Archive for July 12th, 2007
House Passes Bill Requiring Troop Withdrawal Within 120 of Enactment
July 12th, 2007
The House of Representatives passed a bill today that would require troops begin withdrawing 120 days after enactment of the bill, and to withdraw completely from Iraq by April 1, 2008.
The Democratic-controlled House shrugged off another veto threat from President Bush in approving a measure requiring the withdraw U.S. troops by spring.
Earlier, Bush ruled out any change in war policy before September.
Democratic leaders engineered a 223-201passage of legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops to begin within 120 days, and to be completed by April 1, 2008. The measure envisions a limited residual force to train Iraqis, protect U.S. assets and fight Al Qaeda and other terrorists.
The vote generally followed party lines: 219 Democrats and four Republicans in favor, and 191 Republicans and 10 Democrats opposed.
“The report makes clear that not even the White House can conclude there has been significant progress,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
To Bush and others who seek more time for the administration’s policy to work, she said, “We have already waited too long.”
Republicans sided with Bush — at least for now. The bill “undermines Gen. Petraeus, undermines the mission he has to make America and Iraq safe,” said the House GOP leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. “What we have here is not leadership, it’s negligence.”
We’ll wait to see what the Senate does about this bill and what comes out of reconciliation.
Right now, if people vote the same way they did today, this is not a veto-proof majority.
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Franken funds leave opponents in the dust.
July 12th, 2007
I love the story. He can’t be any worse than some of the people we have elected in the past.
Sen. Al Franken?
If anyone had doubts about the seriousness of comedian Al Franken’s campaign to represent Minnesota in the Senate, his latest fundraising numbers go a long way toward showing his campaign is no laughing matter.
Or, as Franken creation Stuart Smalley might put it: Doggone it, voters seem to like him!
Franken outraised Sen. Norm Coleman (R) in the second quarter by about $300,000, banking $1.9 million to the incumbent’s $1.6 million. He raised money from all of the state’s 87 counties, and from 27,790 individual contributors. He outdistanced his main Democratic rival, attorney Mike Ciresi, in fundraising by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.
In a normal year, a comedian with a record as an unabashed liberal — as well as a lengthy history of provocative statements — would face long odds in winning a Senate seat. While Republicans have elected their fair share of celebrities to office (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sonny Bono) the only notable Democratic actor to hold a seat in Congress recently was former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones — whose résumé is topped by his immortal portrayal of Cooter on the “Dukes of Hazzard.”
But with opposition to the Iraq war running high in Minnesota, this is no normal year, and Minnesota is a state prone to electing
unconventional candidates. Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected governor in 1998. In 1990, Minnesotans elected the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, then a professor at Carleton College, whose quirky, insurgent campaign was the biggest upset of the cycle.
Dog finally off Wash. state voter rolls.
July 12th, 2007
This is so cute.
Duncan M. McDonald is finally off the voter rolls after the Australian shepherd-terrier mix was sent absentee ballots for three elections.
King County Elections Director Sherril Huff said she canceled the voter registration Tuesday for the dog owned by Jane K. Balogh, 66, who registered her pet to protest a change in the law that she said made it too easy for non-citizens to cast ballots.Balogh put her phone bill in the dog’s name, then used that as identification when she mailed in the registration form in April 2006. In November, she wrote “VOID” across Duncan’s ballot and returned it with an image of a paw print on the signature line.
She admitted the ruse when an election official called, but the dog was still sent absentee ballots for school bond elections in February and May
A Thought To Ponder
July 12th, 2007
I have no idea what the reactions of Americans would be, but I thought it would be interesting to pose the question.
We are reading reports that Al Qaeda is building strength to 2001 levels and Chertoff has a gut feeling something might happen here during the summer since summer seems to be the preferred time for Al Qaeda to strike.
My question is: How do you think the American public would react if Al Qaeda were successful in another attack in our country?
Do you think they would rally around the flag the way they did on 9/11/2001?
Do you think they will blame the president for not keeping us safe, even though we have not had an attack on our soil or our facilities since 9/11/2001?
Do you think they will blame Congress for sending mixed signals over the current war?
Or do you think they just won’t care?
How do you think this will affect the presidential race, if at all?
I’d be interested in reading your thoughts and feel free to add whatever you think I didn’t include.
Leaks Through History.
July 12th, 2007
They’ve all done it. Why are we acting like this is some new phenomenon?
Every administration since Woodrow Wilson’s has lambasted leakers. And every president since Wilson has made discreet but routine use of the practice themselves — personally, or through their minions, giving the press information on the sly when circumstances merited some truth, or untruth, become known.
But the sometimes noble, sometimes ignoble, history of leaks goes back much further.
George Washington grew infuriated with Alexander Hamilton for leaking information to the British during the Jay Treaty negotiations in the summer and fall of 1794. James Madison was exasperated when his secretary of state leaked documents to his enemies in the Federalist Party.
During James K. Polk’s administration, in 1848, John Nugent, a journalist for the New York Herald, published, based on a leak, the secret treaty ending the war with Mexico. When he refused to disclose his sources to Senate investigators, he was arrested and held for a month in a Capitol committee room, continuing to write his column at double his normal salary and going home at night with the sergeant at arms, who fed and housed him.
What part of Secret or Classified is so hard to understand?
July 12th, 2007
It is so nice to know that the shadow government is still in place.
AP: Government Report Concludes Al Qaeda Now as Strong as in Summer of 2001
I will offer nothing other than the above headline and the sentence below and add that whoever is leaking this type of information needs to be found and investigated.
Others may argue over exactly what this report means, but I for one have had it with individuals believing they have the right to put information in the hands of the press which is not yet meant for public consumption. There are reasons, and while some may not believe this, national security is one of them, that material is deemed “secret” or “classified”.
The official and others spoke on condition of anonymity because the secret report remains classified.
