Embattled Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, is expected to resign soon, according to reports today, but it’s unlikely to be a pickup seat for Democrats anytime soon, note political observers. Idaho is a solid red state, and President Bush won handily in 2004 with 69 percent of the vote. Both senators and both representatives are Republican, as is the governor, who would certainly appoint a Republican to replace Craig.
It’s nationally where Craig hurts the GOP, with yet another over-the-top scandal. That’s why party leaders are eager for him to step down.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
Tony Snow had said he would leave his job as White House press secretary before the end of President’s Bush term. He announced a date today: Sept. 14. Snow, who has been undergoing chemotherapy for a recurrence of colon cancer, has said he was leaving because he needed to make more money (he is paid $168,000 a year as press secretary).
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
A key point in Iraq’s downward slide was what was initially hailed as a crowning achievement: its 2005 elections. David Ignatius wrote a column in the Washington Post reporting that the CIA warned in the summer and fall of 2004 that Iran was spending big money to help elect candidates friendly to Iran. In response, the CIA proposed secretly funding moderate Shiite candidates and reaching out to Sunni tribal leaders. The plan was initiated but was then stopped after Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser, objected. Pelosi and Rice argued that the United States couldn’t celebrate Iraqi democracy while secretly trying to manipulate it. “Ethically, that was certainly a principled view,” Ignatius wrote. “But on the ground in Iraq, the start-stop maneuver had the effect of pulling the rug out from under moderate, secular Iraqis who might have contained extremist forces.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius told The Eagle editorial board Thursday that she opposes turning Kansas into a carbon-emitting generator of other states’ power, our editorial today reports. “I think it’s not acceptable or appropriate that we would build these merchant plants to sell energy to other folks and impose those health risks on Kansans,” she said.
Is that a signal that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s approval of a new coal-fired plant near Holcomb isn’t a slam-dunk after all? Or was Sebelius just deftly injecting some distance between her personal view and KDHE’s decision, whatever it may be?
Also check out on our Opinion page a video clip of Sebelius joking about the “Coal-lovin’ Governor” music video. “I’ve now seen you dance on two videos, and let me just say that ‘Dancing With the Stars’ is not in your future anytime soon,” she told me. No disagreement here. Sebelius also was glad to hear that we decided against having Bucky Walters impersonate her in the video. “Having seen him as the Brownback Girl and now as Loretta Lynn,” she said, “I very much appreciate him not being me.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
The U.S. military has developed an energy-beam ray gun designed to help disperse unruly crowds. Effective up to 500 yards, the invisible ray makes people feel like their skin is on fire, but reportedly causes no lasting harm.
Is this a step toward a more humane and nonlethal crowd control in places like Iraq and Afghanistan? Or are its effects akin to torture?
If it saves American and civilian lives, many will be ready to deploy the new weapon. But could it be misused or have unintended consequences?
What do you think, bloggers?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The following satirical headlines come from borowitzreport.com:
NBC LAUNCHES ‘TO CATCH A SENATOR’; Chris Hansen to Stake Out Airport Bathrooms
GONZALES TO SPEND MORE TIME EAVESDROPPING ON HIS FAMILY; ‘Domestic Surveillance Begins at Home,’ Former AG Says
ROVE’S LEGACY TAINTED BY STEROIDS; ‘Bush’s Brain’ Was Juicing, Experts Say
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
