Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Posting an Attack
Barack Obama continues to take heat from one of the more reliably liberal newspapers in the country. A Washington Post editorial slammed Obama Wednesday for his plan to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq on a 16-month timetable and his reluctance to admit that the troop surge was a success.
"He says that because Iraq is 'a distraction' from more important problems, U.S. resources devoted to it must be curtailed... will Iraq be written off because Mr. Obama does not consider it important enough?"
The Post says that Obama continues to shop his withdrawal plan even after admitting that General David Petraeus does not want a timetable. Obama has even said there are "deep concerns" about his own plan.
The Post says that it would be "more reassuring if Mr. Obama were not rigidly and stubbornly maintaining his opposition to the successful 'surge' of the past 16 months."
Euro Trip
Obama's much-anticipated speech in Berlin, Germany, is certain to receive a warm reception.
A new Gallup poll indicates that 62 percent of Germans surveyed say they would rather see Obama elected president than John McCain. Just 27 percent say they would prefer McCain.
In the United Kingdom, 60 percent of those polled say they would rather see Obama elected. Just a quarter want a McCain presidency.
And in France, an even larger 64 percent favor Obama. Thirty-two percent support McCain.
Short on Time?
Even as a consensus continues to emerge that global warming is in a pause — and not likely to increase for some years — a group of British climate change activists claims humanity has only 100 months left to prevent dangerous global warming.
BBC News reports that the Green New Deal Group, which took its name from Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, says rising greenhouse gas emissions, combined with escalating food and energy costs, are "conspiring to create the perfect storm."
The group says the 100 month time frame is "very real," and it says the planet can be saved by investing in renewable energy and creating thousands of new "green collar" jobs.
Banking on Big Bucks
A man in Ocala, Florida, walked into a bank Monday and handed the teller a note demanding money and saying he was carrying a gun. The local FOX News affiliate reports that after the teller complied the robber jumped into a car driven by an accomplice.
Not content with the first robbery, police say the suspect pulled the same stunt at another bank just a few hours later. Again the man escaped after giving the teller a note demanding cash.
But authorities easily caught up with suspect Patrick Johnson because the pieces of paper he allegedly wrote his demands on were both checks from his personal checking account.
— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.
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