pakistan.
- You say 'Somalia' and I say 'Sudan'.
- Name that football team! (The Packers or the Steelers?)

And now, despite CBS's attempt to bury it, Senator McCain seems to have forgotten the timeline regarding the foreign policy success upon which he is now basing his campaign. (That he did so while accusing Senator Obama of not knowing what he was talking about is only the cherry on top of this particular sundae.)

This is two week's work. There are approximately fifteen weeks left in the campaign. It's safe to assume that the gaffes and memory lapses will continue. And possibly at an even greater clip -- fatigue is usually a factor in this, and there is a long and wearying road ahead for both candidates. The question is, at what point -- beyond today's Politico piece -- do people start to openly question whether or not age is a factor in all of this? Is that unfair? Is that bad manners? Is it wrong?

John Cole, among others, suggests that we ignore the age issue. Senator McCain will lose, should he do so, on the complete lack of merit displayed by his campaign. And there's no need to talk about something that is already apparent, and will be even more so, every time the two candidates take a debate stage together.

I'm agnostic for the moment. I'm well aware of Senator Obama's various verbal slips and gaffes. (Tho' I'd be perfectly content with a ten-year term in the Oval Office.) But I'm curious to see if McCain manages to correct this growing problem. Or we're starting to see just how much he either does not know or has somehow forgotten.

But one thing is certain. It's not going away any time soon.

The Politico piece is here. Next week? Forget too old, how about too angry?

Heck. Just thought I'd see if everything is now auto-posting. You're welcome!

EDIT: Given that Senator McCain is making the surge the centerpiece of his foreign policy resume, it would be helpful, heck, it would be refreshing, if he gave some indication that he understood...

What in fact constituted...The Surge.

Details, and they're embarrassing, here.

I've closed the poll and tallied the results, and our new mods are tomsyl, Jordan and M Scott Eiland. I think we all owe our gratitude to catchy, who IMO did a great job as a mod. Tomsyl and Jordan, well, some people are just gluttons for punishment. Scott has already served as moderator, so I believe for the first time we have all veteran mods. I know a major election is coming up, but let's try to make this term somewhat reasonable for these guys.

I promise I'll try to remember to hold the next elections at the end of December.

I have committed another YouTube Video:

That is the title of this WSJ article by Henry Olsen, in light of Obama's visit to Europe, that makes some oft-overlooked points about European economic policy in recent years...from both the European Left and Right.

BERLIN (Reuters)

Well it finally happened. Nuri al-Maliki reads the tealeaves and responds accordingly, speaking his mind on the issue of US withdrawal:

Vote for a maximum of three of the following choices for your new overlords. You can change your vote at any time until the deadline of 9 PM PDT (midnight EDT) on Monday, July 21st. I will post the results, edit the security settings and email the new mods at that point.

Remember that this is literally the most important vote you will cast this year.

There is a great crop of talented writers in English just now in South Asia. I've already written about my favourite. Someone who is really hitting the headlines here just now is the Pakistani writer Mohammad Hanif. His debut novel merited an op-ed in Dawn by Afiya Zia

This is your final reminder to go to the Nominations thread and nominate three new moderators. Nominations close tonight at midnight. We'll tally nominations & send them to HankP, who'll set up on a them nifty radio button vote thangs.

Do not post nominations on this thread.

Elections will take place over this weekend. Go. Destiny calls. Godspeed.

Oh and use this as an open thread.