Puerto Rico's governor and four Philadelphians, including prominent fund-raiser Robert M. Feldman, were charged this morning in San Juan with federal campaign-finance related crimes.
The investigation of Gov. Anibal Acevedo-Vila, a Democrat who faces re-election this year, was triggered by the FBI's Philadelphia City Hall corruption probe in 2003. . . . The governor was charged with conspiracy to violate federal campaign laws, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and filing a false tax return. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
03/27/2008 10:32 ||
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#1
What is shocking here is that the story actually named his party affiliation.
#2
Well, they did name his party affilliation, cause he's a Peuerto Rican, ya know. Another of those brown people that libs really can't get very excited over...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2008 11:04 Comments ||
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#4
"Did we get his super delegate voter package back yet?"
Posted by: James Carville ||
03/27/2008 17:53 Comments ||
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The case could have political ramifications beyond Philadelphia and San Juan. Acevedo-Vila has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama in the Puerto Rico primary, which holds the nation's last primary on June 6.
from Time/CNN Puerto Rico (7 superdelegate votes):
DNC Members:
Celita Arroyo de Roques PUERTO RICO DNC MEMBER
Luisette Cabanas PUERTO RICO DNC MEMBER
Francisco Domenech YOUNG DEMOCRATS OF AMERICA
Kenneth McClintock PUERTO RICO DNC MEMBER
Roberto L. Prats PUERTO RICO DNC MEMBER
Eliseo Roques-Arroyo MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
#2
Read the headline wrong; thought is said "HRC..." and my immediate symapthies went to the poor TSA slob that would have to monitor the body scan screen (that is purported to reveal intimate bodily details) and view Her Thighness as she passed through......
Why bother? Sex is easy to get and someone else's taxes will pay for you in your old age. Plus no one's bothering to have kids except the Islamicists and maybe a couple Poles so ...
#2
Blame it on Socialism. Back before the octopus of government put its testicles into every aspect of life, other social institution performed functions that the state has displaced. The society, no matter how imperfect in implementation, gave women the monopoly on sex. The social bargain was that women, who did not have full sovereign/human rights, were in turn provide a degree of protection in their economic and legal standing. Those who did survive their husbands, since complications of child birth and high infant mortality made it statistically unlikely, often faced challenges by any blood male family member no matter how distant [uncle, cousins, etc - hell, even today the Anne Nicole story still carries that thread]. It was important to establish a male son not only to protect the property but also the 'honor thy father and mother' by providing sustainment in their old age. Then the state granted the right to vote and evolved an equatable standing. Many property laws were rewritten. The state created Social Security, in one form or another, and then NHS/Medicare. Each of the elements that once were fundamental to the social institution have been displaced by the state. Then the state sponsored serial polygamy and polyandry in the '60s and 'consenting adults' in the '80s. The last remaining vestige of the sex monopoly remains commercial sex. What is restricted to certain counties in Nevada is basically legal in most of England. So why is anyone surprised of the end of marriage in such a situation? Oh, and toss in the old adage that the more government subsidizes something the more it gets, thus single head of households rises.
#3
I know one community other than muslims in the UK who are marrying and having kids. They can be found in Gilders Green, Stamford Hill (?), and in Manchester, and IIUC are moving into Milton Keynes as well. Look em up, but I think y'all can guess. Take em a few more generations to become really visible though.
BRUSSELS - The head of the European Parliament invited the Dalai Lama on Wednesday to address the EU legislature on events in Tibet and questioned whether European leaders should attend the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Opening an emergency debate on events in Tibet, Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said: I put it to this house to join with me in saying that the Dalai Lama is welcome in this house whenever he wants to come.
He urged the Chinese authorities to seek a solution to the unrest through dialogue with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, respecting Chinas territorial integrity. I genuinely say that all politicians must ask themselves whether they can attend the opening ceremony if China fails to take part in dialogue, Poettering said, adding he expected the Dalai Lama to attend the EU assembly in December.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2008 00:00 ||
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BRUSSELS - Chinas crackdown on protests in Tibet has left at least 135 people dead, 1,000 injured and 400 arrested, the head of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile said in Brussels on Wednesday.
Information from Tibet is very difficult to get, but we have sources who are very reliable, who phone us at the risk of their lives, parliamentary speaker Karma Chophel told reporters at the European Parliament in Brussels. Confirmed killings, we put it as of yesterday (Tuesday) at 135, he added. We believe the number of people dying, injured, arrested, could be 10 times more than the confirmed reports.
Tibets government-in-exile has previously said that 140 people were killed in the unrest, while China has reported a total of 20 deaths, 19 of them in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.
Tibetans are sacrificing their lives to voice their dissent against Chinese rule, Chophel said. They are doing this at the cost of their lives thinking that the Europeancountries who have political power, economic power... will speak up, he added.
He urged Europe to make sure its moral power is not compromised in order to have good trade relations with China.
Heh, good luck with that ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Human rights groups are making some muffled grumbling sounds at best over this. Where is the outrage? Maybe if the Chinese took pictures of them in their underwear in a pyramid formation....
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's foreign minister laid out a tough negotiating position on America's missile defense plans Thursday ahead of a visit by President Bush, saying the best solution would be for the U.S. to scrap the idea altogether.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russian experts were studying the latest U.S. plansintended to ease Russian concerns about the proposed missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republicbut he reaffirmed Moscow's call for Washington to drop them.
"We are convinced that the best way to assuage Russia's concerns ... will be to abandon such plans and turn to a truly collective project," Lavrov told reporters.
Earlier this month, the U.S. secretaries of state and defense visited Moscow with new proposals that would allow Russia to closely monitor the prospective missile defense sites.
Lavrov previously has said the proposals reflect the U.S. recognition of Russia's concerns but that Moscow needs to study them in details before replying.
Bush plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Putin's Black Sea residence on April 6 to try to resolve the missile defense dispute.
Putin has rejected U.S. arguments that the missile shield is needed to counter a prospective missile threat from Iran. He said the U.S. plan would erode Russia's nuclear deterrent.
Last summer, Putin proposed that the U.S. jointly use an early warning radar in Azerbaijan instead. The U.S. has promised to consider that Russian offer, but said it couldn't replace its planned facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Bush plans to visit Russia after attending a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, April 2-4.
Putin also plans to attend part of the summit, which is set to discuss membership aspirations of Ukraine and Georgia.
Russia has strongly warned NATO against granting its two ex-Soviet neighbors a so-called "membership action plan," a roadmap to joining the alliance.
Putin has threatened to aim nuclear weapons at Ukraine if it joins NATO and accepts the deployment of anti-missile defenses on its territory. And the Russian parliament last week urged the Kremlin to consider recognizing the independence of two separatist regions in Georgia, part of a campaign to keep it out of NATO.
Lavrov on Thursday reaffirmed Moscow's strong objections against putting Ukraine and Georgia on a track to NATO membership, saying an expansion of the Cold War-era alliance would be "at odds with realities of the modern world."
#4
One of my students did an overseas study in Russia as part of a poly sci group. He told me the Putin is doing a lot of posturing but the man on the street is deeply concerned over China. Russia actually wants to come to the table and deal with us as honest brokers against the chicoms but pride won't let them say it for what it is. Maybe Bush needs to force Putty to cut the crap and tell it like it is. A new alliance w/Russia could be an interesting counter punch to the mad mullahs.
#5
Sure, no problem. We'll get around to it when monkeys fly out of our butts.
Their "new" measures to get around our missile defense must not be working very well, are extremely expensive and they can't afford to continue, or all of the above.
Yesterday, it was reported that a group of Clinton donors wrote a letter threatening Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and asking her to stop urging superdelegates to support whomever wins the greatest number of elected, pledged delegates at convention.
This is going over like a lead balloon with the Left. This e-mail arrived this afternoon:
Dear MoveOn member,
This is pretty outrageous: a group of Clinton-supporting big Democratic donors are threatening to stop supporting Democrats in Congress because Nancy Pelosi said that the people, not the superdelegates, should decide the Presidential nomination.
It's the worst kind of insider politics--billionaires bullying our elected leaders into ignoring the will of the voters.
"Do you know who we are? We're MoveOn-dot-Org! We made our bones when you were trying to keep Bill from going out with cheerleaders!"
This is to be expected from MoveOn, which is backing Obama, but this could also further depress Clinton's chances with ordinary Democratic voters. Having been pinned down by "sniper fire," she may have stumbled upon a minefield.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/27/2008 18:04 ||
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Don't worry. Mrs. Clinton will have the super dooper delegates steal decide the election, and she will win. Then you will see the biggest sh*t storm ever seen in Denver.
BTW, Barbara Skolaut, I just got the permit for the RR siding to your house for hopper carloads of popcorn. No problem. You have feedstock for your industrial sized popcorn machine.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/27/2008 19:44 Comments ||
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Thanks, AP! I knew I could count on you.
How to triple the popcorn order.... :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/27/2008 19:58 Comments ||
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"It's the worstnormal kind of insider politics--billionaires bullyingbuying our elected leaders into ignoringwho ignore the will of the voters anyway."
There - fixed.
Accuracy is important.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/27/2008 20:00 Comments ||
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Correct me if I'm wrong but MoveOn is a Soros front, right?
. . . we were still intrigued to see an Elton John page on the Hillary Clinton for president website. The page promotes a solo concert by Elton John to benefit Clinton's presidential campaign, Wed., April 9, 2008, at Radio City Music Hall. "Don't give us none of your aggravation
My wallet is a little thin
April the Ninth's alright for fundraisin'
Get a little cash flow in"
Tickets are as high as $2,300 (in what they call "Diamond Orchestra" -- which makes us want to call them the "Liberace seats.") "So hello yellow brick road
Where the elite of society go
Please come on down from your penthouse
And give Hillary some of your dough"
But what's wrong with Elton John's participation? You mean, something more than "he's a washed-up, over-the-hill, overdressed, light-loafered pop crooner who really wasn't all that talented even in his prime," is that it?
Extreme Mortman senior historian Richard Andrews notes in another post elsewhere on this blog:
Elton John is going to perform a benefit concert for Sen. Clinton next month. Hes a UK citizen,right? His professional services would be an ILLEGAL in-kind contribution by a foreign national unless he is paid his usual going rate for a for-profit concert; so, are they going to PAY him? If so, its hardly a benefit."
Excellent point. Wonder if there's an equally excellent response. "Don't go breaking campaign finance laws"
"I couldn't if I tried"
"Honey if I don't get elected"
"Baby you're not that kind"
Meantime, we'll just lament that Clinton chose to have the benefit in New York City instead of, say, New Orleans. At least there they could help a recovering city as well as perform Elton John's great hit, "Beignet and the Jets."
I can just imagine the climactic duet with Elton and the candidate:
"Don't let the sun go down on Hillary
Even though Edwards is gone, Obama's still in play I see"
"How could you just allow Barack to beat me?
Losing this election would be like the sun going down on me"
Posted by: Mike ||
03/27/2008 17:17 ||
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#1
I'm not sure he is a UK citizen any more, certainly not when it comes time to paying taxes.
He splits his time between Nice, France (Next door neighbor to borrow a cup of sugar from? Tina Turner. He also has a condo in downtown Atlanta, of all places, where he spends a major amount of time.
Maybe someone at State could "peek" into his passport files and clear this up.
#4
You tell me theres an angel in your tree
Did he say hed come to call on me
For things are getting desperate in our home
Living in the parish of the restless folks I know
Everybody now bring your family down to the riverside
Look to the east to see where the fat stock hide
Behind four walls of stone the rich man sleeps
Its time we put the flame torch to their keep
Burn down the mission
If were gonna stay alive
Watch the black smoke fly to heaven
See the red flame light the sky
Burn down the mission
Burn it down to stay alive
Its our only chance of living
Take all you need to live inside
Deep in the woods the squirrels are out today
My wife cried when they came to take me away
But what more could I do just to keep her warm
Than burn burn burn burn down the mission walls
We warned of the Clintons' scorched-earth policy in this essay, and those predictions are making new headlines every day. Either their demands will be met, the Clintons say, or the party will pay a heavy price. "That's a lovely racehorse you have there, Nancy. Be a shame if someone were to cut off its head and put it in your bed while you slept . . . speaking purely hypothetically, of course."
By having their wealthier donors deliver the message to Dem leaders, the Clintons have sent an unsubtle and chilling message regarding who really runs the Democratic Party. These donors want "their" candidate left alone.
The unspoken threat: Future Democratic campaign funding could dry up if these donors are made unhappy. Spokespeople for the Clintons have been hammering on the idea that delegates as well as superdelegates should exercise 'independent thinking' regarding who to nominate. "And if they don't know what that means, we'll be happy to tell them what to think."
Clearly, it's their party, and they'll make it cry if they want to.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/27/2008 10:24 ||
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Just remind the True Believer(TM) Donks of this when they talk about 'Bought and Paid For' in reference to the Trunks. How about releasing the names who signed that letter?
#2
There are some names in the Reuters story if you follow the link:
Among the signees of the letter were prominent Democrats and Clinton supporters like Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television; Bernard Schwartz, former chairman of Loral Space and Communications; and venture capitalist Steven Rattner.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/27/2008 10:38 Comments ||
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Bernard Schwartz, conveyor of American defence technology to Red China.
#10
With the advent of the Internet, it is getting harder and harder to keep this back-room stuff hidden from the public. That is a healthy thing. As far as the Dems go in the process and reforming their party, chances are 1 in 10^(google x infinity).
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/27/2008 15:20 Comments ||
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#11
Which was the party of the rich? I mean a handfull of donors can change party politics what does that say?
#7
I quite disagree, mom. The question of Hillary's credibility should be fair game for anyone who is campaigning for her. Hillary's relentless defense of her husband in spite of his long-standing "Slick Willie" reputation (and the facts) suggests a serious character flaw in the credibility department and that she doesn't learn much from her "35 years of experience". Hillary rolls out the evil VRWC as foil every time the ugly side of the Billary team reality surfaces. And as we've seen plenty in recent weeks, Hillary is just as inclined to play games with truth as Bill. If Chelsea can go out and promote Billary, then Chelsea doesn't get a pass on the lies and lack of credibility of the Billary team.
#8
Darrell's right. If she doesn't want the question, she should stay at home. If she wants to shill for Mom on the evening news, she'd better be ready for the questions.
Maybe I'll change my tune when Jena shills for Laura. As if.
#9
Such things are the business of the country. If you run for public office and seek the highest office in the country, then such questions are fair. Such questions speak to character and integrity of the candidate. If Chelsea is out campaigning for her mother and a spokesperson for her mother, then she can provide a more substantive answers.--or answer as she did. Chelsea is a grown-up. Was WJC was too busy with his affairs to be concerned with the affairs of the country at the time? Hillary's released papers, schedules, etc. suggest she was in the Whitehouse when Bill was having some of his trysts with Monika. Either she didn't know about these affairs or she didn't care about them.
#11
#10 Gentlemen, you're still wrong. You do not ask people personal questions about their parents.
Posted by: mom 2008-03-27 12:22
Parents,
Don't act like Bill and Hillary Clinton and then use your kid out into the public sector to try to get you into a respectable and important public office.
#12
"If the enemy is an ass and a fool and a prating coxcomb, is it meet, think you, that we also, look you, be an ass and a fool and a prating coxcomb?"
--Llewellen, Shakespeare's Henry V
One thing that really gets on my nerve when reading this otherwise excellent news service is the willingness of so many otherwise intelligent people to discard good manners and use moronic vocabulary--the kind that has to be ***d to get past the filters. These attitudes have seeped into all levels of public discourse, and it is destructive and unnecessary.
Treat other people's young and adult children the way you'd want people to treat yours.
#14
Treat other people's young and adult children the way you'd want people to treat yours.
One, I wouldn't send my kid out to campaign for me. Two, 'adult' means exactly that - abiulity to stand on one's own feet and deal with the slings and arrows. Deal with it.
#15
Clever reporters ask questions from those who can reasonably expected to know the answers. Chelsea was a highly protected daughter, and as such can hardly be expected to have been the recipient of either of her parents' confidences on the subject of her father's sex life.
That the question is rude is undeniable. But then, the entire profession of journalism seems based on ill manners, so that is not a functional objection. Sorry, mom, but our scruples are not always held by others. :-( That the question was a rhetorical flourish intended to demonstrate the speaker's point rather than elicit information is also undeniable, and the reporter should have been sent back to intern for a few more years before being allowed to embarrass the station by open political posturing.
#17
If she was just going about her normal life, and she was asked this question, I would fully expect the asker to be slapped silly for it.
However, Chelsea was at that function as a mouthpiece and official representative of her mother's presidential campaign. As such, I would fully expect her too and would ask her about her father's serial adultery and why her mother rolls over (no pun intended) for it. It speaks highly of the character of not only the presidential hopeful, but the character of those that she keeps around her. I would not want a female president that slinks and sulks away from domineering men. I would have some respect for Hillary if she put Bill out on the front lawn after Monica with a size 9 high heel imprint on his ass. But the fact she hasn't does leave me questioning her ability to stand up to sleezeballs.
So, in the function of being an official representative of the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign, that question had every right to be asked in front of her.
Chelsea is a 28 yr old ivy-league educated woman and no longer the teen first daughter. She's and Adult who is VOLUNTARILY schilling for a senator who wants to be president. Her father perjured himself in front of a grand jury. AS A TAXPAYER and a member of the armed forces HRC may command (God Forbid) one day the question of credibility is not only fair but pertinent.
She should of either answered the question which, btw was from a HRC supporter about her mom's *credibility* not about what Chelsea feels about her dad's daliances. OR, she should of said: "I have no comment, you should ask Sen Clinton herself." Her remark just made her look snotty. Typical clinton false sense of entitlement.
As Truman once said, can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
#19
"Treat other people's young and adult children the way you'd want people to treat yours."
Okay, Chelsea or anyone else may ask me or my wife or any of my three children anything they want about my credibility, honesty, or fidelity. I can take it -- because I haven't been misbehaving. The Clintons can't take it.
#20
With all due respect, mom, you are wrong on this count. I appreciate your call to raise the level of political discourse in this country above that of raw sewage. That could only be a good thing. However, that being said, if Billary are going to pimp their daughter out (please don't suspend me, MSNBC!) then she should be prepared for questions of all nature and temperament. How she chooses to handle or answer them, or not as the case may be, is her choice entirely.
Bottomline, if you are on the sidelines then you are on the sidelines. But if you get in the game, you either play by the rules on the field or you pull yourself out. Simple as that.
#21
Sorry Chelsea, but questions about your mom's *credibility* is definitely *my* *business* when she is running for the Presidency of the United States. And her credibility during difficult times would be even more important.
I don't think the question was personal. A question like 'How do you feel about your dad's dalliances?' would be personal (and none of our business). This question was about her mother's credibility - a very valid question to ask of someone (or their representative - which is what Chelsea was at the time) who is running for POTUS.
#22
The question was actually pretty tame. Did Hillary's credibility suffer because of the scandal. It's not very personal, it didn't really ask Chelsea what she thought of the scandal and Chelsea answer was also revealing in that "it's none of your business" is not true. If Hillary's credibility suffered or not is all of our business. A better answer would have been no. If she'd lost credibility she wouldn't be a contender right now.
#24
#18 - BH6, a small nit. Chelsea attended Stanford and Oxford. Neither is an Ivy League college.
Other than that, I agree with the majority of the commenters here - a question about Senator Clinton's credibility is valid.
Out.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
03/27/2008 18:05 Comments ||
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#25
Mom, as well as my Mom (God rest her soul) are correct in calling this out as loutish behavior...
That being said, having to explain, on Bill's behalf, what an "inappropriate relationship" was to my then 12 year old daughter... well that memory kind of overruns my distaste for loutish behavior.
#26
A reporter/journalist didn't ask Chelsea the question. The person who asked the question was a student who was a Hillary Clinton supporter who is a student at the school Chelsea was answering questions from the student body.
The student who asked that question told ABC afterwards that the reason she asked that question was because she was trying to get an answer from Chelsea that she could use when others who brought the Lewinsky situation and the resulting response from Hillary, which made Hillary seem weak to that supporters anti-Hillary friends, would give her amunition to use to support Hillary.
However, the student/Hillary supporter was told by Chelsea "non of your business".
#27
Rambler - true, neither are in the *ivy league* - I should have said she's a supposedly highly educated woman from two of the best universities on the planet - I'm still not sure if that translates into a bit of smarts after watching her get flustered by some college kid yesterday.
Sen. Clinton, again, says pledged delegates are not bound to election results
Clinton: 'Every delegate ... is free to make up his or her mind however they choose'
Democratic strategist says the timing of the comments is no accident
Among pledged delegates, Obama leads Clinton 1,413 to 1,242
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Edwards still has 53 or 54 delegates he can "throw" to Clinton. This would go some way to narrowing Obama's lead. It is true none of them have to follow his lead but this is true of all delegates precisely as Clinton has pointed out.
As Sen. Barack Obama returns from his Caribbean vacation, he and his campaign pick up where they left off -- wrapped up in the controversy surrounding his former minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Sen. Barack Obama resumes campaigning Wednesday following his Caribbean vacation.
The issue returned to the spotlight Tuesday when Sen. Hillary Clinton responded to a reporter's question about what she would have done if she were a member of Wright's church. "I think given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor," Clinton said at a news conference in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Obama on Wednesday again condemned the remarks Wright made but implied the sermons were taken out of context. "They found five or six of the most offensive statements, and boiled it down into a half an hour sound clip or a half-minute sound clip, and just played it over and over and over again," Obama said while campaigning in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Some of Wright's past sermons came under scrutiny nearly two weeks ago when a news report highlighted ones that included racially charged remarks.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2008 00:00 ||
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"They found five or six of the most offensive statements, and boiled it down into a half an hour sound clip or a half-minute sound clip, and just played it over and over and over again," Obama said while campaigning in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Yeah, but to find them, they didn't have to work to hard. All of this was in the 'Jeremiah's Greatest Hits' DVD that was for sale in the church lobby.
So what was it, a half minute (which I don't think is nearly long enough) or a half hour (which is a lot of time; lots of quotes).
"They found five or six of the most offensive statements"
Out of how many?
What about all the moderately offensive statements? How long would it take to show those clips? Slightly offensive clips? Looking down their garlic noses as they crucified Christ - what a load of bull. Next he'll tell us Cleopatra was not the decendants of macedonians but a beautiful nubian woman tryin to fight the man.
I wish I could just take off to the Caribbean every time the goin got tough.
In a broad-ranging foreign policy speech, Sen. John McCain pledged today that, if elected, his administration's foreign policy would be based on cooperation with U.S. allies and he called for a league of democracies that could build "an enduring peace."
In remarks to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, McCain cautioned that America's power and influence "does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want," and said U.S. leaders should not "assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed."
"We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies," McCain said before an audience of several hundred people in the ballroom of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. "When we believe international action is necessary, whether military, economic or diplomatic, we will try to persuade our friends that we are right. But we, in return, must be willing to be persuaded by them."
Billed as a major foreign policy speech outlining the way forward under a McCain administration, the presumed Republican presidential nominee distanced himself from what some have termed the cowboy diplomacy of the Bush administration while maintaining his strong support for the current course in Iraq.
McCain argued that if the United States is to achieve its goals of routing out terrorists and achieving peace in Afghanistan and Iraq, it must lead "by attracting others to our cause" and "defending the rules of international civilized society."
With that aim, he repeated his call for closing the detention center at Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba stating that the United States cannot subject suspected terrorists to torture or inhumane treatment, a stance that drew applause from the audience.
Except that we're not torturing anyone there, and it's one of the best-run prison camps in the world.
In Iraq, McCain said the U.S. goal should be to "win the hearts and minds of the vast majority of moderate Muslims who do not want their future controlled by a minority of violent extremists." Withdrawing from Iraq as his Democratic opponents have proposed, he said, "would be an unconscionable act of betrayal." That act, he argued, could subject the Iraqi people to violence, ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide. The Democrats' course, he said, could also draw the United States into a wider and more difficult war that would entail far greater dangers and sacrifices than we have suffered to date."
McCain cited "rising China" as a central challenge facing the next president and said China should boost its transparency on its military buildup while doing more to help "isolate pariah states" such as Myanmar, Sudan and Zimbabwe. "China and the United States are not destined to be adversaries," McCain said. "We have numerous overlapping interests and I hope to see our relationship evolve in a manner that benefits both countries." But he said until China moves toward political liberalization, "our relationship will be based on periodically shared interests rather than the bedrock of shared values."
He saved his harshest rhetoric for Iran and Russia. The Arizona senator, who has been critical of the recent election in Russia, insisted again on expelling Russia from the G-8 to make the group once again "a club of leading market democracies."
He was also critical of Iran and what he described as the nation's quest for nuclear weapons. A central reason for creating a league of democracies, he said, would be to impose stronger sanctions on Iran -- an area in which he believes the United Nations has not been successful.
McCain also emphasized several policies that his campaign plans to roll out in more detail in the months ahead -- from a commitment to eradicating malaria in Africa to creating a cap-and-trade system that would serve as a successor to the environmental pact known as the Kyoto Protocol.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I don't have much hope for this guy. I like the league of democracies idea only if the flip side is discarding the UN entirely. On the otherhand,
Bush the 1st set a very dangerous precedent groveling at the UN for Gulf War 1, I don't understand why politicians of all stripes continue think the US requires any sort of international concensus to conduct foreign policy.
I love this one to: "defending the rules of international civilized society."
As if there is such a thing. How far we have fallen.
I'd like to dig Barry Goldwater up and reanimate him.
#2
if we not torturing anyone, than we have nothing to lose by reaffirming that, and plenty to gain.
The UN still has purposes, on many technical matters. The UNSC can occasionally be useful, and the UNGA at least serves as a meeting place for diplomats. A league of democracies however would begin to lessen the political role of the UN, and would be a good alternative and balancer.
His comments on Iraq, Iran, China, and Russia are right on.
And yes, there is a civilized world, even if its been to lacking in will. McCain proposes to stiffen that will - you cant stiffen the Euros will against the barbarians if you wont talk to them cause you dont like their domestic policies.
#3
The barbarians can stiffen their will and if they can't neither will any amount of talk from us. Leave them behind. They are the intermediate past as the muzzies are ancient history. The time for both has past.
#4
then theres no hope for mankind. The US alone isnt big enough or rich enough to bear the burden unaided. I, however, see other democracies as doing yeomans work even now - I just dont have unrealistic expectations of what they will do.
#5
This just proves what I've been saying about Elmer Fudd. He's a liberal, period.
He has no plans to build a border fence. He will close Gitmo, even though water boarding is no more harmful than baptism. He will sign Kyoto and hold his breath to reduce carbon emissions. He will pimp for the UN. He will move his mouth as his handlers in the Council on Foreign Relations direct him. He IS a puppet.
Ridiculous as it is, we are better off with Obama. Then, we will be kicking the enemy party around for 4 years instead of our own party. And, Obama will never get anything done. Elmer Fudd, on the other hand can do great damage.
#6
Liberalhawk says 'then theres no hope for mankind.'
Holy shit, what are you thinking.
You want hope for mankind ? There can only be real hope if and when the media tells the whole truth about every event. No distortions, no omissions, no political slants, just full faced facts for all to see and read. Human beings are fully capable of reasoning a peaceful resolution to any and all conflicts. It's the greed of leaders supported by media distortions and in some cases religious distortions.
THE MEDIA, liberalhawk that's the hope for mankind. And it has failed.
#7
The League of Democracies should be a caucus within the UN. A group that comes together, decides a policy, and pushes for it and notices very carefully every country that goes against it.
Reclaim the UN, give it a chance before thrashing it altogether. Push for the UN to get out of the US. Push for a Security Council seat for the Japanese and Indians and a drastic increase in their dues. Push to move the building to another country, possibly Europe, possibly Japan.
#8
I guess Gaza's out of the question, so move it to Somalia or Sudan, rj.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/27/2008 12:26 Comments ||
Top||
#9
"The League of Democracies should be a caucus within the UN. A group that comes together, decides a policy, and pushes for it and notices very carefully every country that goes against it."
#10
Verlaine made some great comments about torture wrt Geneva and combatants not in uniform yesterday in another thread, I'd advise everyone here to read.
Mccain is right about iraq & way wrong on gitmo. The rest of his mantra sounds like tired posturing. The rules of "international civilized society?" - sounds like some dumb shit john kerry would say. Our country is due for a revolution, none of the 3 prospective candidates is near worthy of the office. Clinton and Obama are jokes. Mccain comes closest but that is just by substitution because the other two are so pathetic, heck, maybe we are getting the leaders we deserve. The founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.
BEIRUT - The Oscar-nominated film Persepolis, which has annoyed authorities in Iran for its critical portrayal of the Islamic revolution, has been banned in Lebanon, officials said Wednesday, sparking an outcry.
One official at the interior ministrys general security department would not say why the French animated feature was banned, even though a censored version has been screened in Iran.
Because it made his masters in Teheran unhappy ...
But another official said the film had displeased the head of security services, who he claimed is close to the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. It is clear that... General Wafiq Jizzini is close to Hezbollah and he doesnt want to allow such a movie, which he believes gives an image of Iran as being worse off than it was before the shah, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity,
Jizzini could not be reached for comment.
And I wouldn't try too hard to talk to him ...
The decision to ban the film sparked an outcry in many circles, with some saying it smacked of hypocrisy and showed that some within the Lebanese government were cowtowing to Iran.
Culture Minister Tareq Mitri said he saw no reason why the film should be banned and that he had urged the interior ministry to rescind its decision.
You will after you've been threatened with a car bomb ...
Bassam Eid, production manager at Circuit Empire, the company that was to distribute the film, blasted the ban as ridiculous and unwarranted. The decision is even more ridiculous when you consider that you can buy for two dollars pirated copies of the film in Hezbollahs stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Eid told AFP. I purchased two copies of the film from the suburbs and from the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camp and handed one over to the culture minister.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a leading member of the ruling coalition that is locked in a standoff with the Hezbollah-led opposition, said he was stunned by this cultural faux-pas that allows a security service to evaluate artistic and cultural works.
The film, which shows its young heroines brushes with the authorities in the early days of the Islamic revolution in the 1980s, was screened in Iran last month but is not expected to be shown at mainstream cinemas. A success in the United States and France, Persepolis has been condemned by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads government as Islamophobic and anti-Iranian.
The film, which jointly won the Jury Prize at Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar for best animated film, is based on comic strips by Iranian-French emigre Marjane Satrapi. Co-directed by Satrapi, it shows repression under the shah but also portrays the social crackdown, arrests and executions that followed the Islamic revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/27/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
BRUSSELS - Chinas crackdown on protests in Tibet has left at least 135 people dead, 1,000 injured and 400 arrested, the head of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile said in Brussels on Wednesday.
Yesterday, it was reported that 
We warned of the Clintons' scorched-earth policy 
As Sen. Barack Obama returns from his Caribbean vacation, he and his campaign pick up where they left off -- wrapped up in the controversy surrounding his former minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Sen. Barack Obama resumes campaigning Wednesday following his Caribbean vacation.
