Future Republicans of America

Wal-Mart, cookie thief?

2009-08-06T15:29:00.001-05:00

by Kim Peterson

Wal-Mart (WMT) has been called a lot of things, but Destroyer of Girl Scout Funding isn't one of them.

Until now.

One woman who spent years as "Cookie Mom" for her daughter's troop says Wal-Mart is copying two of the most popular Girl Scout cookies -- Thin Mints (pictured) and Tagalongs -- to sell under its own private label. The woman, a scholar and consultant named C.V. Harquail, says Wal-Mart is testing its Girl Scout knockoffs in limited release under the Great Value brand.

"Wal-mart can sell all the hunting equipment, cheap plastic gizmos and clothes made in sweatshops that it wants to sell," Harquail writes on her blog. "But why must they encroach upon the market of a non-profit? Why do they have to go after the Girl Scouts?"

Harquail said she sampled the cookies at a recent conference in Chicago. They were "reasonable facsimiles" of Girl Scout cookies, she adds.

Advertising Age tried to ask Wal-Mart about the issue, but a spokeswoman did not respond. A Girl Scouts spokeswoman said other companies have put out cookies similar to Girl Scouts varieties in the past. I can't think of anything resembling a Thin Mint that's ever been sold on a mass scale.

Girl Scout cookies are in high demand every year, and it's not hard to imagine Wal-Mart wanting to cash in on some of that fever. There's no law preventing the company from selling its own version of a Thin Mint, either. But the idea of a global retailing giant intentionally going after the Girl Scout cookie market isn't going to sit well with some of the mothers that are Wal-Mart's core customers.

"Just when you think your opinion about Wal-mart might be changing," Harquail writes. "Just when you think that maybe, just maybe, Wal-mart was learning to be a better citizen...Wal-mart turns around and does something really...despicable."

Cookie sales give the Girl Scouts much of their annual operational funding, and Thin Mints, the most popular flavor, brings in 25% of sales alone, Harquail says.

I gotta admit, I'm torn on this one. What do you think? If Harquail's report is true, should Wal-Mart be selling its own Girl Scout cookie knockoffs?

America’s New Nightmare

2009-07-27T00:16:00.002-05:00

If you thought the longtime head of the Taliban was bad, you should meet his no. 2.

By Ron Moreau NEWSWEEK

Published Jul 25, 2009

From the magazine issue dated Aug 3, 2009

Soon after 4,000 U.S. marines flooded into Afghanistan's Helmand River Valley on July 2, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar called top Taliban regional commanders together for an urgent briefing. The meeting took place in southwestern Pakistan—not far from the Afghan border but safely out of the Americans' reach. Baradar told the commanders he wanted just one thing: to keep the Taliban's losses to a minimum while maximizing the cost to the enemy. Don't try to hold territory against the Americans' superior firepower by fighting them head-on, he ordered. Rely on guerrilla tactics whenever possible. Plant "flowers"—improvised explosive devices—on trails and dirt roads. Concentrate on small-unit ambushes, with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. He gave his listeners a special warning: he would hold each of them responsible for the lives of their men. "Keep your weapons on your backs and be on your motorcycles," Baradar exhorted them. "America has greater military strength, but we have greater faith and commitment."

In all likelihood, you’ve never heard of Mullah Baradar. The only Taliban leader most people know is Mullah Mohammed Omar, the unworldly, one-eyed village preacher who held the grand title amir-ul-momineen—"leader of the faithful"—when he ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s. Omar remains a high-value target, with a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. But he hasn't been seen in at least three years, even by his most loyal followers, and rarely issues direct orders anymore. In his place, the adversary that American forces are squaring off against in Afghanistan—the man ultimately responsible for the spike in casualties that has made July the deadliest month for Coalition soldiers since the war began in 2001—is Baradar. A cunning, little-known figure, he may be more dangerous than Omar ever was.

In more than two dozen interviews for this profile, past and present members of the Afghan insurgency portrayed Baradar as no mere stand-in for the reclusive Omar. They say Baradar appoints and fires the Taliban's commanders and governors; presides over its top military council and central ruling Shura in Quetta, the city in southwestern Pakistan where most of the group's senior leaders are based; and issues the group's most important policy statements in his own name. It is key that he controls the Taliban's treasury—hundreds of millions of dollars in -narcotics protection money, ransom payments, highway tolls, and "charitable donations," largely from the Gulf. "He commands all military, political, religious, and financial power," says Mullah Shah Wali Akhund, a guerrilla subcommander from Helmand province who met Baradar this March in Quetta for the fourth time. "Baradar has the makings of a brilliant commander," says Prof. Thomas Johnson, a longtime expert on Afghanistan and an adviser to Coalition forces. "He's able, charismatic, and knows the land and the people so much better than we can hope to do. He could prove a formidable foe."

No one among the Taliban—least of all Baradar himself—will say he's taken Omar's place. On the contrary, Baradar portrays himself as a loyal lieutenant carrying out the orders of his absent boss. "We are acting on [Omar's] instructions," he told NEWSWEEK via e-mail in a recent exclusive interview. He didn't reveal how or when he gets those instructions, saying only that "continuous contacts are not risk-free because of the situation."

Yet while Taliban fighters are reluctant to be seen criticizing Omar in any way, they clearly imply that his deputy has a more modern, efficient style of command. Baradar is consistently described as more open, more consultative, more consensus-oriented, and more patient than Omar. Taliban operatives say he's less mercurial and more willing to hear different views rather than act on hearsay, emotion, or strict ideology. "Baradar doesn't issue orders without understanding and investigating the problem," says a commander from Zabul province who met with him in March and asked not to be named so he could speak freely. "He is patient and listens to you until the end. He doesn't get angry or lose his temper."

That's raised another question: whether the Americans and the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai might ultimately be able to strike a deal with Baradar. His influence among the insurgents—and with Mullah Omar—is unmatched, and he's not as close-minded as many of the leaders in Quetta are. Back in 2004, according to Maulvi Arsala Rahmani, a former Taliban cabinet minister who now lives in Kabul, Baradar authorized a Taliban delegation that approached Karzai with a peace offer, even paying their travel expenses to Kabul. That outreach fizzled, but earlier this year another two senior Taliban operatives sent out separate peace feelers to Qayyum Karzai, the Afghan president's older brother, apparently with Baradar's approval, according to three ranking Taliban sources. They say the initiatives were quickly rescinded. Still, when NEWSWEEK spoke to the elder Karzai last week and asked him about the story, he did not deny that such contacts had taken place, saying only, "This is a very sensitive time, and a lot of things are going on." Publicly, Baradar, who belongs to the same Pashtun tribe as Karzai, has scoffed at peace efforts, denouncing them as a ploy to split the insurgency. But that may simply reflect his feeling that the insurgents currently have the momentum.

Baradar can take much of the credit for rebuilding the Taliban into an effective fighting force. For at least the past three years, Mullah Omar has had little or no say in the group's daily affairs. His most recent public pronouncement came last December, when two statements were issued in his name denying "baseless" reports of peace talks with the Afghan government and repeating his demand for the withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan. Some Taliban members speculate that Omar might be dead, although Baradar, his lifelong friend and comrade in arms, denies any such thing. "He is hale and healthy, and not only taking part in but currently leading the jihad," he told NEWSWEEK. U.S. intelligence experts can't testify to Omar's health, but they believe he is alive. "Mullah Omar has put Baradar in charge," says Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the former Taliban regime's foreign minister, who first met both men in 1992, during the last days of the Soviet-backed regime. "It is Mullah Omar's idea and his policy to stay quiet in a safe place, because he has a high price on his head, while Baradar leads."

The two fought side by side against the Soviets. Omar, who lost an eye in the fighting, became renowned for his prowess at knocking out Russian tanks with rocket-propelled grenades. Later in the decadelong war, they traveled to Omar's home district of Maiwand, where Baradar served in a mujahedin unit under Omar's command. Along the way they're said to have married a pair of sisters, although Zaeef (who fought beside them in Maiwand) denies they are related by marriage and says it wouldn't matter if they were: "Their friendship is more important than any family relation."

After the Soviets withdrew and the Kremlin's puppet regime in Kabul collapsed, Omar and Baradar tried to settle down in Maiwand and run their own madrassa. But they were disgusted by the behavior of the local warlords, who had taken to kidnapping and raping village girls and boys. Omar led a revolt against them with a tiny force of some 30 men and half as many rifles, and Baradar was among his first recruits. The movement grew until it controlled most of Afghanistan. Baradar served first as Mullah Omar's right-hand man in Kandahar—his headquarters—then as his corps commander for western Afghanistan, and later as the Kabul garrison commander, where he directed the fight against mujahedin commanders in the north. Muttawakil says Baradar became Mullah Omar's most trusted and important military commander. He was there for Omar at the end as well. As U.S. bombs pounded Kandahar in November 2001, Mullah Baradar hopped on a motorcycle and drove his old friend to safety in the mountains.

Baradar has no office and no fixed residence now. Working 18-hour days, he rarely sleeps twice in the same place. He meets with senior Taliban leaders, commanders, and common petitioners in the ethnic Pashtun enclaves around Quetta, capital of the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, where the Taliban leadership effectively hides in plain sight. Islamabad has declared the place off-limits to U.S. forces, and Pakistan's own troops want no trouble with the Afghans. Despite the threat of U.S. electronic eavesdropping technology, Baradar uses mobile phones, changing SIM cards frequently.

The Taliban's de facto leader travels simply, often in a small car driven by a longtime aide. His chauffeur carries with him a supply of Baradar's personal stationery, emblazoned with the logo of the defunct Taliban regime, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. On it, Baradar writes instructions to commanders, letters of safe passage, and orders for disbursing funds, for settling disputes, and for appointing or dismissing personnel. On occasion he visits Karachi, where the Taliban maintains a widespread network of operatives and businesses, but he rarely travels to Peshawar, where security is less certain, let alone to Afghanistan.

Baradar operates like an old-fashioned Pashtun tribal head. He sits and talks not only with his senior military men and political officers, but also with low-ranking commanders and tribal elders. When he meets with civilians, whether they're local sheiks or members of the Taliban's political elite, the Quetta Shura, he exudes a relaxed, traditional, even deferential manner. Baradar even frequently takes notes at meetings, and he constantly refers to Mullah Omar and his pronouncements, Akhund says. The Helmand subcommander and other Taliban sources say Baradar adopts a sterner, more martial air with his military council, but even in those strategy sessions he tries to elicit opinions and bring everyone together in some kind of consensus. Taliban sources say he's making a particular effort to address the problems of ordinary Afghans. In the past year he has set up two new committees, one to handle complaints from commanders and fighters, and another to deal with villagers' grievances. The military committee is headed by Abdul Qayum Zakir, who was released from Guantánamo last year and is now back operating as one of Baradar's top commanders.

Torak Agha, the head of the civilian complaints committee, has a particularly tough job. Taliban suicide bombings and IED attacks kill more Afghan civilians than foreign troops. Some commanders have amassed fortunes by siphoning off funds earmarked for fighters, their families, or villagers, and by not sharing money collected from kidnappings and roadside toll collecting. To stop that practice, fighting units are now required to account for all the money and weapons they receive. The Taliban's central treasury was being drained by payouts to local commanders for ambushing military convoys and similar operations. Some had taken to filing claims for attacks their men had no part in. Baradar decreed that henceforth units would have to provide video evidence of attacks before getting their reward payments.

Baradar himself will dive into local issues when necessary. Earlier this year, the Zabul province commander says, he mustered the nerve to seek Baradar's help. Three of his fellow Taliban commanders in the province had become more intent on feuding with each other than on killing Americans. They were quarreling about where each one's territory ended; about who could set up roadside checkpoints to extort money from travelers on which stretch of highway; and about women who had been so bold as to marry outside their tribes. Two of the rivals were even plotting to unseat the Taliban's provincial governor.

The Zabul commander had never met Baradar before and hardly dared to hope his call would be taken seriously. But within three weeks he was summoned for a face-to-face meeting with Baradar in Quetta. He and Baradar talked for two hours. "He listened attentively to my complaints and suggestions, asked some questions, and said he'd see what he could do." The results were apparent within two weeks. Rather than keep the sitting governor or replace him with one of the competing commanders, Baradar brought in a tough new governor, Maulvi Ishmael, from neighboring Ghazni province. Baradar then clearly delineated which parts of the main highway would be under the control of which commander, and ordered them to share their income from roadside checkpoints more equitably. Finally, he flatly ordered the guerrillas to drop the dispute over the women. "I certainly didn't come away from the meeting empty-handed," says the Zabul commander. "The jihad has been clearly strengthened."

Baradar determines much of the Taliban's grand strategy as well. In late 2007 he ordered Taliban forces to focus their attacks on disrupting the flow of U.S. and NATO military supplies, and to push closer to the cities, especially Kabul. U.S. military chiefs were dismayed by his success. This spring he issued another battle plan, code-named Nusrat ("Victory"). Taliban sources say the new targets are the previously safe provinces of Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan, where military supplies flow in from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Baradar has also ordered his senior commanders to spend at least two months a year on the ground with their fighters inside Afghanistan. Taliban attacks and U.S. deaths have now hit unprecedented levels. According to iCasualties.org, 120 American soldiers have died in Afghanistan this year, compared with 155 in all of 2008.

Current and former insurgents are divided over whether Baradar would be as effective a peacemaker as he is a general. "I get the feeling that he is not as tough and hardline as Mullah Omar," says Akhund, the Helmand subcommander. Mullah Hamdullah, a senior Taliban intelligence operative from Ghazni province, agrees: "He's not an extremist like some commanders. If there were ever to be negotiations, Baradar would be the best man to talk to." Partly because of Baradar's strong roots among the Popalzai—Afghanistan's largest and most influential Pashtun tribe—he could bring a number of tribal leaders onboard in the event of serious peace talks. But for now, Taliban leaders seem convinced that negotiations are merely a ploy to peel off elements of the insurgency, which U.S. commanders have more or less acknowledged. "We see no benefit for the country or Islam in such kind of talks," Baradar told NEWSWEEK.

Of course, Baradar would not be where he is now if he were not ruthless about maintaining power. All his main rivals within the Taliban movement have met with suspicious ends. Of the four other Taliban leaders who had served with Mullah Omar since his 1994 revolt in Maiwand, two were captured by the Pakistanis and two were killed by the Americans. Most notable may have been the U.S.-led commando raid that killed Baradar's bloodthirsty rival Mullah Dadullah Akhund in May 2007. Since the 1990s Baradar had loathed Dadullah's reckless brutality, while Dadullah despised Baradar's cautiousness and resented his close relationship with Mullah Omar.

Their rivalry came to a head after the U.S. invasion, when the surviving Taliban took refuge in Pakistan. With Mullah Omar already in hiding, Dadullah asked Baradar, as the group's bursar, for funds to regroup and rearm. According to several Taliban sources, Baradar refused, saying it was too soon to start a guerrilla campaign and advising Dadullah to spend a few months studying in a Karachi madrassa. Dadullah rejected the advice and built a force that began spreading the insurgency deep into Kandahar and Helmand provinces. By 2006, he had become the Taliban's most successful and feared commander. Other insurgents who were nominally serving under Baradar began looking to Dadullah for leadership and funding. He was giving press interviews in his Waziristan base camp and putting out egomaniacal videos of himself selecting and training suicide bombers, executing alleged spies, and, worst of all, publicly meeting with his Qaeda allies.

Baradar ordered Dadullah to quiet down, but Dadullah refused. "Let me do what I want," several Taliban sources quote him as insisting. "I'll arm all of Afghanistan." The raid that killed him was clearly guided by inside information, and his bullet-riddled corpse was displayed like a trophy by the governor of Kandahar province. After Dadullah's younger brother accused Baradar of sending men to kill him, too, he was expelled from the movement. Within a month, he ended up in a Pakistani jail.

While Baradar now stands alone, however, he knows that his own fate depends on the perception that he's been blessed by the amir-ul-momineen. "Without Mullah Omar, I don't think Baradar can hold the strongest commanders together," says Rahmani. "The fight would go on, but perhaps with every commander for himself." Many Taliban say they wish Omar would release a new audio recording, just to prove he's not dead. So far it hasn't happened. "I think Mullah Omar's alive," Rahmani says meaningfully. "But perhaps in name only." For now, that may be how Baradar wants it.

With Michael Hirsh, John Barry, and Mark Hosenball in Washington

America's Pursuit Of Happiness

2008-01-08T00:57:00.000-05:00

Public Opinion: Each time you open a newspaper or turn on a TV, you'll hear how unhappy, glum and dissatisfied Americans are. Don't believe it. The U.S. is, to borrow a phrase, the happiest place on Earth.

A long-forgotten 1960s movie title pretty much sums up how Americans feel about their lives: "What's So Bad About Feeling Good?" According to a new Gallup Poll, for most people that's not just a rhetorical question.

"Most Americans say they are generally happy, with a slim majority saying they are 'very happy,'" according to the Gallup Poll released on the final day of 2007. "More than 8 in 10 Americans say they are satisfied with their personal lives at this time, including a solid majority who say they are 'very satisfied.'"

Another extensive survey conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center found that 65% of Americans termed themselves "satisfied" with their lives. That compares with the four economic powerhouses of Britain, France, Germany and Italy, which averaged about 53%.

This difference isn't something new. It's been around for a long time. It's a part of what foreign-affairs mavens call "American exceptionalism." The question is, why are Americans so darned happy?

For one thing, Americans are far richer than those in other countries. And yes, this matters. Contrary to popular belief, neither the Europeans nor the Japanese lead better lives than Americans.

A study a few years back by Sweden's Timbro think tank came to these startling conclusions: Virtually every nation in Europe lagged the U.S. in income. Indeed, if it were a state, the EU would rank 47th in per capita GDP -- on par with Mississippi and West Virginia.

Americans' homes have roughly twice the square footage per occupant as those in the EU, Americans own more appliances, and, on average, they spend about 77% more each year than Europeans.

Yet, though the U.S. economy is head-and-shoulders above the others, you'd never know it from our friends in the mainstream media. As repeated surveys show, U.S. media coverage of the economy is overwhelmingly slanted toward the negative side of things.

But a look at the facts shows something quite different.

U.S. household wealth climbed from $38.8 trillion in 2002 to $58.6 trillion in the third quarter of 2007, an unprecedented 51% surge in just five years. That includes the recent meltdown in home prices.

By any historical standard, Americans are unbelievably wealthy.

Moreover, despite the near-collapse in housing, the U.S. economy remains strong. It grew at a 3.1% rate during the first three quarters, and almost certainly kept growing in the final three months.

Economist Irwin Stelzer adds another reason why Americans are happy right now: a million new jobs over the last year, a milestone that is underpinning U.S. economic growth right now.

But can economics really matter that much? You bet. Money may not buy love, but it helps buy happiness. In fact, according to the Pew folks, there's a 72% correlation between per capita GDP growth in a country and its citizens' happiness.

What about social trends? As economist Irwin Stelzer recently noted, "teenage drug use, pregnancies, smoking and drinking are all on the decline; welfare reform is working, bringing down child poverty, and the divorce rate is falling."

Oh, and we're having more babies than at any time since the 1970s -- not something that a gloomy, depressed society does. Our 2.1 babies per adult woman puts us at the top of the developed world's fertility rankings (Europe, by comparison, has a population-shrinking 1.5 rate). A child is the biggest bet on a happy future that two people can make.

Then there's religion. A 2006 Harris Poll found on average that 43% of those in Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain and France believed in a Supreme Being. In the U.S., it's 73%. That suggests a link, in developed nations anyway, between religiosity and happiness.

Face it, Americans are an unusually happy, optimistic people. In a way, it defines us. A big reason is our economy -- huge, innovative, low-tax and less regulated than others.

That's what makes us different. Vive la difference!

Americans frustrated by influence wielded by Iowa, New Hampshire

2008-01-02T22:42:00.000-05:00

All eyes may be on Iowa and New Hampshire, but many of them are rolling.

Despite efforts to evict the two states from the front of the presidential calendar, both managed to hang on for another election cycle that culminates with the Iowa caucuses on Thursday and the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8. As a year of media attention reaches its crescendo, voters in other states are saying enough is enough.

According to national survey conducted for The Associated Press and Yahoo News, just over half of all voters said New Hampshire and Iowa have an extraordinary amount of influence over who wins the two nominations.

"They have way too much — WAY too much — say," said Kevin Thomas of Tacoma, Wash. "California's a big state and they don't have any say, and Iowa's not even half the size of California. It really makes me as a voter wonder what's going on."

Fewer than one in five voters said they favor the current system that allows Iowa and New Hampshire to hold the first contests, while nearly 80 percent would rather see other states get their chance at the front of the line.

"I think they should take turns, maybe take it to a small state like Rhode Island that doesn't have a whole lot of voting power," Thomas said.

Both states have been criticized as unrepresentative of the country given their size and lack of racial diversity. Iowa — population 3 million — is 95 percent white; New Hampshire — population 1.3 million — is 96 percent white. Democrats tried to inject more diversity into the process by adding early contests in Nevada and South Carolina, but Iowa and New Hampshire moved even earlier.

The system became so scrambled last year that New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner was prepared to move the primary into December to keep ahead of other states that scheduled their own early primaries and caucuses. If anything, the front-loaded calendar made Iowa and New Hampshire more important.

Gardner and other defenders of New Hampshire say the country — and the candidates — are well-served because the primary requires close contact with voters, not just a big advertising budget and name recognition.

"It gives the little guy a chance," said Gardner.

He wasn't surprised by the poll results and negative reaction toward the early states given that most of the country knows nothing about the primary's history or the state's uniquely inquisitive and democratic culture.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat who has not endorsed any candidate, argues that New Hampshire's retail politics cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the country.

"We have made it possible for the so-called unknown candidates to make their case without having millions of dollars in the bank. And in turn, we demand that candidates move beyond the rope line and scripted town hall meetings, and directly answer the hard questions from voters," he said. "As a result, the voters, the candidates and the political process all benefit from the New Hampshire primary."

Unsurprisingly, every one of the 21 Iowans who participated in the AP-Yahoo survey think their state and New Hampshire have just the right amount of influence over the presidential selection process. Not so in New Hampshire.

There, two of the five participants said the two states don't have enough power.

Basic facts on the Iowa caucuses

2008-01-02T22:40:00.001-05:00

Some questions and answers about the Iowa caucuses this Thursday:

Q: What is a caucus?

A: A party meeting at the precinct level at which citizens express their candidate preferences and pick delegates to their county conventions. It's the lowest level of party politics — the real grassroots. These meetings, held in each of the state's nearly 1,800 precincts, typically draw anywhere from a handful of people in rural areas to hundreds in suburban areas.

Q: Who takes part?

A: Anyone who is old enough to vote in the November general election and is a member of the party is eligible, but traditionally only a small number of Iowans show up. This year, about 120,000 to 150,000 people are expected to vote in the Democratic caucuses, while 80,000 to 90,000 are likely to participate in the GOP contest.

Q: Why is it politically significant?

A: Persuading a group of average citizens to show up in support of a candidate is considered a sign of organizational strength. Each candidate courts politicians and activists at the state and local level in hopes of getting strong numbers of supporters to show up and participate. At the same time, the caucus system allows candidates to develop and hone their message before relatively small groups.

Q: What happens at a caucus?

A: Participants, led by a chairman or chairwoman, indicate their preferences for their party's presidential nomination, pick delegates to their county conventions and discuss party business, including their party platforms.

Q: What happens next?

A: Delegates chosen at the caucuses go to the county convention later in the year. There, the field is winnowed and delegates are chosen for the district convention. This happens again at district meetings and again at the state convention, where delegates are named to attend the party's national convention.

Q: Why are the numbers different?

A: The Republicans essentially hold a straw poll — a head count — at their precinct caucuses, reporting real numbers. One head, one vote.

The Democrats do not report straight numbers, but use a mathematical formula to determine support for a presidential candidate in percentages. A candidate must have the support of 15 percent of those present at any meeting, precinct caucuses through the state convention, to remain "viable." This is meant to ensure greater consistency throughout the process.

Q: Will there be exit polls in Iowa?

A: Yes. The Associated Press and the television networks will survey voters as they enter the caucus sites. Those surveys will help readers understand what issues and qualities motivated Iowans to vote for a specific candidate.

Q: How did the Iowa caucuses get started?

A: A commission appointed after the riots disrupted the 1968 Democratic National Convention recommended proportionate representation and affirmative action. Iowa Democrats decided to use new rules in 1972, adopting a regulation that there must be a month between events — the caucuses, county, district, state and national conventions. The caucuses wound up being held as early as January.

Ann Coulter: Huckabee Like GOP Jimmy Carter

2007-12-20T20:45:00.000-05:00

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter says GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is the “Republican Jimmy Carter” and nominating him would be a big mistake for the party.

Appearing with John Gibson and Heather Nauert on Fox News’ “The Big Story,” Coulter was asked about Huckabee’s recent surge in the polls.

“I’m getting tired of this being blamed on the evangelicals,” said Coulter.

Huckabee’s rise is actually “bad for the evangelicals,” she asserted. “Mike Huckabee is the Republican Jimmy Carter.”

Nominating the ordained Baptist minister “would be a big mistake,” Coulter opined. “He has many good qualities. Unfortunately, the things that are upsetting to the mainstream media about Huckabee are what normal Americans like.”

She cited as examples Huckabee’s “religiosity and his questioning of Darwinian evolution.”

But she criticized the former Arkansas governor for opposing a bill that would have required Arkansas residents to prove they are Americans before they could vote or get social services.

Coulter — whose latest book is “If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans” — was also asked about Hillary Clinton’s recent decline in the polls.

“Hillary really is in trouble, which would be fantastic,” she replied. “But I won’t believe it until we see the dead body.”

When Gibson asked if she meant that literally, Coulter declined to answer. But she did go on to declare, regarding the Clintons: “I would love to see this national pestilence finished off once and for all. The primary would be great. If not, I’ll take the general election.”

Imus: Hillary ‘Still Satan’

2007-12-05T04:42:00.000-05:00

Don Imus returned to the radio with both barrels blasting on Monday, calling Vice President Dick Cheney a “war criminal” and reiterating his charge that Hillary Clinton is “Satan.”

Referring to his disparaging remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team that got him pulled from the air nine months ago, a somewhat contrite Imus did say that he “will never say anything in my lifetime that will make any of these young women at Rutgers regret or feel foolish that they accepted my apology and forgave me.”

But he told listeners: “Dick Cheney is still a war criminal. Hillary Clinton is still Satan. And I’m going on the radio.”

Imus was joined by his longtime sidekick Charles McCord and producer Bernard McGuirk.

But he has added two new cast members, both of them African-American — comedian Tony Powell and Karith Foster, an Oxford-educated “Texas cowgirl” whose career has ranged from broadcast journalism to stand-up comedy, according to the New York Post.

They were brought aboard to ease tension stirred up by his racist comments about the Rutgers team, sources told the Post.

Despite her Texas roots, Foster jokes on her Web site: “I’m really a Jewish girl from Long Island trapped in this body, which technically makes me a JA-AP [Jewish African-American princess].”

Imus’ return makes him a potential new force in the presidential race.

His new talk show is being broadcast on WABC-AM in New York and is syndicated nationally on the ABC Radio Network. But it remains to be seen if political figures will appear on his program as often as they did before he was pulled from the air.

“Presidential candidates in both parties now face a new and unpredictable danger: the rebukes and ridicule of the politically incorrect Mr. Imus,” the New York Sun reports.

“How much influence the recalcitrant broadcaster will have on the candidates entering into the final month of campaigning before the Iowa caucuses will depend on how quickly Mr. Imus can recapture his lost form after so long an absence.”

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee agreed to do an interview on Imus’ debut show on Monday, telling USA Today: “He’s continued to have me on his show when I said stupid things. What Imus said was wrong, but he seems genuinely sorry.”

Democratic strategist James Carville also agreed to appear today.

Huckabee’s fellow Republicans Rudy Giuliani and John McCain “have both made it clear they would be happy to be interviewed by Mr. Imus,” according to the Sun.

But Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are “thought be wary of resuming their link to him,” the Sun observes.

Imus’ scheduled his debut show to air from Town Hall in Manhattan, with seats in the audience selling for $100 each. The money is earmarked for his charity, the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids With Cancer. On Tuesday the show will move to a studio across the street from Madison Square Garden.

Cruel ‘View’

2007-12-05T04:40:00.001-05:00

One would think that when a mother of two had been convicted of the crime of allowing a teddy bear to be named Muhammad and was being kept at a secret location because 10,000 maniacs are chanting “kill her, kill her” in the streets of Sudan, all of the co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” would be sympathetic.

They were.

The only problem, though, was that their sympathies were with the Muslim extremists. Believe it or not, they blamed the woman.

Whoopie Goldberg railed against Westerners who are “not as anxious to learn the customs before we go places.”

Coldhearted co-host Sherri Shepherd exclaimed, “You would think that with her being in Sudan, she would know the rules and customs.”

Revealed: the Scot who inspired Dickens' Scrooge

2007-11-25T16:24:00.000-05:00

Failing eyesight led to one of Christmas’s favourite characters
JIM MCBETH

HIS name became an aphorism for meanness, but the base nature of Ebenezer Scrooge was inadvertently fashioned by failing light and an author whose eyesight was equally dim.

The real "Scrooge", an Edinburgh merchant, could not have been more different from his literary counterpart.

But the gloaming of an evening in the Capital, allied with an episode of mild dyslexia suffered by Charles Dickens, has forever associated Ebenezer Lennox Scroggie with one of the Victorian author’s most famous characters.

In life, Scroggie was apparently a rambunctious, generous and licentious man who gave wild parties, impregnated the odd serving wench and once wonderfully interrupted the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland by grabbing the buttocks of a hapless countess.

However, it was in 1841 when his entire life was misconstrued by Dickens.

Dickens was in the capital to deliver a lecture to an audience of Edinburgh notables. He was wandering the city, killing time before the talk, when he visited the Canongate Kirk graveyard.

There, as revealed by his diaries, he saw a memorial slab which read: "Ebenezer Lennox Scroggie - meal man". The description referred to his main trade as a corn merchant. However, the author mistakenly translated it as "mean man".

Though he was shocked by the description, it gave him food for thought and two years later, art imitated life - or so the author believed.

When A Christmas Carol , one of Dickens’ finest works, was published in 1843, it featured Ebenezer Scrooge, a "mean man" erroneously based on Ebenezer Scroggie.

Dickens always believed his creation was rooted in truth. Later, he wrote that while Scots had a reputation for frugality, they were not mean. It must have "shrivelled" Scroggie’s soul, said Dickens, to carry "such a terrible thing to eternity".

But, now, appropriately, on the eve of Christmas, Scroggie’s reputation is restored. Peter Clark, a political economist and former Conservative ministerial aide who has researched the episode, said: "I’ve always thought A Christmas Carol was splendid, a story of redemption, but Scrooge was based on Scroggie, who could not have been more different.

"Mere chance associated him with Dickens’ creation."

Details of Scroggie’s life are sparse, but he was a vintner as well as a corn merchant. He won the catering contract for the visit of George IV to Edinburgh in 1822, the first British monarch to visit since Culloden. He also secured the first contract to supply whisky to the Royal Navy.

Scroggie was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife; his mother was the niece of Adam Smith, the 18th century political economist and philosopher.

Mr Clark added: "Scroggie was not mean-spirited, but he did attract the admonition of the Church of Scotland by having a child out of wedlock to a servant in 1830. It is alleged he ‘ravished’ her upon a gravestone. Still, what else was there to do in Edinburgh in 1830?"

Perhaps Scroggie’s most delightful claim to fame was the result of his dramatically halting proceedings at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, when he "goosed" the Countess of Mansfield during a particularly earnest debate.

"It fairly dampened the proceedings," said Mr Clark.

Scroggie also features on the internet, where his life is being examined by North American "relatives" eager to visit his grave. Alas, his final resting place is no more. The grave was lost to redevelopment in 1932.

And there is one other hitherto unrecognised by-product of the connection to Scrooge.

Mr Clark added: "Apparently Dickens’ novel killed off ‘Ebenezer’ as a parents’ name of choice for their children.

"A bit like ‘Edwina’, in our own time, you might say - although I can’t imagine why."

Sweeping the Clouds Away

2007-11-20T15:00:00.000-05:00

The New York Times

Sunny days! The earliest episodes of “Sesame Street” are available on digital video! Break out some Keebler products, fire up the DVD player and prepare for the exquisite pleasure-pain of top-shelf nostalgia.

Just don’t bring the children. According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

Say what? At a recent all-ages home screening, a hush fell over the room. “What did they do to us?” asked one Gen-X mother of two, finally. The show rolled, and the sweet trauma came flooding back. What they did to us was hard-core. Man, was that scene rough. The masonry on the dingy brownstone at 123 Sesame Street, where the closeted Ernie and Bert shared a dismal basement apartment, was deteriorating. Cookie Monster was on a fast track to diabetes. Oscar’s depression was untreated. Prozacky Elmo didn’t exist.

Nothing in the children’s entertainment of today, candy-colored animation hopped up on computer tricks, can prepare young or old for this frightening glimpse of simpler times. Back then — as on the very first episode, which aired on PBS Nov. 10, 1969 — a pretty, lonely girl like Sally might find herself befriended by an older male stranger who held her hand and took her home. Granted, Gordon just wanted Sally to meet his wife and have some milk and cookies, but . . . well, he could have wanted anything. As it was, he fed her milk and cookies. The milk looks dangerously whole.

Live-action cows also charge the 1969 screen — cows eating common grass, not grain improved with hormones. Cows are milked by plain old farmers, who use their unsanitary hands and fill one bucket at a time. Elsewhere, two brothers risk concussion while whaling on each other with allergenic feather pillows. Overweight layabouts, lacking touch-screen iPods and headphones, jockey for airtime with their deafening transistor radios. And one of those radios plays a late-’60s news report — something about a “senior American official” and “two billion in credit over the next five years” — that conjures a bleak economic climate, with war debt and stagflation in the offing.

The old “Sesame Street” is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for softies born since 1998, when the chipper “Elmo’s World” started. Anyone who considers bull markets normal, extracurricular activities sacrosanct and New York a tidy, governable place — well, the original “Sesame Street” might hurt your feelings.

I asked Carol-Lynn Parente, the executive producer of “Sesame Street,” how exactly the first episodes were unsuitable for toddlers in 2007. She told me about Alistair Cookie and the parody “Monsterpiece Theater.” Alistair Cookie, played by Cookie Monster, used to appear with a pipe, which he later gobbled. According to Parente, “That modeled the wrong behavior” — smoking, eating pipes — “so we reshot those scenes without the pipe, and then we dropped the parody altogether.”

Which brought Parente to a feature of “Sesame Street” that had not been reconstructed: the chronically mood-disordered Oscar the Grouch. On the first episode, Oscar seems irredeemably miserable — hypersensitive, sarcastic, misanthropic. (Bert, too, is described as grouchy; none of the characters, in fact, is especially sunshiney except maybe Ernie, who also seems slow.) “We might not be able to create a character like Oscar now,” she said.

Snuffleupagus is visible only to Big Bird; since 1985, all the characters can see him, as Big Bird’s old protestations that he was not hallucinating came to seem a little creepy, not to mention somewhat strained. As for Cookie Monster, he can be seen in the old-school episodes in his former inglorious incarnation: a blue, googly-eyed cookievore with a signature gobble (“om nom nom nom”). Originally designed by Jim Henson for use in commercials for General Foods International and Frito-Lay, Cookie Monster was never a righteous figure. His controversial conversion to a more diverse diet wouldn’t come until 2005, and in the early seasons he comes across a Child’s First Addict.

The biggest surprise of the early episodes is the rural — agrarian, even — sequences. Episode 1 spends a stoned time warp in the company of backlighted cows, while they mill around and chew cud. This pastoral scene rolls to an industrial voiceover explaining dairy farms, and the sleepy chords of Joe Raposo’s aimless masterpiece, “Hey Cow, I See You Now.” Chewing the grass so green/Making the milk/Waiting for milking time/Waiting for giving time/Mmmmm.

Oh, what’s that? Right, the trance of early “Sesame Street” and its country-time sequences. In spite of the show’s devotion to its “target child,” the “4-year-old inner-city black youngster” (as The New York Times explained in 1979), the first episodes join kids cavorting in amber waves of grain — black children, mostly, who must be pressed into service as the face of America’s farms uniquely on “Sesame Street.”

In East Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant in 1978, 95 percent of households with kids ages 2 to 5 watched “Sesame Street.” The figure was even higher in Washington. Nationwide, though, the number wasn’t much lower, and was largely determined by the whims of the PBS affiliates: 80 percent in houses with young children. The so-called inner city became anywhere that “Sesame Street” played, because the Children’s Television Workshop declared the inner city not a grim sociological reality but a full-color fantasy — an eccentric scene, framed by a box and far removed from real farmland and city streets alike.

The concept of the “inner city” — or “slums,” as The Times bluntly put it in its first review of “Sesame Street” — was therefore transformed into a kind of Xanadu on the show: a bright, no-clouds, clear-air place where people bopped around with monsters and didn’t worry too much about money, cleanliness or projecting false cheer. The Upper West Side, hardly a burned-out ghetto, was said to be the model.

People on “Sesame Street” had limited possibilities and fixed identities, and (the best part) you weren’t expected to change much. The harshness of existence was a given, and no one was proposing that numbers and letters would lead you “out” of your inner city to Elysian suburbs. Instead, “Sesame Street” suggested that learning might merely make our days more bearable, more interesting, funnier. It encouraged us, above all, to be nice to our neighbors and to cultivate the safer pleasures that take the edge off — taking baths, eating cookies, reading. Don’t tell the kids.

Points of Entry

Caveat teletor: Volumes 1 and 2 of “Sesame Street: Old School” are available on DVD, which you can sample and buy on Sesameworkshop.org. With a few episodes, extras and celebrity appearances by the likes of Richard Pryor and Lou Rawls, “Old School” sounds harmless enough. But are you ready to mainline this much ’70s nostalgia?

The Way Old: YouTube is great for performance art. If 1969 is not far back enough for you, how’s 1935? The Oscar-winning short film “How to Sleep,” by the Algonquin Round-Tabler Robert Benchley, can be found here in sumptuous black-and-white; search for his name and the film’s title on YouTube.

Come of Age: Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the men of “My So-Called Life” and “thirtysomething,” have at last introduced their online-only young-adult series, “Quarterlife.” It started Nov. 11 on MySpaceTV.com, and it marks the first time a network-quality series — a long indie film, really — has been produced directly for the Internet. If the old times unnerve you, welcome to the new times.

Militants killed in raid near Philippines blast site

2007-11-20T14:34:00.000-05:00

Three suspects were killed and three arrested Thursday as police raided an Islamic militant hideout near the Philippines legislature, where a congressman was killed in a blast earlier this week, officials said.

Philippine Army spokesman Major Ernesto Torres said without elaborating that "there are indications that they have something to do with the blast."

Military and police swooped on the northern Manila shantytown of Payatas near the House of Representatives to arrest suspected kidnappers and were met with gunfire, said Torres.

Three Abu Sayyaf suspects were killed and three others were arrested while one police officer was wounded, he told reporters.

The raid was launched two days after an explosion killed a legislator and three people at the House of Representatives.

National police chief Avelino Razon said the arrest warrant was for an unrelated kidnapping.

Earlier Thursday, Razon said the "sophisticated" bomb used at the House blast was intended for a pre-selected target.

Preliminary police findings indicate the bomber was experienced and bolstered the police theory that the explosion was aimed specifically for Muslim congressman Wahab Akbar, who was killed in the blast, said Razon.

"The one who made this bomb was pretty experienced. It is sophisticated," he said, citing the way the bomb went off to create a 180-degree blast arc to hit Akbar as he was departing the Congress building.

Manila police chief Geary Barias said that police scientists had determined that the explosive in the bomb was trinitrotoluene or TNT, adding that this means "it could have been dynamite sticks" in the bomb.

He told reporters they also found signs of a detonating cord at the blast site, adding that this had prompted police to order a review of the system for monitoring the sale of TNT and detonating cords.

The explosion late Tuesday ripped through a wing of the House after most congressmen had left. The explosion killed Akbar, two aides and a driver.

Police have recovered a mobile telephone that was apparently used to set off the bomb and nails used as shrapnel. It is believed that the bomb was hidden in a parked motorcycle.

Razon said he doubted the bomb was a terrorist attack aimed a general destruction, saying the bomber could have set it off in a place that would have killed more congressmen.

Police believe the bomb was intended for Akbar, who represents the southern island of Basilan, a haunt of armed groups like the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf and political warlords.

The Abu Sayyaf have been linked by intelligence agencies to the Al-Qaeda terror network and has carried out bombing attacks in the past.

Akbar was a former Abu Sayyaf member who turned against them.

Aside from the Abu Sayyaf, the other suspects in the blast are political enemies of Akbar.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual said the last time he saw a similar bomb, hidden in a motorcycle and set off with a mobile phone, was in 2004. That bomb was the work of the Abu Sayyaf.

He said this was not confirmation however the militant group was behind the latest attack.
The Philippine government has offered a five-million-peso (116,100-dollar) reward for information leading to the arrest of the bomber.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia said he was also setting up a task force to look into improving the security in the House.

Hillary's Obama Dirt: Obama Demands She Come Clean

2007-11-20T14:31:00.000-05:00

As the Democratic primary draws near to the Iowa Caucus, the sparks -- and sleaze -- are starting to fly.

The latest mud: columnist Robert Novak reported Friday that "agents of Sen. Hillary Clinton are spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information" about Sen. Barack Obama.

So what dirt does Hillary have about the Illinois Senator?

Novak says the details, so far, have not been disclosed.

Democratic primary campaigns can be particularly dirty. Remember Sen. Gary Hart's "Monkey Business" affair that was reportedly dredged up by operatives of his 1988 primary rival Al Gore.

Also remember the Gennifer Flowers scandal. Republicans get blamed for the "Clinton Hate Machine" -- but the truth is that the buzz against Bill Clinton was fed by Democratic operatives in the '92 primary campaign.

This time, Obama is on the offensive and quickly lashed out at Hillary.

In a statement released by his campaign this weekend, Obama said: “The cause of change in this country will not be deterred or sidetracked by the old ‘Swift boat’ politics. The cause of moving America forward demands that we defeat it ....

“I am prepared to stand up to that kind of politics, whether it's deployed by candidates in our party, in the other party or by any third party."

Obama demanded that Hillary and her operatives release their "scandal" or deny they are part of an effort to smear him.

An angry Obama added, “She of all people, having complained so often about ‘the politics of personal destruction,’ should move quickly to either stand by or renounce these tactics.”

Clinton's campaign hurriedly responded to the growing brouhaha. Clinton spokesman Jay Carson told Fox News that the campaign has "absolutely no idea what [Novak] is talking about. ..."

Carson said, bluntly, Hillary Clinton's campaign had no scandalous information about Senator Obama.

Word of the Obama scandal comes as Hillary has lost her momentum after flip-flopping on the issue of licenses for illegals. Obama appears to be gaining, and recent polls in Iowa show him closing the gap with Hillary.

O'Reilly: Hillary Is a Lock for Party Nod

2007-11-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

Hillary Clinton’s political machine is so powerful that only a “demonstrable scandal” can keep her from winning the Democratic presidential nomination, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview.

“The machine is just too powerful,” O’Reilly tells Newsmax: “She may lose New Hampshire and Iowa. But it doesn’t matter.

“On Super Tuesday, she’s got the dough,” he says. “The Democratic stalwarts are going to come out in her favor.”

Sen. Clinton has been roundly criticized for waffling in recent debates on issues such as New York Gov. Elliott Spitzer’s now-defunct proposal to give driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. As a result, some pundits see her as politically vulnerable.

O’Reilly disagrees.

“She’s going to pretty much walk in there, I believe, unless there’s a scandal,” he says.

O’Reilly bases his assessment on the overall strength of Hillary’s political organization.

“The machine that she has built is so strong - the vote turnout, the donations to her campaign, the precinct chiefs everywhere - I mean these other guys aren’t going to compete with that. They can’t.

“Even if the far left doesn’t really like her that much, they are going to say, ‘Well it’s better than a Republican, so we’ll support her,’ ” he says.

The general election will be a far different story than the primary, however. In fact, O’Reilly handicaps that contest as even.

“Whenever you get Hillary Clinton involved in anything, you get tremendous emotion on both sides,” he explains. “I think that if the Republicans put up a strong candidate who can zero in on the terror war, and other things like immigration, it is going to be close.

“And it comes down to Ohio and Florida,” he adds.

O’Reilly’s other predictions:

• Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are in a dead heat for the GOP nomination: “If I had to bet, I’d say Giuliani will probably take the day.”

• Terrorism and the threat of Iranian nuclear weapons remain the biggest issues facing America. If another 9/11-style attack takes place, O’Reilly predicts the country will swing “sharply to the right.”

• About half of the country still doesn’t understand that aggressive measures are necessary to protect the United States from future terrorist attack. “People have got to wake up. 9/11 wasn’t a one-time deal,” he warns.

• Hillary will not give Sen. Barack Obama the nod as her running mate. “She needs to get somebody in the Ohio realm who can influence the vote there. She’s already got the African-American vote. Anything can happen in these kinds of deals, but to me she’s got to be looking for somebody who can swing Ohio over to her.”

Can 3-D and a Nude Angelina Jolie Save Hollywood?

2007-11-20T14:26:00.000-05:00

It’s a formula that might be able to give the Hollywood box-office an assist — Angelina Jolie sans clothes, computer generated animation, and 3-D effects.

The Robert Zemeckis-directed film “Beowulf” hit No. 1 this week despite Jolie’s use of the same old Transylvania accent she wielded in “A Mighty Heart” and “Alexander.”

In his latest film, Zemeckis uses performance-capture technology to render lifelike images of stars Ray Winstone and Jolie. In Jolie’s case, the realistic imaging just happens to have lots of skin showing.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is involved with the film via the DreamWorks/Paramount venture, apparently sees 3-D movies as potential overall box-office saviors.

The DreamWorks Animation exec told the New York Post, “I think this becomes something that so differentiates what you get in your home versus what you get in a movie theater, it becomes a real driver to keep people excited about the movie going experience.”

“Beowulf” took in $28.1 million in its opening weekend, and 40 percent of the cash came from 3-D showings in regular theaters and on Imax screens. (Twenty percent of the screens brought in 40 percent of the gross.)

Clinton Says No to Licenses for Illegals

2007-11-14T22:46:00.000-05:00

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday came out against granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, after weeks of pressure in the presidential race to take a position on a now-failed ID plan from her home state governor.

Clinton has faced criticism from candidates in both parties for her noncommittal answers on New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's attempt to allow illegal immigrants in his state to receive driver's licenses. Spitzer abandoned the effort Wednesday.

"I support Governor Spitzer's decision today to withdraw his proposal," Clinton said in a statement. "As president, I will not support driver's licenses for undocumented people and will press for comprehensive immigration reform that deals with all of the issues around illegal immigration including border security and fixing our broken system."

Clinton stumbled when asked about the issue during a Democratic debate two weeks ago, and her new position comes the day before another debate where opponents are expected to raise the issue again.

Spitzer met with New York lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday, and conceded that there was too much public opposition to his plan. Clinton did not attend the meeting.

"It does not take a stethoscope to hear the pulse of New Yorkers on this topic," he said.

The Democratic governor introduced the plan two months ago with the goal of increased security, safer roads and an opportunity to bring immigrants "out of the shadows." Opponents charged the scheme would make it easier for would-be terrorists to get identification, and make the country less safe.

The decision is another example of the roadblocks high-profile immigration reforms have faced this year. Less than five months ago, Congress failed to pass legislation that would legalize as many as 12 million unlawful immigrants and fortify the border with Mexico.

"The federal government has lost control of its borders... and now has no solution to deal with it," Spitzer said.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called Spitzer's reversal on the license issue "a good development" and said immigration is a federal issue for which his department has to "ramp up enforcement."

"What I want to make sure is that states aren't working at cross purposes with us and enabling the kind of conduct we're enforcing against," Chertoff told The Associated Press by telephone from London.

Kucinich to Force Vote on Cheney Impeachment

2007-11-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

By: Susan Jones, CNSNews.com Senior Editor

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, the liberal Democrat who's launched a presidential campaign, says he plans to force an up-or-down vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on an impeachment resolution against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Kucinich announced last week that he will offer a "privileged resolution" on Nov. 6 that would require House members, within two days, to vote on what to do with the impeachment measure.

He plans to discuss the matter in a conference call on Monday evening.

"The momentum is building for impeachment," Kucinich said in a Nov. 2 news release. "Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President's abuse of power."

House Resolution 333 says Cheney should be impeached for "high crimes and misdemeanors," because he "purposely manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens and Congress of the United States by fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against the nation of Iraq in a manner damaging to our national security interests."

Kucinich insists that Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting on the supremacy of the Executive Branch.

The resolution introducing articles of impeachment against the vice president has 21 cosponsors, all of them Democrats.

"Congress must hold the Vice President accountable," Kucinich said last week. He accused Cheney of using his office to advocate the "continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran."

For the record, at a San Francisco rally against climate change on Saturday, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan wore a T-shirt reading, "Arrest Cheney First," the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Sheehan is now running for the House seat of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Bono Extolls the White House Virtues of Michael Bloomberg

2007-11-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Wearing his trademark wraparound sunglasses and a shirt unbuttoned down to his navel, Bono all but endorsed for president New York’s current mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

When U2’s front man was asked whether he thought Bloomberg could do more good as a president or philanthropist, the rocker told reporters, “He's a great and gifted manager and I think he could do an awful lot of good inside or outside the White House.”

Bono was in the Big Apple on the mayor’s invitation to discuss the singer’s various philanthropic projects.

As Bono no doubt knows, Bloomberg is a billionaire who claims his life will be dedicated to giving away money; this despite the talk of him running as an Independent candidate after finishing up with his mayoral duties.

“What I'm interested in is not just his [Bloomberg’s] cash, but his intellect, and how his business acumen could be used to work for the world's poor,” Bono said.

Wonder if Bono thinks that in Bloomberg he’s found another GOP-dividing, vote- chipping, Clinton-assisting Ross Perot.

Scriptwriter for ‘Lions for Lambs’ Was a Clinton White House Intern

2007-11-07T09:17:00.001-05:00

Even the mainstream media critic crowd has had to acknowledge that the Robert Redford-directed “Lions for Lambs” film is told through a Left Coast lens.

Variety calls the movie (which incidentally also co-stars Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise) “back-bendingly liberal but also deeply patriotic.”

The Hollywood Reporter points out that although Redford and scriptwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan set out arguments both for and against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there’s “no doubt” about “where they [Redford and Carnahan] stand.”

And veteran film critic Emanuel Levy says “Lions for Lambs” is Redford’s “most overtly political drama.”

An explanation for the strong leftward tilt of the movie can be found in the background of Carnahan.

While pursuing political science studies at USC, “Lions” scriptwriter Carnahan was also an intern in former President Bill Clinton’s White House. Carnahan’s responsibilities included working in a war room that defended Hillary Clinton's failed healthcare plan.

Carnahan received a career boost from older brother Joe who directed “Smokin' Aces” and was scriptwriter of the more even-handed terrorist-related movie “The Kingdom.”

Die and you're under arrest! Britain's most stupid laws

2007-11-07T09:10:00.000-05:00

Queen Elizabeth II's speech in the British parliament Tuesday may have been routine but at least nobody got bored to death. That would have been against the law.

Dying in parliament is an offence and is also by far the most absurd law in Britain, according to a survey of nearly 4,000 people by a television channel showing a legal drama series.

And though the lords were clad in their red and white ermine cloaks and ambassadors from around the world wore colourful national costumes, at least nobody turned up in a suit of armour. Illegal.

Other rules deemed utterly stupid included one that permits a pregnant woman to urinate in a policeman's hat and murdering bow-and-arrow-carrying Scotsmen within the city walls of York, northern England.

A law stating that in Liverpool, only a clerk in a tropical fish store is allowed to be publicly topless, was also ridiculous, said a poll of 3,931 people for UKTV Gold television out Tuesday.

Nearly half of those surveyed admitted to breaking the ban on eating mince pies on Christmas Day, which dates back to the 17th century and was originally designed to outlaw gluttony during the rule of the Puritan Oliver Crowmell.

The laws and other regulations were culled from published research into ancient legislation that has never been repealed although subsequent statutes have rendered them obsolete.

Respondents were given a shortlist and asked to vote.

Most ridiculous British law:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 percent)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (seven percent)

3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (six percent)

4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (five percent)

5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (four percent)

6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (four percent)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (3.5 percent)

8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (three percent)

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (three percent)

10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (two percent)

Voter Unrest Threatens Democrats in 2008

2007-11-05T08:39:00.002-05:00

Widespread dissatisfaction with the government in Washington and the state of the nation in general could spell trouble for the Democrats in next year’s elections.

With President Bush’s approval ratings in the tank, the Democrats have been expected to follow their 2006 takeover of Congress with further gains in 2008 — including the White House.

But the history of recent decades shows that “whenever voters get this unhappy, unpredictable things happen,” John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei write in The Politico.

A recent USA Today/Gallup Poll found that 72 percent of those surveyed are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., and only 26 percent are satisfied.

“The last time the national mood was so gloomy was in 1992, when the first President Bush was ousted from the White House and H. Ross Perot received the highest percentage of the vote of any third party candidate in 80 years,” USA Today reports.

In a clearly ominous sign for Democrats, pollster Stan Greenberg found in October that 69 percent of voters disapprove of the job the Democratic-controlled Congress is doing, up 20 percent since January and the highest disapproval rating since the party reclaimed both Houses last year.

Congress fared even more poorly in a USA Today/Gallup Poll in August, receiving an approval rating of just 18 percent, and while its rating in the current poll has risen, it still stands at a miserable 29 percent.

The poll also found that 84 percent of Democratic respondents felt the country was on the wrong track.

And a survey by the Field Poll in California last week found that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a job approval rating of just 35 percent in her home state — and a disapproval rating of 40 percent.

“The anti-Washington mood in the country — aimed at both a Republican president and a Democrat-controlled Congress — has reached breathtaking levels,” according to the report in The Politico.

Weak approval ratings for Congress led to a change in power benefiting the GOP in 1980 and 1994, and benefiting Democrats in 2006, pollster and Democratic consultant Mark Mellman noted.

Picking up a cue from voter unhappiness with the Democrats in the Senate and House, House Republican Whip Roy Blount of Missouri remarked at a news conference last week: “Never has a Congress spent so much time to accomplish so little.”

Giuliani Opposes Law of the Sea Treaty

2007-11-05T08:39:00.001-05:00

Rudy Giuliani has become the latest Republican presidential candidate to denounce the controversial Law of the Sea Treaty now working its way through the Senate.

The treaty, called LOST by opponents, would empower a United Nation-affiliated organization to control the world’s oceans.

On Wednesday the Senate Foreign Relations committee voted 17-4 to send the treaty to the full Senate for ratification.

U.S. participation in the treaty, which has been signed by 154 other countries, has been held up since 1982 when concerns about deep-sea mining rights arose during the Ronald Reagan administration.

President Bush favors signing the treaty, and the Pentagon has called fears about ceding U.S. sovereignty to the U.N. unfounded.

But in a statement posted on Giuliani’s campaign Web site on Oct. 30, he said: “I oppose ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty. I believe the treaty is well intentioned, and I appreciate the hard work of U.S. negotiators who sought to resolve problems in the treaty first identified by President Reagan.

"I also understand the arguments of those — particularly in our military — who claim that this treaty will enhance America’s ability to guarantee freedom of the seas for all peace-loving nations.

“But I believe that the treaty is fundamentally flawed. I cannot support the creation of yet another unaccountable international bureaucracy that might infringe on American sovereignty and curtail America’s freedoms. I oppose ratification of this treaty as along as it fails to address these concerns.”

GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney, John McCain, Fred Thompson, and Mike Huckabee had previously come out in opposition to the treaty.

The Coalition to Preserve American Sovereignty, an organization that opposes LOST, has charged that it would force the U.S. to give up certain controls of its territorial waters. It said in a press release: “The emerging debate about the Law of the Sea Treaty will enable the electorate to choose between those who favor … greatly empowering world government agencies and unaccountable international bureaucracies on the one hand and those who are intent on preserving and promoting American sovereignty and interests on the other.”

Despite passage of the treaty by the Senate committee, it faces stiff opposition from Republicans in the Senate.

“This treaty will not be adopted,” said Sen. Kyl, R-Ariz. “There aren’t the votes to pass it.”

FBI Thinks China Is Greatest Threat

2007-11-05T08:38:00.000-05:00

The Federal Bureau of Investigation believes that China poses the greatest threat to the U.S. in terms of espionage — and that thousands of “front companies” in America have been set up to aid Chinese spying, according to the Maldon Institute.

A new report from the respected think tank, titled “The Chinese Secret Intelligence Service,” warns, “China’s intelligence services today consist of a vast shadowy organization that employs approximately 2 million full- or part-time agents.

“Federal officials in the United States, in numerous interviews during the past year, say and have said that there are more foreign spies operating in the United States than during the Cold War . . .

“In size and numbers, no country now can equal the numbers of Chinese spies in our country.”

The report quotes David Szady, FBI assistant director for counterintelligence, who said in a recent interview that the Chinese spymasters “figured out that what they want is throughout the United States, not just embassies, not just consulates. It’s a major effort.”

The Maldon Institute report states: “The FBI believes that for the next 10 to 15 years, China is the greatest threat to the United States.

“The Bureau believes that today there are more than 3,000 ‘front’ companies in America whose real job is to direct espionage efforts. Then there are thousands of Chinese visitors, students and business people: how many of them have tasks to perform for Beijing’s Ministry of State Security?”

A great deal of the FBI’s information comes from the highest-ranking Chinese defector to arrive in Washington: Xu Junping, director of Strategy in Beijing’s Defense Ministry.

He claims that for five years he oversaw all operations against the U.S. and set up the business plans for the more than 3,000 Chinese companies launched to operate across the United States, according to the report.

The report also intimates the success of the Chinese espionage: “An analyst in the Defense Intelligence Agency informed a colleague that during the past three years, the Chinese have stolen $24 billion worth of secrets, and that many of these items enabled Beijing to accelerate its space program . . .

“The FBI also is following up on a number of investigative leads, such as who is funding individual Chinese students and which students, after graduation with a computer or other science degree, seek employment with a high-tech company.”

Why Hollywood’s Anti-War Films Are Bombing

2007-11-03T09:26:00.000-05:00

Despite big name casts, two films from Hollywood’s current crop of anti-war flicks are box-office flops.

“In the Valley of Elah” has three Oscar winners in its cast line-up, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Additionally, the movie is directed by Paul Haggis, who also has a gold statue to his credit for the film “Crash.”

Even with all the star power “Elah” opened its first weekend with a paltry $1.5 mill.

Another anti-war film, “Rendition,” which features three more Academy Award winners, Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep and Alan Arkin, took in an embarrassing $4.1 million in its opening weekend.

Hollywood decision makers have been deriving comfort from opinion polls, which show a majority of the public no longer supports the war in Iraq. But once again Hollywood is showing that it is out of touch.

Left leaners in Hollywood have a visceral hatred for the Bush administration and enormous hostility toward the war.

However, for the public, the underlying feelings are more those of war weariness, and there is little appetite for activism or anti-war related cinematic fare.

After being barraged with negative imagery on the news each day and inundated with discussions regarding the war from presidential candidates, political pundits and the like, the public is just not in the mood to seek out movies with such themes.

Next to bomb will likely be Brian De Palma’s “Redacted” and Robert Redford and Tom Cruise’s “Lions for Lambs.”

But also likely to happen in the near future, despite poor box-office performances, is a bunch of slaps on the back to each other in the form of Oscar nominations.

Schwarzenegger vs. Boxer for U.S. Senate?

2007-11-03T09:25:00.000-05:00

Speculation is rampant in California that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will challenge liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer for her Senate seat in 2010 – and a new poll has them running neck and neck.

A California Field survey of registered voters released Tuesday showed Schwarzenegger with 44 percent of the votes in a hypothetical election, and Boxer with 43 percent. The rest were undecided.

The poll also showed Schwarzenegger with a favorable job performance rating – 56 percent of respondents said they approve of his performance as governor, and only 23 percent disapprove, with his support coming from a majority of both Republicans and Democrats.

“It would be a fabulous battle royale,” Republican consultant Rob Stutzman, the governor’s former communications director, told the San Jose Mercury News about a Schwarzenegger-Boxer match-up.

“And poll numbers like these just feed the parlor game.”

Three-term Sen. Boxer is up for re-election in 2010, when Gov. Schwarzenegger will be finishing his second and final term.

The conventional wisdom is that he most likely will not seek the Senate seat. Some observers believe he might instead run for mayor of Los Angeles, accept a Cabinet post in Washington, or return to Hollywood as a producer or director.

But others believe he will find the lure of “the nation’s most exclusive club” difficult to ignore.

Democratic strategist Garry South told the Mercury News: “I don’t think Arnold is any more immune to that than any politician. There’s nothing like being in office, like people calling you governor, like having a security detail around you. You can’t underestimate the allure of that status.”

Boxer – who has been seen as vulnerable to a challenge by a moderate Republican – is taking no chances. She raised the possibility of a Schwarzenegger run in a recent fundraising e-mail to supporters.

Arnold, for his part, has given no indication of his plans.

“Of all the things the governor is worried about right now,” his communications director Adam Mendelsohn said, “this may be last on the list.”

Is Hillary vs. Rudy Inevitable?

2007-11-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

Dick Morris

What if the current polls in Iowa are the final result?

What if Romney wins in Iowa and then comes in first again in New Hampshire? What if Giuliani stumbles badly in Iowa and finishes fourth? What if Huckabee surges and finishes second in Iowa? What if Fred Thompson makes an unimpressive third-place finish there?

And, on the Democratic side, what if Hillary only narrowly beats Obama in the first caucus state?

With two months to go before the Iowa caucus, everything can change, and probably will, but it is worth speculating on what the impact will be if things don’t change much from now until then.

On the Republican side, a Romney victory in Iowa would virtually guarantee a win in New Hampshire. The two states, in media terms, are practically one. Two-thirds of New Hampshire lives in the southern part of the state that watches Boston television every night. Since Romney served as governor in Massachusetts, he will probably win New Hampshire anyway. A win in Iowa would make it a fait accompli.

Two victories would make Romney the front-runner for the Republican nomination. Coupled with a Giuliani stumble in Iowa, it could totally change the dynamic of the Republican primary. Here’s what might happen:

Rudy could come to be seen as too antagonistic to the Christian right, and moderates might once again turn to McCain as the less inflammatory option, sidetracking the former New York mayor.

Huckabee, coming in a strong second, could take off and become the poor man’s Romney, taking advantage of his greater consistency on social issues, his Christian (read: non-Mormon) beliefs, and his support of the Fair Tax as an alternative to the IRS.

Republicans would likely panic about the idea of a Mormon candidate and worry about his prospects, making Huckabee and either Rudy or McCain viable as alternatives.

Thompson will be forced out, having lost his position as the socially conservative answer to Rudy.

Edwards, who had been leading in Iowa until recently, would probably have to leave the race. That would coalesce the entire ABH vote (Anybody But Hillary) around Obama, giving him a leg up in the national race.

Hillary’s vulnerability, newly revealed in the Iowa vote, could create a sense that she might not be electable given her baggage and lead Democratic voters to look seriously at Obama. The result could be a real slugfest between the two candidates, making a mockery of the idea that her nomination is inevitable.

And the outcome for Democrats?

Hillary probably still wins.

The history of Democratic primaries has always been that challengers emerge and run stronger than anyone believed they would but then fade and the front-runner prevails after all (see Bradley in 2000, Tsongas after New Hampshire and Brown after Connecticut in 1992, Gore after the Southern primaries in 1988, Hart in 1984 and Kennedy in 1980).

And among the Republicans?

Who knows?

The race would be thrown into chaos. Anyone could win.

Romney would have the momentum, but doubts about his ability to win as a Mormon would make his lead unstable. Huckabee would be gaining, but he may not be well enough known to make it. Giuliani could still recover, given his strong national standing, but would be hobbled. And McCain would still have his immigration position hanging over his head, but as Rudy falters, he might pick up the slack.

Then again, Hillary could open up a large lead in Iowa as her juggernaut gets going. And Rudy could, at least, finish a strong second to Romney in Iowa, and perhaps beat him, making it a Giuliani-Romney runoff in the main primaries, which Rudy probably wins. Then the general election match-up would be Hillary vs. Rudy, as we have all anticipated.

But what if?

Obama Bashes Hillary for Playing Gender Card

2007-11-03T09:22:00.001-05:00

Democrat Barack Obama, the only black candidate for president, accused rival Hillary Clinton on Friday of hiding behind her gender after she was pummeled in a debate with six male candidates.

"I am assuming and I hope that Sen. Clinton wants to be treated like everybody else," the Illinois senator said in an interview with NBC's "Today Show."

"When we had a debate back in Iowa awhile back, we spent I think the first 15 minutes of the debate hitting me on various foreign policy issues. And I didn't come out and say: 'Look, I'm being hit on because I look different from the rest of the folks on the stage'," he said.

"I assumed it was because there were real policy differences there, and I think that has to be the attitude that all of us take. We're not running for the president of the city council. We're running for the presidency of the United States."

He was speaking a day after New York Sen. Clinton -- the only woman running for president -- urged women voters to rally behind her against "the boys club of presidential politics."

Obama and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who are both trailing Clinton in polls by a wide margin, attacked the former first lady's honesty, leadership and ability to win the November 2008 election in a Tuesday night debate.

Obama noted on Friday that Clinton is widely viewed as a tough figure in national politics.

"So it doesn't make sense for her, after having run that way for eight months, the first time that people start challenging her point of view, that suddenly she backs off and says: 'Don't pick on me'," he said.

"That is not obviously how we would expect her to operate if she were president."

PETA Goes After Britney Spears’ Pets

2007-10-09T21:23:00.001-05:00

After being ordered to surrender custody of her children to ex-husband Kevin Federline, Britney Spears now has to suffer the indignation of being pestered by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

A PETA rep, Michael McGraw, said that the group's president wrote a letter to Federline asking him to seek legal custody of Spears' pets.

“PETA fears that the dogs may be in danger,” McGraw said.

PETA pointed out that Britney takes her Yorkshire terrier puppy named London along with her to nightclubs and shopping malls.

McGraw also notes that the kids could use the presence of the pets right now, saying, “The companionship of beloved animals can make a world of difference for the kids during this obviously difficult time.”

Brad Pitt Endorses George Clooney for President

2007-10-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

Lib political pundits having been breathlessly awaiting actor-activist Brad Pitt’s announcement of his choice for leader of the free world.

Would it be Hollywood fave Barack-star Obama, socialist sweetie-pie Hillary Clinton or Internet idol Ron Paul?

Pitt recently revealed who he’d like to see running the country — fellow Oscar-chaser George Clooney.

The “Assassination of Jesse James” lead urged the “Michael Clayton” star to seek the White House, according to Parade Magazine.

“George should do it! He’d be quite good,” Pitt told Parade.

For second choice, Pitt picked Ben Affleck.

What about Pitt going after the job himself?

“I never thought about it,” Pitt said. “I have no desire at this point. Maybe I serve better by not going through that door.”

Note the “at this point” wiggle words. Looks like Pitt is a politician after all.

Wesley Clark: Nix Limbaugh From Armed Forces Radio

2007-10-04T10:59:00.000-05:00

In a blog to the Huffington Post, former NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark called for Congress to immediately take steps to remove conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio.

Last week, Rush Limbaugh labeled any American soldier who supports an end to the war in Iraq as "phony," noted Clark.

"We challenged Limbaugh through an email campaign to invite VoteVets.org's Jon Soltz to his show and repeat these same insults to an Iraq war veteran's face. Over 10,000 people responded and emailed Rush -- but to our disappointment, he has refused to respond to our request.

"It's time to put real pressure on Rush Limbaugh. His show is broadcast on Armed Forces Radio, and this time we are going to go straight to the lifeblood of Rush's show -- Congress. Congress has the power to remove Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio, and it won't be as easy for elected officials to ignore our call."

Clark further decried the fact that Republicans in Congress have drafted a resolution supporting Rush Limbaugh, "commending [his] relentless efforts to build and maintain troop morale through worldwide radio broadcasts and personal visits to conflict regions."

"That's outrageous," concluded Clark. "Rush Limbaugh's 'phony soldiers' comment should not be commended -- it should be condemned. And it's time to tell Congress to act swiftly to hold Rush Limbaugh accountable."

Limbaugh: Sen. Harry Reid Should Resign

2007-10-04T10:54:00.000-05:00

Talk-show giant Rush Limbaugh sharply escalated his war of words with Democrats in the Senate Tuesday, calling for the resignation of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

He also characterized as "boneheaded" Reid's effort to enlist senators to pressure Limbaugh's syndicator, Clear Channel Communications, to censor him.

"And the thing that we ought to demand here," Limbaugh told his listeners, "is that Harry Reid step down and resign as the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, for his constant, uncontrollable contempt of our armed forces; his repeated use of our troops for political purposes. Harry Reid has failed in his mission to lead the Democrats in the Senate, to get what they want . . . He is the one who is dishonoring the troops; he is the one who is making a mockery of their service."

Reid has charged that Limbaugh called America's service personnel in Iraq "phony soldiers."

Limbaugh's remarks appeared to actually refer to a specific soldier, Jesse Macbeth, who appeared in a YouTube video stating that he and other American soldiers had killed Iraqi civilians. Macbeth was later sentenced to five months in prison for falsifying his service record.

Joining Reid's broadside against Limbaugh on the floor of the Senate was Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who suggested that perhaps Limbaugh was "high on his drugs again" when he made the "phony soldiers" statement. Limbaugh called Harkin's remarks "pathetic."

Limbaugh responded: "[It was] such a demeaning thing that [Harkin] did and so below the decorum and the stature one would associated with the United States Senate. But that's what these people have become."

Limbaugh called him "Tom 'Phony-War-Hero' Harkin."

"What do I mean by that? He lied about being in Vietnam in combat," Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh told his listeners that the attack on him was actually intended to distract the activist base from the inability of Democratic leaders to stop the war in Iraq, and the historically low ratings of the Democratic-controlled Congress.

"The left, ladies and gentlemen, is imploding," Limbaugh said. "They are fixated in taking down anyone and anything in the process — me, General Petraeus, anyone they think stands in the way of their ascension to the White House, and their further consolidation of power. They are Stalinist-like.

"Anyone who says something they don't want to hear, that they don't like, must be officially condemned by the state, publicly. Even private citizens who get in their way, in the free market, must be condemned, must be smeared, must be lied about."

Limbaugh also said Reid and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and other Middle East leaders, are employing a common tactic: distracting supporters from their own failures.

"Ahmadinejad in Iran, no different," Limbaugh said. "He needs the Great Satan to hang onto control there. Harry Reid needs to do the same thing. Both men, Ahmadinejad and Harry Reid, have been disappointments, miserable failures to the people they claim to lead. Both of them are in trouble, and their publicity stunts prove it."

Limbaugh said Reid has a "long, sorry record of abandoning troops on the battlefield. What do you think 55 resolutions to bring the troops home since they took office in January of this year is about? It's about defeat, it was about destroying this presidency, it was about using the U.S. military to advance his own party's political fortunes."

Limbaugh repeated his invitation for Reid to appear on his show. "Come on the program, say those things to my face, and let's discuss this," Limbaugh urged.

"Harry Reid challenged my patriotism yesterday," he added. "He did so openly and blatantly on the floor of the United States Senate."

He added, "Everyone of us who loves this country should be outraged at the things these Democrats have said, the things that they have tried to do. And it's laughable to watch them now try to redeem themselves as supporters of the United States military, after months and months and months of proclaiming the surge a failure, after calling General Petraeus essentially a liar before he had said a word before them when he came to issue the report they required on the effects of the surge."

Prosecutors Lay Out Case Against Jefferson

2007-10-03T18:28:00.000-05:00

Before searching Rep. William J. Jefferson's New Orleans home in August 2005, FBI agents confronted him with a video that showed him accepting $100,000 from a government informant, according to a prosecution document filed yesterday in federal court in Alexandria.

Afterward, the Louisiana Democrat sank back into a couch in his living room and "with total dejection remarked 'what a waste,' " according to the government account, which did not elaborate on his comment.

Jefferson then "questioned how his reputation could survive" and expressed concern whether the search warrant affidavit could be permanently sealed to keep the information from being made public, according to the document.

Meanwhile, on the same day, FBI agents found $90,000 of the $100,000 in marked bills in Jefferson's freezer at his Capitol Hill home. The government alleged that Jefferson took the money from a Virginia businesswoman who was working as an informant, to bribe a Nigerian official in a business deal.

The pretrial document provides a glimpse into the public corruption investigation's early months. It was among 14 answers filed yesterday by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alexandria in response to motions filed this month by Jefferson's lawyers.

Jefferson, 60, the former co-chairman of the congressional caucus on Nigeria and African trade faces a 16-count indictment that includes allegations that he used his position to solicit hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes for himself and his family, falsely reported trips to Africa as official business, sought to bribe a former Nigerian vice president and promoted U.S. financing for a sugar factory in Nigeria whose owners paid fees to a Jefferson family company in Louisiana.

Two business associates, Vernon L. Jackson, owner of a Louisville-based high-tech company, and Brett Pfeffer, a former Jefferson aide, are in prison after pleading guilty to bribing the congressman.

Judy Smith, a spokeswoman for Jefferson, said last night that his defense team was reviewing the government response.

Jefferson's lawyer filed motions on Sept. 7 asking for a change of venue to the District, alleging that authorities indicted the congressman in Virginia because there would be fewer black jurors.

The government opposed those motions, describing Jefferson's claims as "outrageous" and "preposterous" and arguing that many of the alleged crimes occurred in Virginia.

Jefferson's lawyers had also asked a judge to dismiss 14 of the charges, insisting that Jefferson did nothing illegal and asserting that any statement or any evidence seized during the raid on his New Orleans home should be suppressed. They said the FBI overstepped its bounds, bullied Jefferson, made him feel he was being detained and therefore should have read him his Miranda rights.

The government denied those claims and said agents were civil toward the congressman during the search of his New Orleans home. And though they watched his every move during the search, they did not keep him from leaving the house or ending the interview, and therefore did not need to read him his rights, the filing said.

In fact, the government said, Jefferson was very cooperative during the interview until FBI agents asked him what he did with the $100,000.

"What?" he replied, to which an agent said it was the FBI's money.

"I think I should stop talking to you boys," he said.

Agents then played the video on a small FBI DVD player.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III has yet to rule on the motions.

MoveOn.org Pays NY Times $77,000 More

2007-09-27T13:48:00.000-05:00

MoveOn.org has paid the New York Times $77,508 after the newspaper confirmed that its ad department had undercharged the group for its controversial ad that called General David Petraeus “General Betray Us.”

Many critics, including Vice President Dick Cheney and several Republican presidential candidates, had charged the newspaper with giving subsidized ad rates to MoveOn because it sympathized with its views, the Times acknowledged Wednesday.

The New York Post had disclosed that the Times charged the left-wing group only about $65,000 for the full-page ad, while the “open rate” for such an ad is $181,000.

The ad in the Sept. 10 issue of the Times accused Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House."

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., called for hearings into the discount, maintaining that it “could constitute an unlawful campaign contribution” to the political action group.

The Times at first maintained that it charged MoveOn the same “standby” rate of $64,575 that it charges all advocacy groups for a full-page ad that can run anytime during a 7-day period.

The sales representative should have charged $142,083, according to Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis, because MoveOn wanted the ad to run on a specific day and therefore was not entitled to the “standby” rate.

Mathis was quoted on Sunday as saying the ad rep had “made a mistake” in granting the discount.

However, when asked if the sales representative was sympathetic to MoveOn, Mathis said on Tuesday: “The salesperson did not see the content of the ad at the time the rate was quoted. There was no bias.”

Columnist George Will wrote on Wednesday: “The Times, a media corporation that is a fountain of detailed editorial instructions about how the rest of the world should conduct its business, seems confused about how it conducts its own.”

GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani ran an ad of his own in the Times, attacking the MoveOn ad as a “character assassination” of Petraeus, commander of the American forces in Iraq. He paid the “standby” rate.

According to the Times, a Giuliani spokesman insisted he was entitled to the standby rate because the Times did not guarantee when it would run the ad.

Eye of the Beholder

2007-09-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

by Victor Davis Hanson
The American Enterprise Online

War torn Iraq has about 26 million residents, a peaceful California perhaps now 35 million. The former is a violent and impoverished landscape, the latter said to be paradise on Earth. But how you envision either place to some degree depends on the eye of the beholder and is predicated on what the daily media appear to make of each.

As a fifth generation Californian, I deeply love this state, but still imagine what the reaction would be if the world awoke each morning to be told that once again there were six more murders, 27 rapes, 38 arsons, 180 robberies, and 360 instances of assault in California yesterday, today, tomorrow, and every day. I wonder if the headlines would scream about "Nearly 200 poor Californians butchered again this month!"

How about a monthly media dose of "600 women raped in February alone!" Or try, "Over 600 violent robberies and assaults in March, with no end in sight!" Those do not even make up all of the state's yearly 200,000 violent acts that law enforcement knows about.

Iraq's judicial system seems a mess. On the eve of the war, Saddam let out 100,000 inmates from his vast prison archipelago. He himself sat in the dock months after his trial began. But imagine an Iraq with a penal system like California 's with 170,000 criminals - an inmate population larger than those of Germany , France , the Netherlands , and Singapore combined. Just to house such a shadow population costs our state nearly $7 billion a year or about the same price of keeping 40,000 Army personnel per year in Iraq . What would be the image of our Golden State if we were reminded each morning, "Another $20 million spent today on housing our criminals"?

Some of California 's most recent prison scandals would be easy to sensationalize: "Guards watch as inmates are raped!" Or "Correction officer accused of having sex with under-aged detainee!" And apropos of Saddam's sluggish trial, remember that our home state multiple murderer, Tookie Williams, was finally executed in December 2005 - TWENTY SIX years after he was originally sentenced.

Much is made of the inability to patrol Iraq 's borders with Iran , Jordan , Kuwait , Saudi Arabia , Syria , and Turkey But California has only a single border with a foreign nation, not six. Yet over 3 million foreigners who sneaked in illegally now live in our state. Worse, there are about 15,000 convicted alien felons incarcerated in our penal system, costing about $500 million a year. Imagine the potential tabloid headlines: "Illegal aliens in state comprise population larger than San Francisco !" or "Drugs, criminals, and smugglers given free pass into California !"

Every year, over 4,000 Californians die in car crashes - more than the number of Americans lost so far in the years of combat operations in Iraq . In some sense, then, our badly maintained roads, and often poorly trained and sometimes intoxicated drivers, are even more lethal than IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices.) Perhaps tomorrow's headline might scream out at us: "300 Californians to perish this month on state highways! Hundreds more will be maimed and crippled!"

In 2001, California had 32 days of power outages, despite paying nearly the highest rates for electricity in the United States . Before complaining about the smoke in Baghdad rising from private generators, think back to the run on generators in California when they were contemplated as a future part of every household's line of defense.

We're told that Iraq 's finances are a mess. Yet until recently, so were California 's. Two years ago, Governor Schwarzenegger inherited a $38 billion annual budget shortfall. That could have made for strong morning newscast teasers: "Another $100 million borrowed today - $3 billion more in red ink to pile up by month's end!"

So is California comparable to Iraq ? Hardly. Yet it could easily be sketched by a reporter intent on doing so as a bankrupt, crime-ridden area with murderous highways, tens of thousands of inmates, with wide open borders.

I myself recently returned home to California , without incident, from a visit to Iraq 's notorious Sunni Triangle. While I was gone, a drug-addicted criminal with a long list of convictions broke into our kitchen at 4 a.m. was surprised by my wife and daughter, and fled with our credit cards, cash, keys, and cell phones. Sometimes I wonder who really was safer that week.

NY suit seeks to stop immigration raids

2007-09-21T11:21:00.001-05:00

Immigration authorities violated Hispanic families' civil rights by raiding their homes without court warrants, sometimes bursting in before dawn to look for people who didn't live there, according to a federal lawsuit.

The suit was filed Thursday on behalf of 15 people — including seven U.S. citizens — who say their suburban homes were raided earlier this year.

Arguing that the raids violate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches, the suit seeks unspecified damages and a halt on the home raids until Immigration and Customs Enforcement develops legal guidelines for them.

Mark Thorn, an ICE spokesman, said the agency does not comment on pending lawsuits.

According to the lawsuit, a program dubbed Operation Return to Sender dispatched armed federal agents to homes in search of illegal immigrants thought to have lingered after being ordered to leave the country. But the people sought often weren't there and couldn't "reasonably" have been expected to be, the lawsuit said.

In one case, authorities raided a home in East Hampton on Long Island around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 20 in search of a man who had moved out in 2003, according to the lawsuit. The family still living there were U.S. citizens, except for a child who is a legal resident awaiting naturalization.

"Because the immigrant communities are afraid to publicly challenge these home raids, they've been getting away with it," said Foster Maer, an attorney with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Democrats fail to pass anti-war bill

2007-09-21T11:20:00.001-05:00

The Senate rejected legislation Friday that would have ordered most U.S. troops home from Iraq in nine months, culminating a losing week for Democrats who failed to push through any anti-war proposal.

The vote, 47-47, fell 13 votes short of the 60 needed to pass.

"We're going to continue to lose lives and squander resources while they (the Iraqis) dawdle," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who sponsored the bill.

Republicans blocked the measure, contending it would have dire consequences for the region and usurp control of the war from seasoned generals. Last week, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, recommended to Congress and President Bush that some 130,000 troops be kept there through next summer — a slight decrease from the more than 160,000 troops there now.

"It would be a very overt rejection of Gen. Petraeus' leadership," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The military commanders "have earned the ability to carry on their mission," he later added.

Blocking the bill were 43 Republicans, Connecticut Independent Joseph Lierbman and Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. Whereas Nelson and Pryor say they are reluctant to embrace a timetable on troop withdrawals, Dodd said he refuses to support anything short of cutting of funding for combat.

Three Republicans — Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska — voted with 44 Democrats in favor of the bill.

Petraeus' Capitol Hill testimony is widely seen as a primary factor in shoring up support among Republicans, which had deteriorated steadily throughout summer. While still nervous about the ongoing violence in Iraq and unpopularity of the war, many GOP members say they now remain hopeful that another year of combat will stabilize Iraq and prevent U.S. troops from returning to the region a decade later.

"If we leave, we will be back — in Iraq and elsewhere — in many more desperate fights to protect our security and at an even greater cost in American lives and treasure," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a presidential candidate and the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

Frustrated by the lack of Republicans willing to break ranks, Democrats this week abandoned — for now — attempts to reach a bipartisan compromise on Levin's legislation. Levin had said he would have been willing to turn the nine-month date into a goal for troop withdrawals, rather than a mandated deadline.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Republicans, along with Bush, now own the war.

"Back home they assert their independence, but in Washington they walk in lockstep with the president and continue to support his failed policies," said Reid, D-Nev.

Recent polls show that American views of the war largely have not changed since Petraeus appeared before congressional committees two days last week.

A poll released this week by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 54 percent of Americans still favor bringing troops home as soon as possible. And despite slight improvements in the public's view of military progress, more said the U.S. will likely fail in Iraq than succeed — by 47 percent to 42 percent — about the same margin as in July.

Friday's vote finished a week of disappointments for Democrats.

On Wednesday, the Senate rejected legislation by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., that would have guaranteed troops more time at home; it fell by a 56-44 vote with 60 votes needed to advance. On Thursday, the Senate blocked legislation sponsored by Reid and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., that would have cut off funding for combat in June 2008. That measure failed by a 70-28 vote, 32 votes short of 60.

On Thursday, Republicans successfully pushed through a resolution condemning an advertisement by the liberal activist group MoveOn.org. Displayed in The New York Times, the ad taunted Petraeus as "General Betray Us."

The resolution, sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, passed by a 72-25 vote.

House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the House should consider a similar measure. But when asked if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., would allow it, spokesman Nadeam Elshami said in an e-mail: "The House is going to devote its full attention to providing health care to children, promoting energy independence to improve America's security, reducing global warming, and responsibly redeploying U.S. forces now in Iraq.

"These are the priorities of the American people," he said.

Glamorous politician wants law to allow 7-year itch

2007-09-21T10:04:00.001-05:00

Bavaria's most glamorous politician -- a flame-haired motorcyclist who helped bring down state premier Edmund Stoiber -- has shocked the Catholic state in Germany by suggesting marriage should last just 7 years.

Gabriele Pauli, who poses on her web site in motorcycle leathers, is standing for the leadership of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) -- sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) -- in a vote next week.

She told reporters at the launch of her campaign manifesto on Wednesday she wanted marriage to expire after seven years and accused the CSU, which promotes traditional family values, of nurturing ideals of marriage which are wide of the mark.

"The basic approach is wrong ... many marriages last just because people believe they are safe," she told reporters. "My suggestion is that marriages expire after seven years."

After that time, couples should either agree to extend their marriage or it should be automatically dissolved, she said.

Fifty-year-old Pauli, twice divorced, is a maverick intent on shaking up her male-dominated and mainly Catholic party which has dominated Bavarian politics since World War Two.

"This is about bringing ideas into the CSU and starting a discussion," she told German television on Thursday after she had unleashed a wave of criticism from other politicians.

Former foe Stoiber said she did not belong in the CSU and European lawmaker Ingo Freidrich dismissed her views.

"She is diametrically contradicting our Christian, ethical values," Freidrich said.

Peter Ramsauer, head of the CSU in Germany's parliament, compared Pauli's ideas to "the dirt under your fingernails".

Pauli, who attracted attention earlier this year when she posed for a magazine wearing long black latex gloves, was at the centre of a snooping scandal which eventually led to Stoiber, Bavarian premier for 14 years, saying he would stand down early.

She said his office tried to obtain details about lovers and alcohol consumption to use against her.

The CSU will elect Stoiber's successor as party head at a conference next week. He will be replaced as state premier in early October.

Viewed as a party rebel, Pauli stands almost no chance of winning next week's vote. The contest has been fought mainly between Bavarian state economy minister Erwin Huber and German Consumer Minister Horst Seehofer.

The popularity of Seehofer, a 58-year-old married father of three, has suffered from the disclosure that he had been having an affair with a younger woman who recently had his baby.

French Warn War with Iran Coming

2007-09-16T21:46:00.001-05:00

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday his country had to prepare for the possibility of war against Iran over its nuclear program, but he did not believe any such action was imminent.

Speaking in an interview on RTL radio and LCI television, Kouchner said the world's biggest powers should use further sanctions to show they were serious about stopping Tehran getting atom bombs before it came to war.

"We must prepare for the worst," Kouchner said, adding: "The worst, sir, is war."

Asked if France was involved in any planning towards war, he said: "The French army is not at the moment associated with anything at all, nor with any maneuver at all."

Tehran insists it only wants to master nuclear technology to produce electricity, but it has yet to comply with repeated U.N. demands that it halt uranium enrichment and other sensitive work that could potentially be used in producing weapons.

Kouchner's comments follow a similarly hawkish statement by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said last month in his first major foreign policy speech since taking office that a diplomatic push by the world's powers was the only alternative to "an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran."

France has said repeatedly it wants the U.N. Security Council to pass tougher sanctions against Iran over its failure to dispel fears that it is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons.

"We do not want to signal anything other than 'peace is in your interest, and in ours too,"' Kouchner said.

Asked whether he believed U.S. President George W. Bush would launch air strikes against Iran before the end of his term of office, he said: "Honestly, I don't think we've reached that stage, not at all. At least I hope so."

Web service gives alibis for adulterers

2007-09-12T11:33:00.000-05:00

Looking to get away for a weekend fling without getting caught? A new French company provides would-be adulterers with custom-made excuses that help take the danger of discovery out of cheating.

Founded six months ago by former private eye Regine Mourizard, Web-based Ibila can cook up invites to phony weekend seminars, fake emergency phone calls from work, invitations to nonexistent weddings — anything to justify cheating spouses' absence.

Mourizard said her service is aimed at protecting couples and families by allowing adulterers to live their flings undetected.

"If the alibi is well done and the spouse doesn't suspect anything, this can sometimes save marriages," Mourizard told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Here's how it works: In an e-mail message or call to Ibila, the prospective client requests an alibi for a specific date and time. Mourizard concocts just the right excuse, taking into account the client's profession and personal circumstances.

She and her co-worker, a computer specialist, draw up fake restaurant and hotel bills, receipts and other documents to help shore up what Mourizard calls her "little white lies."

If the adulterer was supposed to have been away for a seminar, the company can even provide the kinds of freebies — pens, hats and tee-shirts — sometimes given at such events.

Mourizard said she that because of privacy issues, she could only give details about one of her past clients, whom she called "Geraldine."

Married to a "strict man," Geraldine was desperate to get out of the house for an hour-long meeting with an ex-boyfriend who lived abroad and was briefly passing through town.

"This man was practically the love of her life and she had to see him," Mourizard said. Together, they hatched a plan.

Geraldine owned a driving school, so on the appointed day, Mourizard called her home pretending to be a student who needed a last-minute lesson before her driving test the following day.

"The husband totally bought it. He even offered to get the car out of the garage for her," Mourizard said.

The simplest excuses — like Geraldine's — cost euro19 (US$27), while more the more elaborate and time-consuming alibis can run upward of euro150 (US$207).

Mourizard insisted her business is completely above board because she concocts fake bills from invented companies, hotels and restaurants and does not doctor or forge real documents. She also requires clients to sign a document pledging not to use her materials to swindle their employers or the French government.

Upon request, the company can handle the logistics for clients' secret rendezvous, from making hotel reservations to booking train and plane tickets. Ibila also offers to buy illicit gifts, so that suspicious purchases at flower, perfume or chocolate shops don't appear on clients' bank statements.

Most of her clients — about 60 percent — are men, Mourizard said. They range in age from 25-60, but most are in their mid-forties.

Mourizard, a 50-year-old mother of two, said it was her experience as a private detective that led her to open Ibila — Europe's second such service, she said.

"For 20 years, I worked to keep people from doing what they wanted to do. And I then thought, 'what if I help them do it, in a safe way?'"

Following a "very amicable" divorce from her first husband, Mourizard remarried two years ago. Asked what her spouse thinks of her new business, she said: "He thinks I have some pretty bizarre ideas."

Is he suspicious when she gets strange phone calls or receives unexpected invitations in the mail?

"No, he trusts me completely. And I trust him. I mean, if he were cheating, I'd find him out in a second," she said.

Japan's prime minister says he'll resign

2007-09-12T11:32:00.001-05:00

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Wednesday he will resign, ending a troubled year-old government that has suffered a string of damaging scandals and a humiliating electoral defeat.

Abe said he was quitting to pave the way for ruling and opposition parties to work together to approve the extension of Tokyo's naval mission in support of the U.S.-led operation in Afghanistan.

"In the present situation it is difficult to push ahead with effective policies that win the support and trust of the public," Abe said in a nationally televised news conference. "I have decided that we need a change in this situation."

Abe, a nationalist whose support rating has plunged to 30 percent, also cited the ruling party's defeat in July 29 elections, in which the opposition took control of the upper house of Parliament.

The prime minister said he had instructed ruling party leaders to immediately search for a replacement, but he did not announce a date for his departure from office. His former foreign minister, Taro Aso, is considered a front-runner to replace him, though Aso said it was too soon for him to comment.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party announced it would use a streamlined election process to choose a successor. Kyodo News agency reported the party planned an election for LDP president next Wednesday.

The party leader is guaranteed election as prime minister because of the LDP's control of the powerful lower house of Parliament.

The sudden resignation came less than a month after Abe reshuffled his Cabinet in a bid to recover public support. He had been adamant that he would not step down to take responsibility for the LDP electoral defeat.

Abe announced his departure just as the government faced a battle in Parliament over whether to extend the country's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. Just days earlier, he said he would quit if he failed to win parliamentary passage of legislation extending the mission.

On Wednesday, Abe suggested that his departure could aid bipartisan passage of the bill.

"I have pondered how Japan should continue its fight against terrorism," Abe said Wednesday. "I now believe we need change. So Japan must continue its fight against terrorism under a new prime minister."

The United States has turned up the pressure on Japan to extend the mission. U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer met with Cabinet officials, including Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, earlier Wednesday to make Washington's case for extension.

The plenary session of the lower house was to be delayed until at least Friday, and the opposition criticized Abe for quitting just as the session was to heat up.

"I've been a politician for nearly 40 years, but I think this is the first time that a prime minister has remained in office after the ruling party lost a majority ... and expressed his resignation right before parliamentary questioning," said Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

Abe, at 52 Japan's youngest postwar prime minister, came into office a year ago with ambitious plans: to repair frayed relations with Asian neighbors, revise the 1947 pacifist constitution, and bolster Japan's role in international diplomatic and military affairs.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement praised Abe for presiding over a "clear improvement" in relations that nose-dived under Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, and called for continued closer ties. South Korea was similarly positive.

In Washington, Gordon Johnroe, spokesman for the White House's National Security Council, said: " President Bush and Prime Minister Abe have had a good working relationship. the U.S. and Japan remain strong and steadfast allies, and we look forward to working with the new government as it's formed."

Abe, whose grandfather was premier and whose father was a foreign minister, initially met with success in fence-mending trips last autumn to China and South Korea. He also passed laws bolstering patriotic education and upgrading the Defense Agency to a full ministry for the first time since World War II.

But a string of scandals starting late last year quickly eroded his support. Four Cabinet ministers have been forced to resign over the past nine months, and one — his first agriculture minister — committed suicide over a money scandal.

Abe's government also has been fiercely criticized over some 50 million missing pension records.

Support for the political blue blood was also damaged by his concentration on ideological issues — such as patriotism and constitutional reform — at a time when many Japanese are concerned over the widening gap between rich and poor and other bread-and-butter worries.

In such a weakened state, Abe may have feared he wouldn't have the clout to win passage of the Afghan mission, said Eiken Itagaki, a political analyst and writer.

"He has run out of political capital," Itagaki said. "So he bolted, in the hope that a more experienced successor can save the mission, and sort out the mess."

It also was a sharp reversal of fortunes for the ruling party, which has controlled Japan almost uninterruptedly since it was formed in 1955. Abe succeeded the wildly popular Koizumi, who led the LDP to a landslide victory in elections for the powerful lower house in 2005.

Though Aso is considered a front-runner to succeed Abe, it is not clear whether he has the political clout and popular support to stop the LDP's slide in popularity.

Sen. Craig Says He Is Not Gay

2007-08-28T18:36:00.000-05:00

Under fire from leaders of his own party, Idaho Sen. Larry Craig on Tuesday said the only thing he had done wrong was to plead guilty after a complaint of lewd conduct in a men's room. He declared, ''I am not gay. I never have been gay.''

''I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport,'' he said at a news conference with his wife, Suzanne, at his side.

Craig's defiant news conference came as Senate Republican leaders in Washington called for an ethics committee review into his involvement in a police sting operation this summer in the airport men's room.

''In the meantime, the leadership is examining other aspects of the case to see if additional action is required,'' Sen. Mitch McConnell and other top GOP lawmakers said in a written statement.

Earlier, the private group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed a complaint with the ethics committee seeking an investigation into whether Craig violated Senate rules by engaging in disorderly conduct.

Craig entered his plea several weeks after an undercover police officer in the Minneapolis arrested him and issued a complaint that said the three-term senator had engaged in actions ''often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct.''

The airport incident occurred June 11. Craig signed his plea papers on Aug. 1, and word of the events surfaced Monday. The senator issued a statement Monday night that said, ''In hindsight, I should have pled not guilty.''

He repeated that assertion at the Idaho news conference. ''In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision,'' he said. ''I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away.''

Craig was at times defiant, at others apologetic.

''Please let me apologize to my family, friends and staff and fellow Idahoans for the cloud placed over Idaho,'' he said. ''I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport. I did nothing wrong, and I regret the decision to plead guilty and the sadness that decision has brought on my wife, on my family, friends, staff and fellow Idahoans.''

The conservative three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He said he would announce next month whether he would run again.

Craig, who has voted against gay marriage, finds his political future in doubt in the wake of the charges, which have drawn national attention.

Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he had engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated. Craig has denied the assertions, which he calls ridiculous.

The scandal had already taken a political toll. On Monday, Craig resigned from a prominent role with Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. He had been one of Romney's top Senate supporters, serving as a liaison for the campaign since February.

Asked about Craig, Romney said, ''He's disappointed the American people.''

''Yeah, I think it reminds us of Mark Foley and Bill Clinton. I think it reminds us of the fact that people who are elected to public office continue to disappoint, and they somehow think that if they vote the right way on issues of significance or they can speak a good game, that we'll just forgive and forget,'' Romney said on CNBC's ''Kudlow & Company.''

Foley is a former Republican lawmaker who resigned nearly a year ago after being confronted with the computer messages he sent to male teenage pages who had worked on Capitol Hill. Clinton is the former president accused in congressional impeachment proceedings of lying about an affair with a White House intern.

According to a Hennepin County, Minn., court docket, Craig pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge on Aug. 8, with the court dismissing a charge of gross misdemeanor interference to privacy.

The court docket said Craig paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year. A sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed.

According to the prosecutor's complaint, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, airport police Sgt. Dave Karsnia, who was investigating allegations of sexual conduct in airport restrooms, went into a stall shortly after noon on June 11 and closed the door.

Minutes later, the officer saw Craig gazing into his stall through the crack between the stall door and the frame.

After a man in the adjacent stall left, Craig entered it and put his roller bag against the front of the stall door, ''which Sgt. Karsnia's experience has indicated is used to attempt to conceal sexual conduct by blocking the view from the front of the stall,'' said the complaint, which was dated June 25.

The complaint said Craig then tapped his right foot several times and moved it closer to Karsnia's stall and then moved it to where it touched Karsnia's foot. Karsnia recognized that ''as a signal often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct,'' the complaint said.

Craig then passed his left hand under the stall divider into Karsnia's stall with his palms up and guided it along the divider toward the front of the stall three times, the complaint said.

The officer then showed his police identification under the divider and pointed toward the exit ''at which time the defendant exclaimed 'No!''' the complaint said.

The Aug. 8 police report says that Craig had handed the arresting officer a business card that identified him as a member of the Senate.

''What do you think about that?'' Craig is alleged to have said, according to the report.

Craig joins other GOP senators facing ethical and legal troubles.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is under scrutiny for his relationship with a contractor who helped oversee a renovation project that more than doubled the size of the senator's home.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., acknowledged that his phone number appeared in records of a Washington-area business that prosecutors have said was a front for prostitution.

Craig, a rancher and a member of the National Rifle Association, lives in Eagle, Idaho, near the capital of Boise. He was a member of the House for 10 years before winning election to the Senate in 1990. He was re-elected in 1996 and 2002.

Last fall, Craig called allegations from a gay-rights activist that he's had homosexual relationships ''completely ridiculous.''

Big Apple Begins Bidding War for Don Imus

2007-08-26T19:08:00.000-05:00

A bidding war is underway for shock-jock Don Imus now that his lawsuit against CBS has been settled, industry observers tell NewsMax.

Radio-industry insiders tell NewsMax that the I-Man is talking with ABC about a morning-drive slot on flagship New York City station WABC.

Michael Harrison, publisher of industry bible Talkers magazine, says ABC is "denying it, but not too loudly."

"Everything comes down to human terms; guys sitting down in a room trying to figure out a deal. That's probably what's happening at this time," Harrison tells NewsMax, adding, "He would be a great fit for ABC."

"He's got many options but he is going to obviously want to think about the largest platform for himself, and obviously that would be here in New York City," adds Mike Boyle, senior editor of Radio & Records.

WABC currently leads the city's morning-drive pack with the "Curtis and Kuby" show. Second in the market is Imus' old home WFAN, which just announced the permanent morning pairing of former NFL great Boomer Esiason with "The Jersey Guy" Craig Carton. Bringing up the rear is Buckley Broadcasting's WOR, featuring "The Morning Show with Joe and Donna" — Donna being former New York City first lady Donna Hanover.

WABC would make an ideal national syndication platform for Imus, Boyle tells NewsMax.

"We're going into the political season and it's really heating up. This would be the perfect time for Imus and the perfect vehicle. He's going to bring in national names to the show."

But at least one industry analyst is bucking the conventional wisdom that picks WABC.

Brian Maloney, longtime reporter and industry observer, tells NewsMax that WOR is looking at dumping Hanover and Joe Bartlett to clear the way for Imus. "I'm hearing from a very high-level radio source, whose name you would recognize, that he has a pretty good shot at doing mornings at WOR," Maloney says.

WABC's "Curtis and Kuby," he says, is simply too strong in its slot to chuck for an expensive, known quantity that is likely to make advertisers nervous, at least initially. "WABC, I think, is a pipe dream."

Both Maloney and The New York Times, relying on different unnamed sources, peg Imus' current asking price at $8 million — a cost that Harrison and others believe would put him beyond WOR's reach. But Maloney is confident that number will come down.

"The team right now at WOR costs them chicken feed," he tells NewsMax. "They could be paying $350,000 for both of them. If Imus gets desperate, he'll cut his price; cut it in half or two-thirds. He just got a big payday [from CBS].

"Hanover is doing nothing ratings wise," he adds. "It's a throwaway." Imus, he says, doesn't have a lot of other options in New York. "If I were Buckley I would look at that and say 'we're holding all the cards.'"

Fueling that, Maloney tells NewsMax, is the civil slander suit just filed by Rutgers basketball player Kia Vaughn. "It might be a bargaining chip [for Buckley]," he says. "It keeps the story out there as a reminder of what happened and how easily it might all fall apart again. It gives leverage to bring that salary down."

So what would a new "Imus in the Morning" look like?

The New York Times reports that former Imus producer Bernard McGuirk, who initiated the verbal exchange that ultimately cost Imus his job, will not be a part of the I-Man's return. But longtime Imus sidekick newsman Charles McCord likely will. McCord was the lone member of the Imus troika who did not get fired in April. He remains an employee of WFAN and CBS, and has not made himself available for comment.

One thing to expect, industry insiders tell NewsMax, is an ever-so-slightly kinder and gentler Imus.

"He certainly — and I'm not the first to say this — will have a bulls-eye on his back," Boyle says. "He's going to have to mind his Ps and Qs. The Rev. [Al] Sharpton has already put it out that he'll be watching."

Talkers' Harrison agrees. "He will never use the term 'nappy-headed hoe' again.

"If there's one thing he should change, he should stop bullying the vulnerable and the powerless. That's the thing that Imus did over the years; that was his Achilles' heel. And it came back to haunt him.

"Don't make fun of people's appearance and their weaknesses," he says, "and don't go after people who don't deserve it."

Maloney echoes that.

"He's always been a bully," Maloney tells NewsMax. "People in the business hate him. He's pretty much without friends. He's probably the most hated person in the business.

"I don't think he can go back and be the same old Imus," Maloney says. "He'll be a little bit easier behind the scenes and mellower on the air. I don't see how it can be any other way."

And don't expect to see Imus back on MSNBC, Maloney says.

"That's a tougher nut to crack. They're still arguing back and forth on just what happened. MSNBC seems very happy with Joe Scarborough. Imus will be back on radio, but I don't see a lot of TV."

Amnesty International Becomes a Pro-Choice Organization

2007-08-26T19:07:00.000-05:00

In a move that has upset many Christians, the human rights group Amnesty International has abandoned its position of neutrality on abortion and will now actively campaign for pro-choice measures.

The organization’s executive committee decided in April to support access to abortion – "within reasonable gestational limits” – for women in cases of rape, incest or violence, or where the pregnancy jeopardizes a mother’s life or health. Delegates gave the decision overwhelming support at its mid-August conference in Mexico.

Amnesty International has been working in countries where rape has been used as a weapon of war, and in nations where women seeking abortions can be severely punished, BBC News reports. Kate Gilmore, AI’s executive deputy secretary-general, said in a statement:

"Amnesty International’s position is not for abortion as a right but for women’s human rights to be free of fear, threat and coercion as they manage all consequences of rape and other grave human rights violations.”

Christian organizations have threatened to withdraw support from the group in the wake of its decision on abortion.

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told the National Catholic Reporter that AI had "betrayed its mission.”

He wrote: "To selectively justify abortion, even in the cases of rape, is to define the innocent child within the woman as an enemy, a ‘thing’ that must be destroyed.”

In England, Catholic Bishop Michael Evans, a 31-year member of AI, said he was resigning from the organization.

And in the U.S., Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, said: "Amnesty International was founded to protect human rights, yet it now treads upon the most fundamental human right, the right to life. To fail to protect the right to life renders suspect one’s advocacy of any other human right.”

Tom Wolfe Picks Next President: Jim Webb

2007-08-26T19:06:00.001-05:00

Calling the current slate of Democratic presidential candidates “unelectable,” best-selling author Tom Wolfe says a dark horse will emerge to win the nomination in 2008: Virginia Sen. Jim Webb.

At an exclusive Aug. 18 gathering in Southampton, N.Y., Wolfe — whose books include “The Bonfire of the Vanities” and “The Right Stuff” — told journalist Doug Dechert that Webb will be drafted to become his party’s nominee, and he will win the general election.

He reasoned that Webb, a former secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, has the experience, military credentials, and prescience on the war in Iraq to appeal to both his party’s anti-war base and the greater public’s desire for a leader who can plausibly combat global terrorism.

Despite Wolfe’s assessment, it appears highly unlikely that the Democratic nomination will go to Webb, a first-term senator who narrowly beat Republican incumbent George Allen last year and who has shown no interest in seeking the White House. But he has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate in 2008.

Webb created a stir last November at a White House reception for new members of Congress when he declined to be photographed with President Bush.

Obama Lays Down Rules for Oprah Bash

2007-08-26T19:05:00.001-05:00

Oprah Winfrey is hosting a big fundraising party for presidential hopeful Barack Obama at her California home on Sept. 8 — and the Obama campaign has set some very specific rules for the gala.

First of all, the campaign is not calling the event a fundraiser — although each guest has paid at least $2,300 for an invitation — but a “celebration.”

And according to instructions sent out to invitees by Julianna Smoot, Obama’s national finance director, guests at the celebration need to wear “Garden Attire” — which the Los Angeles Times’ Andrew Malcolm describes as “summery, sheer, lots of linen, maybe some floppy hats, blazers, contrasting slacks, and open collars for the guys.”

Also, “comfortable footwear is recommended” for the event, which will be held in a meadow on Oprah’s Montecito estate. “Ladies, flat shoes are a must!”

Other rules, according to the Times: Due mostly to security concerns, no gifts for Obama or Oprah will be accepted. All purses and bags will be searched. No cameras or recording devices will be permitted. And a government-issued photo ID will be required for admittance.

Oprah’s support for the Obama campaign comes as no surprise to readers of NewsMax Magazine. The May issue’s cover story, “Obama & the Oprah Factor,” detailed the connection between the talk show host and the Illinois senator, and disclosed that Obama was Oprah’s choice for the White House.

Mexico Engaged in ‘Labor Dumping’

2007-08-26T19:03:00.000-05:00

The underlying reason for America’s illegal alien problem is a sick economic system in Mexico that leads to the “dumping” of labor into the U.S.

That’s the view of Steve H. Hanke, a professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.

To illustrate how “labor dumping” functions, he points to Yugoslavia under Tito, which sought to deal with a surplus of workers.

“Opening Yugoslav borders — at least by communist standards — provided Tito with the means to dump surplus labor and mask flaws in the paradise of worker-managed firms,” Hanke writes in Forbes magazine.

The result: By the early 1970s “Tito’s broom” had swept 11 percent of the Yugoslav labor force into Western Europe, and those workers sent home money that amounted to 30 percent of Yugoslavia’s exports.

Today Mexico is the world’s largest labor dumper. But politicians on both sides of the immigration reform debate “fail to mention the source of the problem: Mexico’s statist [highly centralized] economy,” according to Hanke. “Like Yugoslavia, Mexico can’t produce enough jobs . . .

“Rather than modernize the economy, Mexico’s politicians use Tito’s broom.”

As a result, 30 percent of Mexico’s labor force is working in the U.S., and last year they sent home $23 billion, 12 percent of Mexico’s exports.

Hanke concludes: “There is little chance of stemming migrant inflows as long as the countries supplying immigrants embrace policies that effectively mandate labor dumping.”

Hillary: Negatives Won't Keep Me From Winning

2007-08-19T22:20:00.000-05:00

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton acknowledged on Sunday that many voters do not like her, but she blamed it on years of Republican attacks and insisted she has a record of winning despite her negatives.

Clinton's remarks came as the eight candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination debated in the critical early voting state of Iowa and just days after President George W. Bush's political adviser Karl Rove saying the former first lady was flawed for having high negative ratings.

Clinton and top rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, came under fire early in the debate at Drake University when other candidates were invited to comment on their perceived weaknesses -- Clinton's high negative ratings in the polls and Obama's inexperience in foreign policy.

"I don't think Karl Rove's going to endorse me. That becomes more and more obvious," Clinton told the audience at the debate, which was aired by ABC News' "This Week" program. "But I find it interesting he's so obsessed with me. And I think the reason is because we know how to win."

She tackled the issue of her high negative ratings head-on, saying, "The idea that you're going to escape the Republican attack machine and not have high negatives by the time they're through with you, I think, is just missing what's been going on in American politics for the last 20 years."

Polls have shown Clinton holding double-digit leads over Obama in their effort to be the Democratic candidate in the November 2008 election.

But a recent CBS News poll showed 39 percent of all voters nationwide had an unfavorable view of Clinton, while only 20 percent viewed Obama negatively. Other polls have had Clinton's negative rating even higher.

Obama, who had a narrow lead in ABC News' Iowa poll, was criticized for his recent comments on foreign policy, including saying he would meet with U.S. rivals without preconditions and suggesting he might authorize attacks inside Pakistan without that country's permission.

"The only person that separates us from a jihadist government in Pakistan with nuclear weapons is President (Pervez) Musharraf," said Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. "I thought it was irresponsible to engage in that kind of a suggestion here."

Clinton said she thought Obama was wrong in saying he was willing to meet without preconditions in his first year in office with U.S. adversaries such as Iran.

Obama dismissed much of the criticism as political maneuvering and quipped "to prepare for this debate, I rode in the bumper cars at the state fair." But he tried to paint Clinton's criticism as outdated thinking.

"I do think that there's a substantive difference between myself and Senator Clinton when it comes to meeting with our adversaries," he added. "I think that strong countries and strong presidents meet and talk with our adversaries. We shouldn't be afraid to do so. We've tried the other way. It didn't work."

The candidates also clashed over ending the Iraq war, with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson arguing all U.S. forces should be removed and others cautioning that withdrawal from Iraq would be messy, difficult and time-consuming.

"We have different positions here," Richardson said. "I believe that if you leave any residual forces, then none of the peace that we are trying to bring can happen."

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said withdrawing U.S. troops would be difficult to do quickly, but "I think we can responsibly and in a very orderly way bring our troops out over the next nine or 10 months."

Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, while arguing for withdrawal, warned against leaving behind a country in turmoil.

"If we leave Iraq and we leave it in chaos, there'll be regional war," he said. "The regional war will engulf us for a generation."

John Edwards: Coulter is a 'She-Devil'

2007-08-19T22:19:00.000-05:00

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards escalated his feud with author Ann Coulter by calling her a "she-devil" on a visit to Iowa.

According to Editor & Publisher, Coulter had hurled a gay slur at Edwards earlier this year, and after more back and forth, his wife called her during a national TV appearance to ask some hard questions.

Edwards had reminded the crowd today in Burlington, Iowa, that his wife had challenged Coulter to stop "personal attacks." He continued: "We know these people. We know their game plan. They're going to attack us personally," Edwards said, according to an ABC report. "They attacked Elizabeth personally, because she stood up to that she-devil Ann Coulter."

Catching himself, he added: "I should not have name-called. But the truth is -- forget the names -- people like Ann Coulter, they engage in hateful language."

'Farmer' Hillary TV Ads Begin

2007-08-15T07:51:00.000-05:00

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled the first television ad of her presidential campaign Monday, a commercial targeting voters in Iowa where she is in a tight race with rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards.

The 60-second spot, which goes up Tuesday on Iowa television, intercuts scenes of Clinton interacting with voters and delivering a portion of her standard campaign speech in which she speaks of the challenges facing many working people.

[See Hillary's new ad in full by clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ2_eoL3TPo]

"If you're a family that is struggling and you don't have health care, you are invisible to this president," she says. "If you're a single mom trying to find affordable child care so you can go to work, you're invisible too.

"Americans from all walks of life across our country may be invisible to this president but they're not invisible to me and they won't be invisible to the next president of the United States," she says to applause.

Images of Clinton walking in an Iowa farm field, talking to young mothers, children and seniors and addressing a crowd at a campaign event fill the screen.

The Clinton campaign spent roughly $360,000 to run a moderate level of ads in Iowa over the course of a week and a half.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who endorsed Clinton after dropping his own bid for the Democratic nomination, unveiled the ad at a news conference.

"This is the Hillary Clinton, not the one who has been vilified by some, but the Hillary Clinton who cares deeply about the people most in need," Vilsack said.

The ad is aimed at softening Clinton's image. While polls have shown her running strongly, her negatives remain high and the spot is designed to introduce her to voters.

The move intensifies Clinton's campaign in Iowa, her weakest state, and comes on the eve of her latest campaign swing here. Iowa is slated to hold its caucuses on Jan. 14, though the date is certain to change after South Carolina Republicans moved up their primary last week.

Some state polls show Edwards leading while other surveys show Clinton, Obama and Edwards essentially tied. This is in contrast to national surveys and other state polls in which Clinton has a clear advantage. In May, Clinton's deputy campaign manager wrote a memo urging her to bypass the Iowa caucuses to focus time and money on states where she's faring better.

Other candidates have been airing commercials in the state over the past few months, with Obama spending $1.15 million, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson $1.55 million and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd $739,000.

Democratic candidates are descending upon Iowa this week for photo-friendly appearances at the Iowa State Fair, a high-profile convention of the Iowa Federation of Labor and this weekend's debate sponsored by ABC.

The New York senator criticized the Bush administration Monday as she appealed to rural voters in her first venture into the Nevada desert.

"We're going to end all these no-bid contracts, we're going to make things more transparent, we're going to get rid of all these cronies that came to Washington to work in the Bush administration," Clinton told a group of raucous supporters at a town hall-style rally. "To do all this, it's going to take reforming Washington."

Clinton spoke to crowd of about 2,500 at a roller-skating rink in Pahrump, Nev., this historically conservative pocket 60 miles west of Las Vegas.

"Boy, we could have solar power all the way from Las Vegas to Pahrump," Clinton said.

The desert is home to wild horses and burros, an occasional brothel (prostitution is legal in the county around Pahrump) and usually conservative voters with strong libertarian leanings.

Michael Moore’s Subpoena Ploy

2007-08-01T16:56:00.001-05:00

After Michael Moore let loose with a subpoena “secret” on NBC's “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” media outlets were flooded with reports that the struggling filmmaker had, in fact, been served with a subpoena from the Bush Justice Department.

“I haven't even told my own family yet,” Moore told Leno. “I was just informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me.”

Moore has been desperately seeking publicity for his latest flick, “Sicko,” and continues to try everything he can to resuscitate the box office.

Curiously, a day after his Leno appearance, Reuters reported that “federal officials may be planning to subpoena filmmaker Michael Moore . . .”

Evidently, the source told Reuters that Moore had not actually been served with the request.

Grover Norquist: Republicans Could Take Back Congress

2007-07-27T10:29:00.000-05:00

Ronald Kessler

Republicans may be poised to retake Congress in 2008 because the Democrats are "over-reaching," Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, tells NewsMax.

Few people know as much about what is going on in Washington as Norquist. The White House and members of Congress trust him with their secrets. As outlined in the NewsMax article Washington's Big Secret, Norquist's Wednesday morning meetings of conservatives draw presidential candidates, key members of Congress, and White House aides like Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie.

"I would argue that the best news for the Republicans is that 2007 and 2008 are looking like 1993 and 1994," Norquist told me over breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel, referring to the Republican takeover of Congress that took effect in January 1995. Previously, Democrats had controlled Congress for 40 years.

"The Democrats are overreaching on taxes, on spending, and general left-wing impulses," Norquist says. "Just as back then, there was the Hush-Rush Bill," referring to Rush Limbaugh. "Now there's the Fairness Doctrine. It's the same thing. As back then, the Democrats are raising gun control as an issue."

In fact, says Norquist, "The Democrats are doing something to irritate all of the parts of the modern conservative movement, just as they did in 1993 and 1994."

To a degree, the Iraq war obscures the comparison.

"The war gives the left an energy that they didn't have in 1993 and 1994," Norquist says. "There was nothing back then like the anti-war movement, which energized people."

Today, Norquist says, "You have an unease among a lot of non-political people, but the real cost of Iraq is not even so much that unease as the drowning out of other issues. We can't run against the Democrats — calling them the party that wants to raise taxes — if the president can only talk about Iraq."

Figures released by the White House show that in 2007, the average taxpayer will pay $2,216 less in federal taxes than he or she would have paid prior to President Bush's tax cuts. For 27 million small business owners, the average reduction will be $4,712.

At the same time, the deficit has been reduced from $413 billion in 2004 to $248 billion in 2006. The projected deficit for 2007 is $205 billion.

Norquist notes that while Bush occasionally talks about his record of tax-cutting, the press would rather write about Iraq. That could change when Bush starts vetoing bills that will increase spending beyond his proposed budget.

Currently, the Democrat-controlled Congress wants to spend $205 billion more than the president does.

"Now the White House says they're going to be tough on vetoing," Norquist says. "So we could, in the next 12 months, have this huge fight on taxes and spending and regulations and labor union changes, driven by the White House, which could save the White House for the Republicans and bring at least the House back to Republican control. That is entirely possible. But Iraq needs to be in the rear view mirror, not in the windshield. And the president needs to be able to credibly talk about these other issues."

Norquist notes that another bright spot is the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which takes effect in January. The law allows employers to create 401k plans that automatically enroll their employees unless they opt out. Unless an employee instructs otherwise, the plan decides how much the employee should invest and automatically deducts that amount from paychecks.

Very few employees are expected to opt out. With traditional 401k plans, employees who want to participate have to opt in.

"By going from opt-in to opt-out, an additional 16 million people will have pensions and be in the stock market by January," Norquist says. "So there'll be this huge jump in the number of people who own shares of stock."

As a result of these and other changes, Norquist says, "I think that part of Bush's legacy will be the growth of the investor class and a greater ownership society. He needs to focus more on that."

Don Imus Is Coming Back

2007-07-24T10:04:00.000-05:00

Rod Proctor, NewsMax.com

Radio talker Don Imus, exiled from the airwaves in April after making remarks many saw as racist, will return to the microphone as early as September, industry analysts and observers tell NewsMax — but not all agree that the return will be triumphal.

The industry has been rife with rumors since Imus sidekick Bo Dietl's announcement on an Albany radio show, and picked up by the New York Post, that an Imus comeback was in the works for this September.

But experts explain to NewsMax that events are moving so quickly that the "I-Man" will be back in his broadcast chair by late summer or early fall.

"The I's are being dotted and the T's being crossed," media analyst Brian Maloney tells NewsMax. "When rumors went out, and the station not only didn't deny it but played along, that's key right there."

Radio & Records senior editor Mike Boyle, speaking to NewsMax, echoes that certitude. "The sun, the moon, and the stars seem to be aligning with all of this information — whether rumor or fact," he says.

And Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine — the industry bible — is surprised Imus wasn't rehired sooner. "I always thought he'd be back, even before they fired him."

Even the Rev. Al Sharpton, arguably Imus' most vocal critic in April, has blessed the comeback.

In comments to The Associated Press and Radaronline.com, Sharpton says: "My position is that we never called for him to be permanently barred from being on the air. We wanted him to pay for being a repeat abuser, and he paid. We never said we didn't want him to make a living."

Imus spokesman and attorney Martin Garbus, has refused comment.

The questions now are, Where will Imus land? and, What kind of radio landscape will he find once he gets there?

Boyle and Maloney are convinced he'll be back at his old New York City flagship, WFAN-AM, owned by Viacom and CBS. The reason, says Radio & Records' Boyle: "Money."

"You have to look at how much money that radio station billed. They are definitely one of the top 10, if not top five, billing stations in the country. A large portion of that came from Imus."

Analyst Maloney sees another motivation for CBS to return Imus to the fold.

"I think the reason he's returning so easily is they fear an expensive legal battle over the terms of his contact, which were highly favorable to him and they know it," he explains to NewsMax. "They could have been liable for up to $40 million in a payout were they to lose in court. So the alternative is to put him back on the air. Pay him the regular salary. What's the cheaper option?"

Talkers' Harrison isn't quite so sure of what lies in Imus' future.

"I've heard inside reports both confirming and denying he'll return to WFAN," he tells NewsMax. "Imus has all of radio to choose from. I'm sure there are many, many companies that would love to have his services."

And Newsday.com's Neil Best reports on that Web site that CBS CEO Les Moonves in June discounted the possibility of a CBS reprieve. Media journalist Ken Auletta asked Moonves whether Imus would return to CBS Radio. Moonves' curt response: "No."

Some question how successful Imus will be upon his return. The New York Post, at the time Imus was fired, reported that his audience had slipped 50 percent over the last 10 years, and had slid a full 25 percent in just the prior six months.

"He will return in a greatly diminished capacity," Maloney tells NewsMax. "If he's syndicated at all, it will be only a handful of stations. On [WFAN] itself, he will not be in the timeslot he has had. There is no way he's going to recapture what has been lost.

"All I see with certainty is a local New York City radio show," Maloney continues. "Keep in mind Imus was not a big syndication star. He was not on that many stations before. The very few big ones he was on were mainly in the Northeast and a few in the Southeast. Nothing in the West. The only other big station he was on is in Boston and that station has already announced a replacement. So where does he go?"

But Talkers' Harrison disagrees.

"[Imus'] ratings were not so terrible, especially when you have a qualitative audience the way he did. Considering more than 5,000 talkers are in America, top 20 is nothing to be embarrassed about," he explains to NewsMax. "That's major league.

"Radio ratings are only one aspect of what makes a host valuable. Loyalty and specifics of demographics. He's a valuable property whether he's 50th, 20th, or first. And now that he's had all this publicity and proved what an important newsmaker he is, I think his appeal as an attraction has been increased."

Indeed, NewsMax Magazine's October 2006 edition put Imus as the 3rd most influential man in radio, due to his high-level demographics in audience, his major newsmaker guests, and his simulcast on MSNBC.

There's no word yet if a new Imus radio show would include a cable simulcast as MSNBC did with his "Imus in the Morning" show.

Another angle of Imus' comeback circulating within the industry has some scratching their heads: Rumors that he has been visiting comedy clubs in search of a black sidekick.

"I think that would be kind of strange," Maloney responds to NewsMax. "You can't predict what Imus will do. He's always been an oddball. If that's the way he returns, that kind of move could backfire. It could be seen as blatant pandering."

Harrison has a different take.

"I don't know how true it is," he tells NewsMax. "But it makes sense. He should work into his routine and repertoire whatever new dimension of understanding he has about race relations.

"The fact is, Imus is not a racist. The whole thing was distorted and trumped up, and he was executed for a crime he really didn't intend to commit."

Boyle also defends Imus: "You only hear about the bad things he's said on the radio. Nobody talks about the things he does for kids with cancer out at his ranch.

"He got railroaded. If there's any chance to bring him back, everybody's going to become a winner."

Benicio Del Toro’s New ‘Che’ Film

2007-07-24T10:03:00.001-05:00

Not content with only one disingenuous biography of mass executioner Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Hollywood’s now got plans for another Che-flattering flick.

In Tinseltown, historical reality routinely loses out to radical chic.

The real lowdown is that Guevara helped Castro come to power in Cuba and personally carried out executions for him.

The same group that wanted California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to stop the execution of multiple murderer Tookie Williams because of opposition to capital punishment have no problem walking around in Che T-shirts, despite the fact that on a routine basis Guevara carried out summary executions for Castro, assassinating hundreds of innocent people.

The other recent fawning Che biopic was Robert Redford’s 2004 film, “The Motorcycle Diaries,” a twisted tribute to the thug’s youthful days.

Now Oscar winner Benicio del Toro will reportedly portray the ardent Argentine communist in a movie that will reunite the actor with director Steve Soderbergh. Del Toro picked up an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work with Soderbergh in the critically acclaimed 2000 film, “Traffic.”

Del Toro’s Web site refers to Che as “many things to many people: an exemplary human, a hero, a tyrant, a fanatic.”

Well, the actor got the last two descriptions right.

The site also divulges the upcoming Che movie title, “Guerrilla,” and lists Ryan Gosling and Benjamin Bratt as being among the cast.

And Julia Ormond, who starred with Brad Pitt in “Legends of the Fall” will co-star, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Hollywood's ‘Kid Nation' Labor Tactics

2007-07-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

By the Left Coast Report

In this educator and cultural commentator’s opinion, CBS television has made a highly questionable programming decision.

Following the TV success adage that reality shows receive a boost from controversy, the network has produced a series for the fall called “Kid Nation,” where 40 children live in an abandoned New Mexico mining town ostensibly with no adult supervision.

The show could be called “Student Council Meets ‘Lord of the Flies,’” the basic premise being that when left to their own devices (i.e., no adults around) children who are attempting self-governing will provide reality TV entertainment pleasure to the viewing audience.

However, in typical faux-reality fashion, the kids on the CBS show are actually surrounded by adult producers, adult camera crews, adult make-up artists, adult sound technicians, etc.

It turns out that producers of the show skirted guidelines and laws meant to protect children, used youngsters in hopes of garnering ratings and ended up with a product that delivers a terrible message to parents, teachers and society-at-large.

CBS apparently managed to slip under the wire just ahead of new legislation in New Mexico that closed loopholes in the state’s child labor laws. Unlike California and New York, prior to July 1, 2007, New Mexico had exempted theatrical production from its child protection laws.

The Land of Enchantment has now joined the Golden and Empire States in having strict rules that include the following: The number of hours children can work on the set is a maximum of 18 during a school week, with no filming taking place after 7 p.m. Children must be fed proper meals as well, and studio teachers and a parent or guardian must be present on the set.

For the “Kid Nation” production, over the course of 40 days 8- to 15-year-olds spent up to 14 hours a day working on the set. Teachers were conspicuously absent, despite the fact that filming took place in April and May of 2007 while the school year was still underway.

The notion of kids being objects of our entertainment affections has a long history in Hollywood that harkens back to the child stars of the Golden Age. Still, placing teens and pre-teens in a reality show pressure cooker looks a whole lot more like exploitation than anything Art Linkletter or Bill Cosby ever contemplated.

Kids, by their nature, are still in the process of developing the physical, emotional and psychological wherewithal to deal with the dynamics of real life. To place them into a reality television show setting, where they must prematurely deal with adult-sized conflicts of the intellectual, social and moral kind (including jockeying for position in a mini “society,” developing physical, mental, and emotional stamina and competing against other contestants for substantial monetary gain) is cruel, in my book.

To compound the “entertainment” madness, the pint-sized drama plays out in front of millions of people via the TV broadcast airwaves. In preview footage, children are shown arguing, weeping, and collapsing from exhaustion.

In addition to the questionable nature of the show and dubious tactics employed, a subtext appears to be at play as well. Promotional materials for “Kid Nation” state that the children “will try to fix their forefathers' mistakes and build a new town that works.”

The implication is that the founders’ design was utterly flawed, and children have the answers for correcting the nation’s ills. This echoes a familiar refrain that for years has resounded across the media land and continues to permeate our entertainment fare, marketing and advertising materials and print; the message — kids are smarter than adults.

This is a contributing factor to the strange predicament that we find ourselves in here in America; that is, we have a generation of children who, despite poor academic performance when compared to other nations, possess a highly over-inflated opinion of themselves.

“Kid Nation” doesn’t sound like a place where anyone would want to live, much less visit on a weekly basis.

Sen. Feingold proposes censuring Bush

2007-07-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

AP

Liberal Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Sunday he wants Congress to censure President Bush for his management of the Iraq war and his "assault" against the Constitution.

But Feingold's own party leader in the Senate showed little interest in the idea. An attempt in 2006 by Feingold to censure Bush over the warrantless spying program attracted only three co-sponsors.

Feingold, a prominent war critic, said he soon plans to offer two censure resolutions — measures that would amount to a formal condemnation of the Republican president.

The first would seek to reprimand Bush for, as Feingold described it, getting the nation into war without adequate military preparation and for issuing misleading public statements. The resolution also would cite Vice President Dick Cheney and perhaps other administration officials.

The second measure would seek to censure Bush for what the Democrat called a continuous assault against the rule of law through such efforts as the warrantless surveillance program against suspected terrorists, Feingold said. It would also ask for a reprimand of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and maybe others.

"This is an opportunity for people to say, let's at least reflect on the record that something terrible has happened here," said Feingold, D-Wis. "This administration has weakened America in a way that is frightful."

At the White House, spokesman Trey Bohn said, "We realize that Senator Feingold does not care much for the president's policies."

Bohn said Bush wants to work with Feingold and other Democrats on such matters as supporting U.S. troops, improving energy choices and securing health care and tax cuts for families. "Perhaps after calls for censure and more investigations, Congress may turn to such things," Bohn said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Feingold's proposals showed the nation's frustration. But Reid said he would not go along with them and said the Senate needs to focus on finishing spending bills on defense and homeland security.

"We have a lot of work to do," Reid said. "The president already has the mark of the American people — he's the worst president we ever had. I don't think we need a censure resolution in the Senate to prove that."

As for the Senate's top Republican, "I think it's safe to say Russ Feingold is not a fan of George Bush. I think that's the best way to sum that up," said Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Feingold spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press." Reid appeared on "Face the Nation" on CBS, while McConnell was on "Late Edition" on CNN.

Mike Huckabee Answers His Critics: I Can Beat Hillary

2007-07-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

Dave Eberhart

Hillary Clinton will be tough to beat if she wins the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, says Mike Huckabee — who insists he's the GOP candidate who can beat Hillary in the general election.

In an exclusive NewsMax interview, the former Arkansas governor said he's the Republican candidate with the truest consistent conservative credentials, someone who has never "flip-flopped" on important issues.

"I have nothing to explain," Huckabee says with confidence. "I'm comfortable in my own skin."

He said a centerpiece of his presidential campaign is a call for the implementation of the "fair tax" to replace the current federal tax system.

And as for his uphill battle to overtake the well-funded campaigns of Republican front-runners John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney, Huckabee said: "It shouldn't be about who can raise the most money."

The busy Huckabee, 51, chatted with NewsMax from New Hampshire, where he landed at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning.

The two-term governor says that over the years he got to know Hillary, the former first lady of Arkansas, very well and that she is as "focused" as she can be on 2008.

"I take little stock when folks say they hope she wins the nomination because that will make it easy for us to win the general election. I believe just the opposite — that she will be a formidable opponent. I've seen her in action."

'Broken' Tax System Needs Fixing

When asked if any particular experience on the campaign trail convinced Huckabee that he was right to be running for the White House, he pointed without hesitation to a middle-aged man he met while on the stump in New Hampshire. The man wanted to get his daughter through a good college and began working an extra job and saving — only to find the "taxman at his elbow, ready to frustrate his ambitions at every turn."

"That's when I knew I was right in my thinking that it's not going to take an adjustment here and a turn of the wrench there to fix the broken tax system."

The solution, he decided, wasn't to fix up the old sagging house but to tear it down and begin building again at the foundation. The key: the "fair tax."

Huckabee described his vision: "I want to completely eliminate all federal income and payroll taxes. And do I mean all — personal federal, corporate federal, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, self-employment. Instead we will have the fair tax, a simple tax based on wealth.

"The fair tax will replace the Internal Revenue Code with a consumption tax, like the taxes on retail sales 45 states and the District of Columbia have now. All of us will get a monthly rebate to reimburse us for taxes on purchases up to the poverty line, so that we're not taxed on necessities.

"We'll be taxed on what we decide to buy, not what we happen to earn. We won't be taxed on what we choose to save or the interest those savings earn. The tax will apply only to new goods, so we can reduce our taxes further by buying a used car or computer."

Huckabee acknowledges that a couple of the other GOP candidates are talking about such a plan, but he is the only one who has put it front and center.

On Saturday, candidate Giuliani was jeered by several dozen people at a campaign stop when he said he didn't think a fair tax is "realistic."

Ex-governor Responds to Critics

Huckabee is on the record more than once saying, "I'm proud of my record as a fiscal conservative." But by the end of his second term as Arkansas governor, critics like the watchdog group Club for Growth note, he had raised sales taxes 37 percent, fuel taxes 16 percent, and cigarettes taxes 103 percent.

But Huckabee told NewsMax that the picture being drawn is too simplistic.

He explained that with respect to the tax increases, a state Supreme Court decision required immediate additional spending on education. The ruling came at a time when he had already cut the state budget 11 percent, and the choice was between raising taxes to fund the court order or being in contempt of court.

When he became governor, Arkansas had some of the "worst highways in the nation," he said. Over 80 percent of voters supported a four cent tax on diesel fuel to fix the roads. Similarly, a 1/8-cent increase in the sales tax was approved by the voters to preserve their natural and cultural heritage.

Huckabee said that as governor he would have "violated his oath of office" if he had tried to thwart the will of these voters.

Recently, the National Review launched into Huckabee by charging that he was not the poster child for smaller government, citing the increase in state employees and spending during his tenure.

Once again, Huckabee explained the devil in the details.

With respect to the spending that he as governor had under his control — excluding federal pass-throughs and programs strictly controlled by the Democrat legislature — spending rose only about six-tenths of 1 percent a year during his 10 1/2-year tenure, he says.

As for the 20 percent growth in state employees during his tenure, Huckabee says he had no control over higher education and federally funded positions, "and when you remove those employees, the number of state employees increased 5.6 percent."

'No Negotiation' With Radical Islam

Leaving the past and addressing the future, NewsMax asked Huckabee if he has the mettle for the job of commander in chief.

Huckabee believes the premier virtue for the leader of the free world these dangerous days is a raw no-nonsense understanding of the immensity of the evil we are facing as a people and as a civilization: "This is not a typical geo-political war over boundaries, borders, or political bravado — it's a theological war with radical adherents to their religion who believe that their God has ordered them to purge earth of all that is not a part of their ‘pure' faith.

"There is no negotiation with those engaged in a theological war — it's naive and downright dangerous to believe they will leave us alone if we leave them alone. That's nonsense. They don't care if the war lasts 1,000 days or a 1,000 years — their goal is our annihilation and their supreme rule over the whole earth."

Curiously, the same candidate who utters these fighting words is always quick with his sense of humor.

When it was pointed out that another little-known Arkansas governor overcame great odds to win the presidency, Huckabee jokingly dismissed the comparison by noting that Bill Clinton was a Southern governor who played the saxophone, while Huckabee is a Southern governor who plays the bass guitar.

Huckabee also scored humorous points during a recent presidential debate when he compared Congress' out-of-control spending to Democratic candidate John Edwards' $400 haircut.

Huckabee spokeswoman Kirsten Fedewa said his campaign "seized the opportunity to raise money by asking supporters to contribute the amount of money they each pay for a haircut to the campaign. This effort raised $40,000."

Huckabee's 'Rocky' Campaign

Huckabee, who lost over 100 pounds after a wake-up-call diagnosis of looming diabetes, took some time off on the July Fourth holiday to run in an annual 5-kilometer race in Arkansas.

"It was the first race I ever ran after I got fit," he said. "It's become a personal tradition."

These days, the athletic and trim candidate participates in marathon races, but he recalls the old days when he would get winded and break an embarrassing sweat ascending the steps to the state capitol building. "I was always afraid that some reporters would catch me at the top of the steps panting and exhausted."

When Huckabee was introduced recently to the National Education Association's annual meeting at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Convention Center, the theme from the movie "Rocky" reverberated through the hall. The classic boxing motion picture with Sylvester Stallone was set in the City of Brotherly Love.

"It was motivating," said Huckabee, who has had to work out as hard as the Rocky Balboa character to gain his new healthy persona and now sees himself in a long Rocky-like power jog to the White House.

Positive and Upbeat

"Since the governor isn't one of the ‘anointed' top-tier candidates, the campaign decided early on to place high priority on earned media to help him gain name ID and visibility," spokeswoman Fedewa confided.

That effort was evident on Monday, when he scheduled a guest appearance on NBC's "Today" show, a 10 a.m. Eastern appearance on NPR's "On Point" with Tom Ashbrook, a 9 p.m. guest spot on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes," and a 10 p.m. appearance on Alan Colmes' nationally syndicated radio program.

Meanwhile, the candidate is starting to register in the polls and has emerged from the second tier pack as the potential comer. At the least he is talked about as a possible vice presidential candidate who could anchor a presidential candidate like Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney to the GOP's base in the South and among evangelicals.

In any case, Huckabee remains positive and upbeat. When asked what sets him apart from the GOP frontrunners, he says: "My experience has uniquely prepared me in that I understand the struggle of the average American because of my childhood and having been a pastor, dealing with people at every level of life, and my long tenure as a governor, having actually run a government and having a strong record on education, healthcare, the environment, economic development, and government reform."

Spike Lee’s War Daze

2007-07-11T09:49:00.000-05:00

Spike Lee is currently in Italy working on an upcoming film that focuses on the role African-American soldiers played in World War II.

The movie tells the tale of a group of soldiers who valiantly served in the 92nd Buffalo Division and fought the Nazi occupation in Italy.

Lee took some time during an interview in Rome to share his thoughts on American military history.

“My belief is that World War II is the last war that America was right about. Anything after that, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq — they were wrong,” Lee said.

The filmmaker, who regularly attends Democrat conventions and endorses Dem candidates, should have been kinder to past presidents of his favorite party.

In Lee’s historical view, President Truman was wrong to intervene in North Korea; President Kennedy was wrong to initiate the Bay of Pigs invasion and increase troops in Vietnam; President Johnson was wrong to accelerate the fighting in Vietnam; and President Clinton was wrong to initiate the Kosovo War.

Pelosi: 'I'm Not Happy with Congress'

2007-07-06T11:45:00.000-05:00

Newsmax
July 1, 2007

Last Friday when she announced with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada the Democrats' list of accomplishments six months after coming to power, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. conceded, "I'm not happy with Congress,” citing "obstructionism of the Republicans in the United States Senate.”

According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, the recent failure to pass immigration reform has gone the way of Iraq, stem cell research, Medicare drug pricing, the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, etc. as watersheds of failure of the current Congress.

Congress has managed a public approval rating in the mid-20s. But Pelosi argued that Congress has "never been popular." She has already turned her sights to 2009 when a new administration will be in power – hopefully headed by a Democratic president.

"Congress is a big institution to turn around," she said. "A new president comes in, and he or she is given every opportunity, because we -- everybody wants the new president to succeed. A Congress comes in, and it's Congress. It's an institution that has not been popular."

But Reid offered a different take: "Nancy, honestly, one other thing. Let's be realistic about this. The war in Iraq is dragging down people's confidence in what's going on in this country."

However, for Julian Zelizer, a history and public affairs scholar at Boston University, it’s just business as usual:

"The Republicans are doing what the Democrats did. They're using the power of the Senate filibuster, and the power in the House when you have narrow majorities, to make a do-nothing Congress -- even when there's a lot of issues on the table, even when there's a lot of interest in accomplishing things."

For sure, House legislation continues to expire in the Senate. Last Thursday night, for instance, Senate Republicans blocked a lobbying and ethics reform bill from even proceeding to a House-Senate conference committee, reported the Chronicle.

"It's becoming very concerning to many of us that we've got a 49-49 stalemate in the Senate, and we are beginning to look to the American people like we're ineffective," said one California House Democrat who did not want to speak for attribution.

"No matter what we do on the House side, we can't get things through the Senate."

Huckabee's Record: Anything But Conservative

2007-07-06T11:43:00.001-05:00

Newsmax

Former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee wants to be seen as — in his own words — an "authentic" conservative, but his governing record shows he does not live up to the image.

Despite Huckabee's campaign mantra, "I'm proud of my record as a fiscal conservative," by the end of his second term as Arkansas governor he had raised sales taxes 37 percent, fuel taxes 16 percent, and cigarettes taxes 103 percent.

These actions and others while in the governor's mansion in Little Rock helped ramp up total state tax revenues from $3.9 billion to $6.8 billion.

For doing so, Huckabee earned the failing grade of "F" on the Cato Institute's 2006 governors' fiscal report card. The Washington-based think tank awarded the candidate a "D" for his overall term.

He also received a failing grade from the tax watchdog group Club for Growth.

"Gov. Huckabee says he is a fiscal conservative," Club for Growth President Pat Toomey said at the time of Huckabee's entry into the presidential sweepstakes, "but his 10-year economic-policy record as the governor of Arkansas is mixed, at best. His history includes numerous tax hikes, ballooning government spending, and increased regulation.

"To be sure, Gov. Huckabee's record displays an occasional deference to a pro-growth philosophy, but that is only a small slice of a much bigger picture," Tommey asserts.

Since entering the race, Huckabee appears to have become born-again on tax matters.

After initial hesitation, Huckabee signed the famous Taxpayer Protection Pledge against tax increases perennially sponsored by the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).

"The tax increases Huckabee supported as governor in Arkansas were a mistake and cannot be defended," Grover Norquist, president of ATR, told NewsMax.

"However, as a presidential candidate, he has clearly learned that tax increases are always a mistake and he has signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge against tax increases. He has spoken in favor of a number of significant tax reductions that he would support. Elections are about the future."

Such confidence represents a sea change for Norquist, who once recalled Huckabee saying that he would only raise taxes if his arm were twisted. Norquist then quipped: "He has a history of allowing his arm to be twisted and twisting others' arms."

In the pre-pledge-signing days, Norquist — in an obvious reference to Huckabee's once scale-breaking weight — joked, "We like chubby governors and skinny budgets. Not the other way around."

Club for Growth's Toomey is not so impressed by Huckabee's affirmation to the ATR that he won't increase taxes as president.

"I'm glad to see he signed the pledge, but as a given matter, what politicians have done is a better indicator than what they say they're going to do," Toomey said. "His record clearly does not indicate a strong commitment to limited government."

In its "white paper" review of the candidate, the Club lamented that while governor, Huckabee "consistently supported and initiated measures that increase government's interference in markets, thereby impeding economic growth.

"He told the Washington Times he supports ‘empowering people to make their own decisions,' but many of his key proposals have done just the opposite."

Here are some of those proposals:
Raised the minimum wage in April 2006 from $5.15 to $6.25 an hour; encouraged Congress to take the same initiative on a national level
Threatened to investigate price-gouging after 9/11 if gasoline prices went up too high
Ordered regulatory agencies in Arkansas to investigate price-gouging in the nursing home industry

Signed a bill into law that would prevent companies from raising their prices a mere 10 percent ahead of a natural disaster (Services like roof repair and tree removal were targeted)

Recently, the National Review tore into Huckabee, charging that he was certainly not the poster child for smaller government.

"During his tenure, the number of state government workers in Arkansas increased over 20 percent. Under Gov. Huckabee's watch, state spending increased a whopping 65.3 percent from 1996 to 2004, three times the rate of inflation, and the state's general obligation debt shot up by almost $1 billion," said the National Review.

Pardoning a Murderer

Meanwhile, the Arkansas Leader newspaper has hounded Huckabee every inch of the campaign trail.

One characteristic editorial chided the candidate for masquerading as a fiscal conservative at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, where Huckabee received a warm reception:

"The delegates may not have known that he helped arrange the largest expansions of government-paid medical care in Arkansas history (largely paid by U.S. taxpayers), compiled a larger general-obligation debt than all previous governors combined, increased the number of government employees by 20 percent in only nine-and-a-half years, and conducted a liberal policy of criminal pardons and commutations."

That latter mention of a liberal policy of criminal pardons has long been an albatross around the neck of the former Baptist minister and president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Case-in-point: Wayne Dumond, a convicted rapist who was released during Huckabee's tenure as governor and who subsequently sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in Missouri following his release.

In October 1996, Huckabee met privately with the parole board to talk about the Dumond case. Some members of the board have since stated that they were pressured to re-examine and vote in favor of Dumond's parole. Huckabee has denied influencing the parole board in any way, but acknowledges some responsibility for signing Dumond's parole.

Dumond's case had gained some celebrity status in the mid 1990s from critics of President Bill Clinton who felt the former Arkansas governor had been too harsh with Dumond because Dumond's initial victim was a distant Clinton relative.

Whatever nettlesome baggage he carries, Huckabee is banking that the electorate will concentrate instead on his message.

Huckabee declined to be interviewed for this story.

Today, not surprisingly a good part of the Huckabee message is about taxes.

"I want to completely eliminate all federal income and payroll taxes. And do I mean all — personal federal, corporate federal, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, self-employment," Huckabee says. "Instead we will have the FairTax, a simple tax based on wealth."

And while on the subject of taxes, Huckabee has shrugged off the criticisms of those who charge him with having been a tax-and-spend executive while in office.

On stumps, he says that during his 10 1/2 years as governor, he cut taxes more than 90 times — saving taxpayers almost $380 million. He also points to how he doubled the child care tax credit and eliminated the marriage penalty from the tax code, while cutting welfare rolls by nearly 50 percent and balancing the state budget.

Antonio Banderas’ Kids Won’t Be Like Paris Hilton

2007-07-06T11:42:00.001-05:00

Antonio Banderas is not planning on becoming an enabling parent like so many of Hollywood’s reigning moms and dads.

The actor and spouse of Melanie Griffith has publicly expressed his resolve to keep his children from becoming self-absorbed, party hearty Paris Hilton clones.

Banderas wants his kids to have an attitude of gratitude so he instills work ethic values in 10-year-old Stella, 17-year-old Dakota, and even 21-year-old Alexander.

“I don't give them whatever they ask for — they have to earn it. I tell the kids the world is not Hollywood,” Banderas told Closer magazine.

“I've taken them to Mexico and Argentina when I've been making movies there so they could see how kids in different countries live,” he added. “They've seen shanty towns. I don't want them to think that the world is just full of beautiful cars and houses and everything you want.”

Way to go, Zorro.

‘Sicko’ Box-Office Take in ICU

2007-07-06T11:41:00.001-05:00

Many in the media are trying to spin the box-office numbers for Michael Moore's “Sicko” documentary, but the figures for Moore’s latest movie pale in comparison to the opening take of his previous film.

“Sicko” took in an unhealthy $4.5 million on its opening weekend, while “Fahrenheit 9/11” grossed just under $24 million on its debut weekend.

Part of the reason for the dollar discrepancy is that people have caught on to Moore’s failure to provide accurate information as he tries to entertain using a documentary format.

“Sicko” sings the praises of the highly flawed, non-free-market healthcare systems of France, Canada, and Cuba. Even media sources that normally give kudos to Moore have taken note.
The Associated Press compared “Sicko” to “a trial for those who oversee healthcare in the United States.”
The AP described Moore as a “chief prosecutor,” but also noted that “one aspect missing from the film is the defense.”
CNN checked Moore’s facts and found them wanting. While Moore holds Cuba up as a model system, the communist dictatorship is ranked lower than the U.S. in the very same list that Moore touts. America’s healthcare is ranked the highest in patient satisfaction as well, but facts such as this one never make it to the screen.
Kurt Loder of MTV, in an article titled, “’Sicko,’ Heavily Doctored,” accurately described Moore’s docu-deficiencies, writing, “Unfortunately, Moore is also a con man of a very brazen sort, and never more so than in this film.”

Loder added that “his cherry-picked facts, manipulative interviews (with lingering close-ups of distraught people breaking down in tears) and blithe assertions (how does he know 18 million people will die this year because they have no health insurance?) are so stacked that you can feel his whole argument sliding sideways as the picture unspools.”

With comments such as these from left-of center-sources, Moore is going to have a hard time blaming his below par box-office on a plot by the right.

Natalie Portman’s Primate Priorities

2007-07-06T11:39:00.000-05:00

Natalie Portman is using her fame to draw attention to the tragedy that is taking place in Rwanda.

No, she’s not trying to sound the alarm about the 800,000 people who were massacred in the 1994 genocide or alert the public that the danger continues to this day.

Rather, the “Revenge of the Sith” actress has teamed up with other celebs and is focusing her efforts on the plight of the Rwandan gorillas.

Portman joined other international celebrities at a ceremony to provide names for 23 baby mountain gorillas living in the African nation.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, there are only 720 mountain gorillas surviving in the wild in parks that spread out across Rwanda, Uganda, and the Congo.

Protecting the mountain gorillas is no doubt a noble cause, but in my opinion protecting humans still ranks No. 1.

ACLU Sues City Over Jesus Painting

2007-07-06T11:38:00.000-05:00

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the city of Slidell, La., on Tuesday for displaying a painting of Jesus in a courthouse lobby, saying it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

The ACLU sued after the Slidell City Court refused to voluntarily remove the picture and a message below it that reads: "To Know Peace, Obey These Laws." The ACLU says the portrait — an image of Jesus presenting the New Testament — is a religious icon of the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity.

"We did not file this lawsuit because the ACLU is anti-religion ... We did file this lawsuit because we believe this display is clearly in violation of the law," said Vincent Booth, president and acting executive director of the Louisiana ACLU chapter.

The suit was filed on behalf of an unidentified person who complained to the ACLU about the picture. Named as defendants were the city of Slidell, St. Tammany Parish and City Judge James Lamz. St. Tammany Parish is being sued because it partially funds the court, the ACLU said.

On Saturday, Lamz said the picture would stay up unless a federal judge ordered it removed. He said he didn't believe the portrait violates the Constitution, but the issue should be decided in federal court.

Lamz could not comment Tuesday because of the pending litigation, his office said.

Before refusing to take the painting down, Lamz consulted Douglas Laycock, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School who has argued before the Supreme Court.

Laycock said he told Lamz that the legal issues in the case aren't clear-cut and could set legal precedent.

"I don't know how far the two sides will want to push things," Laycock added.

The painting has been on display at the courthouse for nearly a decade and hadn't provoked any complaints prior to the ACLU's recent objections, said Michael Johnson, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group representing the city and parish.

Johnson, whose group is often at odds with the ACLU, said the painting sends an inclusive message of equal justice under the law. He said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that similar displays in public forums are constitutional.

Professor Reinstated After George Washington E-mail Flap

2007-07-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

College officials in Arizona have reached an agreement with a tenured professor who had been threatened with termination after he sent out an e-mail to colleagues containing George Washington’s “Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of 1789.”

On Nov. 22, 2006, the day before Thanksgiving, Walter Kehowski — a professor in mathematics in the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) — sent the e-mail containing Washington’s message to all MCCCD employees, using a district-wide service designated for "announcements.”

Within weeks, five MCCCD employees filed harassment charges against Kehowski, claiming his message was "hostile” and "derogatory.” The complaining employees also cited the fact that the e-mail contained a link to conservative commentator Pat Buchanan’s Web site, where Kehowski had found Washington’s proclamation. Buchanan had also posted to his Web site criticisms of immigration policies.

On Jan. 3, 2007, MCCCD found that Kehowski was guilty of violating policies limiting e-mail usage to messages that "support education, research, scholarly communication, administration, and other MCCCD business.”

As NewsMax.com reported, MCCCD Chancellor Rufus Glasper placed Kehowski on administrative leave on March 9 and recommended to the MCCCD governing board that he be dismissed.

Kehowski appealed that decision and contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), an organization that seeks to protect civil liberties on U.S. campuses.

"It boggles the mind that a professor could find himself facing termination simply for e-mailing the Thanksgiving address of our first president,” said FIRE President Greg Lukianoff at the time.

And Pat Buchanan told NewsMax he was “astonished” that the professor could lose his job for circulating the Washington speech. “This is ‘1984,’” Buchanan said. “This is Orwellian. Academia has become an island of totalitarianism in a sea of freedom.”

FIRE wrote to Glasper on April 25 to protest the actions against Kehowski, asserting that e-mailing a proclamation from George Washington or including a link to Pat Buchanan’s Web site did not constitute punishable harassment.

FIRE reminded Glasper that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that for workplace expression to be considered "harassment,” it must be "severe or pervasive enough to create an objectively hostile or abusive work environment.”

When Glasper failed to address these concerns, FIRE issued a press release to publicize MCCCD’s actions against the professor, eliciting outrage from concerned citizens across the country.

On June 22, MCCCD and Kehowski reached a settlement that will allow him to return to teaching classes this fall. A confidentiality agreement prohibits either side from discussing details of the settlement, according to a statement from FIRE.

“This settlement is a crucial victory for freedom of expression and fundamental fairness,” Lukianoff said.

“FIRE is pleased that MCCCD’s unjust treatment of Kehowski has finally ceased and that he will now be able to resume his life and his teaching.”

Moore’s ‘Sicko’ Unhealthy for Democrats

2007-07-01T14:16:00.001-05:00

Michael Moore’s latest documentary “Sicko,” an indictment of the healthcare industry, has created a dilemma for top Democrats, who are wary of embracing its message — or rejecting it.

In “Sicko,” the filmmaker urges the abolishment of the health insurance industry, tight controls on pharmaceutical companies, and a Canadian-style government-run healthcare system.

Democratic presidential candidates fear rejecting Moore’s proposals could turn off liberal activists calling for massive reform of the healthcare system, whose support could be crucial in gaining the party’s nomination.

But expressing support for his prescription might alienate the larger pool of voters in the general election, the Los Angeles Times noted.

Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards have all taken positions on the issue that differ significantly from Moore’s vision.

As a result, the leading Democratic candidates have sought to “sidestep direct comment on Moore’s proposals,” the Times reported.

Moore has already said he hopes the documentary will play an important role in the presidential campaign.

But Ron Pollack of the advocacy group Families USA doubts it will have Moore’s desired effect.

“To presume that the private sector is going to sit idly by to see the destruction of private coverage I think is a misreading of reality,” he told the Times.

“I think the presidential candidates understand that if health care reform is going to have a chance of success, it will require bipartisanship and a balance of public and private coverage.”

As for the film, “it’s quite effective,” said Robert Reischauer, a leading health policy expert and president of The Urban Institute, who supports universal coverage.

However, “it’s not a documentary,” he added, but rather “policy propaganda.”

Michael Moore Bumped for Paris Hilton Interview

2007-06-26T20:46:00.000-05:00

Heiress and reality star Paris Hilton will do her first post-prison TV interview on CNN's "Larry King Live."

It turns out that "Sicko" propagandist Moore had to be bumped so Larry could do some jail time talking with "The Simple Life" star.

"She will be on for the hour," Spokesperson Bridget Leininger told Reuters. "We had Michael Moore originally scheduled for that time."

Hilton was released from jail after serving roughly half of her 45-day sentence.

It turns out that Hilton's jail stint produced something positive after all.

It generated some discussion about the appearance of a two-tiered justice system, shed light on the "checkbook journalism" issue, and sank a Moore promo spot.

Checkbook Journalism Checks In

2007-06-26T20:38:00.000-05:00

Larry King won the Paris post-jail interview sweepstakes by default.

NBC and ABC backed away from a Hilton interview. CBS also let it be known it wasn't interested.

However, the reason for the sudden chill toward Hilton had less to do with the heiress and more to do with the networks' reps.

Networks have been trying to distance themselves from numerous reports that have implied that, in an attempt to obtain an exclusive post-jail interview with Paris, checkbook journalism may have been at work.

The New York Post started the ball rolling when it reported that NBC agreed to pay up to $1 million for a "Today" show sit down. The report ignited other stories about media bidding.

ABC and NBC News were then forced to publicly insist that they do not pay for interviews and that neither had a deal with Hilton.

However, an ABC executive has said otherwise. According to the executive, the Hiltons had taken NBC up on a $1 million offer for the licensing of family photos and a video because it was more lucrative than ABC's $100,000 bid.

For decades news organizations have frowned upon checkbook journalism primarily because the practice implicitly taints the credibility of sources. Cash payments provided in exchange for news may give a source an incentive to inflate a story. The hotter the account, the more money it is worth. In all of the jockeying, truth may be lost in the mix.

The nets have been cleverly getting around the rule by paying money for what they call "licensing" of photos, videos, or made-for TV movie rights.

Here are some examples:

     NBC scored exclusive interviews with the two U.K. princes, William and Harry. Coincidently, the Peacock network paid a reported $2.5 million fee to air a concert in July that commemorates the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death.

     ABC News paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Steve Irwin's widow for footage used in a Barbara Walters primetime interview in Fall 2006.

     In 2003, CBS News offered Pvt. Jessica Lynch, the former prisoner of war in Iraq who was rescued by U.S. forces, possible movie and book deals through its sister corporate divisions.

Prior to the 1970s, paying for stories was fairly routine. It is an acceptable practice in Europe.

Disclosure is the key. Now if we can only get the networks to quit the charade.

Ralph Nader Calls Hillary a 'Coward'

2007-06-24T15:51:00.000-05:00

In what could be a looming nightmare for Democrats, Ralph Nader said he is seriously considering running for president again in 2008 – calling front-runner Hillary Clinton a "political coward.”

"The two parties are still converging,” he declared in an interview with Roger Simon of politico.com.

"I really think there needs to be more competition from outside the two parties . . .

"What third parties can do is bring young people in, set standards on how to run a presidential election and keep the progressive agenda in front of the people. And maybe tweak a candidate here and there in the major parties.”

Nader offered praise for two very dark horses in the 2008 race, Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Mike Gravel, but he strongly criticized Hillary.

"She is a political coward,” he said. "She goes around pandering to powerful interest groups on the one hand and flattering general audiences on the other.

"She doesn’t even have the minimal political fortitude of her husband.”

Many Democrats still blame Nader for siphoning votes away from Al Gore in 2000 and helping to elect George Bush. Nader got only 2.74 percent of the popular vote as the Green Party candidate, but he received 97,448 votes in Florida – a state Gore lost by just 537 votes.

Chris Lehane, who worked on Gore’s presidential campaign, told politico.com about Nader’s possible candidacy: "His entry into the race, even to those who voted for him in 2000, would be just another vainglorious effort to promote himself at the expense of the best interests of the public.”

McCain Buys Anti-Romney Web Site Name

2007-06-18T08:09:00.000-05:00

John McCain’s presidential campaign has bought the Web site name www.mittvsfact.com and will launch the site to illustrate White House hopeful Mitt Romney’s alleged flip-flops.

As NewsMax reported, the McCain campaign on Wednesday sent out an e-mail release, with a "Mitt vs. Fact” letterhead, that attacked Romney on the abortion issue.

It linked to a video showing then-Massachusetts Gov. Romney vowing to uphold the state’s abortion-rights laws.

Romney has now called for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally.

A McCain aide confirmed to The Politico on Friday that his campaign had purchased the mittvsfact Web site last month and "indicated that they would use it as a sort of one-stop shop ‘to brand’ Romney,” according to The Politico.

But the Romney campaign said McCain’s attacks pointed to trouble in his own campaign.

"Desperate candidates do very desperate things,” Romney spokesman Kevin Madden declared.

"Sen. McCain has, sadly enough, been faltering so badly lately that his campaign is left with the last resort of launching attacks against Gov. Romney.”

N.C. panel disbars Duke prosecutor

2007-06-16T20:18:00.001-05:00

District Attorney Mike Nifong will be disbarred for his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, a disciplinary committee decided Saturday. Even the veteran prosecutor said the punishment was appropriate.

"This matter has been a fiasco. There's no doubt about it," said committee chairman F. Lane Williamson.

Nifong sat motionless, one hand resting over his mouth, as Williamson recounted how he engaged in dishonest and deceitful conduct. He said Nifong's early comments about the case — which included a confident proclamation that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl" — were purposefully designed to boost his campaign for district attorney.

"At the time he was facing a primary, and yes, he was politically naive," Williamson said. "But we can draw no other conclusion that those initial statements he made were to further his political ambitions."

Nifong will not appeal the punishment, his lawyer said.

"He hopes this helps restore some of the confidence in the criminal justice system of North Carolina," said attorney David Freedman.

"On one hand, it's very devastating. On the other hand, he's been going through this process for a long time, so you always have some semblance of relief when the process is over with regardless of the outcome."

The North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with breaking several rules of professional conduct, including lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the players' defense attorneys.

The committee, after deliberating for a little more than an hour on Saturday, unanimously agreed with the bar on almost every charge — including the most serious allegations — that Nifong's actions involved "dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation."

State Bar prosecutor Douglas Brocker told the committee that as Nifong investigated the allegations that a stripper was raped and beaten at a March 2006 party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team, he charged "forward toward condemnation and injustice," weaving a "web of deception that has continued up through this hearing."

"Mr. Nifong did not act as a minister of justice, but as a minister of injustice," Brocker said.

The verdicts and the punishment did not appear to surprise Nifong, who acknowledged during sometimes tearful testimony Friday that he would likely be punished for getting "carried away a little bit" when talking about the case.

During Saturday's closing arguments, Williamson repeatedly interrupted Nifong's attorney, Dudley Witt, as he discussed the DNA testing.

Williamson questioned why it took several months for the defense to get DNA test results that found genetic material from several men in the accuser's underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player.

"It wasn't just one little oversight," Williamson said later. "This was conduct over an extended period in a very high-profile case."

Aware of those test results, Nifong pressed ahead with the case anyway and won indictments against Dave Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty. State prosecutors later concluded the three players were "innocent" victims of a rogue prosecutor's "tragic rush to accuse."

Nifong made "multiple, egregious mistakes" as he pursued the charges, but not intentionally, his attorney said in closing statements.

"It didn't click," Witt said as he tried to explain one of his client's errors. "His mind is just his mind. That's the way it works. It just didn't click."

Brocker said Nifong had to have known he was making improper comments to reporters. Nifong said he regretted some of his statements, including a confident proclamation that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl."

He also focused on when Nifong learned about the full extent of the DNA test results and when he shared that information with the defense.

Nifong gave defense attorneys an initial report on the DNA testing in May 2006 that said private lab DNA Security Inc. had been unable to find a conclusive match between the accuser and any lacrosse players.

But lab director Brian Meehan testified this week that he told Nifong as early as April 10, 2006 — a week before Seligmann and Finnerty were indicted — about the more detailed test results.

Nifong testified that when he gave the defense the initial report, he "believed at the time that I had given them everything."

The disciplinary hearing committee had the choice of suspending Nifong's law license or taking it away entirely.

Nifong told the panel hearing the case Friday that he would resign from his post as Durham County district attorney over his handling of the rape charges.

The players' attorneys have pledged to seek criminal contempt charges next week in Durham.

Study: Chickens beat Columbus to America

2007-06-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

Why did the chicken cross the ocean? To get to America before Columbus — and from the other direction — according to a new report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Many scholars had thought chickens arrived in the New World with the early Spanish or Portuguese explorers around the year 1500.

When Juan Pizarro arrived at the Inca empire in 1532, however, he found chickens already being used there, raising the possibility they had been around for some time.

And now, researchers led by Alice Storey at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, report finding evidence that may ruffle some scholarly feathers. They found chicken bones of Polynesian origin at a site in what is now Chile.

Radiocarbon dating of chicken bones at the site on the Arauco Peninsula in south central Chile indicated a range of A.D. 1321 to 1407, well before the Spanish arrival in the Americas.

The researchers were able to obtain DNA from some of the bones of these early birds, and found they were identical to ancient chicken bones previously found in Tonga and Samoa.

Chicken had been used in the Pacific for at least 3,000 years, spreading eastward across the region as Polynesians gradually populated the islands.

The DNA from these chickens also shared some unique sequences with modern Araucana chickens from South America and some current chicken types in Hawaii and Southeast Asia, the researchers found.

Sarah Jessica Parker's Conservative Clothing Line

2007-05-30T11:51:00.000-05:00

With the number of delinquent and/or jailed female pop stars on the rise, somebody had to start urging young women to quit dressing like trollops.

Well, Sarah Jessica Parker has.

The former "Sex and the City" actress is now an unofficial spokesperson for a return to modesty.

Parker has launched a new clothing line, and she is taking the opportunity to encourage folks to cover up.

The affordable female fashion line consists of exclusively conservative attire. Parker's new "Bitten" fashions are available at Steve & Barry's.

"There's not going to be any inappropriate midriff showing, regardless of your age. I really don't care for it," Parker passionately proclaimed to the Female First Web site.

"I feel like, as a culture, we have seen enough damage done by it. It's provocative in a way that I just don't feel comfortable with," she added.

It turns out that Parker's new line of apparel is a bargain in more ways than one.

The cost of the clothing has been held down; this despite the fact that in order to create attire that reflects the desired class and refinement, more fabric is needed.

And just think, if celebrities actually clean up their outfits and their acts, taxpayers' jail bills may go down.

McCain Goes Nuts Near Senate Floor

2007-05-20T17:56:00.000-05:00

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, launched into a shouting match during a Thursday Capitol Hill meeting, where reportedly the presidential candidate dropped the "F” word and more.

According to reports in the Washington Post and the New York Post, Cornyn apparently got the former POW’s attention when he raised the issue about the number of judicial appeals that illegal immigrants could receive.

In a meeting room just off the Senate floor, McCain opined that Cornyn was purposely raising petty objections to a compromise plan then being hammered out between Senate Republicans and Democrats and the White House.

"This is chickens--- stuff," McCain fired at Cornyn, according to the news reports. "You've always been against this bill, and you're just trying to derail it."

Not to be outdone, Cornyn accused McCain of being too occupied campaigning for president to take part in the negotiations.

"Wait a second here," Cornyn said to McCain. "I've been sitting in here for all of these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day. You're out of line."

"F--- you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room," McCain reportedly rejoined.

McCain, who has missed 42 votes this year, hasn't been intimately involved in the comprehensive immigration reform debate for months.

Reportedly, the shouting match was played out in front of a bipartisan group of senators and aides who had gathered in the meeting room.

Pundits suggest that the temper flare may reopen the can-of-worms that is McCain's "anger-management problem."

Brian Jones, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, acknowledged that a "spirited exchange" did take place.

"Negotiating such a large and important piece of legislation can be intense, and a spirited exchange did occur," Jones said. "[McCain] is somebody who feels very passionate about his work and about solving the problems facing the country."

Catholics to Hillary: Stop Using Mother Teresa in Ad

2007-05-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

A Catholic advocacy group is urging Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign to remove an image of Mother Teresa from a campaign video narrated by former President Bill Clinton.

"It is wholly inappropriate, disrespectful and disturbing that Hillary Clinton is using an image of Blessed Mother Teresa as a political tool, especially given their radically different views on abortion," said Fidelis President Joseph Cella.

He noted that Mother Teresa fought to protect unborn children, while Hillary Clinton "staunchly supports abortion on demand in all nine months of pregnancy, including partial birth abortion and taxpayer funding of abortion.

"Out of respect to Mother Teresa, and the Missionaries of Charity strict guidelines for the use of Mother's image, we call on the Hillary Clinton campaign to immediately remove her image from their campaign video," Cella said in a news release.

A shot of Mother Teresa standing with then-First Lady Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea appears in the five-minute video for only a moment.

The video then cuts to a clip of Mrs. Clinton's address at the 1995 Beijing Conference, in which she says, "It is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights."

What the Clintons don't mention in the video, Fidelis noted, is that the Beijing Conference tried to declare abortion a fundamental human right.

"Mother Teresa, by contrast, abhorred the international abortion policies of the UN," Cella said.

He noted that Mother Teresa sent a letter to the 1995 Beijing Conference in which she wrote, "That special power of loving that belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother. Motherhood is the gift of God to women...Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion .... No job, no plans, no possessions, no idea of 'freedom' can take the place of love."

Cella said he has sent a letter to the head of the Missionaries of Charity, urging her to ask the Clinton campaign to "cease and desist in its unauthorized use of Mother's image."

Fidelis describes itself as a Catholic-based advocacy organization established to help elect pro-life, pro-family and pro-religious liberty candidates to public office, support the confirmation of judges, and promote and defend laws faithful to the Constitution in Congress and the Courts.

The Hillary Clinton for president campaign is sending the video narrated by Bill Clinton to her supporters and donors. In it, Mr. Clinton speaks admiringly for five minutes of his wife's accomplishments and commitment to public service.

Rev. Jerry Falwell Dies Suddenly at 73

2007-05-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. He was 73.

Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell was found unresponsive late Tuesday morning and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive."

Dr. Carl Moore, Falwell's physician, said the evangelist had a heart rhythm abnormality. He said Falwell was found without a pulse and never regained consciousness.

Falwell had made careful preparations for a transition of his leadership to his two sons, Jerry Falwell, Jr., now vice-chancellor of Liberty University, and Jonathan Falwell, executive the pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church.

One daughter, Jeannie Falwell Savas, Surgeon, Richmond, Va. Godwin said. "He has left instructions for those of us who had to carry on, and we will be faithful to that charge," Godwin said.

Falwell had survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents.

"Jerry has been a tower of strength on many of the moral issues which have confronted our nation," fellow evangelist Pat Robertson said Tuesday.

Falwell credited his Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters registered, electing Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.

"I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved," Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.

The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that included the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the "Old Time Gospel Hour" carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.

Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.

Sen. John McCain, the school commencement speaker last year, said Tuesday that his prayers were with Falwell's family.

"Dr. Falwell was a man of distinguished accomplishment who devoted his life to serving his faith and country," McCain said.

Last year, Falwell marked the 50th anniversary of his church and spoke out on stem cell research, saying he sympathized with people with medical problems, but that any medical research must pass a three-part test: "Is it ethically correct? Is it biblically correct? Is it morally correct?"

Falwell had once opposed mixing preaching with politics, but he changed his view and in 1979, founded the Moral Majority. The political lobbying organization grew to 6.5 million members and raised $69 million as it supported conservative politicians and campaigned against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and bans on school prayer.

Falwell became the face of the religious right, appearing on national magazine covers and on television talk shows. In 1983, U.S. News & World Report named him one of 25 most influential people in America.

In 1984, he sued Hustler magazine for $45 million, charging that he was libeled by an ad parody depicting him as an incestuous drunkard. A federal jury found the fake ad did not libel him, but awarded him $200,000 for emotional distress. That verdict was overturned, however, in a landmark 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that even pornographic spoofs about a public figure enjoy First Amendment protection.

The case was depicted in the 1996 movie "The People v. Larry Flynt."

With Falwell's high profile came frequent criticism, even from fellow ministers. The Rev. Billy Graham once rebuked him for political sermonizing on "non-moral issues."

Falwell quit the Moral Majority in 1987, saying he was tired of being "a lightning rod" and wanted to devote his time to his ministry and Liberty University. But he remained outspoken and continued to draw criticism for his remarks.

Days after Sept. 11, 2001, Falwell essentially blamed feminists, gays, lesbians and liberal groups for bringing on the terrorist attacks. He later apologized.

In 1999, he told an evangelical conference that the Antichrist was a male Jew who was probably already alive. Falwell later apologized for the remark but not for holding the belief. A month later, his National Liberty Journal warned parents that Tinky Winky, a purple, purse-toting character on television's "Teletubbies" show, was a gay role model and morally damaging to children.

Falwell was re-energized after family values proved important in the 2004 presidential election. He formed the Faith and Values Coalition as the "21st Century resurrection of the Moral Majority," to seek anti-abortion judges, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and more conservative elected officials.

The big, blue-eyed preacher with a booming voice started his independent Baptist church with 35 members. From his living room, he began broadcasting his message of salvation and raising the donations that helped his ministry grow.

"He was one of the first to come up with ways to use television to expand his ministry," said Robert Alley, a retired University of Richmond religion professor who studied and criticized Falwell's career.

In 1987, Falwell took over the PTL (Praise the Lord) ministry in South Carolina after Jim Bakker's troubles. Falwell slid fully clothed down a theme park water slide after donors met his fund-raising goal to help rescue the rival ministry. He gave it up seven months later after learning the depth of PTL's financial problems.

Largely because of the Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart scandals, donations to Falwell's ministry dropped from $135 million in 1986 to less than $100 million the following year. Hundreds of workers were laid off and viewers of his television show dwindled.

Liberty University was $73 million in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy, and his "Old Time Gospel Hour" was $16 million in debt.

By the mid-1990s, two local businessmen with long ties to Falwell began overseeing the finances and helped get companies to forgive debts or write them off as losses.

Falwell devoted much of his time keeping his university afloat. He dreamed that Liberty would grow to 50,000 students and be to fundamentalist Christians what Notre Dame is to Roman Catholics and Brigham Young University is to Mormons. He was an avid sports fan who arrived at Liberty basketball games to the cheers of students.

Falwell's father and his grandfather were militant atheists, he wrote in his autobiography. He said his father made a fortune off his businesses _ including bootlegging during Prohibition.

As a student, Falwell was a star athlete and a prankster who was barred from giving his high school valedictorian's speech after he was caught using counterfeit lunch tickets his senior year.

He ran with a gang of juvenile delinquents before becoming a born-again Christian at age 19. He turned down an offer to play professional baseball and transferred from Lynchburg College to Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Mo.

"My heart was burning to serve Christ," he once said in an interview. "I knew nothing would ever be the same again."

The day before he died, Falwell had been up on the Liberty campus hillside chatting with students, Godwin said. He was talking about plans for the future that day and over breakfast Tuesday morning, he said.

"Dr. Falwell was a giant of faith and a visionary leader," Godwin said. He "has always been a man of great optimism and great faith."

Falwell is survived by his wife, Macel, and three children, Jerry, Jonathan and Jeannie.

Japan has drop box for unwanted babies

2007-05-10T21:28:00.000-05:00

A Japanese hospital opened the country's only anonymous drop box for unwanted infants Thursday despite government admonitions against abandoning babies.

The baby drop-off, called "Crane's Cradle," was opened by the Catholic-run Jikei Hospital in the southern city of Kumamoto as a way to discourage abortions and the abandonment of infants in unsafe public places. The hospital described it as a parent's last resort.

A small hatch on the side of the hospital allows people to drop off babies in an incubator 24 hours a day, while an alarm will notify hospital staff of the new arrival. The infants will initially be cared for by the hospital and then put up for adoption.

"We started the service but hope it won't be used," head nurse Yukiko Tajiri said. "I hope it is seen as a symbol that we are always here for parents to share their difficulty."

But government officials warned the service might only encourage more abandonments.

"In principle, parents should not abandon their babies anonymously," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters Thursday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki meanwhile said it was "fundamental for parents to raise their children with their own hands."

Similar baby drops exist in Germany and South Africa. Some U.S. states, such as Alabama and Minnesota, also have programs protecting identities of women who give up their babies.

The drop box was set up after a series of high-profile cases in which newborn babies were abandoned in parks and supermarkets, triggering a public outcry.

Abortion is readily available and widespread in Japan where restriction against the measure is loose and there are no clear religious taboos.

Nearly 290,000 abortions were reported in 2005, according to the Health Ministry.

Russia's Putin Likens U.S. Policy to 'Third Reich'

2007-05-10T21:22:00.000-05:00

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a thinly veiled attack on the United States, comparing American foreign policy to the "Third Reich” in a speech on Wednesday.

Putin’s comments were the latest in a series of Russian criticisms of the U.S. on Iraq, missile defense and NATO expansion, as the Russian leader maintains that America is striving to single-handedly dominate world affairs, the International Herald Tribune reported.

Putin delivered the speech from a podium in front of Lenin’s Mausoleum on Red Square as he marked Victory Day, the 62nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

"We do not have the right to forget the causes of any war, which must be sought in the mistakes and errors of peacetime,” he declared.

"Moreover, in our time, these threats are not diminishing. They are only transforming, changing their appearance. In these new threats – as during the time of the Third Reich – are the same contempt for human life and the same claims of exceptionality.”

Putin did not mention the U.S. by name. But Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies – who works closely with the Kremlin – confirmed to the Herald Tribune that Putin was referring to the United States and NATO.

"He intended to talk about the United States, but not only,” Markov said, in reference to the sentence citing the Third Reich. "The speech said that the Second World War teaches lessons that can be applied to today’s world.”

According to the Herald Tribune, Russians say Putin’s "sharper edge” is a reflection of "frustration that Russia’s views, particularly its opposition to NATO expansion, have been ignored in the West.”

Giuliani Set to Fully Embrace Abortion

2007-05-10T21:21:00.001-05:00

Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani will fully embrace support for abortion in the coming days, according to a report in Thursday's editions of The New York Times.

The paper noted that "after months of giving ambiguous signals on abortion," Giuliani will begin to articulate a "forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights."

In public remarks, Giuliani has emphasized his own, personal distaste for abortion. He has also noted that though he has supported a woman's right to choose, he would also appoint Supreme Court Justices in the strict construction mold, presumably those who could limit abortion rights.

In recent days Giuliani's positon on abortion has drawn significant political static. During the first Republican debate, Giuliani said he would oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

And this week his staff dealt with a flurry of controversy after it was revealed Giuliani contributed six times to Planned Parenthood, an abortion provider.

With about one-third of Republican primary voters identifying themselves as pro-choice, and Giuliani being the lone candidate abortion rights, his strategists believe he can still win the GOP's nomination despite his liberal social views.

Giuliani's team reportedly is "de-emphasizing" pro-life states like New Hampshire and will focus on more larger states where his views on abortion will be less worrisome, states like California, Florida, New York and New Jersey.

Michael Moore Focus of Treasury Dept. Probe

2007-05-10T09:10:00.000-05:00

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore is under investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in his upcoming health-care documentary "Sicko," The Associated Press has learned.

The investigation provides another contentious lead-in for a provocative film by Moore, a fierce critic of President Bush. In the past, Moore's adversaries have fanned publicity that helped the filmmaker create a new brand of opinionated blockbuster documentary.

"Sicko" promises to take the health-care industry to task the way Moore confronted America's passion for guns in "Bowling for Columbine" and skewered Bush over his handling of Sept. 11 in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control notified Moore in a letter dated May 2 that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the U.S. trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. A copy of the letter was obtained Tuesday by the AP.

"This office has no record that a specific license was issued authorizing you to engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba," Dale Thompson, OFAC chief of general investigations and field operations, wrote in the letter to Moore.

In February, Moore took about 10 ailing workers from the Ground Zero rescue effort in Manhattan for treatment in Cuba, said a person working with the filmmaker on the release of "Sicko." The person requested anonymity because Moore's attorneys had not yet determined how to respond.

Moore, who scolded Bush over the Iraq war during the 2003 Oscar telecast, received the letter Monday, the person said. "Sicko" premieres May 19 at the Cannes Film Festival and debuts in U.S. theaters June 29.

Moore declined to comment, said spokeswoman Lisa Cohen.

After receiving the letter, Moore arranged to place a copy of the film in a "safe house" outside the country to protect it from government interference, said the person working on the release of the film.

Treasury officials declined to answer questions about the letter. "We don't comment on enforcement actions," said department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise.

The letter noted that Moore applied Oct. 12, 2006, for permission to go to Cuba "but no determination had been made by OFAC." Moore sought permission to travel there under a provision for full-time journalists, the letter said.

According to the letter, Moore was given 20 business days to provide OFAC with such information as the date of travel and point of departure; the reason for the Cuba trip and his itinerary there; and the names and addresses of those who accompanied him, along with their reasons for going.

Potential penalties for violating the embargo were not indicated. In 2003, the New York Yankees paid the government $75,000 to settle a dispute that it conducted business in Cuba in violation of the embargo. No specifics were released about that case.

"Sicko" is Moore's followup to 2004's "Fahrenheit 9/11," a $100 million hit criticizing the Bush administration over Sept. 11. Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" won the 2002 Oscar for best documentary.

A dissection of the U.S. health-care system, "Sicko" was inspired by a segment on Moore's TV show "The Awful Truth," in which he staged a mock funeral outside a health-maintenance organization that had declined a pancreas transplant for a diabetic man. The HMO later relented.

At last September's Toronto International Film Festival, Moore previewed footage shot for "Sicko," presenting stories of personal health-care nightmares. One scene showed a woman who was denied payment for an ambulance ride after a head-on collision because it was not preapproved.

Moore's opponents have accused him of distorting the facts, and his Cuba trip provoked criticism from conservatives including former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson, who assailed the filmmaker in a blog at National Review Online.

"I have no expectation that Moore is going to tell the truth about Cuba or health care," wrote Thompson, the subject of speculation about a possible presidential run. "I defend his right to do what he does, but Moore's talent for clever falsehoods has been too well documented."

The timing of the investigation is reminiscent of the firestorm that preceded the Cannes debut of "Fahrenheit 9/11," which won the festival's top prize in 2004. The Walt Disney Co. refused to let subsidiary Miramax release the film because of its political content, prompting Miramax bosses Harvey and Bob Weinstein to release "Fahrenheit 9/11" on their own.

The Weinsteins later left Miramax to form the Weinstein Co., which is releasing "Sicko." They declined to comment on the Treasury investigation, said company spokeswoman Sarah Levinson Rothman.

Romney Says Sharpton's Dig Could Be Considered Bigoted

2007-05-10T09:09:00.000-05:00

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Wednesday denounced the Rev. Al Sharpton's remarks about God and his Mormon faith, saying it could be construed as "a bigoted comment."

"It shows that bigotry still exists in some corners," said Romney, who spoke to reporters after a campaign event. "I thought it was a most unfortunate comment to make."

On Monday, Sharpton said in a debate that "those of us who believe in God" will defeat Romney for the White House. He denied he was questioning the Mormon's own belief in God.

Rather, the New York Democrat said he was contrasting himself with Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author he was debating at the time.

"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation," Sharpton said during a debate with Hitchens at the New York Public Library.

Romney's campaign seized on the comments to criticize Sharpton, and the candidate complained about the remarks on Wednesday, calling them "terribly misguided."

Asked if he considered the civil rights leader a bigot, Romney demurred.

"I don't know Reverend Sharpton," he said. "I doubt he is personally such a thing, but the comment was a comment which could be described as a bigoted comment."

Romney added that he was willing to believe Sharpton didn't mean to be offensive.

"Perhaps he didn't mean it that way, but the way it came out was inappropriate and wrong," said Romney.

In a statement, Sharpton accused the Romney campaign of a "blatant effort to fabricate a controversy to help their lagging campaign" and argued that it was Hitchens who criticized Mormons.

"In no way did I attack Mormons or the Mormon Church when I responded that other believers, not atheists, would vote against Mr. Romney for purely political reasons," Sharpton said.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sharpton denied questioning Romney's belief in God and suggested the Romney camp was trying to stir up a controversy because of their political differences.

"What I said was that we would defeat him, meaning as a Republican," Sharpton said. "A Mormon, by definition, believes in God. They don't believe in God the way I do, but by definition, they believe in God."

Romney, the former one-term governor of Massachusetts, said that as he campaigns, he hears little criticism about his religion.

"Overwhelmingly, the people I talk to believe that we elect a person to lead the nation not based on what church they go to, but based on their values and their vision," he said. "I receive very little comment of the nature coming from Reverend Sharpton."

The issue of Romney's religion is often compared to the scrutiny given to former President John Kennedy, whose Catholic faith was an issue in the 1960 campaign. Kennedy dealt with the matter by giving a high-profile speech in which he said his religion would not shape his policy choices.

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, hasn't addressed such questions so directly, but he has been clear that his religion wouldn't dictate his policies.

"I make it very clear that the doctrines of any one church are not the basis for electing any individual in this country _ never have been and I doubt they ever will be," Romney said.

Hillary's French Lesson

2007-05-07T20:51:00.000-05:00

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
Monday, May 7, 2007

What does the defeat of Segolene Royal, the first woman to seek the French presidency, mean for Hillary Clinton, in the midst of her pursuit of the Oval Office?

Does Royal's failure signal that the seemingly irresistible momentum of female candidates worldwide is screeching to a halt?

After Angela Merkel was elected chancellor of Germany, Michelle Bachelet won the Chilean presidency and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took Liberia's presidency. At the time, it seemed that women were on the move globally.

Does Royal's defeat mean that the momentum is waning?

In one important respect, French gender politics is the opposite of American. In the U.S., women vote to the left of men. But in France, men vote to the left of women.

More likely to be observant Catholics, the women of France typically are the mainstay of the conservative parties. French men, who fill out the ranks of the country's powerful unions, back the Socialists.

In nominating a woman, the French Socialist Party was cutting across its normal gender lines. It would be as if the Republicans, not the Democrats, had nominated a woman to run for president.

Royal's defeat was largely due to her inability to lure women who usually back rightist candidates to cross over and back her. In France, ideology and class proved more important than gender in structuring the female vote.

On another level, the lessons of Royal's defeat are important for Hillary to learn.

After a shaky performance touring the Middle East early in her candidacy, the idea took root that Royal was unprepared and unqualified to be president. Her gaffes in seeming to side with the Palestinians against Israel were magnified. She was painted as out of her league on the global stage.

As the campaign continued, Royal embraced an explicitly female posture in the race, seeking to become the modern equivalent of Marianne (the French revolutionary who might fulfill an iconic self image as Uncle Sam does for America) and Joan of Arc, the towering medieval French heroine.

Sarkozy mocked her style, noting that she appeared to be in a bad mood and suggesting that it was due to her standing in the polls. Royal seemed to lend herself to a negative caricature of a female candidate: headstrong, impulsive, uninformed, moody, and emotional. Her posturing did not sell well.

Most ominously for Hillary is how Royal's marriage played against her. The candidate's long-term "husband" (although they were never married) is Francois Hollande, the head of the Socialist Party. She was widely seen as a stand-in for him and voters saw him as the real power behind the throne.

Will Americans cast Bill in the same role as the hidden power behind Hillary? Will it hurt her as much as it injured Royal?

At the moment, few people would say that Hillary's strings are pulled by Bill. But in 1990, when Bill was contemplating retirement as governor to dedicate himself to the 1992 presidential race, Hillary contemplated running in his place.

But polls that I conducted for Hillary showed that voters rejected her candidacy, seeing her as a puppet of her husband.

The Royal-Hollande debacle in the election sends a message to Hillary: Don't let Bill be seen as your master.

Importantly, the defeat of Royal shows how personally women candidates are vetted by voters. Once in a while voters will hold personal peccadilloes against a man. Recently we have heard such complaints. Is John McCain too temperamental? Rudy Giuliani too arrogant? John Edwards too vain?

For a woman candidate, however, personal scrutiny is de rigueur. Royal discovered that and so will Hillary.

However unfairly, the candidate's every attribute, attitude, and appearance is carefully scrutinized, not the least by her fellow females, for signs about her personality.

Is Hillary too scripted, too programmed, too phony, too dogmatic, too cold, too angry? Female candidates received an "X-ray examination" that men largely do not.

Beyond the French elections' implications for Hillary, the election of Nicolas Sarkozy signifies a key turn for Franco-American relations.

Coupled with Merkel's victory over Gerhard Schroeder in German elections last year, the voters on the European continent have put pro-American leaders at the apex of power.

These electoral victories signal a very different message from that peddled by the American media which frets about America's declining standing in global public opinion.

The fact is that the United States' amazing economic success, coupled with the stagnation of Western Europe, is sending a dramatic message about the superiority of our form of free market economy over their heavily taxed, over-regulated model.

America is back in vogue on the continent! Our form of democratic individualism seems awfully attractive to the tightly controlled European societies and economies.

Whether Merkel or Sarkozy succeed or not, they are trying hard to turn their countries around.

Sarkozy elected France's president

2007-05-06T15:06:00.000-05:00

Conservative leader Nicolas Sarkozy triumphed in France's presidential election on Sunday, beating his Socialist rival Segolene Royal by a comprehensive margin and extending the right's 12-year grip on power.

Within an hour of polls closing, a calm, restrained Sarkozy pledged to represent the entire nation and heal the divisions of a bitter election campaign, praising his defeated opponent.

He also reached out to both the United States, which has had frosty relations with France since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and to European Union partners, saying he would make the fight against global warming a priority.

"To all those French who did not vote for me, I want to say that beyond political battles, beyond differences of opinion, for me there is only one France," he told cheering supporters.

With almost two thirds of ballots counted, Sarkozy had won 53.4 percent of the vote against 46.6 percent for Royal. Turnout was some 85 percent -- the highest since 1981.

Royal, her traditional smile slightly faded, immediately conceded defeat. "Universal suffrage has spoken. I wish the next president of the Republic the best in accomplishing his mission in the service of all the French people," she said.

Although opinion polls regularly suggested voters preferred Royal, who was seeking to become France's first woman head of state, they saw the uncompromising Sarkozy as a more competent leader with a more convincing economic program.

Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, presented himself as the "candidate of work," promising to loosen the 35-hour work week by offering tax breaks on overtime and to trim fat from the public service, cut taxes and wage war on unemployment.

Supporters poured into the huge Place de la Concorde in the center of Paris for a rock concert and celebration party.

TAKING OFFICE

Sarkozy is expected to take power on May 16 or 17, becoming the first French president to be born after World War Two and replacing Jacques Chirac, 74, who is retiring after two terms.

He will then name a new government and launch into campaigning for June's parliamentary election, where he will seek a clear majority to implement his reforms. Former Labor Minister Francois Fillon is expected to be prime minister.

The president is elected for five years, is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, nominates the prime minister, has the right to dissolve the National Assembly and is responsible for foreign and defense policies.

Royal started the year as favorite, but a string of gaffes raised persistent doubts over her competency.

Ideological divisions in her own camp also meant she could never enjoy unified party support and Socialist heavyweights said on Sunday the left needed to undergo deep reform after failing in three attempts to win the presidency.

"We need to renew ourselves. It is the condition for regaining hope and I am available for that," said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist former finance minister, presenting himself as a future leader for the battered party.

The Socialists portrayed Sarkozy as a danger for France, saying he was authoritarian and likely to exacerbate tensions in the poor, multi-racial suburbs that ring many French cities.

They also accused him of fuelling 2005 suburb riots by promising to rid neighborhoods of what he said were the "scum" responsible for the troubles. Thousands of extra police have been drafted in to patrol sensitive suburbs on Sunday.

But by backing Sarkozy, voters showed they wanted a strong leader to resolve France's many problems, including high unemployment of at least 8.3 percent, falling living standards, job insecurity and declining industrial might.

He has promised a clean break with the policies of Chirac, once his political mentor, and says he will curb the powers of the unions and toughen sentencing for criminals.

On foreign policy, Sarkozy is more pro-American than Chirac, but said on Sunday Washington had to respect Paris.

"I want to tell (the U.S.) that friendship is accepting that one's friends can act differently, and that a great nation like the United States has the duty to not obstruct the fight against global warming but on the contrary to take the lead," he said.

He has said one of his first acts as president will be to visit Berlin and then Brussels to lay out plans for a mini treaty to replace the European Union constitution that French voters rejected in a 2005 referendum.

Imus May Sue CBS, Get $40 Million Payday

2007-05-03T09:00:00.000-05:00

Fired talk show host Don Imus could file a lawsuit against CBS within a month over the $40 million remaining on his contract, according to a source familiar with the contract.

CBS lawyers argue that Imus was fired for cause – his disparaging remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team – and therefore he is not entitled to the money.

But as NewsMax reported earlier, Imus has hired Martin Garbus, one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers and a First Amendment specialist.

Garbus’ strategy could focus on language in the $10-million-a-year contract Imus signed in 2006, according to the source. The language stipulates that Imus should receive a warning before being fired for making off-color jokes, the source who has seen the contract told Fortune magazine. The source called it a "dog has one-bite clause.”

But that approach could ultimately fail because Imus’ comments were carried on the public airwaves, which are subject to Federal Communications Commission regulations.

Garbus is "a First Amendment lawyer who’s argued many important cases,” attorney Lynne Bernabei, who has represented plaintiffs in employment disputes, told Fortune.

But "in my mind there is a big difference between someone who is under contract and is under FCC regulations and someone who speaks out in town hall.”

Then there is the question as to whether or not Imus actually was given a previous warning about offensive remarks, Fortune points out.

For one, Imus once referred to PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who is black, as a "cleaning lady.”

George Tenet Contradicts Himself

2007-05-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

In his new book At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA George Tenet depicts President Bush's decision to invade Iraq as a foregone conclusion, but he seemed to have a different version of events when I interviewed him just after the invasion.

Strongly implying that he was against the war from the beginning, the former director of Central Intelligence writes that, as far as he knows, the Bush administration never had a "serious debate" about the "imminence of the Iraqi threat" or even seriously considered the implications of an invasion or the possible consequences.

Moreover, Tenet writes, there seemed to be a "lack of curiosity in asking these kinds of questions." After 9/11, Tenet writes, the decision to go to war became a "runaway freight train."

As noted in a May 2 NewsMax story, Dick Cheney's Real Role, the United States did not invade Iraq until a year and a half after 9/11.

Even though he saw Bush at least once a day, six days a week, Tenet admits in the book that he did not raise any objections to Bush's decision.

"Such decisions properly belong to the policy-makers, not to intelligence officials," Tenet writes. But in an interview for my 2003 book, The CIA at War: Inside the Secret Campaign Against Terror, Tenet presented what appears to be a different account.

Prior to my interview with him, Tenet, as director of Central Intelligence, had given no television interviews and only six print interviews, all before 9/11. However, Tenet approved cooperation on my book, including interviews with a range of CIA officials and tours of some CIA facilities.

The book depicted the CIA's response to terrorism before and after 9/11 and detailed how Tenet had begun to turn the agency around after the CIA, under President Clinton, had withered and become risk-averse.

The first of my two interviews with Tenet for the book took place on May 15, 2003 in the office of Bill Harlow, then the CIA's director of public affairs. Harlow would later collaborate with Tenet on his book. Having commenced on March 20, the invasion of Iraq had just ended on April 9, when U.S. troops occupied Baghdad.

Asked how President Bush operates, Tenet told me then, "He's terrific. We see him six days a week. He's a terrific leader. He's very steeped in our business. He's very supportive of everything we've done and everything we're doing."

These remarks echo what Tenet says about Bush in his book. Only a few sentences of these comments appear in my book.

Going beyond what he said in the book and what I quoted in my book, Tenet said of Bush in our interview at the agency, "He listens. He acquires data. He is always interested in competing views, but he then decides. He doesn't get paralyzed. When we're good, we go. I think there's a lot to be said for this style of leadership."

When I interviewed Tenet, war critics had already begun to question the decision to invade, insisting that diplomacy or sanctions would ultimately work instead. Friends and family members of Tenet and other CIA officers had lined up on opposing sides.

"There were people in my family who didn't agree [with the war]," Tenet told me. "That's part of America. It's great."

Pressed about the opposition to the war and whether going to war was the right thing to do, Tenet went on in our interview: "Going to war is a pretty serious decision for anybody to take. The reason this is a great country is people can express those views. The debate is important and healthy. All I can offer," Tenet said, "is this is not a president who went to war frivolously. He thought about it. He understood the consequences. He understood the potential for the loss of life. He deeply cared about the people who would execute the mission."

But in his book, Tenet lists among the possibilities and issues that the administration allegedly did not consider, "Was it wise to go to war? Was it the right thing to do?"

Asked now for comment, Bill Harlow said, "He was talking about the humanity of the president. The president certainly is not going to send men and women into battle lightly. When he talks in the book about a lack of debate, he's not talking about sending troops to war uncaringly. What he is saying is there was not a sufficient debate within the administration about what happens next: Do we have enough troops on the ground to prevent chaos and anarchy? What is going to happen in the region? What will happen if the Iraqis war among themselves? That's the debate that wasn't happening."

Clearly, Harlow said, there was a public debate about whether to go to war. The Senate debated and voted on the question, he noted.

"So he was not saying there was never any discussion [within the White House] of do we go to war," Harlow said. "It was the next step. What are the implications of it? Are we prepared for what comes next? The criticism is not aimed at the president. It's aimed at the administration's failure to think through what comes after the initial invasion."

In the book, Tenet says there never was a significant discussion within the administration regarding "enhanced containment or the costs and benefits of such an approach" versus going to war and what that would entail.

Harlow acknowledged to me that Tenet didn't know what discussions Bush himself might have had about the questions he is raising now.

"Maybe he was having them," Harlow said. "He just says he wasn't present for them, and other senior officials at the agency also weren't present for them."

Also, Tenet was not privy to deliberations in Bush's own mind, Harlow said.

Harlow said Tenet wrote the book from the perspective of his current position as a Georgetown University professor after reviewing everything he has learned since the invasion. That includes examining tens of thousands of documents as part of the research for the book.

"He is not saying that this is something he thought at the time and focused on at the time," Harlow said. "Everything looks different in hindsight," he said. "He's writing this book looking back and asking what are the lessons we can learn. This is not about pointing fingers at George Bush," Harlow said. "This is about the process of government and what the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Defense Department were thinking," he said. "George admires the president, and I think the feeling is mutual. You know George better than that. It's so the country can do better in the future. That's all this is about."

In an interview this week, former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card told me that the issues raised by Tenet were discussed, but predictions of what would happen after the war were all over the lot.

"There were predictions that ran the gamut about what would happen in Iraq on whether there would be sectarian strife and civil war," Card said. "There were some who said that there was going to be sectarian strife and some who said there would be close to a civil war," Card said.

"There were others who dismissed that," Card said, predicting that Saddam's army and the Iraqis would embrace the Americans.

Hillary, Fearing Obama, Changes Strategy

2007-05-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

Faced with the surprising success of Barack Obama in the polls and in fund-raising, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is growing increasingly concerned about her main challenger.

Now a worried Hillary Clinton is dramatically retooling her strategy on several fronts, including fund-raising, in an effort to fend off the challenge from Obama, according to a report in the latest edition of Time magazine.

Already, dollar for dollar in primary campaign money, Obama is beating Hillary, and her own aides acknowledge that the Illinois Senator is simply working the phones more than their candidate.

Her campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe acknowledged that Obama "works the phone like dog. He probably did three to four times the number of events she did” in the first quarter of this year. "No matter who I call, he has already called them three or four times,” McAuliffe told Time.

Clinton had planned to sweep to victory in the Democratic primaries and avoid the nitty-gritty. But Obama's success has forced her campaign to plan on more "small dollar” events, like a recent $100-a-head party at New York City’s Pier 94. And while up until now she has raised most of her money on both coasts, she is now planning more appearances inland – including a May 7 fund-raiser in Chicago.

On another front, Hillary is seeking to counter what Obama’s aides call "an enthusiasm gap.” The latest Gallup poll found that 52 percent of respondents have an unfavorable view of her. Her favorable rating has dropped 13 percentage points since February, to 45 percent, while Obama’s favorable rating is 52 percent – the same as John Edwards’ – with only a 30 percent unfavorable rating.

"So Clinton is lavishing more attention on groups like women, whom she considers her natural constituencies,” Time reports.

During most of her tenure in the Senate Hillary has avoided using her husband for back-up. But that has changed too. Hillary also plans to have husband Bill hit the campaign and fund-raising trails more often.

Both Clintons are using the fear factor to ward off growing support for Obama. Time says the power couple are telling potential contributors that the U.S. could very likely experience a 9/11-scale terrorist attack during the next administration, and Hillary – because of her experience as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee – is the candidate best suited to handle such a crisis.

But the Clinton campaign has no plans to go on a direct offensive against Obama any time soon, Time notes, because that "could further boost her negatives and create an opening for Edwards.”

Rudy Giuliani Changes Tune on Civil Unions

2007-04-27T23:27:00.000-05:00

Presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani has made a sharp departure from his previously stated stance on civil unions and has spoken out in opposition to a civil union law passed by the New Hampshire state Senate.

"Mayor Giuliani believes marriage is between one man and one woman. Domestic partnerships are the appropriate way to ensure that people are treated fairly," the Giuliani campaign said Thursday in a written response to a question from the New York Sun.

"In this specific case the law states same sex civil unions are the equivalent of marriage and recognizes same sex unions from outside states. This goes too far and Mayor Giuliani does not support it."

The New Hampshire law is titled, "An act permitting same gender couples to enter civil unions and have the same rights, responsibilities, and obligations as married couples."

Previously Giuliani had made no secret of his support for civil unions. In February 2004, he told Fox News’ Bill O'Reilly, when asked if he supported gay marriage, "I'm in favor of . . . civil unions."

And in 1998, then-New York City Mayor Giuliani signed into law a domestic partnership bill that a gay rights group, the Empire State Pride Agenda, praised as setting "a new national benchmark for domestic partner recognition."

Regarding Giuliani’s change of position, the Sun observed: "Despite Mr. Giuliani's long history of supporting gay rights — or rather, because of it — yesterday's statement is likely to lead many to question whether the former mayor is concerned that his socially liberal record and positions aren't flying in the Republican primary. While he still holds a commanding lead in the national polls, he has taken a hit over the last month or so after reiterating his support for the public funding of abortion.”

Among other leading presidential candidates, Mitt Romney opposes the New Hampshire measure; Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards support it; and John McCain has taken no position, saying the civil unions issue is a matter of states’ rights.

N.C. lets mentally ill avoid gun list: State doesn't report those committed

2007-04-26T06:31:00.000-05:00

Jim Nesbitt and Jessica Rocha, Staff Writers

Thousands of people involuntarily committed to psychiatric institutions by North Carolina courts aren't in a national database aimed at preventing gun sales to people with dangerous mental illnesses.

Although it is a felony to knowingly sell a gun to anyone so troubled, North Carolina court clerks keep commitment records under wraps because of privacy provisions in state mental health statutes. That means they don't show up in the FBI-run National Instant Criminal Background Check System that gun dealers and law enforcement use to determine whether a customer can legally purchase a firearm.

"We have no authority or directive to report this information to anybody," said Dick Ellis, spokesman for the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees courthouse operations. "Unless we're told directly to do so, we don't give our records over to anybody."

After last week's killing spree at Virginia Tech University by student Seung-Hui Cho, the availability on the NICS database of involuntary commitment orders and other court rulings related to mental health has become a major issue. Privacy concerns are pitted against public safety fears.

Despite a 2005 court declaration that Cho was a danger to himself, he was able to legally purchase two handguns he used to kill 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech. A Virginia judge ordered Cho to undergo a mental health evaluation, but the ruling didn't show up on the background check.

Federal law prohibits gun sales to people who fall into 10 categories, including felons, illegal immigrants, subjects of domestic violence restraining orders and anyone committed to a mental institution or ruled "mentally defective."

But the 10-year-old background check system depends on states to forward information, particularly court orders related to mental health. In the year ending last July, there were 56,124 confidential special proceedings in North Carolina courts. Those included involuntary and voluntary commitments to mental institutions but also hearings to suspend the licenses of attorneys, according to records with the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.

Experts say legislators have created exemptions to the mental health privacy provisions, including a requirement that courts report commitments for substance abuse to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Unless legislators provide a similar exemption for the database, court clerks won't give up those records, Ellis said.

Two ways to get in

As a result of this cloak of privacy, North Carolina mental health filings to the NICS database fall primarily under two categories, said John Aldridge, special deputy attorney general and leading authority on state firearms law. Both depend on the diligence of the local official in charge of the records.

One is an open court result in a criminal case, such as being found not guilty by reason of insanity. The other is a record of being turned down by a sheriff for a pistol-purchase permit or concealed-carry permit.

North Carolina sheriffs, who are responsible for background checks on applicants for both permits, can check commitment records on concealed carry permits because applicants waive their privacy rights. They aren't allowed to check commitment records for pistol purchases but may learn of such orders by other means and deny permits.

It's also up to sheriffs to decide whether to forward permit denials to the NICS database. So far, North Carolina sheriffs have forwarded 319 mental-health-related denials since the database was created in 1998, Aldridge said.

House ponders change

Today, the state House will consider a bill that would allow sheriffs to inform other sheriffs if they deny a pistol permit for mental health reasons.

Though it keeps involuntary commitments confidential, North Carolina is one of 22 states that report mental-health related information to the NICS, federal officials say.

But the number of North Carolina filings pales beside the 80,000 mental-health-related entries that Virginia has made in the NCIS database.

Since the Virginia Tech killings, there have been calls to make involuntary commitment orders an exception to medical privacy laws -- something both mental health advocates and gun rights adherents successfully opposed in 2002 when the measure was introduced in North Carolina.

"We need to lower the threshold so that all people who show signs of being a danger to themselves or others are reported," said Lisa Price, executive director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, a gun-control group that pushed the 2002 legislation as part of an anti-gun-trafficking package. "Keeping guns out of the wrong hands -- that's our goal."

F. Paul Valone, president of Grass Roots North Carolina, a gun rights organization, vows to fight any attempt to remove the confidentiality cloak from involuntary commitment orders.

"The intention behind that legislation was to foment additional gun control in North Carolina, and we won't tolerate that," Valone said.

Mark Botts, an expert on mental health records and confidentiality at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government, said legislators already have written several exemptions into the law, including the DMV measure. Sealed court records relating to mental health treatment are also legally shared for child or elder-abuse investigations and can be unsealed if the information is considered in the public interest.

In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre, Botts said a similar exemption should be made for the gun database.

"I don't think it has to be that polarizing," he said.

Fred Thompson Not the Energizer Bunny

2007-04-25T12:38:00.000-05:00

By Ronald Kessler

The knock on Fred Thompson is that he is not exactly the Energizer Bunny.

Republican operatives were amazed at the contrast between the 1994 Senate campaigns run by Thompson and Bill Frist, both from Tennessee. Frist ran a tightly organized, business-like effort. Thompson’s effort was amateurish, and he was not inclined to push himself to hold fundraisers.

In deploying volunteers to call voters, Frist’s campaign used computerized lists of telephone numbers. They had been pre-selected based on clues that the voters might be inclined to listen to a pitch for Frist. When making calls, volunteers read from a carefully prepared script.

In contrast, the Thompson campaign gave workers pages torn from local telephone books. The campaign told workers to try the numbers and did not supply them with specifics on what to say when they called. Because of the lack of organization, volunteers flocked to Frist’s campaign.

If Thompson makes it to the White House, it will likely be as disorganized an operation as Bill Clinton’s White House was. However, Thompson recently told a close friend that he honestly does not know if he wants to run. Near the end of his first term as senator, he made a similar statement to supporters and ultimately decided against running for a second term.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has garnered more endorsements from members of Congress than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat. While endorsements do not translate directly into votes, they do help encourage state leaders to jump on one bandwagon or another.

In the latest poll by ccAdvertising, which conducts private polls for members of Congress, 9.96 percent of those who said they intend to vote in a Republican caucus or primary in California, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York or South Carolina said they will vote for Romney. That compares with 3.1 percent in January when the poll was taken in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

“If I were on the Romney team, I would be pleased by the progression that I am seeing,” Gabriel S. Joseph III, president of ccAdvertising, tells me. “You have money in the bank, and you are making progress. People like to go with winners or those that they think will be.”

In the ccAdvertising poll, Rudy Giuliani leads with 24.67 percent. Next is John McCain with 18.21 percent, then Newt Gingrich with 10.08 percent.

What is most interesting, Joseph says, is that 28.95 percent of those polled say they have no preference, indicating the race is wide open. That means a candidate like Romney with little name recognition has a good chance of climbing in the polls as he gets his message out.

“Politics is a form of marketing,” Joseph said. “Sometimes just mentioning someone’s name gets people interested. The way you sell a Lexus automobile is you mention Lexus, Lexus. People will say, ‘I’ve heard a lot about Mitt Romney.’ You ask them, ‘What have you heard?’ They’ll say, ‘I’m not sure, but I’ve heard a lot about him.’ So at this point I think this is what the polls are measuring.”

Making the Secret Service Happy

Most political operatives believe the presidential nominees will be decided next February by a few of the 20 states that so far have opted for early primaries. What that means for candidates is anybody’s guess.

“This primary season is turning into the most challenging Rubik’s Cube that we’ve faced in our lifetime,” says Ben Ginsberg, Romney’s counsel who previously was counsel to the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004.

But the Secret Service knows exactly what early primaries mean: potentially fewer candidates to protect down the road. So far, based on the public record, the Secret Service counts 15 potential candidates

By law, the Secret Service provides protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates and their spouses. The secretary of Homeland Security determines who are the major candidates after consulting with an advisory committee consisting of the speaker and minority leader of the House, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, and one additional member selected by the other members of the committee.

The secretary of Homeland Security decides when to begin protection of candidates. Protection of spouses begins 120 days before the general election.

The Secret Service is already asking most of its 3,000 agents for their preferences on types of candidate protection assignments. For example, agents can ask to join a general protection shift, operations and logistics, or transportation details.

If only two candidates emerge from the primaries, the Secret Service will save tens of millions of dollars.

Hillary: Bill Could Be My World Ambassador

2007-04-23T20:56:00.000-05:00

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that if she is elected president, she would make her husband a roaming ambassador to the world, using his skills to repair the nation's tattered image abroad.

"I can't think of a better cheerleader for America than Bill Clinton, can you?" the Democratic senator from New York asked a crowd jammed into a junior high school gymnasium. "He has said he would do anything I asked him to do. I would put him to work."

Clinton spoke at a town hall-style meeting Saturday where she took questions from about 200 people. When asked what role the former president would play in her administration, she left no doubt it would be an important one.

"I'm very lucky that my husband has been so experienced in all of these areas," said Clinton, who pointed to the diplomatic assignments her husband has carried out since leaving office, such as raising money for tsunami victims.

Although former president Clinton was impeached after an affair with a White House intern, he remains a very popular figure in much of the world and is considered an effective diplomat.

That's precisely what America needs in the wake of a war in Iraq that's left America isolated and hated throughout much of the world, Hillary Clinton said.

"I believe in using former presidents, particularly what my husband has done, to really get people around the world feeling better about our country," she said. "We're going to need that. Right now they're rooting against us and they need to root for us."

The former president can also be a political asset to his wife's campaign. While his image with the electorate is mixed, he remains immensely popular among Democrats.

When it was announced last year that he would be the main speaker at the Iowa Democratic Party's largest annual fundraiser, the event sold out overnight.

On Saturday, Hillary Clinton chatted with activists in Marshalltown and mingled at a coffee shop in Newton before raising money for Rep. Leonard Boswell.

She was scheduled to visit Dubuque on Sunday.

In Marshalltown, she was pressed on immigration issues in a city where a raid at a local meatpacking plant led to the detention of nearly 100 workers. Clinton called for more assistance for cities with significant numbers of undocumented workers.

"You've got to have more help for communities when you have a lot of undocumented workers because they have costs associated with that and they don't set immigration policy," Clinton said.

She also said any immigration reform must be tougher on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

She said nothing will affect the issue until leaders of countries, such as Mexico, improve the economic lives for millions living in poverty.

Clinton also said she would raise taxes for the wealthy, who she said "aren't paying their fair share." She also praised the economic policies of her husband that brought budget surpluses.

GOPAC Is Back

2007-04-18T08:02:00.001-05:00

Michael Steele, who just took over as chairman of GOPAC, wants Republicans to know the organization will soon be back as the powerful force it once was under Newt Gingrich.

Steele, the former Maryland lieutenant governor, has replaced J.C. Watts Jr. as chairman of GOPAC, a section 527 political action committee that supports Republican candidates with direct donations and training in running for office.

Steele tells NewsMax that Republicans face a shrewd foe. In effect, he said, Democrats have wheeled themselves out as Trojan horses, ingratiating themselves with voters by pretending to adopt Republican values but then voting as traditional Democrats.

Political Trojan Horses

“I’m here to say we’re dealing with a new type of political opponent — one who has learned and studied us very well as Republicans and has created great Trojan horses,” said Steele, who lost his race for Senate last year. “They come in and they run like Republicans. They espouse their perspective on a number of the core issues that Republicans have been successful on. On pro-life and gun control issues, these guys are hawkish as anyone else. That’s how they’ve won, and that’s how they’re going to continue to win elections, unless we’re prepared to expose the horse for what’s inside.”

What’s inside, Steele told me, are the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, Steny Hoyer, and Harry Reid.

“What you see inside is a liberal left leadership that is not necessarily going to stand there and promote the same agenda that these individuals who got elected to Congress in ’06 seemed to be promoting,” Steele said.

The way Democrats have exploited the Bush administration’s firing of eight U.S. attorneys is another indication of their savvy, Steele said.

“You put in place this effort to focus on a troop surge and to get some real momentum for the administration’s policy in Iraq, and there’s some signs that that momentum is beginning to take hold, that there’s some success on the ground,” Steele said. “And all of a sudden — boom. You take three steps back with something that’s within the prerogative of the executive branch to do, and that is to hire and fire those at-will employees for whatever reason.

“Bill Clinton fired 93 of them, for goodness sake, and no one blinked an eye. George Bush fired eight in the second term, and you think it’s Armageddon.”

Thus, the Democrats turned innocuous, if poorly handled, firings into a front-page story.

“You just scratch your head and say, ‘These guys are good. Wish we’d learn to be better,’” Steele said.

To win back federal and state offices, Steele said, Republicans must “begin to set the agenda and articulate a vision of Lincoln Republicanism that is in my view reflective of a greater responsibility and opportunity for individuals to continue to create jobs here at home and to provide the level of security that we need to provide across our country, and across the globe.”

Steele is on the lookout for attractive potential candidates. In effect, GOPAC will teach them the craft of running for office.

“We will be focused on building the farm team,” Steele said. “We’re looking much more holistically at the future and saying that we want to build a grass-roots organization that’s focused not just on the talents of the candidate but the talents of the team around that candidate so that we can build a better campaign operation.”

Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont started GOPAC in 1979. Under Newt Gingrich in the 1980s, GOPAC became the Republican Party’s top education and training center. The former House speaker organized campaign seminars and put out workbooks and audiotapes.

GOPAC Is Back

Under Watts’ leadership, GOPAC more than tripled its fundraising, collecting nearly $9 million during the last election cycle. GOPAC trained thousands of Republican activists and assisted Republican organizations in recruiting candidates for local office. GOPAC also provided direct campaign support to candidates in 17 states.

“Our goal is to increase our fundraising,” Steele said. “My theme for the next two years is, ‘GOPAC is back,’” a motto that will soon be added to a re-designed GOPAC Web site.

“We have five state elections that we want to see some success in: New Jersey, Virginia, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana,” Steele said. “We’re going to bring in a strong team of people to help us build the successes that we need.”

Orwellian Fairness

2007-04-18T08:01:00.001-05:00

One of the most Orwellian named pieces of regulation in human history is set to make a comeback, if left-leaning bloggers and Democrat legislators get their way.

It’s the "Fairness Doctrine" and in the past was part of the regulatory function of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Under its regulatory thumb, broadcasters were required to provide equal reply time to anyone who claimed their opinions had been derogated.

The regulation was properly eliminated in the 1980s. Similar to the decency rules of the FCC, the Fairness Doctrine was justified at the time because of a scarcity of broadcast frequencies and because radio and television stations as public trustees are not necessarily entitled to First Amendment protections.

The demise of Don Imus’ radio and television shows has provided impetus to proponents of a renewed version of the fairness doctrine. In reality, though, the “new and improved” Fairness Doctrine, if passed, will be a means of restoring a liberal media monopoly.

Democrat Rep. Maurice Hinchey has proposed the Media Ownership Reform Act, which melds the old Fairness doctrine with other draconian speech squelching legislation. And Democrat Rep. Dennis Kucinich has been talking about having hearings on the Hill to determine whether the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated.

Michael Moore’s Cuba Stunt

2007-04-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

Just in case anyone thought Michael Moore had taken an early retirement from his unethical approach to movie making, a report from the New York Post shows the filmmaker is seeking to undermine one of the nation’s institutions once again.

Moore's production company has engaged in a scheme designed to bolster the ridiculous argument that medical care in Fidel Castro's totalitarian dictatorship is superior to health care in the United States.

As part of Moore’s latest film “Sicko,” which deals with the subject of American health care, the deceptive director transported ground zero workers with respiratory ailments to Cuba to prove that the care provided in the U.S. is inferior to the care offered at Fidel’s centrally planned “paradise.”

In typical Moore fashion, the factually challenged filmmaker used ailing 9/11 workers as pawns to apparently satisfy his personal ambition.

An ill worker who was allegedly promised to be taken to Cuba was left behind by Moore. Michael McCormack, a disabled medic, was contacted via phone.

“What he [Moore] wanted to do is shove it up George W.'s rear end that 9/11 heroes had to go to a communist country to get adequate health care,” McCormack told the Post.

Moore went to Cuba minus McCormack.

“It's the ultimate betrayal,” McCormack said. “You're promised that you're going to be taken care of, and then you find out you're not. He's trying to profiteer off of our suffering.”

In a tape of a telephone conversation between McCormack and a Moore producer, a female voice indicated, “Even for the people that we did bring down to Cuba, we said we can promise that you will be evaluated, that you will get looked at. We can't promise that you will get fixed.”

Moore’s popularity in communist Cuba has been solid ever since a pirated version of his movie, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” was shown on state-owned TV.

McAuliffe: Early Primaries Help Hillary, Obama

2007-04-18T07:58:00.000-05:00

Democrats and Republicans need to re-examine the presidential primary calendar after next year's election because the system puts too much emphasis on money, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Monday.

Terry McAuliffe, now chairman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, told an audience at Brown University that the rush by states to move their primaries to early next year favors front-runners like Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama.

"I think the early primaries will help people who have the ability to raise money - help Hillary, help Barack," he said. "I'm not sure Bill Clinton could have made it through 1992 with the system we have now."

McAuliffe said Democrats and Republicans should come together to form a commission to come up with a new approach to the primary system. He said after the speech that he did not favor any particular system, but he would like a commission to study the options, such as a regional primary system.

About a dozen states, including California, New York and New Jersey, have already moved their primaries or caucuses to Feb. 5, just 22 days after the leadoff Iowa caucuses. About a dozen others are considering a similar move.

"It's going to go very fast," McAuliffe said.

Hillary Has One Senate Endorsement

2007-04-18T07:57:00.000-05:00

Sen. Hillary Clinton is said to be among the hardest working and most respected senators, so say the media spinmeisters.

But so far, Sen. Clinton has won the endorsement of just one senatorial colleague in her bid to run for president, according to The Hill newspaper.

The lone Clinton supporter is, not surprisingly, Sen. Charles Schumer, her fellow Democrat from New York.

Hillary has also won the endorsement of 26 members of House of Representatives. But here's another interesting factoid: of the 26 House members backing Clinton, all but five are from her home state of New York.

Hillary’s base of congressional support appears narrow and shallow when compared to other presidential candidates who have backing that is far more diverse.

For instance, the four senators and 24 congressmen who are backing Mitt Romney are from 15 different states. Of the nine senators and 17 congressmen backing Sen. John McCain, only four are from his home state of Arizona.

Just three of Rudolph Giuliani’s backers are from his home state, New York.

Despite being the Democratic front-runner, the Democratic establishment appears timid in embracing Sen. Clinton early. Even her home state governor, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, has yet to endorse her.

Ditto Democratic congressional players. They are keeping their cards close to the vest. Nine of Sen. Barack Obama’s 12 congressional backers are from his home state, Illinois, and eight of John Edwards’ 14 supporters are from his home state of North Carolina.

Nancy Pelosi on Jay Leno: 'I Respect' Bush

2007-04-13T06:50:00.000-05:00

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" she has no plans to back down on her differences with the president over funding for the war on terror.

Bush "wants a blank check on the war," she said.

The nation's first woman House speaker steered away from questions about the 2008 presidential race and spoke cautiously about her relationship with the president.

"I respect the office he holds, and I respect him," she said.

Pelosi also defended her recent trip to Damascus, Syria, and said her decision to wear a scarf over her head as she entered a historic mosque was in keeping with tradition.

Leno asked Pelosi whether she had thought about running for higher office.

"No, I like speaker of the House," she said. "I think there are people who want to do that, and I wish them all well."

Howard Stern to Imus: 'Say F**k You!'

2007-04-11T19:40:00.000-05:00

Shock jock Howard Stern is no fan of embattled Don Imus, but he said he knows what his fellow talk show host should have told critics: "F**k you.”

"He's apologizing like a guy who got his first broadcasting job,” Stern told his Sirius Satellite Radio audience after Imus apologized for his derogatory comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

"He should have said, "F**k you, it’s a joke.”

Former radio host Bob Grant – no stranger to controversy – also weighed in on the Imus flap, according to the New York Daily News.

Grant was fired from New York radio powerhouse WABC over a remark he made about Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who was aboard a plane that crashed in Croatia in 1996. Grant told a caller: "My hunch is [Brown] is the one survivor. Maybe it’s because at heart I’m a pessimist.” After Brown was found dead, Grant’s WABC contract was terminated.

"Everything doesn’t come out the way you want,” he said regarding Imus’ comment.

"There were many times when I’d be going home and say to myself, ‘What the hell did I say that for?’ But that’s the pace you work at. That’s what people don’t take into account.”

MSNBC Drops Imus Simulcast Amid Furor

2007-04-11T19:37:00.000-05:00

MSNBC said Wednesday it will drop its simulcast of the "Imus in the Morning" radio program, responding to growing outrage over the radio host's racial slur against the Rutgers women's basketball team.

"This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees," NBC news said in a statement.

The decision also was announced on air.

Imus triggered the uproar on his April 4 show, when he referred to the mostly black Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." His comments have been widely denounced by civil rights and women's groups.

The network's decision came after a growing list of sponsors - including American Express Co., Staples Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., and General Motors Corp. - said they were pulling ads from Imus' show for the indefinite future.

But it did not end calls for Imus to be fired from the radio portion of his program. The show originates from WFAN-AM in New York City and is syndicated nationally by Westwood One, both of which are managed by CBS Corp.

Bruce Gordon, former head of the NAACP and a director of CBS Corp., said Wednesday he hoped the broadcasting company would "make the smart decision" by firing Imus.

"He's crossed the line, he's violated our community," Gordon said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "He needs to face the consequence of that violation."

Gingrich Suggests Gonzales Should Quit

2007-04-10T12:55:00.001-05:00

Joining a growing list of Republicans, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should consider resigning. The possible presidential candidate said the botched firing of U.S. attorneys has destroyed Gonzales' credibility as the nation's top law enforcer.

"I think the country, in fact, would be much better served to have a new team at the Justice Department, across the board," Gingrich said. "I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration. ... They're going to be involved in endless hearings."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who is helping lead the investigation into the firing of eight federal prosecutors, said Gingrich's comments pointed to building bipartisan support for a new attorney general.

"This is another important voice who believes that the attorney general should step down for the good of the country and the good of the department," Schumer said in a statement. "We hope both the attorney general and the president heed Speaker Gingrich's message."

Gonzales, a former White House counsel who became attorney general in 2005, is scheduled to testify April 17 before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is a congressional showdown believed to be a make-or-break appearance for Gonzales.

The committee also has pledged to compel the testimony of White House officials such as Karl Rove and former counsel Harriet Miers to determine the extent of White House involvement. On Friday, Monica Goodling, the Justice Department's liaison to the White House, abruptly quit after telling Congress she would not testify.

After the firings earlier this year, Gonzales initially asserted that the dismissals were performance-related, not based on political considerations, and that he was not directly involved in the decisions.

But testimony from his former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, as well as e-mails between the department and the White House contradicted those claims, leading to a public apology from Gonzales.

On Sunday, Gingrich harshly criticized Gonzales' judgment in allowing the firings to escalate into such a political scandal.

Gingrich noted that a president has every right to fire U.S. attorneys for any reason. Therefore, he said, all Gonzales had to do was to say that Bush wanted new people. Instead, Gingrich said, the attorney general made a series of misstatements from which he was forced later to backtrack.

"This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember in the years I've been active in public life," Gingrich said. "The buck has to stop somewhere, and I'm assuming it's the attorney general and his immediate team."

In recent weeks, several Republicans have joined Democrats in saying Gonzales should consider resigning, including Sens. John Sununu (news, bio, voting record) of New Hampshire and Gordon Smith of Oregon and Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of California, Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Lee Terry of Nebraska.

Other Republicans, including administration allies Jon Kyl of Arizona and John Cornyn of Texas, have acknowledged that Gonzales badly mishandled the matter and needed to explain himself quickly.

"I think the confusion and the ham-handed way that these firings was done certainly undermines the confidence of the Justice Department," Kyl said Sunday. "And part of his effort to come up and testify before the Hill will be to restore some of that confidence."

Schumer said the controversy is the latest evidence of a leadership failure at the department.

"The gravity of this situation is shown by the fact that several Republicans have called for the attorney general to resign," he said. "The fact that the attorney general is the president's friend and was the president's counsel for years does not alone make him qualified to be attorney general."

Gingrich and Schumer appeared on "Fox News Sunday," and Kyl spoke on ABC's "This Week."

John Edwards’ Phony Fox Attack

2007-04-10T12:53:00.000-05:00

For the second time in recent months, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has canceled his participation in a debate because of Fox News Channel’s involvement.

Since August 2000, the former North Carolina senator went on FNC 33 times without objection.

In what seemed like a desperate attempt to distinguish himself from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, when far-left activist groups like MoveOn.org started pressuring him, Edwards bowed to bloggers’ demands.

“We believe there's just no reason for Democrats to give Fox a platform to advance the right-wing agenda while pretending they're objective,” Edwards’ deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince whimpered to The Associated Press.

The Edwards campaign suggested that the carefully coiffed candidate is “'looking forward to a different debate hosted by the institute and CNN in South Carolina in January 2008.”

Based on his quick cave-in to pesky lefties, Edwards has shown that for either of his Americas, when push comes to shove, he’ll roll like a baloney sausage.

Pelosi Is Our Neville Chamberlain

2007-04-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

With her trip to Syria, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi achieved two things: She undercut her own credibility in Washington, and she spotlighted what is wrong with the Democrats' approach to national security.

The spectacle of Pelosi making nice with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Damascus and accepting at face value his claim that he is ready to "resume the peace process" with Israel had a large portion of official Washington tittering.

At the same time, Syrian authorities were telling the local press that there had been no change in its position. And Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Pelosi that "a number of Senate and House members who recently visited Damascus received the impression that despite the declarations of Bashar al-Assad, there is no change in the position of his country regarding a possible peace process with Israel."

Pelosi's Charade

Moreover, Pelosi misrepresented Israel's position to Assad, announcing that she had delivered a message from Olmert that "Israel was ready to engage in peace talks" with Syria. Olmert quickly issued a statement denying that.

Even the Washington Post saw through the charade.

"Ms. Pelosi not only misrepresented Israel's position, but was virtually alone in failing to discern that Mr. Assad's words were mere propaganda," an editorial in the paper said. The editorial added that "Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish."

While that is certainly true, the specter of Pelosi naively chatting with Assad and announcing that she had helped achieve a diplomatic breakthrough also highlights all that is wrong with the Democrats' approach to foreign police today.

Syria hosts the exiled leadership of Hamas, as well as other Palestinian radical groups, and is a major supplier of funds to Hezbollah. Syria is also believed to be involved in the assassination of Lebanese political figures and allowing its territory to be used by jihadists fighting against the United States-led coalition and the coalition-backed government in Iraq.

History Repeats

Pelosi's willingness to undercut the president and accept the word of the chief of state of a sponsor of terrorism is on a par with the Democrats' effort to set a timetable for fighting the war in Iraq. It brings to mind the efforts of Joseph P. Kennedy, the founder of the Kennedy dynasty, to appease Adolf Hitler.

As ambassador to the Court of St. James, Joe Kennedy met on June 13, 1938 with Herbert von Dirksen, the German ambassador. The two got along famously, and Dirksen later reported on the conversation in great detail to Baron Ernst von Weizsäcker, the German state secretary.

According to that report, Kennedy confided to the German ambassador that Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister, was anxious to have some sort of settlement with Germany. By saying this, he undercut Great Britain's negotiating position with Hitler. Moreover, Kennedy said President Roosevelt was not anti-German and wanted friendly relations with Hitler. However, no European leader spoke well of the Germans because most of them were "afraid of the Jews" and did not "dare to say anything good about Germany . . ." Kennedy stated.

Even as the two met at the German embassy in London, Hitler was planning to gobble up most of Europe and exterminate the Jews. The following year, World War II began after Hitler invaded Poland.

"Speaker Pelosi is the Neville Chamberlain of our time," said Brad Blakeman, a Republican strategist who was an aide in the Bush White House. "Cowering to and appeasing the dictator of a terrorist state was a disgrace to the high office she holds. The Sryians used this visit to validate their bad behavior by propagandizing the whole visit and her anti-war stance."

The Pelosi visit underscores that, when it comes to dealing with our enemies, the Democrats live in a dream world. Yet when another terrorist attack occurs in the U.S., they will be the first to say President Bush did not do enough to protect the country.

Pelosi visits market, mosque in Syria

2007-04-03T21:29:00.000-05:00

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi mingled with Syrians in a market and made the sign of the cross at a Christian tomb Tuesday during a visit to pursue dialogue with the country's leader. President Bush denounced the trip, saying it sends mixed signals to Syria's government.

Pelosi's visit to Syria was the latest challenge to the White House by congressional Democrats, who are taking a more assertive role in influencing policy in the Middle East and the Iraq war. The Bush administration, which accuses President Bashar Assad's government of supporting terrorism, has resisted calls for direct talks to help ease the crisis in Iraq and make progress in the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

Soon after Pelosi's arrival in Damascus, Bush criticized her visit.

"A lot of people have gone to see President Assad ... and yet we haven't seen action. He hasn't responded," he told reporters at a Rose Garden news conference. "Sending delegations doesn't work. It's simply been counterproductive."

Pelosi, a California Democrat, did not comment on Bush's remarks before heading from the airport to Damascus' historic Old City. She was scheduled to meet Assad on Wednesday.

Wearing a flowered head scarf and a black abaya robe, Pelosi visited the 8th-century Omayyad Mosque, shaking hands with Syrian women inside and watching men in a religion class sitting cross-legged on the floor.

She stopped at an elaborate tomb, said to contain the head of John the Baptist, and made the sign of the cross. About 10 percent of Syria's 18 million people are Christian.

At the nearby outdoor Bazouriyeh market, Syrians crowded around, offering her dried figs and nuts and chatting with her. She strolled past shops selling olive oil soaps, spices and herbs, and at one point bought some coconut sweets and eyed jewelry and carpets.

Democrats have argued that the U.S. should engage its top rivals in the Mideast — Iran and Syria — to make headway in easing crises in Iraq, Lebanon and the Israeli-Arab peace process. Last year, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended talks with the two countries.

Bush rejected the recommendations. But in February, the U.S. joined a gathering of regional diplomats in Baghdad that included Iran and Syria for talks on Iraq.

Visiting neighboring Lebanon on Monday, Pelosi shrugged off White House criticism of her trip to Syria, noting that Republican lawmakers met Assad on Sunday without comment from the Bush administration.

"I think that it was an excellent idea for them to go," she said. "And I think it's an excellent idea for us to go as well."

She said she hoped to rebuild lost confidence between Washington and Damascus and will tell Syrian leaders that Israel will talk peace with them only if Syria stops supporting Palestinian militants. She has said she will also talk to the Syrians about Iraq, their role in Lebanon and their support for the Hezbollah militant group.

"We have no illusions but we have great hope," said Pelosi, who met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier Tuesday.

The United States accuses Syria of allowing Iraqi Sunni insurgents to operate from its territory, backing the Hezbollah and Hamas militant groups and trying to destabilize the Lebanese government. Syria denies the allegations.

Relations reached a low point in early 2005 when Washington withdrew its ambassador to Damascus to protest the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Many Lebanese blamed Syria — which had troops in Lebanon at the time — for the assassination. Damascus denied involvement.

Washington has since succeeded in largely isolating Damascus, with its European and Arab allies shunning Assad. The last high-ranking U.S. official to visit Syria was then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in January 2005.

The isolation, however, has begun to crumble in recent months, with visits by U.S. lawmakers and some European officials.

Syria treated Pelosi's visit as a diplomatic victory. "Welcome Dialogue," proclaimed a front-page headline in one state-run newspaper next to a photo of Pelosi.

Syria's ambassador to the U.S., Imad Moustapha, described the visit as a "positive step" but said "it does not necessarily mean that the U.S. administration would suddenly change its position."

In comments to the state-run Al-Thawra daily published Tuesday, he said the visit should be a "reminder that even though we might disagree on politics, we should remain diplomatically engaged in dialogue to reach some understandings."