Former President Jimmy Carter is free to meet with Hamas if he chooses, which he has during his controversial visit to the Middle East. “I think it is absolutely crucial that in the final and dreamed-about and prayed-for peace agreement for this region that Hamas be involved and Syria will be involved,” Carter said. But the fact that Carter was largely snubbed by Israel’s top leaders undermines his efforts. Quite a fall from grace for the man who, as U.S. president in 1979, brokered Israel’s first peace deal with an Arab country, Egypt.
A Washington Post editorial argues that Carter is wrong to “publicly and unconditionally grant recognition and political sanction to a leader or a group that advocates terrorism, mass murder or the extinction of another state.”
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley released a statement Thursday defending Barack Obama against charges that he’s associated with a former ’60s Weather Underground radical, William Ayers (in 1982 photo with wife), who is well-known in Chicago political circles.
“There are a lot of reasons that Americans are angry about Washington politics. And one more example is the way Sen. Obama’s opponents are playing guilt-by-association, tarring him because he happens to know Bill Ayers.
“I also know Bill Ayers. He worked with me in shaping our now nationally renowned school reform program. He is a nationally recognized distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois-Chicago and a valued member of the Chicago community.
“I don’t condone what he did 40 years ago, but I remember that period well. It was a difficult time, but those days are long over. I believe we have too many challenges in Chicago and our country to keep refighting 40-year-old battles.”
Moreover, as Obama was compelled to point out in the debate, President Clinton commuted the sentences of two other members of the Weather Underground, Susan Rosenberg and Linda Evans, on weapons charges.
Does Hillary Clinton think she’s helping the party by raising these talking points?
Another company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions, this time during a battle in Sadr City Tuesday night, the New York Times reported. Two weeks ago, more than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers fled during the fight in Basra.
“It bugs the hell out of me,†said U.S. Sgt. George Lewis. “We don’t see any progress being made at all.â€
As expected, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed another bill Thursday to allow construction of two new coal-fired power plants near Holcomb. The Kansas House has yet to get enough votes to override her veto. But even if it succeeds, don’t expect a groundbreaking anytime soon. The project will face further legal hurdles and lawsuits.
A coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, is waging a well-funded nationwide legal battle against new coal plants as a key strategy to fight climate change, a Los Angeles Times article pointed out.
The coalition’s effort claims success in blocking 65 projects in the past three years. The group has 50 coal-plant proposals in its sights — and Holcomb almost certainly would be near the top of the hit list if lawmakers revive it.
“In a world where some no longer believe that we can distinguish between simple right and wrong, we need your message to reject this dictatorship of relativism,†President Bush told Pope Benedict XVI this week. But as Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post noted, Bush’s presidency has been fraught with moral relativism. In addition to the pre-emptive war with Iraq, Bush defends torture by arguing that the ends justify the means.
In a Washington Times commentary, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., anticipated Pope Benedict XVI’s message to America and asked people to listen closely. “While our nation’s churches will not immediately fill up following his visit, perhaps we can hope for something more modest: an ever-so-slight movement closer to the recognition that we are all one human family.
“These days offer the chance to reflect on things eternal: life and love, Heaven and Hell, human frailty and human destiny. My prayer is that we do not pass it up.â€
Brownback, a convert to Catholicism, also was at the center of a controversy over a Senate resolution welcoming the pontiff. Brownback sponsored the legislation, which passed the Senate Thursday only after language mentioning “each and every human life†was excised at the urging of Democrats, who viewed it as a reference to abortion.
Former President Jimmy Carter is free to meet with Hamas if he chooses, which he has during his controversial visit to the Middle East. “I think it is absolutely crucial that in the final and dreamed-about and prayed-for peace agreement for this region that Hamas be involved and Syria will be involved,” Carter said. But the fact that Carter was largely snubbed by Israel’s top leaders undermines his efforts. Quite a fall from grace for the man who, as U.S. president in 1979, brokered Israel’s first peace deal with an Arab country, Egypt.
