Articles of Interest 5-14-2008

174 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

OBAMA IN MICHIGAN… Ask about CAFE standards and our domestic auto industry…who will pay our bills, pay the pensions, provide the health care and insure our middle class lifestyle if you destroy the domestic auto industry???  It is going to take more than an obligatory photo-op at a Michigan auto factory to convince the rank-and-file that he (Obama) actually cares about auto jobs in Michigan.

GLOBAL WARMING…MAYBE, MAYBE NOT…I watched a great video on global warming that pointed out the fact that increases in CO2 does NOT cause global warming.  Wow, you mean it’s not us (GM, Ford, Chrysler…)?   At least watch the first one.  See a great little video series on YouTube below.

OBAMA…NOT good for Michigan…NOT good for the domestic auto industry...NOT good for the UAW and NOT good for America.  Get beyond the rhetoric and listen to what policies he is actually advocating.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS FILE…great candidates file in Democrat swing seats. Tax and spend Democrats who have threatened ‘the middle class family’ in Michigan are going to have a lot of explaining to do.  Taxes up, mortgage costs up, gas prices spiraling up, grocery bills up…our cost of living continues to rise and Democrats are making things worse.  You can’t tax and spend yourself out of a recession.

HOOGENDYK FOR U.S. SENATE…Jack Hoogendyk filed over 30,000 signatures from every county, from over 400 circulators statewide.  Rasmussen had polling numbers that showed Levin leading at 54-37, better than Rocky’s final numbers…and he’s just getting started.  Name ID at 75%...a great start!

BOEING…THE TANKER DECISION…MAKE IT AMERICAN MADE…America’s military deserves the best tanker for the mission and America’s taxpayers deserve the most value for their money.  It’s crazy for us to give this contract to the Europeans, when America needs the jobs and America needs to defend itself.

STOP TAXING OUR CELL PHONES…States and cities are all too often raising the cost of your monthly wireless service by imposing new discriminatory taxes and fees.  The "Cell Tax Fairness Act of 2008" would place a five-year hiatus on new unfair state and local wireless taxes.

THE REST OF THE STORY:

As Senator Obama makes his first campaign visit to Michigan in more than a year, here are a few questions on the minds of Michigan voters.

Senator Obama, the heart of the Michigan economy is its homebred automotive industry. It accounts for one in seven jobs in Michigan, provides health care, retirement, and income to millions of Michigan residents. Yet, you take every opportunity to denigrate this Arsenal of Democracy; why should rank-and-file workers believe that you truly care about auto jobs in Michigan when your campaign rhetoric suggests you don’t?

• “INDIANAPOLIS -- Sen. Barack Obama defended his opposition to a temporary break from the federal gas tax Sunday and put part of the blame for the nation's dependence on imported oil on the domestic auto industry.  Repeating criticisms of the Detroit carmakers he has made throughout the campaign, Obama faulted them for failing to build more fuel-efficient cars during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press.”

Obama hits Big 3 on SUVs,” Gordon Trowbridge, Detroit News, 5/5/08

Senator Obama, until recently you boasted a luxury, 340 horsepower Chrysler 300C in your garage, and you travel the campaign in a Chevy Suburban, yet you consistently espouse the need for Detroit auto manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles; why should Michigan voters trust what you say as a candidate when your own personal actions belay your rhetoric?

• Obama knows firsthand Detroit's motivation for making big, powerful vehicles. It's because customers want them. Customers like Obama, who had a 340 horsepower Chrysler 300C Hemi V-8 in his garage when he first dressed down Detroit last May for making gas guzzlers like the Chrysler 300C. Alert Detroit reporters caught him in this hypocrisy, and he quickly bought a politically correct Ford Escape hybrid to save face. As a candidate, though, Obama's daily drive is a thirsty, Secret Service-provided Chevy Suburban.

Obama's auto truth-telling runs on empty, Detroit News, 5/9/08

Senator Obama, Michigan families are paying more than $4 a gallon for gasoline. There are proposals at the state and national levels that would give Michigan families a break when they fill up their tanks during the busy summer months – nearly identical to a proposal you supported as an Illinois State Senator.  Yet, now you refuse to support this plan; why was this plan a good idea when you were a state senator but a bad idea now that you are running for president?

• Think McCain’s plan to suspend the gas tax temporarily is a bad idea? A similar measure in Illinois -- which Obama backed -- seems to have helped consumers.  (‘Obama is wrong about the gas tax,’ Salon.com, 5/6/08)

Senator Obama, you talk about being the candidate for everyone.  Yet, when you were at an elite liberal fundraising event in San Francisco you insulted nearly every blue-collar family in Michigan with your intemperate comments about churchgoers, gun owners, and factory workers; how can you convince working class Michigan families that you are not just another elitist politician?

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And it’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” (ABC News, “Obama Allies Avoid Trying to Explain Most Controversial Part of his Remarks”, 4/13/08).

Senator Obama, for nearly a year you spurned Michigan voters, refusing to campaign in the state and used a legal loophole to remove your name from the ballot; why should Michigan voters bother to give you any of their time now that you seem to need it?

• “This will be Obama's first visit to the state since he made a pledge not to campaign in Michigan due to a controversy over the state holding a primary in violation of national party rules and a subsequent fight over the delegates committed in that election.” 

(Macomb Daily, 5/13/08)

• “Where's Obama? Gaps on ballots surprise some Genesee County absentee voters
GENESEE COUNTY -- Something seemed to be missing when Susan Keeler of Grand Blanc Township opened her absentee ballot.  The candidates.”

(Flint Journal, 12/17/07)

Senator Obama, nearly every parent in Michigan, including supporters of abortion –agree that, as parents, they have a right to be notified if their underage child seeks an abortion; how can you clam to share the values of nearly every parent in Michigan when you oppose legislation that would preserve a right and responsibility to care for and protect children?

• Obama voted against a law that prohibits children from crossing state lines to circumvent parental notification laws.  (Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act; Bill S.403 ; vote number 2006-216 on Jul 25, 2006)

Senator Obama, you voted against an Iraq supplemental spending bill two months after pledging you would not deny funding for American troops; why should Michigan families, who have loved ones serving in harm’s way, support you when you won’t even support the basic needs of our troops on the ground?
• Mike Glover, "Obama Says Congress Will Fund Iraq War After Expected Bush Veto," The Associated Press, 4/1/07; H.R. 2206, CQ Vote #181: Passed 80-14: R 42-3; D 37-10; I 1-1, 5/24/07, Obama Nay).

Saul Anuzis

STATE STORIES

http://www.lenconnect.com/news/x1946821836/GOP-volunteer-Emma-Jenkins-challenges-Spade-for-final-term

GOP volunteer Emma Jenkins challenges Spade for final term

By Dennis Pelham

Daily Telegram

Mon May 12, 2008, 07:30 PM EDT

ADRIAN

,

Mich.

-

Emma Jenkins, a veteran behind-the-scenes campaign worker, is stepping to the front of the stage this year as the Republican opponent of Democratic state Rep. Dudley Spade.  Jenkins and Spade both filed Monday afternoon at the Lenawee County Clerk’s Office as candidates for the 57th District state House seat that represents all of

Lenawee

County

except

Cambridge

Township

.  Spade, of Tipton, is seeking a final two-year term in the House after winning elections in 2004 and 2006.

Michigan

’s term limits allow legislators to serve three two-year House terms and two four-year terms in the Senate.  “One thing I’m looking for in my last term is greater government efficiency,” Spade said. He also hopes to continue serving on a subcommittee for the Department of Education and School Aid Fund, he said.  “These past two years have been especially difficult for the people of

Lenawee

County

and all of

Michigan

,” Spade said in a prepared announcement. “The people of the 57th District need a leader with a proven track record. I believe I have shown that leadership with my work on the Department of Human Services budget, reducing our state’s third-largest budget by $80 million without eliminating a single service to our most vulnerable citizens.”

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/OPINION03/805130326

Bishop Keith A. Butler: Faith and Policy

No single preacher can speak for black church

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

On April 28, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in a news conference at the National Press Club in

Washington

,

D.C.

, stated that the media attacks on him were not just an attack on him but also an attack on the black church in general." Nothing could be further from the truth.   According to a recent news report, Wright also said "The United States brought on al-Qaida's attacks because of its own terrorism. ... We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now right back into our own front yards.

America

's chickens are coming home to roost."   I defend Wright's right to make whatever comments he wishes to make. The First Amendment of our Constitution grants the right of free speech for all Americans. Indeed, the Amendments in the Constitution and the Constitution itself are sacrosanct.

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/NEWS03/805130313/1004/NEWS03

Republican lawmakers mull lifting 6% tax on gas

Michigan

House plan would run for summer to boost travel

Barbara Wieland •

Lansing

State

Journal

May 13, 2008

From

Lansing

State

Journal

State Republican lawmakers are promoting a bill that would give

Michigan

residents a summer vacation from the sales tax on gasoline.  But critics say such a move would backfire by revving up prices at the pump.  If passed, the bill would eliminate the 6 percent sales tax on gas. That would cut nearly 23 cents per gallon off the average current pump price of $3.81 per gallon.  The tax relief would begin on Memorial Day weekend, which starts May 24, and last until Labor Day, which lands Sept. 1.  Supporters say the move will bolster the state's tourism industry."We need to save tourism in

Michigan

," said Rep. Rick Jones,

R-Oneida

Township

, who supports the measure. "People are really frightened of $4 (per gallon) gas and many people are saying: 'I'm not going to travel.' "  But Greg Bird, spokesman for House Speaker Andy Dillon,

D-Redford

Township

, said there's little chance the legislation will advance in the House."This is another example of election-year pandering that actually would kill jobs, hurt education and have no real impact at the pump," Bird told the Detroit News on Monday.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/POLITICS/805130360/1022/POLITICS

Gas sales tax holiday urged in Mich.

House Republicans' summer plan would save drivers about 25 cents a gallon to boost tourism.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Mark Hornbeck /

Detroit

News

Lansing

Bureau

LANSING -- Michigan motorists would get a three-month holiday from the state sales tax on gas this summer -- a break of about a quarter per gallon -- under a plan unveiled Monday by a couple of House Republican lawmakers.   State Reps. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge and Paul Opsommer of DeWitt said they want to eliminate the 6 percent sales tax on gasoline from Memorial Day to Labor Day to give state residents some relief and the tourism industry a shot in the arm. "This is a plan to save tourism in

Michigan

," Jones said, adding that $4-per-gallon gasoline "psychologically has people saying 'I'm not going to travel.' "   It's anticipated the gas tax holiday would stabilize state tourism during the summer, Opsommer said. The sales tax reduction would cost the state treasury around $260 million, Opsommer said, and the money would be made up from the surplus on last year's budget.   Should the surplus not cover the break, Jones said legislators could cut spending. He said public school aid and revenue sharing with local governments would be protected.  

Michigan

, which has the fifth-highest overall gas tax in the nation, according to the American Petroleum Institute, is one of eight states that charges sales tax on gasoline. The state's 19-cents-per-gallon gas tax would remain in place under the Jones-Opsommer plan.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/POLITICS/805140385/1409/METRO

State budget looks bleaker

Officials expect to collect $19M less than projected for this year; $434M less for next year.

Mark Hornbeck /

Detroit

News

Lansing

Bureau

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

LANSING

-- Despite predictions that

Michigan

's economy would begin to recover in 2009, fiscal experts now believe state revenues will be more than $400 million short of their forecast.  The state Treasury will take in $19 million less than initially forecast this year and $434 million less in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 -- even after last year's increases in income and business taxes, according to a report Tuesday by the House Fiscal Agency. That means lawmakers will have less to spend as they debate next year's budget, but overall spending still will be about $50 million more than this year.  The lower revenue forecast issued by the agency, an arm of the House, is significantly lower than January estimates.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS06/805140345/1008

Deficits hinder gas tax break

Economy, credits to leave $430 million less for budget

BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF

FREE PRESS

LANSING

BUREAU CHIEF

May 14, 2008

LANSING

-- Calls for a summer holiday from the 6% state sales tax on gasoline are being muffled by more potential deficits in the state budget.  Some of the anticipated red ink results from new tax breaks to filmmakers who produce movies and commercials in

Michigan

. Those credits could reach nearly $120 million in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, according to the House Fiscal Agency.  In all, a weak economy and tax credits will leave $430 million less for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposed 2008-09 budget than previously expected, according to the fiscal agency.  The analysis takes into account higher gas prices, which increase the sales tax the state collects on gas sales.  Two House Republicans have called for suspending the sales tax on gas from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Reps. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge and Paul Opsommer of DeWitt said a temporary sales tax moratorium -- which would save motorists about 25 cents per gallon at current prices -- would give some relief during peak tourism season.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS06/805140433/1008

Controversial pastor to take on Rep. Conyers

BY KATHLEEN GRAY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

May 14, 2008

The often controversial and outspoken Rev. Horace Sheffield pulled a huge surprise on Tuesday's deadline for filing for political office when he submitted 1,900 signatures supporting his run against U.S. Rep. John Conyers in the August Democratic primary.  Known as one of the deans of Congress, Conyers -- a Detroit Democrat -- was first elected in 1964 and has risen to lead the influential House Judiciary Committee.  Sheffield, pastor of

New

Galilee

Missionary

Baptist

Church

in

Detroit

, has led many protests in the city and across

Michigan

and is one of the most vocal supporters of embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.  U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, the mayor's mother, also will face challenges in the August primary from former state Rep. Mary Waters of

Detroit

and state Sen. Martha Scott of

Highland Park

. Republican Edward Gubics of

Wyandotte

also has filed to run in the 13th Congressional District seat.  The other big surprise in

Wayne

County

was who didn't file. Prosecutor Kym Worthy was bracing herself for two opponents in the August primary -- Portia Roberson and Maurice Morton. Neither filed before the 4 p.m. deadline.  Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz is facing the biggest challenge with at least five Democrats -- including Wayne County Commissioner Phil Cavanagh -- and one Republican filing for the seat.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/METRO/805140389

Detroit City Council moves to evict Mayor Kilpatrick

Split

panel pushes on 2 fronts; Kilpatrick won't resign

Christine MacDonald and Mike Wilkinson / The

Detroit

News

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

DETROIT

-- A divided City Council followed months of rhetoric and politicking with action Tuesday, beginning an unprecedented effort to oust Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that could drag on indefinitely and has no guaranteed result.  In a day that didn't lack for drama, a 5-4 coalition of members launched an impeachment-like process of Kilpatrick. As early as next month, a sitting mayor for the first time in the city's 300-plus year history could be called before the panel to justify why he shouldn't lose his post.

By an identical vote, the council decided to put Gov. Jennifer Granholm in an uncomfortable spot and ask her in a few days to use a law she's never employed to oust a popularly elected mayor and fellow Democrat.  It's all new territory for a city reeling from scandal since January. Kilpatrick insists he's not going anywhere, despite last-minute pleas from Councilwoman JoAnn Watson that he should quit. And council members have until the end of Monday to reconsider the vote.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/METRO01/805140391

Council heads into uncharted waters

Unprecedented removal process may start June 13

Mike Wilkinson / The

Detroit

News

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

DETROIT

-- The City Council could make history later this month when it ventures into uncharted waters as it tries to unseat Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.  The panel is tentatively scheduled on June 13 to begin unprecedented, impeachment-like proceedings that officials say will require making new rules and adopting an unprecedented process. But the date could be pushed back a week, said Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr.  This much is known: The process could take months if not years, cost upward of $500,000 and be vigorously contested by Kilpatrick and his staffers, who claim the council has no legal standing to unseat a popularly elected mayor.  Beyond that, it's anyone's guess.  What will the rules of evidence be? What will the rules of order be? All of it is "brand, whopping new," said William Goodman, an attorney hired under a contract for up to $160,000 by the council to investigate the text-message scandal.  "We have to invent it, I guess," said Goodman, who told the council he believes the mayor violated three provisions of the city's charter and could be forced to forfeit his office.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS01/805140316

Council acts to force mayor out

Narrow votes reflect divided opinion in city on scandal

BY ZACHARY GORCHOW, NAOMI R. PATTON and ROCHELLE RILEY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

May 14, 2008

The Detroit City Council launched a historic effort Tuesday to pry Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office, approving -- by a single vote -- a two-front strategy for removal: asking the governor to oust the mayor while beginning its own effort to unseat him.  Adding to the drama was Councilwoman JoAnn Watson's post-vote wavering, as she made a last-ditch effort to persuade the mayor to resign. But when Kilpatrick -- and then his lawyer -- said he would not, Watson returned to council chambers to affirm her votes for removal.  The mayor could appear before the council as early as next month for trial-like hearings on his ouster.  The two removal strategies were approved by 5-4 votes, in one of the most electric moments since the Free Press broke the text message scandal in January. It resulted in perjury and other charges against Kilpatrick.  Either route presents legal and political obstacles and could drag on for months.  "I think it places additional pressure on the mayor to consider making a move" to resign, said council President Ken Cockrel Jr., who would become mayor if Kilpatrick is forced from office. "The only way I see the mayor going out is probably if some deal is cut between him and the prosecutor or if he's forced out in some way."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS06/805140351/1003/NEWS01

Insiders: Move puts Granholm on the spot

BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF

FREE PRESS

LANSING

BUREAU CHIEF

May 14, 2008

Gov. Jennifer Granholm remained noncommittal Tuesday about what steps, if any, she might take now that she will receive a formal request from the Detroit City Council to remove Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from office.  "We're not going to offer a reaction because we don't want to compromise the process," Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said.  Former Attorney General Frank Kelley, now an adviser to Granholm, said the council's 5-4 vote puts Granholm in a situation no governor should face.  "It would convert the governor to a judge of untried evidence," Kelley said. "It puts her in the judicial branch, and that's not fair to the governor. That's why no governor has ever used it. It would be a three-ring circus."  Kelley, attorney general from 1961 to 1998, said former Gov. George Romney once removed four National Guard generals in the 1960s, but under a different law that required time-consuming court-martial hearings, a move he said Romney regretted.  Boyd said Granholm received hundreds of e-mails from the public concerning Kilpatrick, but even more e-mails regarding the condition of

Michigan

roads and the selection of delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

NATIONAL STORIES

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26495

The Politicians' Energy Crisis -- And Its Cure

by Newt Gingrich

Posted: 05/13/2008

In this week's Winning the Future I am going to focus on how

Washington

has created the high energy prices Americans are paying and what we can do to bring them down.  But first, I want to say a few words about last week's newsletter.  A Note on Last Week's Solutions: They Were Just the Beginning  Several commentators have noticed the difference between the scale of the challenge facing the Republican Party that I outlined in last week's newsletter and the relatively small number of proposals for change in that newsletter.  What they did not notice was that I specified in the newsletter that those proposals were just the beginning. There is a lot more to come.  This week's newsletter on energy is another building block toward creating the new, more solution-oriented movement toward real change. Anyone who wants to get a sense of the full scope of the changes I am working on can go to the Center for Health Transformation (healthtransformation.net) and to American Solutions (American Solutions.com).

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/090ashrb.asp

We're All Gun Nuts Now

The Democrats sidle up to the Second Amendment.

by John McCormack

05/19/2008, Volume 013, Issue 34

During a campaign debate on April 16, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were asked if the

District of Columbia

's ban on gun possession, now facing a challenge before the Supreme Court, is constitutional. "I think a total ban, with no exceptions under any circumstances, might be found by the Court not to be. But I don't know the facts," said Clinton (Yale Law '73), dodging the question for the third and final time. Obama (Harvard Law '91) also pleaded ignorance, confessing he hadn't "listened to the briefs and looked at all the evidence."  When moderator Charlie Gibson pointed out that Obama's handwriting was on a 1996 candidate survey that said he favored banning handguns, Obama flatly denied his writing was on the questionnaire, contradicting what a campaign staffer had told Politico weeks earlier. Asked if he still supports licensing and registering guns, Obama said he favors "common-sense approaches" to gun control like keeping guns from "the mentally deranged." When

Clinton

was asked if she maintains her past support for licensing and registration, she too sidestepped the question, saying, "What might work in

New York City

is certainly not going to work in

Montana

."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080513/NATION/778957938/1002

Barr to woo Libertarian base for funds

By Ralph Z. Hallow

May 13, 2008

Bob Barr's bid for the Libertarian presidential nomination will rely on tapping into his adopted party's faithful to donate over the Internet and on their distaste for the ways of

Washington

.  The former Republican congressman from Georgia said he will set himself apart from the major parties by doing what those entrenched on Capitol Hill can't — significantly downsize the government — and that he hasn't given much thought about hurting the Republican Party's nominee with his run.  Mr. Barr, 59, said candidates have often "whined" about losing, blaming it on Ralph Nader or someone other than themselves, but that his goal is to offer an alternative to presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain and the two remaining Democrats, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.  "I will use the presidency to shrink government in its power over citizens and its cost to them, while McCain would just nibble at the edges of federal spending and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have platforms to increase the size and power of government over individuals," he said after officially announcing his candidacy at the National Press Club yesterday.

http://www.conservative.org/columnists/keene/080512dk.htm

No Black and White Race

The Hill

May 12, 2008

David A. Keene

Democrats Donna Brazile and Paul Begala got into it recently on CNN over the question of whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) or Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) would prove a stronger general election candidate this fall against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).  Brazile was upset because Begala, like the rest of the

Clinton

folks, are arguing more explicitly every day that Obama’s biggest problem is his race and see the “race card” as their ace in the hole. They have, of course, been arguing for several months now that she, rather than Obama, would be stronger, but at first they based their argument on her record and experience and when that didn’t seem to be working focused instead on her opponent’s weaknesses stemming from his inexperience.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-goldberg13-2008may13,0,4747397.column

Why we need nukes and Gitmo

Fighting climate change and winning the war on terrorism are not for the squeamish.

Jonah Goldberg

May 13, 2008

What do

Yucca

Mountain

and

Guantanamo

Bay

have in common? Well, there's the obvious stuff. Both have Spanish names. Neither is a great spot for a family vacation. And each is under the control of the federal government.   Oh, and both are essential tools in wars a lot of people claim they want to win.  See,

Yucca

Mountain

is where the government wants to keep incredibly dangerous substances -- nuclear waste -- until we figure out a better way to handle it.   And

Guantanamo

Bay

is where the federal government keeps incredibly dangerous people -- jihadi enemy combatants -- until we figure out a better way to handle them.  Victory in the war against climate change is inconceivable without nuclear power. Even if we turned America's breadbasket into ethanol-corn and solar farms, we wouldn't come close to reducing American carbon emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 (Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's avowed goal, slightly more than John McCain's target of 60%). Even if every American lived like a Prius-driving, vegan eco-feminist, we'd still fall far short. A recent MIT study found that even the homeless in

America

have twice the carbon footprint of the global average.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26507

House 'Stolen Vote' Hearing Fizzles

by Jed Babbin

Posted: 05/14/2008

The much-ballyhooed Tuesday hearing of the House Select Committee investigating voting irregularities on August 2, 2007 produced little drama or visible movement toward Republicans’ goal of proving that the Democrats abused their power in the disputed vote over illegal aliens’ ability to obtain federal welfare funds.  Republicans had hoped to prove that Rep. Michael McNulty (D-NY), presiding over the House at the time of the disputed vote, had -- under pressure from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md) -- declared Republicans had lost the disputed vote when they had won by one vote.  Hoyer testified for about two hours before the committee yesterday afternoon and emerged without having suffered obvious damage.   Republican questioning centered on two events.  First, Hoyer’s scolding of House Parliamentarian John Sullivan just after Rep. Michael McNulty (D-NY) first declared the vote tied at 214-214 when the electronic vote “scoreboard” showed the Republicans had won 215-213.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26496

Will Congress Outlaw Local Laws?

by William Campenni

Posted: 05/14/2008

One has to admire the Sisyphean tenacity of the Congress as it starts to roll another boulder up the mountain of public opposition to the federal encouragement of illegal immigration.  The latest attempt, HR 5515, masquerading under the euphemistic label “New Employee Verification Act” (

NEVA

) is another unworthy successor to the recently demised “Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act” and “Dream Act” in its insolent attempt to procure cheap labor and voting constituencies for the political ruling classes, Democrat and Republican alike.  Pushed as replacement for the current E-Verify system (formerly Basic Pilot) by which employers can use the Internet to verify the legal work status of workers, this bill would create yet another massive computer database requiring seven million US employers to query for all newly-hired employees.  E-Verify has been successful for its relatively few users, but it does suffer from faults due to poor and incomplete data.  The new

NEVA

system would presumably, but not convincingly, fix some of these faults, so at first glance it sounds like a good deal.  But then one must consider the recent experience with government computer projects like the new, and now abandoned, “virtual fence” on the

Arizona

border, which sucked up $20 million only to provide high-tech nesting towers for

Arizona

vultures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/us/politics/14dems.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Clinton

Beats Obama Handily in

West Virginia

By PATRICK HEALY

Published: May 14, 2008

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won a lopsided victory on Tuesday over Senator Barack Obama in the

West Virginia

primary, where racial considerations emerged as an unusually salient factor. Mrs. Clinton drew strong support from white, working-class voters, who have spurned Mr. Obama in recent contests.  The number of white Democratic voters who said race had influenced their choices on Tuesday was among the highest recorded in voter surveys in the nomination fight. Two in 10 white

West Virginia

voters said race was an important factor in their votes. More than 8 in 10 who said it factored in their votes backed Mrs. Clinton, according to exit polls.  With Mr. Obama solidly ahead of Mrs. Clinton in the delegate fight, the

West Virginia

results are unlikely to hurt Mr. Obama’s chances of winning the nomination. A strong

Clinton

victory in another general election battleground state like her victories in

Ohio

and

Pennsylvania

could raise fresh questions about Mr. Obama’s ability to carry swing states in a contest against Senator John McCain.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/13/AR2008051301331.html?hpid=topnews

Clinton

Handily Defeats Obama in

West Virginia

Victory Does Little to Tighten the Delegate Race

By Dan Balz

Washington

Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 14, 2008; Page A01

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton routed Sen. Barack Obama in the

West Virginia

primary yesterday, scoring one of her most lopsided victories of the long campaign even as she continued to battle overwhelming odds in her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

Clinton

's resounding victory in a state that has slipped away from Democrats in the past two elections added fresh ammunition to her claim that she is better positioned than Obama to capture critical swing states in November. But the primary win may have come too late to have a significant impact on the trajectory of a nomination battle in which Obama has an almost insurmountable lead in delegates. 

Clinton

advisers hoped the size of

Clinton

's victory and signs of dissatisfaction with Obama among

West Virginia

voters would reopen a conversation about who is the stronger Democrat to take on Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the general election. They also hoped the results would tamp down talk that

Clinton

should consider dropping out of the nomination contest before the primaries end on June 3 to speed the process of uniting Democrats. 

Clinton

was winning with a margin of better than 2 to 1 in the popular vote in

West Virginia

. With 28 pledged delegates at stake, that margin would produce a net gain for

Clinton

of an estimated 12 delegates. That would only partially cut into the gains Obama has made in superdelegates since he easily won

North Carolina

and narrowly lost

Indiana

a week ago.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90L99L00&show_article=1&catnum=3

Analysis: Maybe Obama should worry 

May 14 03:26 AM

US

/Eastern

By NEDRA PICKLER

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama is in hot pursuit of general election voters, hoping

America

won't notice he got his head handed to him in

West Virginia

.  The

Illinois

senator virtually pretended the primary didn't happen Tuesday, with no election night speech or any public appearance at all after the polls closed and gave Hillary Rodham Clinton a more than 2-1 victory even though her candidacy is likely doomed.

At Obama's

Chicago

headquarters, advisers said there was no reason to worry—

West Virginia

was demographically suited to

Clinton

and won't be part of their general election plans. It's also true that

Clinton

's win is unlikely to slow his march toward the nomination—Obama picked up 30 superdelegates this week, more than the 28 total pledged delegates up for grabs in

West Virginia

.  But maybe the Obama camp should be more worried. The voters who went against Obama Tuesday night—white, rural, older, low-income and without college degrees—don't just live in

West Virginia

. They live everywhere in the country, in places Obama needs to win.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/is_barack_obama_using_george_b.html

Is Obama Using Bush's Playbook?

By Reed Galen

May 13, 2008

In late 2006, before this presidential election cycle picked up speed, conventional wisdom dictated that the winning campaign had to follow the model that then-Governor George W. Bush had used in 2000 and the Bush campaign perfected during his re-election bid in 2004. On the Republican side that assumption was clearly incorrect. On the Democratic side, the campaign of Senator Barack Obama has embraced the Bush-Rove construct and added its own unique features to it.  Ideologically speaking, Barack Obama and George Bush could hardly be more different. Theirs is a dichotomy of Democratic big-government, dovish liberalism and Republican low-tax, free market, hawkish conservatism. But their personalities, when beliefs are removed, are not terribly different to the outside observer. Both shine in tightly-controlled, set-piece environments where the rules of engagement are based on their comfort-level. Although their speaking styles are clearly divergent, their charisma is a defining quality; turning arenas full of people into adoring fans with a turn-of-phrase, wink or thumbs up.

http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=76d4881e-d014-4dd6-b732-8adef23f68f4

Obama and the psychology of the color barrier.

by John B. Judis

Post Date Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The issue of race is the longest-lasting cleavage in American politics. It is also perhaps the least understood. The open exploitation of racist sentiment by vote-hungry politicians was for centuries a durable American tradition. More recently, race has assumed a subtle, often unspoken form during campaign season, as Republicans have sought white votes by slyly associating their Democratic opponents with controversial black figures like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, or with topics--welfare, crime, federal funding for "midnight basketball"--that many voters identify with African Americans.  Now, with Barack Obama inching closer to the Democratic nomination, race looms yet again as a central factor in American politics. Already, race has played a key part in the Democratic primary, almost certainly hurting Obama among swaths of voters in states like

New Jersey

,

Ohio

, and, most recently,

Pennsylvania

. If he manages to win the nomination anyway--and it appears he will--race seems likely to play an even larger role in the general election.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/the_obama_rules.html

The Obama Rules

By Rich Lowry

May 13, 2008

If Barack Obama gets his way, the Oxford English Dictionary will have updated its definition of "distraction" by the end of the campaign: "Diversion of the mind, attention, etc., from any object or course that tends to advance the political interests of Barack Obama."  After his blowout win in

North Carolina

last week, Obama turned to framing the rules of the general election ahead, warning in his victory speech of "efforts to distract us." The chief distracter happens to be the man standing between Obama and the White House, John McCain, who will "use the very same playbook that his side has used time after time in election after election."  Ah, yes, the famous distractions with which Republicans fool unwitting Americans. Ronald Reagan distracted them with the Iranian hostage crisis, high inflation and unemployment, gas lines and the loss of American prestige abroad. Then, the first George Bush distracted them with the notion of a third Reagan term, as well as the issues of taxes, crime and volunteerism. After a brief interlude of national focus during two

Clinton

terms, another Bush arrived wielding the dark art of distraction.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/12/opinion/12luttwak.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

President Apostate?

By EDWARD N. LUTTWAK

Published: May 12, 2008

BARACK OBAMA has emerged as a classic example of charismatic leadership — a figure upon whom others project their own hopes and desires. The resulting emotional intensity adds greatly to the more conventional strengths of the well-organized Obama campaign, and it has certainly sufficed to overcome the formidable initial advantages of Senator Hillary Clinton.  One danger of such charisma, however, is that it can evoke unrealistic hopes of what a candidate could actually accomplish in office regardless of his own personal abilities. Case in point is the oft-made claim that an Obama presidency would be welcomed by the Muslim world.   This idea often goes hand in hand with the altogether more plausible argument that Mr. Obama’s election would raise

America

’s esteem in Africa — indeed, he already arouses much enthusiasm in his father’s native

Kenya

and to a degree elsewhere on the continent.  But it is a mistake to conflate his African identity with his Muslim heritage. Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjE3NTdjYTcxZjRkZGY2N2ViMjcwNTk1MzE0Y2MxYmU=

Hill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures

1980 redux?

By James S. Robbins

As the obituaries for the

Clinton

campaign rolled in last week, the candidate herself refused to be buried. She said that she would stay in the race “until there is a nominee.” Most seemed to think that this meant that she would concede defeat if the Obama campaign could assemble enough pledged delegates and super-delegates to pass the magic number of 2025 — or 2209 according to the Clinton campaign. But whatever the number, there will be no official nominee until the votes are cast at the party convention. What I heard in that statement was that Hillary was taking her fight to

Denver

.  Is this realistic? Most analysts are writing her off. But ask yourself: Does Hillary Clinton have as much gumption as Ted Kennedy did in 1980? Back then he went all the way to the convention, using many of the same arguments against Jimmy Carter that the

Clinton

campaign is currently employing, though he had a much weaker hand.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10334.html

Obama defeat amplifies race, rural problems

By BEN SMITH

5/13/08 10:26 PM EST 

Barack Obama’s stinging defeat in

West Virginia

brings a sharp focus on the new coalition he may have to assemble to win the White House in November. 

West Viginians

rejected the presumptive Democratic nominee by a roughly two-to-one margin, one of the widest margins of the primary season. The outcome was the predictable result of familiar demographics:

West Virginia

’s relatively poor white voters have been Hillary Rodham Clinton’s base since February.  In a stark rejection of Obama in a state Bill Clinton carried in 1992 and 1996, almost half of the Democratic primary voters — typically the most partisan Democrats in a state — said they’d vote for Republican John McCain rather than Obama in November.  The results also suggested a deeper dissatisfaction among the state’s Democrats with both candidates: John Edwards, who dropped out more than three months ago, registered a substantial 7 percent of the vote, though

Clinton

immediately used the results to make her own case for electablity.  “I'm more determined than ever to carry on this campaign,”

Clinton

told a cheering crowd in

Charleston

, stressing her electablity. “If you give me a chance, Democrats, I’ll come back to

West Virginia

in the general election, and we’ll win this state, and we’ll win the White House.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10315.html

Obama: Don't fund independent groups

By BEN SMITH

5/13/08 3:08 PM EST 

Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is steering the candidate’s wealthy supporters away from independent Democratic groups, calling into question what had been expected to be the groups’ central role in this year’s Democratic offensive against Senator John McCain.   Obama’s national finance chairwoman,

Chicago

hotel mogul Penny Pritzker, told supporters at a national finance committee meeting in

Indianapolis

May 2, and in other conversations, not to give money to the groups, people familiar with her comments said.   “From the beginning of this race Obama has told supporters that if they want to help his effort, they should do so through his campaign,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, who confirmed that Pritzker has told donors not to give to the groups. “And he means exactly what he says.”   Most presidential candidates say they don't encourage the outside groups, and donors are accustomed to taking those words with a grain of salt. The candidates' words are typically seen as mere legal defenses against allegations that the campaigns are illicitly coordinating with outside groups.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10327.html

House Dems get nasty nationwide

By PATRICK O'CONNOR

5/14/08 4:33 AM EST 

The Democrats’ presidential front-runner is promising a high-minded campaign in the fall, but the party’s congressional campaign arm isn’t playing quite so nicely with Republican House candidates and the billionaire conservative who’s supporting them.  In

Mississippi

’s 1st Congressional District, where voters went to the polls Tuesday in a make-or-break election for the GOP, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee distributed one flier that linked Republican candidate Greg Davis to the Ku Klux Klan and another that accused the Republicans of trying to “play politics with religion and race.”  And in both Mississippi and Louisiana — where Democrats earlier this month took a seat the Republicans have held since 1974 — the DCCC aired ads on Christian radio stations tying GOP candidates to Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul who has poured millions of dollars into Freedom’s Watch.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0508/Childers_wins_Miss_special_election.html

Democrat wins

Mississippi

special election

By Josh Kraushaar 09:11 PM

May 13, 2008

Democrats picked up a northern Mississippi House seat in one of the most conservative-minded districts in the country Tuesday night -- an upset  that will reverberate darkly through a House Republican caucus already reeling from losses in special elections in Illinois and Louisiana.  With all precincts reporting, the Democratic nominee, Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers, defeated Republican Greg Davis, 54 to 46 percent.  Childers was able to expand his three-point margin of victory from the race's first round of balloting last month -- even as he faced an onslaught of Republican attacks.  The victory marks the Democrats’ third straight special election pickup in three months. It will be a serious blow to the Republican Party’s already-flagging morale and will surely prompt a new round of finger-pointing among the already fractured GOP caucus.  "This loss is going to prompt serious introspection by our conference to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it," said a GOP leadership aide. "We have time to do that, and we will if we learn our lessons leading into November. But the next couple of days are not going to be pretty."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90L58BG0&show_article=1&catnum=3

Miss.

Democrat wins House seat in special election 

May 13 10:50 PM

US

/Eastern

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

Associated Press Writer

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -

Mississippi

Democrat Travis Childers won a special election to Congress on Tuesday, helping his party to a third victory in recent months for seats long in Republican hands.  The victory puts Childers into the seat vacated by Roger Wicker, a Republican appointed to the U.S. Senate when Trent Lott resigned. The win also pushes the Democrats to a 236-199 majority in Congress—if only for a few months until November's general elections.  With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, Childers had 52 percent to Republican Greg Davis' 48 percent.  Earlier this year, Democrats captured the Illinois district long represented by former Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert, who resigned from Congress, then earlier this month, claimed a seat in Louisiana that Republican Rep. Richard Baker left.  Elsewhere,

Nebraska

voters were deciding the Republican and Democratic candidates to run to replace retiring Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, while a scandal-clouded state Supreme Court election took center stage in

West Virginia

.  Childers took on

Davis

for a

Mississippi

seat that has been held by the GOP since 1994. Both will run against two other candidates in the Nov. 4 general election for the full term, so the winner will likely gain name recognition and a fundraising edge.  Childers is a socially conservative county official, while

Davis

is mayor of a fast-growing city across the state line from

Memphis

.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/no_veep_slot_for_hillary.html

No Veep Slot for Hillary

By Dick Morris

May 14, 2008

It would be an act of terminal insanity for Barack Obama to name Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential candidate. It would not help him get elected, it would drag all the

Clinton

controversies into the general election, and having her down the hall in the West Wing would be a recipe for disaster, dissension and civil war. Other than that, it’s a hell of an idea!  Start with the election. There are two kinds of people who backed Hillary in the primaries: her original supporters and those who joined her later in the game. Her original backers are all solid Democrats whose arms would fall off before they would back anyone who is pro-life. They are true believers, feminists, pro-choice advocates, older party loyalists who would prefer Hillary, may have doubts about Obama, but will always fall in line and vote Democratic. The more recent converts are people who are turned off by Obama’s connection to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and who worry that he might be a closet black radical. Their latent racial fears were heightened by the revelations about Obama’s links with Wright, and they voted for Hillary as the lesser of two evils. Putting Mrs. Clinton on the ticket will do nothing to assuage these fears.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26506

Democrats: It Ain't Over Till It's Over

by Jennifer Rubin

Posted: 05/14/2008

Hillary Clinton isn’t going away quietly. After her wipeout in

North Carolina

and razor-thin win in

Indiana

last week the punditocracy pronounced last rites on the

Clinton

campaign. But reality, math and the good of the Democratic Party are no match for the

Clintons

’ personal and political ambitions.  She and her closest surrogates proclaimed it was full steam ahead after the results last week. She spent the week decrying how Barack Obama could run as the Democratic nominee without a universal health care plan. (Are you listening Elizabeth Edwards?) She channeled Michael Barone, explaining in a USA Today interview that only she had the support of white voters. (Superdelegates are you listening?) The President of Emily’s List wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post cheering their gal on, declaring “She's shown us over and over that winners never quit and that quitters never win.” (Women voters are you listening?)  Tuesday’s vote in

West Virginia

showed that however faint,

Clinton

’s hopes are not yet extinguished. She did not just beat the already crowned nominee, she obliterated him. She won the primary two to one. She won white voters 68-28%, women 71-27% and garnered 65% of the senior vote. Among voters earning less than $50,000 she won 69%.  Seventy percent of those with no college degree chose

Clinton

. She won independents by double digits. A whopping 59% of

Clinton

voters said they would vote for John McCain or stay home.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/government_stifles_the_wisdom.html

Government Stifles the Wisdom of Crowds

By John Stossel

May 14, 2008

Who will be our next president? If you want an accurate guess, don't ask the pundits. Go where people put their money where their mouths are.  Intrade.com (www.intrade.com), for example.  It's a prediction market, basically a futures market like those where people bet on the future price of oil, gold and pork bellies. But at Intrade, people bet mostly on politics.  The prices on Intrade have been highly accurate predictors of the future. On TV, political "experts" make pronouncements on what they think will happen, but crowds of bettors on sites like Intrade are right more often.  In 2004, TV experts like James Carville said John Kerry would win the presidency. In 2006, they said the Republicans would keep control of Congress.  But the crowds on Intrade bet against Kerry, and in 2006, "the bettors at Intrade collectively called every single race in the Senate right," James Surowiecki, author of "The Wisdom of Crowds" (http://tinyurl.com/6ngg3g), told me for last week's "20/20" (http://tinyurl.com/68yebw).  Wisdom of Crowds? When I think of crowds, I think of mobs. But, Surowiecki says, "[C]rowds of people can be incredibly intelligent. ... [I]f the crowd is big enough and diverse enough, you have access to so much more knowledge."  The first computerized political market was created at the

University

of

Iowa

. "That market outperformed polls three-quarters of the time, and its election-eve forecasts were better than any pundit's and better than any poll," says Surowiecki.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10314.html

Bush warns of

Iraq

disaster

By MIKE ALLEN

5/13/08 5:18 PM EST 

President Bush warned in an interview Tuesday that the Democratic presidential candidates' plans to withdraw abruptly from

Iraq

could "eventually lead to another attack on the

United States

" and would "embolden" terrorists.  In a White House interview with Politico and Yahoo News — a president's first for an online audience — Bush said his doomsday scenario for a premature withdrawal “of course is that extremists throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually lead to another attack on the United States."  "The

United States

pulling out of

Iraq

or pulling out of the Middle East or not maintaining a forward presence would send all kinds of signals throughout the

Middle East

," he said in the Roosevelt Room. "And it would shake everybody's nerves, and it would embolden the very same people that we're trying to defeat.   For the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121063718854786789.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

The Challenge From

China

By MARK HELPRIN

May 13, 2008; Page A17

Even as our hearts go out to the Chinese who have perished in the earthquake, we cannot lose sight of the fact that every day

China

is growing stronger. The rate and nature of its economic expansion, the character and patriotism of its youth, and its military and technical development present the

United States

with two essential challenges that we have failed to meet, even though they play to our traditional advantages.

The first of these challenges is economic, the second military. They are inextricably bound together, and if we do not attend to both we may eventually discover in a place above us a nation recently so impotent we cannot now convince ourselves to look at the blow it may strike. We may think we have troubles now, but imagine what they will be like were we to face an equal.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080512/EDITORIAL/294771086/1013/edi

Tehran

,

Damascus

ascendant

THE

WASHINGTON

TIMES EDITORIAL

May 12, 2008

Make no mistake about it, the quick, brutal display of raw military power by Hezbollah in the past six days is a window into the grim future of

Lebanon

and the broader Middle East: a future in which

Iran

and

Syria

are ascendant and have lost much of their fear of the

United States

and

Israel

. It sends a message to President Bush, who arrives in

Israel

Wednesday to commemorate that nation's 60th birthday: that

Tehran

and

Damascus

can project power whenever they want in places like

Lebanon

, and the

United States

and it's allies can't do anything about it.  At least 44 people were killed and another 128 wounded in the fighting — the worst outbreak of sectarian violence inside

Lebanon

since the 1975-1990 civil war. Although domestic Lebanese issues played a role in the violence, they are inseparable from the larger geopolitical issues. Ever since the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which eventually forced Damascus to remove its occupation troops, Syrian President Bashar Assad has wanted to reclaim power in Lebanon.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGM4M2M5YWRhYWY4YzgwYjdkYWI2NTViMmM5MTc2MTM=

Be Careful What You Wish For

Israel

’s doom would be bad news for

Europe

.

By Mark Steyn

Almost everywhere I went last week — TV, radio, speeches — I was asked about the 60th anniversary of the Israeli state. I don’t recall being asked about

Israel

quite so much on its 50th anniversary, which as a general rule is a much bigger deal than the 60th. But these days friends and enemies alike smell weakness at the heart of the Zionist Entity. Assuming President Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic fancies don’t come to pass,

Israel

will surely make it to its 70th birthday. But a lot of folks don’t fancy its prospects for its 80th and beyond. See the Atlantic Monthly cover story: “Is Israel Finished?” Also the cover story in

Canada

’s leading news magazine, Maclean’s, which dispenses with the question mark: “Why

Israel

Can’t Survive.”  Why? By most measures, the Jewish state is a great success story. The modern

Middle East

is the misbegotten progeny of the British and French colonial map-makers of 1922. All the nation states in that neck of the woods date back a mere 60 or 70 years — Iraq to the Thirties, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel to the Forties.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26501

The Russian Bear is Back

by Martin Sieff

Posted: 05/14/2008

While George Bush and his neocons chased nation building phantoms in

Iraq

for the past five years, Vladimir Putin was quietly, sensibly and systematically rebuilding the might of

Russia

. And now he's done it: The bear is back.  Putin stepped down after eight years as president on Wednesday, but by Thursday he was back as prime minister.  Putin installed 42-year-old Dmitri Medvedev as his "successor" but Medvedev is no Dick Cheney -- or John McCain for that matter. Only Western intellectuals and liberals take him seriously. In

Russia

he was rightly and accurately regarded as a joke from the very beginning. When the New York Times asked a particularly courageous and defiant member of the State Duma, the main chamber of the Russian parliament, after Putin selected his successor what Medvedev’s qualities were to lead his nation of around 140 million people, she replied that he could pour a cup of coffee without spilling it when he had to.