Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up

Your one stop pundit shop.

David Brooks sadly explains that John McCain doesn't really want to run a campaign based on vicious lies and  accusations of treason, really he doesn't. But what choice does he have when he's battling both the media and the system?

Richard Cohen wonders:

...who among us is willing to fight to bring South Ossetia back into the Georgian fold?

Eugene Robinson says that, in the wake of China's spectacular Olympics and Russia's invasion of Georgia, Barack Obama and John McCain need to acknowledge that:

Our future is being decided not just in Washington but in Beijing and Moscow -- and in Riyadh, Islamabad, New Delhi, Dubai, Caracas, Abuja, Brasilia. . . .

We still have the wherewithal to lead. But we're deluding ourselves if we believe we won't have to adapt to the new reality.

Bob Herbert laughs at the idea of John McCain or any Republican invoking the name of Teddy Roosevelt.

John Boehner says that:

The House Republicans' unprecedented nationwide gas-prices protest is now in its third full week. My Republican colleagues and I have vowed to continue the historic uprising - in Washington and in communities across the country - until the House returns to session for a vote on the American Energy Act...

And America should feel lucky that Boehner was able to take time from his busy golf schedule to write his stinging op-ed.

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. thinks that Barack Obama is making a big mistake in his campaign to prove he's not a Muslim.

Donald Lambro says that Barack Obama's inspiring words only sound good to the unthinking mind and that an Obama presidency would be bad for the economy. That would be versus another four years of George Bush's economic policies.

Derrick Z. Jackson believes that:

Holding one's breath while waiting for presidential candidates to address the gap between rich and poor is a sure way to asphyxiate.