The subtitle to this post might be It Takes A Heavyweight.

Skeptical of the multi-tiered diplomatic strategy of the Obama administration from the start, color me unsurprised at what hasn't manifested. This reality was driven home after Obama's Afghan speech last week,...

In the interview I did with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley last month, she expressed the unabashed truth about the health care debate on a topic that is usually nuanced to death or sold as inconsequential by other politicians. That Coakley drew a line in the sand shouldn't shock...

"The New Frontier is not a set of promises. It is a set of challenges." - John F. Kennedy

We need more political leaders like John F. Kennedy. He envisioned going to the moon and inspired the innovation to make it manifest.

I have got to be honest....

As Obama turns to Afghanistan, it seems so fitting that Jon Meacham and Newsweek turn towards Dick Cheney. Ironic that Meacham's cheerleading for Chency has a backdrop of the country Bush-Cheney forgot, giving us all this mess in the first place. Somebody tell Mr. Meacham, because he evidently thinks...

Obama began with "Namaste," which came at the start of a remarkable press conference that revealed serious new growth in Indian - US relations. The chandelier pictured below gives you the ambiance infusing the state visit by Prime Minister Singh.

The backdrop to this is more speculation about troop increases...

--UPDATED BELOW--

This has got to be the worst case of pictorial sexism aimed at political character assassination ever done by a traditional media outlet. After being on the primary front lines of what happened to Hillary Clinton in 2008, that's saying something....

Mrs. Brzezinski has a new book coming out, All Things at Once. If that title is any indication of what's inside, I'd say it's the reason in recent studies that women were found to...

Here we go again. Hillary was made out to be a she devil, too unqualified from her first lady status to run for Senate, with the same thing being said during her presidential campaign. Now we've got the demonization of a diva. It all amounts to the same thing. With...

This isn't just political, it's personal.

Though Speaker Pelosi may find that her compromise was all for naught, as Sen. Ben Nelson, aided by Mr. Lieberman, have drawn a line in the sand, which includes a demand that Stupak-esque language be included or he'll vote against the Senate bill.

The first female Speaker of the House makes history by passing a health care bill that not only doesn't have a robust public option, but also sells out women's civil rights. The Republicans acted reprehensibly today, heckling women lawmakers like the chamber was a frat house. Think Progress...

Thirty years ago an international drama played out that would eventually take down an American president, ushering in a conservative titan that changed the Republican party forever and who was in large part responsible, another thirty years later, for a financial crash in which we're still trying to dig...

It's the second time this year that Sarah Palin going rogue has paid off. Her "death panels" squeal set Pres. Obama and the Democrats back on their heals, and when she came out to endorse Mr. Hoffman it seemed laughable. It doesn't matter...

The setting was the beautiful Caucus Room in the Russell Senate office building (pictured above). The event focus was "Afghanistan: Basic Questions - Strategic Choices," organized by the Rand Corp., with Steve Clemons of NAF. The backdrop was Pres. Obama's nighttime...

Earlier in the week we found out that a former Marine and Foreign Service officer resigned over Obama's Afghan strategy, even as the President is about to announce his future plans for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. Matthew Hoh isn't waiting, because none of it, as far as he's...

Backdrop... The setting for my conversation with Richard Holbrooke was Kati Marton's book salon and wine reception at the New American Foundation.

Ironically, Josh Rogin had an exclusive interview with Richard Holbrooke several hours after I had a conversation with him, with the following from Rogin the exact...

Be careful what you wish for, goes the old saying. The compliment in politics that applies today is: Be careful what you promise. A Democratic congressional majority plus the presidency is a wonderful thing, but only if you use the power to implement...

Republicans are waiting for next month's Virginia governor's outcome to begin their foreshadowing of what will be in 2010; saying that it's Obama's policies that are bringing Deeds down. As things look today, Democrats are certainly behind the 8 ball, with bailout blues hitting across the political spectrum. Creigh...

Robert Gibbs had the common reaction: "wow." It is a huge surprise. The White House saying Pres. Obama wasn't even aware he'd been nominated.

In his remarks this morning, Pres. Obama seemed almost...

I have no idea to whom the "sources close to the Administration" refers in this U.K. article, but a headline screaming "Barack Obama furious at General Stanley McChrystal" seems to come backed with its own agenda, if you ask me.

Everyone is meeting, listening and thinking about Afghanistan....

The background, as always, is Iran, which is up front today as world leaders take up the subject of sanctions. CNN is reporting that the U.S. is going to demand access to Iran's...