ChattahBox
A First Lady of a different kind
CNN – 50 minutes ago
By Jonathan Mann (CNN) — Take a brilliant, strong-willed, American woman. Let her marry a rising politician, start a family, build a successful legal career, and then emerge as a polished public figure in her own right.
The War Over Michelle Obama TIME
Tenn. GOP Sen. Wants Obama Ad Pulled CBS News
New York Times – Reuters – Indianapolis Star – National Review Online
all 212 news articles »
POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Friday, May 23, 2008
Compiled by Mary Grace Lucas, CNN Washington Bureau
Washington Post: POW Aftereffects in McCain Unlikely
Sen. John McCain’s 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam undoubtedly changed the course of his life. But now that he is 71, that remote trauma seems unlikely to shorten his life span or to lead to mental or physical conditions that are not already apparent.
LA Times: Obama makes moves for fall election
The Democratic front-runner looks for a running mate, talks with party officials and campaigns where it counts — all while trying not to overstep while Clinton is still in the race.
The Hill: GOP says troop cuts likely to help McCain
GOP Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid could receive a boost if additional troops are withdrawn from Iraq this fall, according to his Republican colleagues. The Arizona senator’s allies said Gen. David Petraeus’s remarks Thursday that he expects to recommend more troop withdrawals this fall would validate McCain’s arguments that last year’s troop surge was needed to stabilize Iraq.
NY Times: As Race Wanes, Talk of Clinton as No. 2 Grows
While Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her advisers insist that she is determined to win the Democratic nomination, friends of the couple say that former President Bill Clinton, for one, has begun privately contemplating a different outcome for her: As Senator Barack Obama’s running mate.
Read the rest of this entry »
Obama to tour key Western states
(CNN) — Barack Obama will travel to three crucial swing states next week, the latest sign the Illinois senator is moving into the general election phase of his campaign.
As first reported by the Web site Talking Points Memo and confirmed by an Obama campaign aide, the Illinois senator plans to make stops in New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado next week.
Specifically, Obama will make stops in Las Cruces, New Mexico Monday, the Las Vegas area on Tuesday, and the Denver area on Wednesday.
Ellen discusses gay marriage with McCain
Jezebel, where I first saw this, did not seem to have a problem with Ellen’s interview with McCain:
John McCain appeared on Ellen today, where he must’ve realized that he would be facing questions about his stance on legalizing gay marriage posed by an actual gay person that America adores. Ellen, who plans to get married to her girlfriend Portia de Rossi this summer, was firm without being too — oh, hell, I’ll just say it — Rosie O’Donnell-ish. McCain, of course, was not persuaded by her points, but he wished her “every happiness.”
I disagree and not respectfully either. It’s the old ‘separate but equal’ thing that the Supreme Court struck down however many decades ago. I think Ellen allowed herself to be disarmed by McCain (he works the same magic with much of the media). We “respectfully disagree” is actually horse-shit. McCain is wrong and Ellen should have not only told him that, she should not have given him an out with the “walk me down the aisle” line. I am really disappointed with Ellen in that exchange. If this is the price you pay to be seen on mainstream tv, I think it’s too much of a price for her to pay. Not worth it.
Let me tell you why this is important and why such encounters must not be cost-free for McCain like this one was.
John McCain is not a maverick, nor is he a moderate. He is an orthodox Republican. Just check his voting record. He is a right-wing ideologue who subscribes to a whole host of policy positions that are highly injurious to progressive causes.
But he masks this with a genial manner and a highly solicitous posture to the media, which help him win moderates and independents. He is so successful at this that even his right-wing friends often don’t see him as one of them. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to fall for that.
And every time someone like Ellen allows McCain to waltz through her studio scot-free (McCain was on your set to do business, Ellen! He was not there on a social call), we lose another opportunity to pin him down on what he truly believes.
Remember, the next President of the United States, the office McCain is running for, will make appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States. George W. Bush, another genial Republican candidate, “a uniter, not a divider,” gave us the John Roberts court, with Samuel Alito riding side-saddle.
Sen. Jim Webb brought up another subject on that video:
Speaking of oil going to $130, we should all remember that the month that Congress approved this war in Iraq, oil was $24 (a barrel).
Asked about the spectacle of Pres. George W. Bush panhandling around Saudi Arabia, offering the royal family there inducements to increase oil production and, thereby, lowering the price of crude oil, he said:
It’s kind of sad when you think about the fact that what we need here is a comprehensive energy strategy that takes into account all the different aspects, including nuclear. We haven’t had a new nuclear power plant in something like 30 years. Nuclear is clean, it’s safe when it’s done right.
The president of the United States is offering the Saudis the capabilities to go to nuclear when we’re not talking about that here. We need a really dramatically different national strategy on energy and I think all of us are coming to that conclusion. It’s just how we get there from here.
So we are going to get the Saudis nuclear and they’re going to bleed out all the oil and get the capital–I’m not picking on just the Saudis–but they’re going to be able to capitalize their future while we’re draining ours. That doesn’t make any sense.
“Black America and Scots-Irish America are like tortured siblings. They both have long history and they both missed the boat when it came to the larger benefits that a lot of other people were able to receive. There’s a saying in the Appalachian mountains that they say to one another, and it’s, ‘if you’re poor and white, you’re out of sight,’ ” Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, said in this video.
“If this cultural group could get at the same table as black America you could rechange populist American politics. Because they have so much in common in terms of what they need out of government,” he added.
Listening to Jim Webb in this rather too brief snippet convinces me more than ever that he should be Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate. I don’t know if he’ll accept the vice-presidency but, I think, together, he and Obama could craft a message that could reshape the Democratic Party for generations to come.
I want to take race off the table as a wedge issue. I want to make the Republican Party a minority party that speaks to only a small percentage of Americans, the very wealthy. I believe in Webb and his wisdom. He should definitely be a part of the national dialogue.
He mentioned in the video a Wall Street Journal opinion-editorial article that he wrote in Oct. 2004. In Secret GOP Weapon: The Scots-Irish vote , Webb examined the Republican Party’s success wooing poor and working class whites to their cause:
To an outsider George W. Bush’s political demeanor seems little more than stumbling tautology. He utters his campaign message in clipped phrases, filled with bravado and repeated references to God, and to resoluteness of purpose. But to a trained eye and ear these performances have the deliberate balance of a country singer at the Grand Ole Opry.
Obama praises (old) McCain
Now, we need a president who sees the government not as a tool to enrich friends and high-priced lobbyists, but as the defender of fairness and opportunity for every American. And let me be fair about this. Now, John McCain has agreed with me on some of the steps we need to make our government more ethical and accountable. Almost a decade ago, he offered a bill that, in his words, would ban a candidate from paying registered lobbyists. Let me repeat that.
This — ten years ago, John McCain offered a bill that said he would ban a candidate from paying registered lobbyists. And he did this because he said that having lobbyists on your campaign was a conflict of interest. This is what he said ten years ago.
Well, I’ll tell you that John McCain then would be pretty disappointed with John McCain now, because he hired some of the biggest lobbyists in Washington to run his campaign. And when he was called on it, his top lobbyists actually had the nerve to say, ‘The American people won’t care about this.’
Well, I think the American people do care about it and I know they have a clear choice in this election: we can either have a election in which we are taking on the root causes of special interests dominated politics in Washington or we can ignore the problem and we can wake up four years from now and still be talking about an energy crisis and still be talking about a health care crisis and still be talking about a tax code that’s not fair to you. I don’t want to wake up that way, neither do you.
That’s a choice we’ve got in this election. We’re going to change how politics is done in Washington.”
Elections
 New York Daily News |
DC meeting could bring compromise on Michigan, Florida delegates New York Daily News – 1 hour ago Busloads of Hillary Clinton supporters will swarm a meeting next week at a DC Marriott, where Democratic Party elders hope to forge a compromise over Florida and Michigan’s now-voided convention delegates.  Video: Victory is within reach: Obama RussiaTodayObama Says Nomination ‘Within Reach’ New York TimesLos Angeles Times – USA Today – Detroit Free Press – Washington Times all 8,126 news articles » |
 PRESS TV |
As host, McCain invites speculation Boston Globe – 4 hours ago WASHINGTON – Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain plans to host three potential running mates this weekend at his ranch in Sedona , Ariz. McCain Looks to Fill Ticket, and 3 Hopefuls Step Up New York Times Joe Lieberman assails Barack Obama on foreign policy Los Angeles Times Philadelphia Inquirer – Sarasota Herald-Tribune – Washington Post – BBC News all 1,130 news articles » |
 PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) |
Obama at Square One in Florida Wall Street Journal – 2 hours ago By CHRISTOPHER COOPER TAMPA, Fla. — One of the most tantalizing electoral prizes this fall for Sen. Barack Obama may be Florida, where he is campaigning and holding fund-raisers this week after a self-imposed exile of more than six months. Liberals work to change McCain’s image San Francisco Chronicle McCain to look over possible ticket mates Seattle Times Washington Post – CNN – San Jose Mercury News – Reuters all 313 news articles » |
 CBS News |
Ron Paul surge collects more GOP convention delegates Los Angeles Times – 1 hour ago While the world of politics waits around for Sen. Barack Obama to finally get the message and give up his hopeless chase of the Democratic nomination for president because he lost yet another heartland state to Hillary Clinton, Texas Rep. Drug industry contributing more to Democrats The Associated Press McCain, Romney Tied in Florida NewsOXY Politico – Wall Street Journal – Seattle Times – Washington Post all 717 news articles » |
 Turkish Press |
Jindal to visit McCain during holiday The Times-Picayune – NOLA.com – 4 hours ago By Bruce Alpert Gov. Bobby Jindal and his wife, Supriya, are among 10 couples invited to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s Arizona home during the Memorial Day weekend, an invitation fueling speculation that Jindal is on a short … Weekend at McCain’s just the ticket? Washington Times Is McCain’s guest list also his VP short list? Arizona Republic The Associated Press – Boston Globe – ABC News – Baltimore Sun all 1,710 news articles » |
 WBT |
Theme Persists: Obama Outraises Clinton New York Times – 6 hours ago By LESLIE WAYNE Though Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton raised an impressive $21 million in April, her campaign ended the month $20 million in debt and with Senator Barack Obama more than $30 million ahead of her in cash on hand for the primary season, … In Money Chase, McCain Can Rely on Party Boost Wall Street Journal Barack Obama Sets $55 Million Record NewsOXY Reuters – Los Angeles Times – CBS News – The Associated Press all 445 news articles » |
 CTV.ca |
Women to the Barricades San Francisco Chronicle – 7 hours ago The following email leaked to us from a prominent supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton shows us firsthand the anger among the older women who are the mainstays of her campaign, and a necessary ingredient of a victory for rival Sen. The ‘Not Clinton’ Excuse Washington Post Hillary Clinton Thanks Saturday Night Live NewsOXY Sioux Falls Argus Leader – Eurweb.com – Huffington Post – Seattle Times all 428 news articles » |
 TopNews |
Clinton, Obama vie for superdelegates Boston Globe – 19 hours ago Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton split Tuesday’s primaries, and so far today they have split the superdelegates who will likely determine who gets the nomination. Democratic superdelegate Rep. Joe Courtney backs Obama Boston Herald Superdelegate Courtney Announces For Obama Hartford Courant Connecticut Post – MSNBC – Akron Beacon Journal – TheDay all 36 news articles » |
 Canoe.ca |
Not the ticket of dreams Boston Globe – 5 hours ago MANY DEMOCRATS, including former New York governor Mario Cuomo on this page, have called for a Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton ticket. What Does Hillary Want? TIME Barack Obama Slams Clinton Amid Mississippi Voting NewsOXY Washington Post – Huffington Post – Voice of America – ABC News all 77 news articles » |
 Hartford Courant |
Does the Libertarian Party Matter? Wall Street Journal – 6 hours ago By BRUCE BARTLETT Ron Paul’s unexpected success raising money and gaining votes in the Republican primaries – running on an explicitly libertarian platform – has made the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination something worth vying for this year. Recent Converts Are Top Contenders for Libertarian Nod CQPolitics.com  Comment by David Boaz Executive Vice President, Cato InstituteColorado Springs Gazette – Washington Post – Washington Times – Nolan Chart LLC all 43 news articles » |
 News Talk AM 580 WDBO |
Obama rocks, rolls into state Daytona Beach News-Journal – 4 hours ago By JAMES MILLER KISSIMMEE — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama rolled into town Wednesday, sounding like the Democratic presidential nominee and being treated like a rock star. Obama Introduces Himself to Florida Voters CBS News Obama suggests halving Florida delegation Tampabay.com Huffington Post – Local6.com – MarketWatch – WESH.com all 21 news articles » |
 PRESS TV |
Obama inspires McCain aide to step down Los Angeles Times – 3 hours ago Mark McKinnon, John McCain’s media strategist and a member of the close-knit circle of five top advisors to the Republican presidential candidate, says he plans to be the Arizona senator’s “No. Keeping Vow on Obama, McCain Adviser Resigns New York Times McCain media consultant departs The Associated Press FOXNews – Washington Post – CBS News all 101 news articles » |
 NewsOXY |
7 Ore. superdelegates mum on presidential choices USA Today – 10 hours ago Now it’s time for the seven superdelegates still uncommitted to say whether they are backing Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama for president. Obama doubles Clinton in Wash. delegates Seattle Post Intelligencer Obama closes in on Democratic nomination The Associated Press NewsOXY – Washington Post – KTVZ – WWJ all 1,010 news articles » |
| Some of Sen. Clinton’s remarks about seating Mich. and Fla. Chicago Tribune – 12 hours ago By AP Excerpts from prepared remarks Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton made Wednesday in Florida on why the disputed Michigan and Florida primary results should count and the delegations seated at the Democratic National … Clinton Invokes 2000 in Quest for Florida Support Washington Post Obama, Clinton signal Florida boycott over The Associated Press Waterbury Republican American – Palm Beach Post – RealClearPolitics – National Review Online all 231 news articles » |
 CNN Political Ticker |
Lieberman Op-Ed Raises Eyebrows Washington Post – 13 hours ago By Shailagh Murray The Connecticut senator describes himself as an “independent Democrat,” but today on the Wall Street Journal op-ed page, Lieberman called out Sen. Barack Obama by name as one of the “old voices of partisanship and peace at any price” … Top Nebraska Dem Downplays Obama-Hagel Ticket Talk Action 3 News Hagel Assails McCain; Lieberman Assails Obama ABC News The Carpetbagger Report – CNN Political Ticker – AOL News Newsbloggers – TheDay all 17 news articles » |
 Hackensack Chronicle |
Foe launches age-old attack on Lautenberg Philadelphia Inquirer – 3 hours ago By Cynthia Burton With less than two weeks left in the edgy Democratic US Senate primary, US Rep. Rob Andrews has unveiled a television ad that spotlights the age issue in his race against US Sen. Frank Lautenberg. GOP Senate debate tonight at Stockton Press of Atlantic City Pennacchio eyes crossover voters in US Senate bid The Star-Ledger – NJ.com Asbury Park Press – The Jersey Journal – NJ.com – Hackensack Chronicle – New Jersey Jewish News all 74 news articles » |
 OPB News |
Merkley hopes to ride anti-GOP tide in Ore. Senate race KTVZ – 7 hours ago AP – May 21, 2008 10:45 PM ET SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A day after winning the Democratic US Senate nomination, Jeff Merkley moved quickly into general election mode, linking Republican Sen. Gordon Smith to the Bush administration. Schumer’s guys win in Kentucky, Oregon Politico Senate Democrats gaining power News 10 Now The Oregonian – OregonLive.com – The Register-Guard – KATU – Crosscut all 111 news articles » |
 The Southern Ledger |
Senator challenges Lunsford on issues Kentucky.com – 3 hours ago By Ryan Alessi Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell charged into general election mode by moving to define his opponent and by offering an issues test to his newly minted Democratic challenger, Bruce Lunsford. Ky., Ore. voters choose US Senate candidates The Associated Press Schumer-backed Senate Candidate Prevails In Kentucky CBS News Huntington Herald Dispatch – MSNBC – Louisville Courier-Journal – RealClearPolitics all 238 news articles » |
 Monsters and Critics.com |
In photos: ‘USA Elections – Obama and Clinton May 21st’ Monsters and Critics.com – 11 hours ago By M&C News May 21, 2008, 22:44 GMT Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event at the St. Iorio endorses Obama at rally in Tampa WMNF Obama: ‘It’s good to be back’ Sarasota Herald-Tribune Tampa Tribune – MyFox Tampa Bay – Bradenton Herald – Tampa Bay’s 10 all 19 news articles » |
 NewsOXY |
Hillary Clinton Charges Barack Obama NewsOXY – 2 hours ago Hillary Clinton has accused Barack Obama of trying to keep people from voting for her as some backers have called for her to drop out of the presidential race. President Bill Clinton Returning To SD Sunday KSFY Presidential Campaign: SD’s Money Trail KELOLAND TV Sioux Falls Argus Leader – Rapid City Journal – KELOLAND TV – KELOLAND TV all 12 news articles » |
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Candidates seek centrist answers in Iraq AP – 2 hours, 1 minute agoWASHINGTON – Hard-core advocates for and against the Iraq war are losing leverage as John McCain and Barack Obama, having virtually secured their nominations, appeal to centrist voters who will decide the fall presidential election. -
Drug industry contributing more to Democrats AP – 2 hours, 20 minutes agoWASHINGTON – In a sharp reversal, drug and medical device companies are giving more money to Democrats than Republicans this election season, one more sign of the campaign difficulties the GOP could face this November. -
Democrats adopt boisterous Puerto Rican style AP – 2 hours, 2 minutes agoSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Forget placards, stoic bodyguards and formal rallies. To win Puerto Rico’s presidential primary, both the Clinton and Obama camps are campaigning in the boisterous, face-to-face “boricua style” favored on this Caribbean island. -
Obama’s outreach to US foes is questionable AP – 2 hours, 5 minutes agoWASHINGTON – Barack Obama’s willingness to meet Iranian, Cuban and other hostile leaders who would not get face time from John McCain stands as a distinctive element of his foreign policy. -
Viral e-mails attack Obama’s life story Politico – Wed May 21, 8:12 PM ETThe main obstacle standing between Barack Obama and the White House was distilled into five words by a local television correspondent in South Charleston, W.Va., earlier this month.
White House News
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Bush signs anti-discrimination bill AP – Wed May 21, 5:54 PM ETWASHINGTON – President Bush on Wednesday signed legislation to protect people from losing their jobs or health insurance when genetic testing reveals they are susceptible to costly diseases. -
US to let Americans send cell phones to Cuba AP – Wed May 21, 5:43 PM ETWASHINGTON – President Bush announced Wednesday that people living in the United States soon will be allowed to send cell phones to Cubans on the island nation — a move that he hopes will push the communist regime to increase freedom of expression for Cuban citizens. -
Bush vetoes farm bill AP – Wed May 21, 3:27 PM ETWASHINGTON – President Bush vetoed the $300 billion farm bill on Wednesday, calling it a tax increase on regular Americans at a time of high food prices in the face of a near-certain override by Congress. - Bush heading to Europe in June AP – Tue May 20, 4:55 PM ETWASHINGTON – President Bush, traveling abroad more this year than at any time of his presidency, plans to head to Europe in June to confer with allies on matters of war, terrorism and trade.
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White House denies story about attacking Iran AP – Tue May 20, 4:00 PM ETWASHINGTON – The White House on Tuesday denied a published report in Israel that said President Bush intends to attack Iran before the end of his term in January.
U.S. Congress News
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Thinking the unthinkable: Who follows Ted Kennedy? AP – 6 minutes agoWASHINGTON – People in Massachusetts suddenly are thinking the unthinkable: Who possibly could succeed Sen. Edward Kennedy, patriarch of the famed political family that has dominated the state for more than four decades? -
Kennedy illness robs Senate of dealmaker AP – 57 minutes agoWASHINGTON – Sen. Edward Kennedy’s diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor has left Congress without its best dealmaker and boldest liberal, a politician known for his staunch positions and willingness to work with right-wing lawmakers. -
After gaffe, Democrats planning to redo farm bill AP – 1 hour, 1 minute agoWASHINGTON – Democrats are picking up the pieces after an embarrassing technical gaffe that delayed a triumphant rejection of President Bush’s veto of a massive farm bill. - Mix-up throws House veto override in doubt AP – 1 hour, 42 minutes agoWASHINGTON – The House overwhelmingly rejected President Bush’s veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats.
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Top Iraq generals defend pause in troop reductions AP – 1 hour, 54 minutes agoWASHINGTON – The U.S. must be careful not to withdraw forces from Iraq too quickly because security gains could be lost, warn the nation’s top two war generals.
U.S. Government News
- Report says more kids drowning in pools, spas AP – Wed May 21, 9:03 PM ETWASHINGTON – A month before summer begins, a government report shows an increase in the number of children who drown in pools and spas.
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Plan to trim cell phone cancellation fees draws criticism AP – Wed May 21, 6:11 PM ETWASHINGTON – A wireless industry proposal under consideration by the government that would make it easier for cell phone customers to break up with their service providers was met with withering criticism by consumer advocates on Wednesday. -
Fed sees slower growth, higher unemployment in `08 AP – Wed May 21, 2:11 PM ETWASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday sharply lowered its projection for economic growth this year, citing blows from the housing and credit debacles along with zooming energy prices. It also expects higher unemployment and inflation. - Government ads to show consumers how hospitals rate AP – Wed May 21, 12:34 AM ETWASHINGTON – The federal government is spending nearly $1.9 million on newspaper ads around the country that disclose hospital satisfaction rates, part of a unique campaign to improve health care through the power of publicity.
- Feds help ailing student loan program AP – Tue May 20, 7:48 PM ETWASHINGTON – The Bush administration is taking steps to ensure student lenders don’t walk away from the federal loan program, including offering to buy up student loans and make capital available to lenders.
World Politics News
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Merrill restarts talks to move to WTC site: WSJ Reuters – Thu May 22, 2:14 AM ET(Reuters) – Merrill Lynch & Co has restarted talks to move its headquarters to a planned skyscraper at the World Trade Center site, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. - Group critices US military for child detentions AP – Wed May 21, 4:39 PM ETGENEVA – A rights group criticized the U.S. military Wednesday for holding hundreds of youths in Iraq, saying American forces aren’t living up to international standards.
- Sri Lanka loses bid for UN human rights panel seat AP – Wed May 21, 4:06 PM ETUNITED NATIONS – Sri Lanka, which has been strongly criticized for its human rights record, lost its bid Wednesday for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, but four other countries with poor records won spots — Pakistan, Bahrain, Gabon and Zambia.
- Report: Conflicts using child soldiers declines AP – Wed May 21, 7:32 AM ETUNITED NATIONS – The number of conflicts in which child soldiers were involved dropped sharply from 27 in 2004 to 17 at the end of last year, according to a report by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
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States vie for seats on disputed UN rights body Reuters – Wed May 21, 1:21 AM ETUNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Gabon are among states vying for 15 seats on the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday that rights watchdogs say are unfit to be on it.
Supreme Court News
- Ban upheld on offering child porn The Christian Science Monitor – Tue May 20, 4:00 AM ETWashington – The US Supreme Court has upheld an effort by Congress to make it illegal to offer or promote child pornography – even when the photographs being offered or promoted don’t really exist or involve real children.
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Court rejects case involving alleged Nazi guard AP – Mon May 19, 7:42 PM ETWASHINGTON – The Justice Department said Monday that an alleged former Nazi death camp guard has exhausted all legal avenues for trying to remain in the United States and the government remains committed to deporting him. -
Court upholds part of child pornography law AP – Mon May 19, 6:29 PM ETWASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Monday that leading someone to believe you have child pornography to show or exchange is a federal crime, brushing aside concerns that the law could apply to mainstream movies that depict adolescent sex, classic literature or even innocent e-mails that describe pictures of grandchildren. - Court upholds municipal bond tax exemption AP – Mon May 19, 5:48 PM ETWASHINGTON – The $2.5 trillion municipal bond market skirted a land mine Monday when the Supreme Court ruled that states could continue to give special tax breaks on the bonds that fund hospitals, roads, schools and other services.
- Justices rule against man in terrorism case AP – Mon May 19, 1:11 PM ETWASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday ruled against an Algerian convicted of conspiring to detonate explosives at Los Angeles International Airport during the millenium holiday travel rush.
Most Popular Politics News
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Viral e-mails attack Obama’s life story Politico – Wed May 21, 8:12 PM ETThe main obstacle standing between Barack Obama and the White House was distilled into five words by a local television correspondent in South Charleston, W.Va., earlier this month. - Mix-up throws House veto override in doubt AP – 1 hour, 42 minutes agoWASHINGTON – The House overwhelmingly rejected President Bush’s veto Wednesday of a $290 billion farm bill, but what should have been a stinging defeat for the president became an embarrassment for Democrats.
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Clinton launches new Fla., Mich. offensives Politico – Wed May 21, 2:33 PM ETBOCA RATON, Fla. – With a bit of momentum from her landslide Kentucky victory and less lopsided Oregon loss, Hillary Clinton is turning her attention to two states that have already voted, Florida and Michigan, over two states and a territory that have yet to, South Dakota, Montana and Puerto Rico. -
DeGeneres needles McCain on gay marriage AP – Wed May 21, 11:25 PM ETWASHINGTON – Republican John McCain says same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into legal agreements for insurance and other purposes, but he opposes gay marriage and believes in “the unique status of marriage between and man and a woman.” -
Senate proposal seeks $165B for war AP – 2 hours, 42 minutes agoWASHINGTON – President Bush’s GOP allies in the Senate face election-season votes Thursday on both his long-pending war funding request and tens of billions of dollars backed by Democrats for veterans education and an assortment of domestic programs.
First, let me clear my throat:
These thoughts are the outgrowths of a discussion I was having with a friend (I’ll call her Gigi). I am not sure that it is germane but let’s note that I am a straight, married man and that my friend identifies as queer and cannot, as of yet, legally marry her partner in New York State.
That is, if she wanted to. As it is, she is against marriage. For both straight and gays. Period.
Anything insightful, original, or radical in this post, I would have to attribute to her.
That isn’t without caveat. The first point that she and I agree on is that, and this is a direct quote from her:
relationships free of commitment can lead to a lot of exploitation and can wreak havoc on women and children who only gain protection through formalized relationships.
The other point we agree on is that marriage, if it exists at all (this last clause would be revelatory to my wife), should be available to all. It is in that vein that we celebrate the truly groundbreaking, epochal California marriage decision.
I know now that those on the right – religious or otherwise – and the other know nothings will take this decision as their battle cry to not only reverse it, but to also erase gains that gays, lesbians and the transgendered have made in our society. We must stop them from doing this.
But we cannot just play defense.
Another direct quote from Gigi:
Giving rights to married people and using those rights to exclude others for me makes the state a moral judge, an enforcer of cultural norms, and does injustice to the complexity of our lives and does violence to a wider, larger concept of love.
How about, instead of extending such protections only to people who have sex with one another, that the protections that “marriage” contain be extended to all the myriad ways that family and commitment manifest in our lives.
Gigi:
People should be able to contract their relationships. For instance, two sisters who live together and share finances should be able to draw up a contract for a 5, 10, 20 yr agreement which dictates they share rights of inheritance or end-of-life decision power for one another.
Or two people who are sleeping together draw up a contract that says they share x, y, and z — but want their property to revert to their children if they should pass.
The point would be not to limit those options and not to give any relationship a privileged status.
So, let the battle be joined. We should draw up our own manifesto on where we should be as a society and put that up against the people who, against all reason, would plunge society into the dark ages.
I saw the film “Iron man” with my 7-year-old and 10-year-old sons. I cautioned them beforehand that they should be mindful of who is cast as villains in the film. It was an inadequate, half-hearted gesture. Half-hearted not because I did not believe what I was telling them, but half-hearted because, first, I let them see the film and, second, because I should have educated them better about villainy and values.
Tomgram: Nick Turse, Irony Man
Back in the mid-1990s, in my book, The End of Victory Culture, I wrote the following about the adventure films of my childhood (and those of earlier decades):
“For the nonwhite, annihilation was built not just into the on-screen Hollywood spectacle but into its casting structures. Available to the Other were only four roles: the invisible, the evil, the dependent, and the expendable…. When the inhabitants of these borderlands emerged from their oases, ravines, huts, or tepees, they found that there was but one role in which a nonwhite (usually played by a white actor) was likely to come out on top, and that was the villain with his fanatical speeches and propensity for odd tortures. Only as a repository for evil could the nonwhite momentarily triumph. Whether an Indian chief, a Mexican bandit leader, or an Oriental despot, his pre-World War II essence was the same. Set against his shiny pate or silken voice, his hard eyes or false laugh, no white could look anything but good.”
Having spent a recent evening in my local multiplex watching the latest superhero blockbuster, Iron Man, all I can say is: such traditions obviously die hard (even in the age of Barack Obama). The Afghans and assorted terrorists of the film, when not falling into that “invisible” category — as backdrops for the heroics or evil acts of the real actors — are out of central casting from a playbook of the 1930s filled with images of Fu Manchu or Ming the Merciless: Right down to that shiny bald pate, the silken voice, the hard eyes, and that propensity for “odd tortures.”
I saw the film “Iron man” with my 7-year-old and 10-year-old sons. I cautioned them beforehand that they should be mindful of who is cast as villains in the film. It was an inadequate, half-hearted gesture. Half-hearted not because I did not believe what I was telling them, but half-hearted because, first, I let them see the film and, second, because I should have educated them better about villainy and values.
Tomgram: Nick Turse, Irony Man
Back in the mid-1990s, in my book, The End of Victory Culture, I wrote the following about the adventure films of my childhood (and those of earlier decades):
“For the nonwhite, annihilation was built not just into the on-screen Hollywood spectacle but into its casting structures. Available to the Other were only four roles: the invisible, the evil, the dependent, and the expendable…. When the inhabitants of these borderlands emerged from their oases, ravines, huts, or tepees, they found that there was but one role in which a nonwhite (usually played by a white actor) was likely to come out on top, and that was the villain with his fanatical speeches and propensity for odd tortures. Only as a repository for evil could the nonwhite momentarily triumph. Whether an Indian chief, a Mexican bandit leader, or an Oriental despot, his pre-World War II essence was the same. Set against his shiny pate or silken voice, his hard eyes or false laugh, no white could look anything but good.”
Having spent a recent evening in my local multiplex watching the latest superhero blockbuster, Iron Man, all I can say is: such traditions obviously die hard (even in the age of Barack Obama). The Afghans and assorted terrorists of the film, when not falling into that “invisible” category — as backdrops for the heroics or evil acts of the real actors — are out of central casting from a playbook of the 1930s filled with images of Fu Manchu or Ming the Merciless: Right down to that shiny bald pate, the silken voice, the hard eyes, and that propensity for “odd tortures.”
What he said:
BARACK OBAMA: How’s it going, Iowa? (APPLAUSE)
It is good to be back in Iowa.
(APPLAUSE)
I love you back, Iowa.
(APPLAUSE)
First of all, let me say thank you to Candy Smeeter (ph) for the wonderful introduction and the unbelievable work that she did on behalf of our campaign, and still does.
There are too many good friends and people who work tirelessly on my behalf to thank. You know who you are individually.
I just want to say, first of all, thank you, to all of you, for the great work that you did in helping to kick off this campaign.
And I do want to take a point of personal privilege and just say that I sure have a nice-looking wife and kids.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, there is a spirit that brought us here tonight, a spirit of change, and hope, and possibility. And there are few people in this country who embody that spirit more than our friend and our champion, Senator Edward Kennedy.
(APPLAUSE)
He has spent his life in service to this country, not for the sake of glory or recognition, but because he cares, deeply in his gut, about the causes of justice, and equality, and opportunity.
So many of us here have benefited in some way or another because of the battles he’s waged and some of us are here because of them. And we know he’s not well right now, but we also know that he’s a fighter.
And as he takes on this fight, let us lift his spirits tonight by letting Ted Kennedy know that we are thinking of him, that we are praying for him, that we are standing with him and Vicky, and that we will be fighting with him every step of the way.
(APPLAUSE)