Category: Politics & World Affairs
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Today’s New Hampshire primary could be make or break for some of the presidential candidates. A zillion polls are out there predicting the outcome of the horse race on both sides. We will know the results by evening. While we wait, let’s enjoy some juggling, a cartoon and a photo that I have not had…
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I thought it might be interesting to have a post with the primary endorsements of liberal bloggers. As I discover new ones (readers: here’s your chance to be helpful!), I’ll update this post. John Edwards Joe. I’m not going to write up a separate endorsement post–my feelings are expressed in the post and the discussion…
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I’m surprised by the results of the Iowa caucuses in two ways. First, the voter turnout. It was way, way up on the Democratic side: from 125,000 in 2004 to over 200,000 this year. The campaigns were expecting something in the 150,000 range, and first-time voters and young people showed up in large numbers–this just…
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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee have won their respective Iowa cacuses in a decisive way. The results were not wholly unexpected but they are still a surprise. It is too early to make the projection for the eventual outcome in either party’s primaries. There is still a long way to go.…
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In the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and the turmoil in Pakistan, US presidential candidates of both parties have been scrambling to declare their various degrees of separation from murdered and living Pakistani leaders. Public claims of familiarity with the region’s politics and politicos are meant as code words for the candidates’ command of international…
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In my reading of numerous articles about Benazir Bhutto in the last 24 hours, I came across a common thread running through several columns by journalists who knew or had met her in person. All mention Bhutto’s remarkable and unusual physical courage. It is interesting that Indian journalists have noted this fact prominently, perhaps because…
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Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and popular political leader of Pakistan was assassinated at a political rally in Rawalpindi today. This is horrible news for Pakistan as well as the entire troubled region of Pakistan-Afghanistan. RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday outside a large gathering of her supporters…
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Hillary Clinton’s campaign is currently in the sliming mode even though her mother, daughter and other well wishers continue to appear at campaign events with stories of the soft and compassionate side of her nature. Ever since Barack Obama overtook her in the polls in Iowa and closed the gap in New Hampshire, the Clintonites…
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I rarely find myself on the same page with Charles Krauthammer’s positions regarding politics. But his recent editorials sounding the alarm bell about an "Overdose of Public Piety" (another one here) had me nodding my head enthusiastically in agreement. In fact Krauthammer’s no-nonsense summary reflects much more closely my own stance on the distinction between…
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Many religious people make the mistake of conflating morality with religion when in reality the two are separate things. While religion needs morality as a selling point for its propagation and raison d’être, the converse is not true. (Think Mother Teresa and her tortured life and death) The current crop of holy rollers running for…
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1. When Bill Clinton speaks smarmily about his wife, it probably means Hillary’s campaign is floundering: "Mr. Clinton said that, early on in their relationship, he told Hillary that she should “dump” him and take a job at a big law firm and run for public office, because those were perches more often held by…
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This is breaking news. No need for commentary. The story speaks for itself. The warmongers must find a new enemy soon – before the "Use By" dates on our own WMDs expire. Let the demonization begin. WASHINGTON (CNN) — Iran halted work toward a nuclear weapon under international scrutiny in 2003 and is unlikely to…
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New York Times: The British teacher in Sudan so = new SWFObject(“http://www.nytimes.com/packages/flash/multimedia/swfs/multiloader.swf”, “p958807”, “100%”, “25”, “8”, “#FFFFFF”); so.addVariable(“mp3″,”http://graphics8.nytimes.com//podcasts/2007/11/29/30worldview.mp3”) so.addVariable(“duration”,”402″) so.addVariable(“contentPath”,”http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/flash/multimedia/INLINE_PLAYER/NYTInline.swf”) so.addParam(“allowScriptAccess”, “always”); so.write(“p958807”); who let her 7-year-old pupils name a class teddy bear Muhammad was found guilty on Thursday of insulting Islam and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation. Under Sudanese law,…
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"An Israeli and a Palestinian are watching a Western. In the movie, a cowboy is riding bareback on a particularly wild horse. The Israeli, being aggressive, says to the Palestinian, "I’ll bet you 10 shekels he falls." The Palestinian, being impulsive, replies immediately, "I’ll bet you he doesn’t." The cowboy falls, and the Palestinian forks…
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I know, I know. It’s been seven long years already. I should be over it. But I am not. This picture twisted the knife wedged in my heart since January 2001. It is sweet irony nevertheless to see Al Gore, now a man of stature and serenity, in the White House standing next to Bush…
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