In a campaign debate between Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and challenger Jim Slattery yesterday, a “contentious topic” concerned the intelligence used to justify the invasion of Iraq. Audience members laughed when Roberts, former chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, tried to justify U.S. public officials’ mistakes on the war by saying that the entire world got the intelligence on Iraq wrong:

Slattery criticized Roberts for getting the intelligence wrong while serving as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said voters should hold politicians accountable when they make such mistakes.

Roberts countered that the world, not just the U.S., got the intelligence wrong — and once that was realized it was his committee that made the information public. Several audience members laughed at Roberts’ statement. Unfazed, Roberts continued: “Jim, you wouldn’t even know about this information except for the fact I released it.”

More on the intelligence agencies who got it right here.

Speaking to a Georgia morning news show last Thursday, GOP congressional candidate Rick Goddard criticized an MSNBC reporter’s sharp questioning of former House speaker Newt Gingrich at the Republican National Convention. Goddard called the African-American reporter, Ron Allen, “uppity“:

I’ll tell you one thing, I think we’re going to have a very, very strong, capable president in John McCain. Last night, Newt Gingrich disarmed a very uppity newscaster who tried to question him on the capabilities and leadership of Governor Palin. There’s simply no comparison between a governor and a community organizer.

Also last Thursday, another prominent Georgia political figure — Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R) — used the racial epithet in reference to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). Watch the segment between Allen and Gingrich here.

Yesterday, former right-wing senator Rick Santorum heaped lavish praise on Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) on Laura Ingraham’s radio show. To explain why “feminists” haven’t jumped on the Palin bandwagon, Santorum declared that she is “the Clarence Thomas for feminists,” whom Santorum said African-Americans and civil rights groups “obviously” should have supported:

SANTORUM: Sarah Palin is the Clarence Thomas for feminists. The civil rights community, the African-American community obviously should have rallied behind Clarence Thomas an his achievement, but they hammered him because he was a conservative. And the civil rights establishment was first and foremost liberal and then for the liberal rights of — as liberals saw it, what blacks should have in this country. And the same thing with the feminist community.

Listen to it:

Since Santorum feels that all African-Americans should “obviously” have celebrated Thomas’ “achievement,” it’s unclear whether he realizes Thomas was not, in fact, the first black Supreme Court Justice. That “achievement” was made by the far more progressive Thurgood Marshall. Of course, neither is Palin the first female vice presidential candidate, that spot being taken by the progressive candidate Geraldine Ferraro.

Santorum finds it shocking that black Americans could have possibly opposed a black candidate for the Supreme Court — despite Thomas’s long history of standing in the way of civil rights. Not only is Thomas a well-known opponent of affirmative action, but also, while working at the Department of Education, he made it more difficult to file class action lawsuits for racial discrimination, which angered many civil rights groups.”

What’s more, Santorum’s praise for Palin’s so-called feminist perspective is bizarre, considering his own traditional opposition to working mothers. In his book, “It Takes a Family,” he blames “radical feminists” for refusing to acknowledge “the essential work women have done in being the primary caregivers” of children, and he rails on the selfishness of working parents:

In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might confess that both of them really don’t need to, or at least may not need to work as much as they do… And for some parents, the purported need to provide things for their children simply provides a convenient rationalization for pursuing a gratifying career outside the home.

In his new book “The War Within,” Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward disclosed “the existence of secret operational capabilities developed by the military to locate, target and kill leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent leaders.” Asked by a caller on Larry King Live last night if the capabilities could be used “to catch bin Laden,” Woodward replied that “maybe they can use it on bin Laden.” He then mused that it’s possible that “the September or the October surprise is going to be the apprehension or the death of bin Laden.” Watch it:

During a recent interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Marie Claire magazine noted that McCain has run ads comparing Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and asked, “Which celebrity would like to be compared to?” McCain’s answer — Jack Bauer. When the magazine noted that Bauer “is a torturer,” McCain backed off: “That’s where Jack and I disagree.”

MC: You liken Obama to Britney in your famous ad, while portraying yourself as the more serious candidate. Which celebrity would you like to be compared to? Bob Dylan? Jack Nicholson?
McCAIN: Kiefer Sutherland. [laughs, imitates a voice from the show 24] “It’s Jack Bauer.” We have a lot in common because he escapes all the time.

MC: Um, he’s also a torturer.
McCAIN: Yeah, that’s right. That’s where Jack and I disagree. He believes in torture, but I don’t. He says, “Tell me where the weapons are.” The person says, “I won’t.” Bam! “OK, I’ll tell.”

In fact, McCain does believe in torture. He voted against a bill that would have banned the CIA from using waterboarding — which is torture — and when the bill passed, McCain urged Bush to veto it, which he did. (HT: Huffington Post)