Articles of Interest 12-10-07

332 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

NBC reversed course Saturday and decided to air a conservative group's television ad thanking U.S. troops.  See story at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/08/AR2007120801250_pf.html

I spoke at the New Centurion’s program in Lansing last week and will be their guest lecturer this week in Grand Rapids.  A fresh crop of “trained” conservatives from across the state are getting ready for battle!

For more information on the New Centurion program go to:

http://www.conservativeinstitute.org/

The RNC counsel’s office drafted suggested language to the RNC Rules to consider the presidential primary option Debbie Dingell and I proposed.  To download a copy and see other details go to:

http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/12/dingell-anuzis.html

Give a Gift this Holiday Season that Will Last a Lifetime!

The Michigan Republicans moved their headquarters to the Secchia-Weiser Republican Center in 2006 and plan to install a legacy site to honor those who have served the party and the citizens of Michigan.  The legacy site will create a well-deserved tribute to honor Michigan’s past, present, and future Republican leaders!  Buy a brick to celebrate, to inspire, or to commemorate friends, family, or yourself this holiday season!  They are a great way to honor others in memoriam, birthdays, anniversaries, or any special occasion.  Your honoree will receive a certificate commemorating their personalized brick.  Choose from our four different options and be a part of the Michigan Republican Party Legacy! 

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:

No further commentary today.

Saul Anuzis

STATE STORIES

http://www.record-eagle.com/opinion/local_story_343094529.html

William Milliken: Allow citizens to fight pollution

Sunday, December 09, 2007

BY WILLIAM MILLIKEN

In these days of extreme partisanship, it's important to remember a time when agreement on some of the most critical

Michigan

issues spanned party divisions. When I signed into law the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) on July 27, 1970, I shared the moment with Democrats, including the legendary State Rep. Tom Anderson. Tom was a true conservationist who chaired a key House committee and sponsored many of the landmark conservation laws of the 1970s, including MEPA.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/OPINION02/712090667/1085/opinion

State Rep. Rick Jones: Opposing State Police building will benefit taxpayers

Cozy lease deal is indefensible when needs are unmet

Sunday, December 09, 2007

By State Representative Rick Jones

The LSJ's Dec. 3 editorial stated that legislative opposition to the Michigan State Police project in downtown

Lansing

won't benefit taxpayers. It also stated that squabbling over the contract will harm

Michigan

's business reputation and that the Legislature should have opposed the project sooner. The project is being built in the wrong place and at the wrong time! The taxpayers of

Michigan

and State Police officers have contacted me in overwhelming numbers and asked for opposition. The taxpayers want the project stopped and to make sure this type of thing never happens again!

http://www.macombdaily.com/stories/120907/loc_n1002.shtml

Free car crackdown

Sunday, December 9, 2007

By

Chad

Selweski

A bill introduced by a

Macomb

County

lawmaker would ban local officials from using government-issued vehicles for personal use, including driving to and from work. State Rep. Brian Palmer's legislation would apply to the perks offered by cities, townships, counties and school districts. It comes on the heels of an effort in

Lansing

to prohibit state officials, judges and top bureaucrats from using cars purchased with state tax dollars for anything other than official business. Palmer's bill would not issue an outright ban but would impose a hefty 5 percent cut in state aid to any local entity that refused to comply with the business-only rule for cars.

http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/120907/opi_20071209210.shtml

The fireworks in Lansing

Many lessons learned from recent state budget process

Sunday, December 09, 2007

By GLENN GILBERT, Executive Editor of The

Oakland

Press

Put aside your feelings about how the state Legislature chose to resolve

Michigan

's budget problems. Think, instead, about how it conducted itself. Most Michiganians have a low opinion of the Legislature. But is that because of what it did or how it acted? There is value in trying to separate these two concerns. It is one thing to say you disagree with a particular policy choice and quite another to say that the process by which the decision was reached is deficient. In a democratic society we should be able to deal with differences of opinion on policy. But let's talk about the process.

http://battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/NEWS01/712090314/1002/NEWS01

Deal freezes interest rates

Sunday, December 09, 2007

by Nick Schirripa

While the federal government has announced a deal that could freeze interest rates for up to five years for borrowers with subprime mortgages,

Michigan

legislators are working on a package of bills to offer financial assistance to homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm earlier this week applauded the state House for passing bills that would authorize two new refinancing programs through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.   "We have developed a great program and some great mortgage tools to help protect hard-working homeowners who are facing mortgage foreclosures," she said in a news release.  According to MSHDA officials, the two loan programs are part of the agency's Save the Dream campaign to help residents avoid foreclosure.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071210/AUTO01/712100349

Canada

loses luster for Big 3

Weak dollar, UAW concessions raise possibility that

Ontario

woes could be silver lining for

Mich.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Bryce G. Hoffman

A weak U.S. dollar and new, cost-cutting labor contracts with the United Auto Workers have turned

Canada

from a low-cost alternative for

Detroit

's Big Three automakers into the most expensive place in the world to build cars and trucks. And

Ontario

's loss could be

Michigan

's gain.

Canada

's national health care system and favorable exchange rates have long made

Canada

an attractive manufacturing location for American automakers. But with the Canadian dollar, or loonie, now nearly on par with the greenback and the new contracts negotiated this fall with General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, the UAW has more than closed the cost gap with the Canadian Auto Workers.

http://www.mlive.com/columns/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/119717793758930.xml&coll=5

Mileage goals

Technology could make

U.S.

demands pointless

Sunday, December 09, 2007

By

Flint

Journal Editorial Board

A 40 percent increase in vehicle mileage standards mandated in a U.S. House-passed energy bill is feel-good legislation that won't make the auto industry feel too badly. But by the time the 35-miles-per-gallon requirement takes full effect in 2020, - assuming this measure even becomes law - it may be made irrelevant through advancements in alternative fuels and battery technology. However, just in case those breakthroughs are delayed, this legislation wouldn't impose unrealistic requirements on the industry that might jeopardize its solvency and autoworker jobs.

http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-26/119717768558960.xml&coll=7

Toxic sites threaten valuable

Great Lakes

resource

Sunday, December 09, 2007

BY ROSEMARY PARKER

KALAMAZOO

--

Michigan

's Department of Environmental Quality says its cleanup money is nearly gone and there are still thousands of sites where toxic chemicals pool underground, threatening drinking water, streams and eventually the

Great Lakes

. So what? In

Michigan

, even with dry spells, there's been no shortage of fresh, clean water for everything from watering cornfields to cooling power plants. Here, of all places, isn't clean water the least of our worries? Not really. Here's why. Without intervention, poisoned groundwater will not go away.

http://macombdaily.com/stories/120907/loc_n1001.shtml

Landfill trucks draw protest

Sunday, December 9, 2007

By

Chad

Selweski

Bill Zeeman of

Casco

Township

has placed a sign on

Division Road

(

32 Mile Road

) asking Canadian trash trucks to stay off of his road. He wants the trucks to use exit 248 on I-94, at

26 Mile Road

. An angry group of St. Clair County residents who live on

32 Mile Road

, just outside of the

Macomb

County

line, have petitioned to stop the Canadian truck traffic that roars past their homes on the way to the Pine Tree Acres landfill.

The Canadian caravan, up to 300 trucks per day, used to take a route down I-94 to

26 Mile Road

. But for the past two months they've been exiting at

32 Mile Road

, also known as

Division Road

, causing 12 hours of daily nuisance for the residents of Casco and

Columbus

townships.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/OPINION03/712090311/1271/OPINION

Mich. misses link between jobs, college

Sunday, December 9, 2007

By Nolan Finley

Stupid is as stupid does. Or so said Forrest Gump in the exaggerated Southern drawl that the popular culture has made the voice of ignorance. But soon, stupid may speak with that uniquely flat and nasally accent of

Michigan

. New polling reveals the push to make

Michigan

smarter is gaining no traction. With the economy worsening, fewer

Michigan

residents see education as the way out. Instead, they want their public schools to prepare students for the low-skill jobs of the past, according to a statewide survey by EPIC-MRA.

"They still identify with a manufacturing culture where opportunity is represented by the factory," says pollster Ed Sarpolus. "They want jobs their children can move into now, without waiting four or six years to get a college degree."

http://www.mlive.com/news/statewide/index.ssf?/base/news-0/119718501133540.xml&coll=6

Prepare students for what is to come

Sunday, December 9, 2007

By Peter Luke

Seven years of economic decline in

Michigan

have taken their toll on the state's children, and their only ticket out of poverty is education. The latest data released last week through the Kids Count in

Michigan

project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Michigan League for Human Services illustrate the grim relationship between job loss and child poverty.

Michigan

's economic peak after a half-decade of sustained growth was in the summer of 2000. In the years since, a combination of national recession, auto industry downsizing and housing decline has resulted in the loss of more than 400,000 payroll jobs.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071208/NEWS06/712080326/1102/news06

Simon gets $25K raise for 'excellent job' at MSU

Total compensation of $542K puts her 7th among Big Ten presidents

December, 9, 2007

By Matthew Miller

Citing President Lou Anna Simon's "leadership and dedication," strong performance, and "overwhelming support," the Michigan State University Board of Trustees voted Friday to raise her salary by $25,000.The move brings her total compensation, including $22,250 in retirement pay, to $542,250 a year and puts her seventh among the 11 Big Ten university presidents." President Simon has done an excellent job over the past three years of her leadership of the university and moving - not only

Michigan

State

- but also taking initiatives that help

Michigan

's economy to move forward," said Trustee Melanie Foster."I know we are struggling as a state," she added, "but it's imperative that we keep not only Dr. Simon's salary, but that of our faculty within the mid-range of the Big Ten institutions."

http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/OPINION02/712090307/1014/OPINION

AFL-CIO official seeks inquiry in county jail fiasco

Dec 9, 2007

By MIKE CONNELL

The situation at the St. Clair County jail is worse than it seems and not as bad as it looks. Yup, it's a contradiction, but when it comes to the jail, contradictions abound. A week or so ago, for example, I was speaking with county Administrator Shaun Groden about design shortcomings with the jail's backup generators. This is the latest in a string of foul-ups and follies that have nudged the facility's final cost toward $50 million, or roughly double the original estimates given to a gullible public.

NATIONAL STORIES

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071210/D8TE86801.html

Republicans Address Hispanic Issues

Dec 9, 2007

By JIM KUHNHENN

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Seven Republican presidential candidates gathered Sunday at the

University

of

Miami

for an unusual Spanish-language debate, with immigration high on the agenda and the race in a topsy-turvy state. The debate comes as polls show former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee bolting from the back of the pack into a leading position in

Iowa

with less than four weeks before the state holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses. Univision, the Spanish language television network, and the

University

of

Miami

hosted the debate. The questions were to be posed in Spanish and simultaneously translated into English for the candidates.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7282.html

GOP launches first attack invoking Hillary

Dec 9, 2007

By: Mike Allen

The Republican Party has launched its first use of unflattering images of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to motivate voters in two congressional special elections this week, marking the beginning of what could be a year-long barrage of ads that invoke

Clinton

in an effort to torpedo other Democrats running for office. The smiling, outdated photo of

Clinton

morphs into an unflattering picture of a Democratic House candidate running in an

Ohio

special election on Tuesday. It’s a nasty but tried-and-true technique for campaign ads, and Republicans say it may be one of their top weapons next November.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/09/giuliani_loses_ground_in_some_polls/?CFID=13440612&CFTOKEN=85363399

Giuliani loses ground in some polls

 

December 9, 2007

By Brian C. Mooney

CHICAGO

- A choppy 10-day stretch on the campaign trail has clipped a chunk of Rudy Giuliani's lead in national polls for the Republican presidential nomination. But with less than a month until the kickoff contests in

Iowa

and

New Hampshire

, Giuliani is still adhering to his unorthodox strategy of focusing on the big states that will vote several weeks later in the process.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071209/D8TE477G1.html

Giuliani Defends Questionable Expenses

Dec 9, 2007

By HOPE YEN

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Sunday defended the expenses incurred by his security detail as he was beginning an extramarital affair with current wife Judith Nathan, saying police made the decision after she received threats.

Giuliani in recent weeks has faced a barrage of questions about

New York

police security costs for his trysts with Nathan and about his business clients, which have included the Persian Gulf country of

Qatar

. Although a

U.S.

ally,

Qatar

is accused of sheltering suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/09/AR2007120901473.html

A

Mission

Accepted

For Romney, One Does Not Merely Strive for Leadership; He is Called to It

Monday, December 10, 2007; Page A08

By Eli Saslow

They had spent the past month scared and sequestered as

France

revolted around them, so the Mormon missionaries could hardly wait to get outside

Paris

and onto open country roads. The mission president and his wife readied their roomiest car, a Citroen DS. For this road trip in June 1968, they asked Mitt Romney to be their driver. Romney, a 21-year-old from

Michigan

, had moved to

Paris

only a few days earlier to become the mission president's assistant. He had previously been stationed in

Bordeaux

, where riots and strikes had created mass chaos. For most of May, Romney had been unable to fill his car with gas or to call home. A mail stoppage had prevented him from receiving his monthly $100 stipend for living expenses. It felt, a fellow missionary said, "like the entire world was coming unglued."

http://www.thestate.com/bandy/story/252566.html?CFID=13440612&CFTOKEN=85363399

Romney is on a roll

December, 9 2007

by Lee Bandy

After months of languishing in last place in S.C. polls, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is emerging as the top “conservative” candidate to stop Rudy Giuliani. True, Mike Huckabee, the former

Arkansas

governor is surging in the GOP polls. But S.C. conservative leaders see Romney as the one Republican presidential candidate who stands a chance of ending the presidential ambitions of Giuliani, the socially liberal former

New York

mayor. Romney fits the profile, they maintain. He’s tough-minded, a clear thinker, well respected, open-minded and squeaky clean. But, first, Romney must first slay Huckabee, the socially conservative, Southern Baptist minister. That will not be done easily.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/1209robb09.html

Much ado about Mitt's Mormonism

Dec. 9, 2007

By Robert Robb

After over 200 years, the

United States

is still bollixed over the role of religion in politics. In Mitt Romney's speech on the subject, he said: (a) he believed in his Mormon faith; (b) it would "inform" his presidency; but (c) he wouldn't discuss the specifics of his faith; and (d) no one should ask him about it; or (e) base a vote on it. Now, if a candidate said his presidency would be "informed" by Machiavelli's The Prince or Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, no one would think it untoward to probe what that might mean. But the Book of Mormon is out of bounds?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/romney_flunks_a_religious_test.html

Romney Flunks a Religious Test

December 09, 2007

By Steve Chapman

Mitt Romney is worried about religious intolerance. He fears religious and nonreligious people will unite to punish him because of his Mormon faith. He thinks it would be much more in keeping with

America

's noblest traditions if Mormons and other believers joined together to punish people of no faith. On Thursday, Romney showed up at the George H.W. Bush Library in

College Station

,

Texas

, to announce that even if it costs him the White House, his Mormonism is non-negotiable. That came as a relief to those who suspected he would defuse the issue by undergoing a Methodist baptism. Like John F. Kennedy, who said in 1960 that the presidency should not be "tarnished by arbitrarily withholding its occupancy from the members of any one religious group," Romney said there should be no religious test for this office. "A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith," he said.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071208/OPINION03/712080310

It's sad Romney felt need to explain faith

December 8, 2007

The De Moines Register

Mitt Romney, the former

Massachusetts

governor who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, should not have had to make a speech to defuse suspicion about his Mormon faith. It reflects the heavy-handed role religion plays in American politics today that he thought it necessary to appease conservative evangelical Christians with professions that he is more like them than different in this deeply personal matter. But with the caucuses less than a month away, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee - a Baptist minister who packages himself as "a Christian leader" - pulling into first place among GOP candidates in a recent Iowa Poll, Romney apparently felt he had no choice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/opinion/09rich.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

The Republicans Find Their Obama

By FRANK RICH

December 9, 2007

COULD 2008 actually end up being a showdown between the author of “The Audacity of Hope” and the new Man from

Hope

,

Ark.

?  It sounds preposterous, but

Washington

’s shock over Mike Huckabee’s sudden rise in the polls — he “came from nowhere,” Robert Novak huffed last week — makes you wonder. Having failed to anticipate so much else, including the Barack Obama polling surge of days earlier, the press pack has proved an unreliable guide to election 2008. What the Beltway calls unthinkable today keeps turning out to be front-page news tomorrow.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071209/D8TE6AB00.html

Huckabee Stands by AIDS Statement

Dec 9, 4:56 PM

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday he won't run from his statement 15 years ago that AIDS patients should have been isolated. Huckabee acknowledged the prevailing scientific view then, and since, that the virus that causes AIDS is not spread through casual contact, but said that was not certain. He cited revelations in 1991 that a dentist had infected a patient in an extraordinary case that highlighted the risk of infection through contact with blood or bodily fluids. "I still believe this today," he said in a broadcast interview, that "we were acting more out of political correctness" in responding to the AIDS crisis. "I don't run from it, I don't recant it," he said of his position in 1992. Yet he said he would state his view differently in retrospect.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071209215941.eb0az0hd&show_article=1

Huckabee on defensive over AIDS quarantine call 

                                 

Dec 9, 2007

AFP

Top Republican White House hopefuls were forced on the defensive over their pasts Sunday with Mike Huckabee grilled about his 1992 belief that AIDS patients should be quarantined. New attention is being paid to Huckabee's record as the wisecracking, avuncular Baptist pastor surges in the polls, less than a month before

Iowa

kicks off the party nominating contests.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/politics/14805549/detail.html?rss=den&psp=news

Tancredo: GOP Candidates 'Pandering' At Spanish-Language Debate

Dec 9, 2007

Associated Press

DENVER

-- Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is boycotting a Spanish-language debate with his fellow GOP presidential candidates in

Miami

on Sunday, saying it has no place in presidential race and accusing his rivals of "pandering." "It is the law that to become a naturalized citizen of this country you must have knowledge and understanding of English, including a basic ability to read, write, and speak the language," Tancredo said in a release Friday. "So what may I ask are our presidential candidates doing participating in a Spanish speaking debate?"

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/gop_nomination_up_for_grabs.html

The GOP Race is Still Up for Grabs

December 09, 2007

By Salena Zito

The most intriguing aspect of the Republicans' road to the nomination for president is its unpredictability. It's a buckle-up race that won't be decided early or easy. About the only thing for certain is that anything can happen and anyone can win. Campaign strategists for four candidates -- Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and John McCain -- can sit down straight-faced, without spin, and outline a plausible scenario for how their guy can win the nomination. And for each legitimate win-scenario is an equally legitimate reason they cannot win. With less than 30 shopping days until the first vote is cast, here's how each candidate can easily win -- and just as easily lose -- the nomination:

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/OPINION01/712090324/1036/Opinion

Questions grow as Jan. 3 nears

December 9, 2007

By David Yepsen

The

Iowa

caucuses are just over three weeks away, and lots of questions are swirling around the political community. Will Barack Obama's hosting of Oprah Winfrey in the state help his chances here? Yes. She is a huge draw and attracts big crowds and oodles of media attention. This gives him a chance to make his pitch and close the sale. His staffers can sign up new supporters. She will be particularly useful to him in attracting African-Americans and women, both target audiences of Hillary Clinton's. Will Mitt Romney's speech about his Mormon faith help him court Republicans? It'll help a bit. Romney attracted a large national television audience and looked quite presidential. For a candidate who isn't well known to many Americans, that can only help.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071209/D8TE27O01.html

N.H. Is Campaign Central for Republicans

Dec 9, 2007

By LIZ SIDOTI

MANCHESTER

,

N.H.

(AP) - New Hampshire has become the hot spot for action in the Republican presidential race, just like

Iowa

is for the Democrats. GOP candidates Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are battling hard for supremacy in

New Hampshire

, while Mike Huckabee is moving up in polls and long-shot Ron Paul is maintaining a core of support in the final month before the nation's leadoff primary. That could lead to a fractured outcome.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/08/AR2007120801441.html?hpid=topnews

No Done Deal

The Once 'Inevitable' Candidate Finds Herself in a Tight Race

By Dan Balz

Sunday, December 9, 2007; Page A24

She once was the all-but-inevitable front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, powered by the best brand name in her party, a rock-steady performance on the campaign trail, and a muscular, confident campaign team known for playing hard -- and winning. Many Democrats still see Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as their likeliest nominee, but all talk of inevitability is gone. No one seems to know that more than the candidate herself. Last weekend in

Iowa

, where the competition with Sen. Barack Obama of

Illinois

and former senator John Edwards of

North Carolina

is most fierce, she did an about-face. Overnight, her above-the-fray posture was replaced by the carriage of a candidate who knows that she must fight to win.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/08/AR2007120801526.html

How She Got Here

Growing Up Rodham

Sunday, December 9, 2007

By Sally Jenkins

Fists cocked in preparation for Maine South High School's first mock election battle are, left to right, Hillary Rodham, director of the Republican organization, Matt Bunya, Democratic director, and Ellen Press, co-director of the Democrats. From Oct. 16, 1964 student newspaper "Southwords."(

Maine

Township High School South) Back then, chicken a la cheese won recipe contests, and an Amana Free-o-Frost was the answer to every woman's problems. Hugh Rodham woke up each morning in his thick-walled suburban dream home in

Park Ridge

,

Ill.

, bellowing the songs of Mitch Miller and the Gang (Singalong favorites! "Ain't We Got Fun"!), and sat down each night to dinner served exactly at 6 p.m., over which he issued loud pronouncements about American self-reliance, as opposed to communists and deadbeats seeking handouts. That's when the argument would start.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/12/hillary_needs_to_address_the_b.html

Hillary Needs to Address the Bill Issue

December 09, 2007

By David Ignatius

The clearest account of what Bill Clinton would do in a future Democratic administration comes from Barack Obama, who told Time magazine that he would "in a second" offer the former president a job in an Obama administration. "There are few more talented people," he explained. A fuzzier version of Bill Clinton's future role comes from his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton. She said in April that if elected, she would make him a kind of roving ambassador. "I can't think of a better cheerleader for

America

than Bill Clinton, can you?" The former president, with the same gee-whiz tone, promised that if Madame President "asks me to do something, whatever it was, I would probably do it."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2007/12/08/2007-12-08_oprah_winfrey_greets_her__uh__barack_oba.html

Oprah Winfrey greets her - uh - Barack Obama's supporters in

Iowa

By MICHAEL SAUL

Saturday, December 8th 2007

DES MOINES - Admitting she was "nervous" and out of her comfort zone, Oprah Winfrey hit the campaign hustings Saturday for the first time ever to tell

Iowa

and the world that Barack Obama "is the one."" I am here to tell you,

Iowa

, he is the one. He is the one!" Winfrey told the cheering crowd. "Because we only get to choose one, I came out in the cold to tell you that that choice needs to be Barack Obama."TV queen Oprah Winfrey, the most powerful woman in media, made her grand debut here on the presidential campaign trail on behalf of her "favorite guy," Barack Obama.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071209/D8TE83E80.html

Day 2 of 'Oprahpalooza' Begins in SC

Dec 9, 2007

By Seanna Adcox

Oprah and Obama tour hit

South Carolina

Sunday, with the talk show host and medial mogul exhorting nearly 30,000 to ignore Barack Obama's detractors and help him capture the Democratic nomination and the presidency."

South Carolina

- January 26th is your moment," Winfrey said, referring to the state Democratic primary date during a campaign stop alongside the

Illinois

senator. "It's your time to seize the opportunity to support a man who, as the Bible says, loves mercy and does justly." Obama's campaign said more than 29,000 attended the event at the

University

of

South Carolina

's football stadium. It had the feel of a rock concert, with bands playing for early arrivals and campaign supporters yelling "fire it up" to the crowd.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_CHRISTMAS?SITE=MIDTF&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-12-09-21-13-25

Bush Attends Star-Filled

Holiday

Benefit

December, 9, 2007

By NATASHA T. METZLER

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's capital rolled out the red carpet - and holiday garlands - Sunday for music stars like Alan Jackson and Katharine McPhee, who performed for President Bush and the first lady at the annual "Christmas in

Washington

" concert. TV host "Dr. Phil" McGraw and his wife, Robin, hosted the festivities for the fourth time. The event, which took place at the

National

Building

Museum

, benefited Children's

National

Medical

Center

."This event is one of the season's great traditions," Bush said. "After all, when else can you see a world-class tenor, country music legend and Dr. Phil all in the same place?" The president thanked the members of the military, calling them "one of our greatest blessings."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article563496.ece

Happy Xmas! Your war is over

December 9, 2007

By DAVID WOODING

Gordon Brown yesterday delivered a stirring festive message to Our Boys in

Iraq

: “Happy Christmas – war is over.” The PM was cheered as he praised

UK

troops and revealed combat operations in

Basra

will end “within two weeks”. Iraqi forces will take over as the 4,500-strong British force switches from front-line duties to a training role. By early next year, our contingent in

Southern Iraq

will be cut to 2,500 – and may be withdrawn completely in March.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0654798320071209

CIA director to testify about destroyed tapes

Sun Dec 9, 2007

Reuters

CIA Director Michael Hayden will testify before Congress on Tuesday amid Democratic fury over the spy agency's destruction of videotapes that showed terrorism suspects being interrogated using harsh techniques. Democratic Sen. John Rockefeller of

West Virginia

, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday Hayden would appear before his committee to talk about interrogation and techniques.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=500586&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

Al Gore is criticized for lining his own pockets after £3,300-per-minute green speech

By NATHAN KAY

8th December 2007

Al Gore has come under fire for making personal gain from his mission to save the planet – after charging £3,300 a minute to deliver a poorly received speech. The former American Vice-President was also accused of being "precious" at the

London

event, demanding his own VIP room and ejecting journalists, despite hopes the star-studded gathering would generate publicity for the fight against global warming. Many of the audience at last month's Fortune Forum summit were restless as Mr Gore, who has won both a Nobel Peace Prize and an Oscar for his campaigning work this year, delivered the half-hour speech that netted him £100,000.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071209122906.ydxg6hkk&show_article=1

Iran

students break campus gate in protest: reports 

Dec 9th, 2007

AFP

Iranian students staged a new demonstration at

Tehran

University

on Sunday, damaging the main gate to allow outsiders into the campus and denouncing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, news agencies reported. The protesters chanted slogans against the president and carried banners calling for the release of three fellow students who have been held since May in a high-profile case, the

Fars

news agency and state-run IRNA reported. The reports did not disclose the number of students involved. Both news agencies said that the demonstration had been called by the radical wing of the Office to Foster Unity, a reformist student group.

http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20071224&s=editors

Iran

's Nukes Fade Away

From the December 24, 2007 issue

The Nation

The just-released National Intelligence Estimate, which concludes that

Iran

halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, should lead to a change in the Bush Administration's dangerous and deluded policy of coercive diplomacy. But rather than using the NIE to announce a policy shift, an Administration stripped of credibility is still arguing the case for ratcheting up pressure on

Tehran

and for refusing to withdraw the threat of military force.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3480595,00.html

Shas minister: Americans' attitude to report reminiscent of

Auschwitz

Yitzhak Cohen says during cabinet meeting '

US

intelligence report was ordered by someone who wants dialogue with

Tehran

. Minister Eli Yishai: 'We must not play dumb in the face of the report's findings'

12.09.07, 14:30 /

Israel

News

By Roni Sofer 

"The manner in which the Americans relate to the intelligence report on Iran is similar to the way in which they viewed those reports they received during the Holocaust on railways transporting hundreds of thousands of Jews to their death at Auschwitz," Minister Yitzhak Cohen of Shas said during a security cabinet meeting Sunday morning on the Iranian nuclear issue.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSPEK19939320071210

China

tells

U.S.

not to politicize trade rows

Sun Dec 9, 2007

By Alan Wheatley

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States should resolve trade rows with China through dialogue on an equal footing and should not politicize them, a senior Commerce Ministry official said in remarks published on Monday. The warning by Chen Deming came a day after Finance Minister Xie Xuren said legislation by the U.S. Congress could seriously harm trade ties with

China

.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3973925&page=1

Did

Iceland

Teen Call Secret White House Phone?

Icelandic Boy, 16, 'Wanted to ... Have a Chat, Invite Him to

Iceland

and See What He'd Say”

LONDON

, Dec. 8, 2007

By FABIOLA ANTEZANA

Vífill Atlason, a 16-year-old high school student from

Iceland

, decided to call the White House, he could not imagine the kind of publicity it would bring. Introducing himself as Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the actual president of

Iceland

, Atlason found President George W. Bush's allegedly secret telephone number and phoned, requesting a private meeting with him. "I just wanted to talk to him, have a chat, invite him to

Iceland

and see what he'd say," Vífill told ABC News.