Gerard Baker in the Times of London makes a point that I have made myself on occasion: The way we pick vice presidents is crazy. We spend lots of time and money and psychic energy on picking our presidents, with millions of people in one way or the other involved. But we let one man (or, quite possibly this time, one woman) select the vice presidential nominee. And this is considered by just about everyone as the way it should be. Yet, as Baker points out, vice presidents have a tremendous advantage when it comes to running for president. So the decision of Ronald Reagan at something like 3 in the morning in a Detroit hotel room to pick George H.W. Bush as his running mate leads directly to Bush's election as president in 1988 and his son's election as president in 2000 and 2004. Had Reagan picked someone else, it is extremely unlikely that either Bush would have been president.
For Sen. Ted Kennedy, the fight to reform America's immigration laws is just like those legendary civil rights battles of the 1960s or the battle over rights for the disabled. Change doesn't come easy, but it's inevitable.
AP - Police thwarted a devastating terrorist plot on Friday, discovering two Mercedes loaded with nails packed around canisters of propane and gasoline set to detonate and kill possibly hundreds in London's crowded theater and nightclub district.
AP - Unexploded car bombs in London led to extra patrols in the United States on Friday, but Bush administration officials said they saw no special terrorist threat heading toward the Fourth of July holiday.
AP - A huge bomb explosion followed by a hail of gunfire and grenades killed five U.S. soldiers, the military said Friday. The attack climaxed the deadliest three-month period for the Americans since the war began.
Two cars found Friday in central London were part of one terror plot with both vehicles "potentially viable" bombs made up of gas canisters, fuel and nails, police said. One car was found in an entertainment district as people were leaving nightclubs. UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the bombs could have caused "considerable loss of life."