Friday, June 1, 2007

Abortion: The Hysteria that Divides the US. Anti-abortion campaigners in the US will tell you their crusade is about the sanctity of life. But really it is about upholding a singularly unhealthy tendency in American public life - the exploitation of a divisive social and ethical issue to further the ambitions of a single political party whose agenda doesn’t necessarily reflect the [...] [CommonDreams.org] 9:05:06 AM    comment []

Defense Secretary Gates Calls For Permanent U.S. Bases In Iraq. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/31/AR2007053102430.html By . [TomPaine.com] 9:03:05 AM    comment []

Chris Kelly: Fred Thompson: A Looming Threat to the Politics Business, the Entertainment Media, and Everyone Living Now. (Arianna/Roy: Please file under Politics, Business, Entertainment, Media, and Living Now. You can't be too sure.) Obviously I'm missing something when it comes to the awesome charisma of Fred Thompson. Some of it is personal; I already have a father, so I didn't need Ronald Reagan. Some of it is professional; I once worked on a talk show that booked too many third-rate guests, and I had to write their padded introductions, so every time I hear Thompson described as "the star" of The Hunt for Red October, my joints cinch. (Sean Connery is a star. Fred Thompson was in The Hunt for Red October. The way Jacob Javits was a United States Senator, while Fred Thompson was in the Senate.) (Fred Thompson was fifteenth billed on The Hunt For Red October. So he may be the dream candidate now, but if Tim Curry or Joss Ackland get in, he's toast.) Some of my problem with Fred Thompson is aesthetic. It's those papery little plastic surgery cat scratch wrinkles on his cheeks. The first person I ever noticed them on was Gore Vidal, and I figured he must have had his facelift sometime around when Aaron Burr died, so he had an excuse. The science was in its infancy. But Fred Thompson is only 64. And his facelift looks like it cost less than John Edwards' haircut. What kind of message does that send? Then there's the creepy fact that he was a lobbyist for General Electric before he got the high profile exposure on NBC's Law & Order. No, I don't really think there's a conspiracy here, but where there's smoke, there's Rosie O'Donnell, and there's no way America deserves eight more years of that. (And when I say he was on Law & Order, of course I mean he was the star of Law & Order. The way Commissioner Gordon was the star of Batman.) (Is that guy still alive? Does he want to be president?) Also, Fred Thompson wears a big ring. And there's something about non-wedding jewelry on an ugly bald guy. Telly Savalas could kind of get away with it, but he is dead. So what is the key to Fred Thompson? What makes him too sexy for his shirt? So sexy it hurts? Luckily, I don't have to wonder anymore. The National Review's Jonah Goldberg has figured it out. Hold on to your accessories. Here it is, straight from today's column: "First and foremost, Thompson's articulateness can't be underestimated. He shares with Ronald Reagan - another actor-politician - an ability to communicate ideas in folksy, almost conversational ways without losing important nuance or meaning... And the more he talks, the more likable and presidential he appears." Focused -- like a laser -- on the obvious, Jonah Goldberg has taken what goes without saying, and made it his own. And while it's nice to hear a white politician called "articulate," one is left with the question that always lingers after one reads Jonah Goldberg: You bothered to type that? But maybe it really is that simple. The thing that makes Fred Thompson stand apart from the other fifteen or twenty Republican candidates is that he can speak. And not only speak, but communicate meaning when doing so. If it's true, there's your bumper sticker right there. Fred Thompson: A Different Kind of Republican. His Thoughts Come Out. Or: Fred Thompson: At Least as Smart as Koko the Gorilla. -- Back on May 14th, Fred Thompson was both speaking and communicating to the Council for National Policy, and he said: "I'm reminded of something my Daddy used to say: A man who walks around smiling all the time can't possibly know what's going on." (Yes, he's a 64-year-old man who still calls his father "Daddy." It's a Southern thing. Like killing JonBenet Ramsey. You wouldn't understand. Just let it go.) If the folk wisdom itself feels familiar, it's because you may have seen it written like this: "Der Lachende hat die furchtbare Nachricht nur noch nicht empfangen." So, see? There actually is more to Fred Thompson than meets the eye. His father was Bertolt Brecht. -- Snotty liberals dismiss Jonah Goldberg but worship Richard Pryor, who was also born in a whorehouse. Is this a double standard? -- Everyone in porn, rodeo and the soaps is "a star." Why is that? [The Huffington Post Full Blog Feed] 7:55:07 AM    comment []

Raymond J. Learsy: John Edwards Attacks Big Oil With Laser Like Focus. Big Oil is everyone's first, second or third favorite target. Yet it seems every time a candidate castigates the oil industry the hymn is always out of the same song book. Therefore it is especially refreshing to hear a candidate come at the topic with a focused grasp of the issues at hand. Campaigning in Menlo Park California Edwards called for a number of steps to be taken to rein in the oil industry's excesses including a federal investigation into possible anti-trust violations. Nothing particularly new here except in one essential respect. Edwards called on Congress to overhaul the Clayton Anti-Trust Act in order to make it more responsive to a global economy wherein restraint of supply, whether open or covert has an impact on the American marketplace. Tellingly, he alone among the candidates identified one of the major distortions of the oil landscape. He poineted out that oil companies by and large "own every step of the production process, extraction, refining, sales at the pump" an anomaly that inherently can lead to anti competitive distortions and generally much higher prices. As if on cue, Tupper Hall spokesman of the Western States Petroleum Association responded to Edward's concerns by plying us with that old oil patch pitch, "The increased price at the pump is nothing more than a reflection of the crude oil market" confident that we, the consumers, have never awoken to the fact that the gouging begins at the well and not the pump and of course hopeful that Edwards' focus on the vertical integration of much of the oil industry and its impact on the prices we pay, will be swept aside. And then there are issues new to the dialogue of presidential aspirants. One issue especially pertinent is the global and electronic trading of commodities, and especially oil and its related product markets. Edwards calls for the reversal of the Enron-Era deregulation of commodity futures trading markets that "have been vulnerable to manipulation and speculation" calling on Congress to restore basic transparency and oversight. There are other meaningful and important points that reflect general consensus issues, i.e. increasing fuel economy, supporting bio-fuel development, ending taxpayer subsidies for oil companies. One issue however stands out. Edward's call to initiate programs that will culminate in reducing greenhouse gases by 80% by the year 2050. Fanciful? Perhaps. But we will never get there, or at the very least where we need to be, without large ambition to set out difficult but attainable goals and the vision to embark on doing the needful. Oil, gas prices, energy generally and the manipulation of markets are clearly becoming ever more important and focused issues of the 2008 campaign. [The Huffington Post Full Blog Feed] 7:53:14 AM    comment []

Japan Parades Zero-Emission Cars At G-8 Meeting. http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12880 By . [TomPaine.com] 7:50:40 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2007 Patricia Thurston.