Bush used a “pocket veto” today to reject a sweeping defense authorization bill because he disliked “a provision that would expose the Iraqi government to expensive lawsuits seeking damages from the Saddam Hussein era.” In a statement, Bush said the legislation “would imperil billions of dollars of Iraqi assets at a crucial juncture in that nation’s reconstruction efforts.” The president’s objections were focused on a provision deep within legislation that sets defense policy for the coming year and approves...
Monthly Archives: December 2007
Another Interesting Poll
At the risk of proving that I was the only one who didn’t already know this, I just read today about a poll that is a bit different than any I’ve known of before. Some 2,000 people are being tracked on a continuing basis to determine their reaction to the primary candidates and their campaigning. One thing that is determined is party preference, so changing party preference is tracked at intervals, along with changing candidate preference. This sort of...
Obama Stammers His Way Through Defense of Axelrod’s Comments on Clinton
The Obama campaign has been on the defensive in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, thanks to some tacky (to say the least) comments from Obama spokesman David Axelrod. Last night Barack Obama attempted to “vigorously” defend Axelrod during a CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer.: As Lynn Sweet reports, the interview didn’t play out to well for Obama: Sphere: Related Content
Housing Defaults Take a New Turn
There’s news today of a new turn in the housing defaults mess. The L.A. Times reports, If you “thought the mortgage meltdown was just a sub-prime affair”… “Think again.” There’s another time bomb waiting to explode, experts say: risky loans made to people with good credit. So-called pay-option adjustable-rate mortgages, or option ARMs, were the easiest and most profitable home loans for lenders and brokers to make for much of this decade. Last year, they accounted for about 9%...
Don’t Hold Your Breath… For a Gore Endorsement
Don’t hold your breath for a Gore endorsement… The chances at this point “are fading,” says Josh Gerstein of the N.Y. Sun. An endorsement by Vice President Gore in the hard-fought Democratic presidential race could give a huge boost to Senator Obama or allow Senator Clinton to deliver the coup de grace to her rivals, but several campaign operatives and former aides to Mr. Gore now see the chances of such a nod fading. Sphere: Related Content
Benazir Bhutto Remembered
Parade Magazine’s upcoming edition has an interview with Bhutto that “will be the cover story of PARADE on January 6, 2008.” You can read the interview here. Bhutto took on many risks in her life, but she will be most remembered as the “first woman to be democratically elected to lead a modern Muslim country.” Sphere: Related Content
In The Wake of Bhutto’s Assassination, Experience Or Change?
There’s a lot been said on the candidate’s reactions in the wake of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on Thursday. There was the huge gaffe from Mike Huckabee that critics have picked apart and then there was Ron Paul blaming America, which went over like a lead balloon with the wingnuts. But the discussion of the day truly centered around the two Democratic front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Via Taylor Marsh, here’s two videos from Hardball discussing both Hillary Clinton...
Religious Freedom
Freedom is theoretically possibly without democracy, one supposes. It would have to consist of a benign dictatorship (most likely possible in a historical Monarchy) with all of the shortcomings that that would entail. Democracy without freedom is another matter altogether. Not only is it conceivable, it is a daily reality if one looks around, and events have caused me to believe most people would actually prefer to be able to vote away at least some of the rights of...
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