{excerpt} From the seating - with the "first tier" candidates in the middle - to the time allotted to the various candidates, the GOP debates tonight were obviously designed to minimize "second tier" candidate contributions.
Nonetheless, Tom Tancredo (R-Colo) and Ron Paul (R-Tex) made clear their differences with mainstream Republican positions during their allotted time. Tancredo spoke clearly to his core issue which is controlling immigration and enforcing current law. In one answer, he directly attacked President George Bush and suggested that were he to win the presidency, he would request that the current president never "darken his door" again.
Ron Paul's most eloquent moment may have come when he branded the nation's main moral failure as its new policy of "pre-emptive engagement" which he said has taken the place of the ancient, Christian idea of a "just war."
June 11, 2007 issue - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has a message for the military: keep focused on the real enemies. "Today, I want to encourage you always to remember the importance of two pillars of our freedom under the Constitution—the Congress and the Press," he told graduates of both the Naval and Air Force academies in two recent commencement addresses. He went on to say that "the American military must be nonpolitical and recognize the obligation we owe the Congress to be honest and true in our reporting to them. Especially when it involves admitting mistakes or problems. The same is true with the Press ... The Press is not the enemy, and to treat it as such is self- defeating."