361 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Let’s remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom…honor those who honor us by serving our country. On this Veteran’s Day, we give thanks!
We had a great State Committee meeting. RNC presented the Victory ’08 program. We reviewed Newt’s American Solution polling. Discussed the presidential primary “fix” and state convention option…either way, we’re ready to go.
Center-Right Bloggers meeting was a great success. Party leaders, candidates, and yours truly addressed the bloggers, answered questions and hopefully helped motivate them to do more! Thanks to Nick at Right Michigan for putting this together.
Folks asked about our commercials and where they could download them.
Our entire TAX ad campaign is available on our web site for your review…defining the Michigan Republicans as standing for the taxpayer’s agenda. Listen and/or down them here:
http://www.migop.org/campaign_ads/campaign_ads.asp
Flint Journal writes a strong editorial supporting Michigan’s January 15th primary:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/flint-journal-k.html
The Detroit News has a “cyber survey” of whether Michigan should return the presidential primary to January 15th…let them know what you think:
http://info.detnews.com/redesign/forums/feedback/lettersindex.cfm?topic=Primary_1109&forum=dnletters
Newt’s Ameirca’s Red, Whit and Blue platform:
http://newt.org/tabid/102/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3018/Americas-Red-White-and-Blue-Platforms.aspx
Watch "Michigan Matters'' which airs today, Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on CW Channel 50. The show is hosted Carol Cain, Editorial Director of CBS Detroit and columnist at Detroit Free Press. I discussed affordable health care and a Republican approach to patient focused care.
POLITICOS Sunday Talk Show Tip Sheet: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6806.html
To order your personalized Legacy Brick please visit www.migop.org/legacy, or contact Erin Meteer, Major Donor Program Manager at emeteer@migop.org.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
Sunday’s Talk Shows:
Meet the Press (NBC): Tim Russert talks to Barack Obama.
FOX News Sunday (FNS): Host Chris Wallace chats with more Presidential hopefuls: Democrat Bill Richardson and Republican John McCain.
This Week (ABC): Host George Stephanopoulos talks to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Democrat President "hopeful" Chris Dodd.
Face the Nation (CBS): Host Bob Schieffer chats it up with Presidential hopefuls Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.
Late Edition (CNN): Host Wolf Blitzer has his usual cast of thousands, including (but not limited to): Richard Armitage, John Bolton and Richard Holbrooke, and Presidential hopeful Joe Biden.
- Recall efforts start & grow….see UPDATE “Tax Hiker Portraits” by RightMichigan:
Robert Dean: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/2/105439/416
Steve Bieda: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/3/10332/0059
Mike Simpson: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/4/92924/1118
Marc Corriveau: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/8/93248/2721
Terry Brown: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/10/101539/45
Mary Valentine: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/9/6253/0133
Kate Ebli: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/11/55455/873
Marty Griffin: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/15/94238/961
Kathy Angerer: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/16/14040/296
Aldo Vagnozzi: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/17/103640/75
John Espinoza: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/30/93255/658
Joel Sheltrown: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/31/103434/30
Mike Lahti: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/11/6/10250/0225
Kathleen Law: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/11/7/104242/595
How does a recall work: http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/11/how-to-run-a-re.html
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1194621642302190.xml&coll=5
Primary mission
Michigan should stay focused on Jan. 15 vote
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Friday, November 09, 2007
By Journal Editorial Board
Michigan's Republican and Democratic lawmakers should stay the course on holding a Jan. 15 presidential primary, no matter the threats from national party leaders.
As of Thursday, the GOP was doing its part, but Democrats appear to be withering as a result of the hurdles they've encountered - and possibly because of other agendas interfering. If the Democrats renege on their earlier commitment for an early primary that challenges Iowa's and New Hampshire's traditional dominance in the presidential nominating process, Michigan residents and democracy will be the loser.
It's imperative, therefore, that lawmakers fix legislation establishing the primary so it passes legal muster. The GOP-controlled Senate ostensibly did this Thursday, approving a technical change in response to an Ingham County circuit judge ruling that a part of the law is unconstitutional, because it gives the two parties exclusive access to lists of primary voters.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION01/711110312/1007/OPINION
Sunday, November 11, 2007
House should move to restore primary
Michigan voters deserve to have a real say in the selection of presidential nominees. A Jan. 15 primary is an effective way to ensure that and should be preserved by the state Legislature.
The primary was thrown into question with a ruling last week by an Ingham Circuit Court judge, who said the primary violated the state Constitution because it limited access to voter lists to just the Democratic and Republican parties and their operatives. The judge's ruling makes sense -- if the parties have access to the voter lists, the public should have access as well.
But there's no reason the judge's ruling should scuttle the primary. The fix is fairly simple, if the state House acts with some urgency.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/POLITICS/711100366
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Decision 2008
Michigan fights for Jan. vote
State to file for an emergency appeal of ruling that calls off early primary.
Charlie Cain and Gordon Trowbridge / The Detroit News
LANSING -- The state will appeal an Ingham County judge's ruling that canceled Michigan's Jan. 15 presidential primary.
"We will be filing an emergency application for leave to appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals by late Tuesday," Rusty Hills, spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, said Friday.
In addition, Hills said the state will file a motion to "stay" the judge's ruling to allow the primary to go off as planned and give Michigan a chance to be the first big, industrial state to weigh in on the presidential contest.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/OPINION03/711100362/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Laura Berman:
Judge rules for voters, principles
The plucky effort of the state's two major political parties to move up the presidential primary seemed like a good thing at the outset -- a way to make the state's voters count.
We'll hold an early primary. We'll defy the fusty party machinery that wants to marginalize the state and make our voices heard.
Jan. 15 would be the day.
Alas, pluck turned quickly to farce. Some of the Democrats, with the exception of Hillary Clinton, opted out of the Michigan primary ballot.
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/NEWS01/711110349
County board chairman enters race for House
By Dan Meisler
County Commissioner Steve Williams dropped out of the race for state House in the 66th District on Friday, and was replaced by fellow Republican Bill Rogers, chairman of the county board.
In early October, Williams' wife filed for divorce. Since then, he has repeatedly said he may quit his House campaign if it would save his marriage.
"I don't want to make it seem like I'm pointing fingers at my wife and saying it's her fault," Williams said. "The additional responsibilities I've taken on created stress in our marriage ... I'll do anything I can to reduce that stress. It's more important for me to salvage my marriage than to run for the state House."
Williams and Rogers issued simultaneous press releases Friday afternoon, in which Rogers announced his campaign, and Williams dropped out of the race and endorsed Rogers.
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/columns-3/1194758798127490.xml&coll=7
Voters' message: Give us good, efficient government
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Message to our newly elected officials:
Lead, don't manage.
The outcome of Tuesday's election is the knowledge that most of the elected officials in Kalamazoo's and Portage's city governments will be the same, with a few notable exceptions.
That's not necessarily bad, if all those incumbents take the vote of confidence as a mandate for bold action.
All those elected officials have the experience and the know-how to hit the ground running and make huge strides. They should ask themselves: What should my city look like at the end of this term? Then they need to work together aggressively to move toward that vision.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/NEWS06/711110629/1008
Money troubles may close school
Cuts coming, say district officials
November 11, 2007
When another year rolls by, Pinckney Community Schools students may find one of their schools shuttered -- and their older brothers and sisters watching buses pass them by.
Funds are tight, officials say, and cuts are on the way.
"In a nutshell, we don't have enough money," Superintendent Dan Danosky said.
While costs are increasing, tax revenues are dwindling, he said. District officials expect to see a $1.9-million deficit for fiscal year 2009, which starts in July. The current operating budget is $38 million.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1194779706255940.xml&coll=4
DNR plays politics, again, with threats to cut far afield
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is hitting Michiganders below the belt, just as we all are gasping from the double punch of $1.3 billion in new income and service taxes.
The DNR didn't get the $8 million that agency leaders wanted from those tax increases.
So the agency threatens to make Michiganders suffer with a swath of budget cuts across our beloved forests, fields and streams.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2007/11/dnr_not_out_of_the_woods.html
DNR not out of the woods from budget cuts
Posted by Howard Meyerson | The Grand Rapids Press November 11, 2007 01:12AM
Categories: Top Photos
When Michigan's firearm deer season opens Thursday, Conservation Officer Dave Rodgers knows his day will be full.
With 750,000 hunters headed into the woods statewide, it is the busiest day of the hunting season. Rodgers knows that will generate a flurry of calls about trespassing, road hunting and illegal baiting.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2007/11/do_your_taxes_feed_the_rich.html
Do your taxes feed the rich?
Posted by Ken Kolker | The Grand Rapids Press November 11, 2007 00:54AM
Categories: Top Stories
GRAND RAPIDS -- Not everybody who gets crop subsidies is a farmer.
Consider Dick DeVos. That Dick DeVos. The former president of Alticor Inc., the son of one of the richest men in the country, the Republican who ran the most expensive campaign for governor in Michigan history.
He got more than $6,000 in federal farm subsidies from 2003 to 2005, mostly for corn.
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/11/big_budget_cuts_ahead_in_ypsil.html
Big budget cuts ahead in Ypsilanti
Posted by Khalil Hachem | The Ann Arbor News November 10, 2007 14:01PM
Categories: Election, Top Stories
Ypsilanti City Council members say they got the message loud and clear from voters who rejected a proposed income tax Tuesday: Instead of raising taxes, cut costs and keep core services.
The challenge will be figuring out how to do that.
Some council members have called for quick action. Others want the council to work together and solicit more input from residents to close the rift that the failed tax proposal may have caused in the community.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1194779750255950.xml&coll=8
Health department raising fees
Sunday, November 11, 2007
By Steve Gunn
sgunn@muskegonchronicle.com
Fees for services ranging from dog licenses to immunizations will increase, some of them immediately, as the Muskegon County Health Department searches for funds to offset dwindling state funding.
County commissioners on Thursday voted to allow the health department to increase fees charged for 52 different permits or services offered to the public.
That means fees for dog licenses, food-service licenses, immunizations, water inspections, well permits, cremation permits and many other similar items will increase in Muskegon County in the coming months.
http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS13/711080659
Judge pens book about ignorance and resolution
By Chris Jackett
When Michael Warren began writing "America's Survival Guide: How to Stop America's Impending Suicide by Embracing Our First Principles" more than a decade ago, it was based off a gut instinct. Now, he knows better, and how right he was.
Currently an Oakland County Circuit Court judge of five years and a state board of education member the three years prior, Warren has experienced a wide range of people, many with one thing in common.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/POLITICS/711100376/1022
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Clean water fight stagnant in Mich.
Jim Lynch / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- As it approaches middle age, the landmark Clean Water Act needs a face-lift, advocates say -- and Michigan's environmental woes highlight the need for change.
Passed in 1972, the federal legislation sought to crack down on pollutants making their way into U.S. waters. Lakes, rivers and streams were to be swimmable and fishable, and unregulated discharged pollutants were to be a thing of the past by 1985.
But a recent study conducted by a Michigan environmental group shows that many large facilities across the state -- public and private -- continue to discharge more pollutants than their permits allow. Many are repeat offenders who face little to no punishment.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION03/711110311/1007/OPINION
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Nolan Finley
Like his dad, Mitt Romney's a car guy
For a long stretch during the late 1980s and early '90s, my phone would ring and, when I answered, a distinctive voice would boom, "Hello, this is George Romney, and I'm working on a project I want to tell you about."
Romney was always working on a project, and his projects nearly always involved the hard work of convincing his fellow citizens to use their skills in the service of others.
After leaving public life, the former Michigan governor, American Motors chairman and failed presidential candidate became an evangelist for volunteerism and making his home state better.
http://www.petoskeynews.com/articles/2007/11/11/news/news01.txt
Families of those in the war are also making sacrifice
By Louise Nelle News-Review Staff Writer
Story updated: Friday, November 9, 2007 3:20 PM EST
If there is one thing people think about on Veterans Day it is veterans; the brave family members and friends who fought in World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War, not to mention all of the young men and women currently enlisted in the armed forces.
In the midst of honoring past and present heroes, there are those behind the scenes who rarely see the spotlight. They are the families who watch as their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters leave home.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-1/119464472797200.xml&coll=8
Today we honor those who serve, and have served
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Your flag has a special significance as it flies today, Nov. 11. This Veterans Day, when America honors all who serve, and all who have served, many of our nation's men and women in the service are facing the extreme danger of armed combat in enemy territory.
The war in Iraq is a controversial one, to be sure. Serious questions have been raised about the reasons for our involvement there, and about our long-term plan to ultimately disengage from that fight. The upcoming presidential election may settle some questions about that conflict, although perhaps not all.
Yet no differences among Democrats or Republicans should be so great that would prevent any of us from honoring the sacrifices being made this very minute in far-off hellholes in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1194765634111030.xml&coll=6
Boomers and bust
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Here they come.
The first of the baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, will be eligible to receive Social Security beginning in January.
They represent just the leading trickle of a demographic tsunami that threatens to overwhelm the country's entitlement system and break the federal bank.
So, naturally, there has been serious and substantive discussion by presidential candidates and in the halls of Congress about these 78 million Americans set to retire in the next 20 years, right?
Well, no. Tackling the problem of our aging population and stretched resources requires hard choices that few politicians want to make, or even discuss.
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/11/veterans.html
Number of homeless war veterans growing in U.S.
Posted by Jordan Miller | The Ann Arbor News November 11, 2007 05:50AM
Categories: Breaking News, Top Photos
BY JORDAN MILLER
The Ann Arbor News
Thomas Mullins spent 30 years wondering what was wrong with him.
Things started getting worse several years ago for the Vietnam war veteran. He was having what he called a "slow breakdown over a period of time," and last winter lost the apartment where he had lived for six years.
His son discovered him in the middle of a serious suicide attempt, and brought Mullins, who served in the Marines from 1969-71, to the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. After lengthy interviews that covered the last three decades, he was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder.
http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2007/11/celebrating_veterans_day.html
Celebrating Veterans Day
Posted by Earlene McMichael November 10, 2007 22:46PM
Categories: Breaking News, Top Photos
The following Veterans Day programs are scheduled for Sunday in southwestern Michigan unless otherwise noted.
v AUGUSTA -- Fort Custer National Cemetery will hold an 11 a.m. service. The national cemetery is located at 15501 Dickman Road.
v COMSTOCK -- Comstock Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6252, 5990 E. Michigan Ave., will have an 11 a.m. service, followed by a luncheon and speaker.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/NATION/111100051/1001
Hispanics to hear from GOP
By Stephen Dinan
November 10, 2007
The top Republican presidential candidates reversed course and have agreed to take part in a Spanish-language debate next month aimed at Hispanic voters, setting up an acrimonious clash over illegal aliens, an issue roiling the Republican primary.
Fred Thompson agreed Thursday to the debate, igniting a dash to sign up by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Sen. John McCain of Arizona already had accepted the debate, to be broadcast by Univision, the country's largest Spanish-language television network.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION01/711110308/1007/OPINION
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Martin Roland
Will evangelicals choose Giuliani over God?
"I will never vote for anyone for the president of the United States who supports abortion or gay marriage."
Those were the words spoken to me three years ago by a prominent pastor in Dallas who has led a number of rallies on those two issues.
But the endorsement by the Rev. Pat Robertson -- founder of the Christian Coalition, a tour de force during the 1990s, and a former Republican presidential candidate -- of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who continues to lead national polls regarding the GOP race, puts front and center the day conservative evangelicals have long said we would never see: a pro-choice, pro-gay candidate as the Republican nominee for president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/AR2007110801806.html
Democrats Hone the Brand
Friday, November 9, 2007; Page A21
The Democratic surge that began in 2006 continued in elections around the country on Tuesday. But how the Democrats won provides a cautionary tale for the national party.
What you might call solutionism, not ideology, explained the Democratic victories. And an electorate in a decidedly bad temper did not always exempt Democrats from its ire.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION03/711110310/1007/OPINION
Sunday, November 11, 2007
George Will
Pols push strange definitions of compassion
Explaining a simple proposal to help people squirrel away gold for their golden years, Hillary Clinton said that a person "should not require a Ph.D. to save for retirement." But can even Ph.D.s understand liberalism's arithmetic and logic?
Consider the controversy over the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which is up for renewal. Most Republicans favor extending it. Almost all Democrats, and some Republicans, favor expanding it in a way that transforms it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/METRO/111100039/1001
Maryland Senate OKs tax increase
By Tom LoBianco
November 10, 2007
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland state senators yesterday passed one of the largest tax increases in state history by a one-vote margin.
The legislation to increase taxes more than $1.5 billion moved to the House after Republicans came one vote short of filibustering the measure. The chamber's 14 Republicans then joined with nine Democrats in opposition to the tax package, which passed 24-23.
"We're at the 50-yard line and the game is halfway over," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Southern Maryland Democrat. "We've got to see what the House does and whether we get the ball across the goal line."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION03/711110304/1007/OPINION
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Froma Harrop
Nuture businesses, not business execs
They say bad things come in threes. That includes economic milestones that most Americans would prefer not to pass. One is the prospect of $100-a-barrel oil. Another is an exchange rate of 1.50 U.S. dollars to one euro, a serious loss of face to the once cheaper European currency. The third is gold bolting over $850 an ounce, a sign of plunging confidence in the American economy. Analysts predict all three things.
Can we blame the Bush administration for this bad news, as we liberals so often do? Not entirely, but to a large extent, yes. Bush has been great at taking care of businessmen, but not of business. There's a difference, you know.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TOBACCO_TAX?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 10, 10:04 AM EST
Congress aims to extinguish cigarettes
By CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress is taking new whacks at the cigarette industry, banning tobacco sales in Senate buildings and - more importantly - seeking a significant federal tax increase on cigarettes.
The industry, once a lobbying behemoth, is quietly working against the tax bill. But it lacks the clout it once wielded.
Several key lawmakers said they have had no recent contacts with tobacco lobbyists. And both houses have signaled a willingness to raise the cigarette tax if other provisions of a children's health bill can be resolved.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/11/an_open_letter_of_thanks_to_ve.html
November 11, 2007
An Open Letter of Thanks to Veterans
In my opinion, our American military veterans have really gotten the public shaft for nearly 40 years. So, I'm determined to put in my two cents' worth for anyone who cares to read it.
Let me start by simply saying, "Thank you." To every man and woman who preserved my liberty this year, and for all of you who have ever proudly worn our Nation's uniform, I say, "Thank you!"
Today I read a book, which I bought from a bookstore a mile from my home. There are more books in that Barnes & Noble than once filled an entire library, and they represent the independent thought and ideas of thousands and thousands of people living free. For this weighty privilege, I say, "Thank you!"
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 11, 4:29 AM EST
Bush urges Congress to OK veterans bill
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush said Saturday that Congress' Democratic leaders should celebrate Veterans Day by finally passing a spending bill covering programs for veterans.
"Congressional leaders let the fiscal year end without passing this bill they know our veterans need," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "The time to act is running out. ... The best way members of Congress can give thanks to our veterans is to send me a clean bill that I can sign into law."
Bush's dig at Democrats didn't tell the whole story.
Nov 11, 8:57 AM EST
Definition changing for people's privacy
By PAMELA HESS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A top intelligence official says it is time people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, a deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguards people's private communications and financial information.
Kerr's comments come as Congress is taking a second look at the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act.
Lawmakers hastily changed the 1978 law last summer to allow the government to eavesdrop inside the United States without court permission, so long as one end of the conversation was reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S.
Nov 11, 4:28 AM EST
Suitcase nuclear bomb unlikely to exist
By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of Congress have warned about the dangers of suitcase nuclear weapons. Hollywood has made television shows and movies about them. Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency has alerted Americans to a threat - information the White House includes on its Web site.
But government experts and intelligence officials say such a threat gets vastly more attention than it deserves. These officials said a true suitcase nuke would be highly complex to produce, require significant upkeep and cost a small fortune.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110900255.html?sub=AR
Dems Question Latest Anti-War Strategy
By ANNE FLAHERTY
The Associated Press
Saturday, November 10, 2007; 1:52 AM
WASHINGTON -- Rank-and-file Democrats expressed dismay on Friday over their party's latest anti-war strategy, with some members reluctant to vote around Veterans Day to bring troops home. The House was on track to consider legislation next week that would give President Bush $50 billion for operations for Iraq and Afghanistan, but insist that he begin withdrawing troops.
The measure identifies a goal of ending combat by December 2008, leaving only enough soldiers and Marines behind to fight terrorists, train Iraqi security forces and protect U.S. assets.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/09/AR2007110901569.html
FROM ABU GHRAIB TO GEORGETOWN
I'm Back Home, But Still in Iraq's Grasp
By William Quinn
Sunday, November 11, 2007; Page B01
The only feeling I've ever had that was more surreal than arriving in a war zone was returning from one.
I came home on R&R in 2005 after eight months in Iraq. Heading for the baggage claim in Detroit, I watched travelers walking and talking on their cellphones, chatting with friends and acting just the way people had before I'd left for Baghdad. The war didn't just seem to be taking place in another country; it seemed to be taking place in another universe. There I was, in desert camouflage, wondering how all the intensity, the violence, the tears and the killing of Iraq could really be happening at the same time that all these people were hurrying to catch their flights to Las Vegas or Los Angeles or wherever.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PAKISTAN_ANALYSIS?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 11, 5:15 AM EST
Analysis: Musharraf's rule may be brief
By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pakistan's military leader is betting that having flouted strong U.S. warnings not to declare a state of emergency he can now hold off his patron's pleas for a quick return to constitutional rule and go on banking billions in American anti-terrorism aid.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is probably right for now. But the strongman's triumph may be short-lived. Some of Musharraf's backers in Washington quietly agree with his political opponents at home that he cannot hold power for long.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PAKISTAN?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nov 11, 4:29 AM EST
Bush sees positive signs in Pakistan
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush backed Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Saturday despite the embattled leader's detour off the path of democracy to impose emergency rule and arrest thousands of opponents.
Pakistan was plunged into political turmoil a week ago when Musharraf declared a state of emergency - a move his critics claim was an attempt to cling to power.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION03/711110306/1007/OPINION
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Charles Krauthammer
Try to bargain Musharraf's gradual exit from Pakistan's leadership
Islamist barbarians are at the gates. The president declares de facto martial law. The country's democratic forces of the center and left, led by well-dressed lawyers and a former prime minister, take to the streets.
What is America to do about Pakistan? Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto knows just how to appeal to America. In a New York Times op-ed, she quotes President Bush back to himself: "All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1682252,00.html
Thursday, Nov. 08, 2007
With Friends like These
By Richard Brookhiser
In geopolitics, even the best of friends sometimes fall out. Consider the case of the U.S. and Turkey, whose Prime Minister met with President Bush on Nov. 5. The U.S. initiated the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to provide Turkey and Greece with the economic and military support necessary to keep them out of the Soviet sphere of influence. Turkey fought side by side with the U.S. in the Korean War. And the two nations have been NATO allies since 1952. But recently the relationship has come under strain. First the U.S. Congress threatened to pass a controversial resolution condemning Turkey for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the final days of the Ottoman Empire. Now Turkey's Islamist government is feuding with the pro-American Kurds of northern Iraq because it wants to smash anti-Turkish guerrillas the Kurds have failed to control. It's no surprise that old allies may disagree on individual issues or even go their separate ways, but as the U.S.'s up-and-down relations with France show, they can still find ways to deal with each other.
