ATLANTA (AP) -- Former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, unable to overcome his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, conceded defeat Tuesday in Georgia's Republican race for lieutenant governor.
It was a stunning turnaround for Reed, who was making his first bid for elective office after working for years as a behind-the-scenes campaign strategist and leading the Christian Coalition and the state Republican Party. He vied with state Sen. Casey Cagle for the GOP nomination in a primary race that appeared closer than expected in recent months because of Reed's work with Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption earlier this year.
In attack ads and televised debates, Cagle hammered away at Reed's connections to Abramoff, and asked whether Reed could face criminal charges for accepting more than $5.3 million from two Indian tribes.
Richards 'drunk' during tree fall
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was allegedly drunk when he fell out of a tree while on holiday in Fiji in April.After the fall Richards had to be flown to New Zealand for a brain operation.A friend of the legendary rocker's wife, Patti Hansen, says: "He was legless and showing off to his bandmates.
"He feels like an idiot. But he sees the funny side now - he is the first man to have brain surgery for a hangover."
Feeding the Enemy
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 18, 2006
One of the broader tragedies in the Middle East is “the boomerang syndrome.”Impatient Arabs backed violence and thus put Ariel Sharon and now Ehud Olmert into power, while utterly discrediting Israeli doves. Some Arabs seethed at their daily discomforts, and so they backed provocations that are now vastly multiplying the suffering in Gaza and Lebanon alike.
I’m afraid that impatient Israelis may now be falling into the same trap. Israelis, outraged by attacks and kidnappings, have escalated the conflict by launching an assault on Lebanon that may make life in Israel far more dangerous for many years to come.
It’s easy to sympathize with Israeli outrage, particularly since the attacks on it follow its withdrawals first from Lebanon and then from Gaza. But the winners in this conflict, in the medium to long term, are likely to be hard-liners throughout the Islamic world.
The Iranian and Syrian regimes are illegitimate, incompetent and unpopular, but they may be able to exploit anger at the television images from Lebanon into a longer lease on life for themselves. Pakistani extremists will be strengthened in their calls for jihad. In Sudan, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir will rally popular anger to resist U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur. In Iraq, sympathy for Lebanese Shiites may strengthen Iraq’s own extremist Shiite militias.
Meanwhile, it’s not clear what Israel can achieve militarily in Lebanon. The 12,000 missiles controlled by Hezbollah are not kept in arsenals, but in unmarked homes and garages, so it’s uncertain that Israel will be able to destroy very many. If Israel continues with a limited air war for a couple of weeks, it will produce enough television footage of bleeding Lebanese to anger the world, but not enough to achieve any substantial shift in power on the ground.
Until this month, Hezbollah had been on the defensive in Lebanon. It was under pressure to disarm and was resented as a pawn of Syria and Iran. Al Qaeda had even tried to assassinate its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
But now Sheik Nasrallah, one of the canniest politicians in the region, has kidnapped not only Israeli soldiers but the Middle East conflict. He may well emerge with more credibility than ever among Sunnis as well as Shiites.
A rule of thumb in the Middle East is that anyone who makes confident predictions is too dogmatic to be worth listening to. Maybe I’m wrong and Israel will achieve its short-term security goals, for it’s conceivable that the warfare will galvanize the U.N. Security Council — and Lebanon itself — to disarm Hezbollah. But there’s also the longer term to worry about, and the fury at Israel will be much harder to dismantle than Katyusha rockets.
I hitchhiked through Lebanon and the region while a student in 1982, shortly after the Israeli invasion. Though Syria had recently massacred some 10,000 to 20,000 of its people in Hama — the center of town was rubble — most Arabs weren’t exercised about Syrians killing Syrians, they were enraged by Israelis killing Arabs. That may not be fair, but that’s reality: Sheik Nasrallah’s power today arises in part from Israeli bombing back in 1982.
Likewise, the sheik’s radical successor in 2030 will be empowered in part because of Israeli bombings in 2006.
“It is simple to join emotionally in George Bush’s culture war against the axis of evil,” editorialized Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, “but it must be remembered that, at the end of the day, it is the citizens of Israel and not the Americans who have to continue living in the Middle East. Therefore, we have to think of ways that will make it possible for us to coexist, even with those we do not enjoy being with.”
Plenty of experience shows that Israel can’t deter private terror networks, but that it can deter states. Syria, for example, despises Israel but doesn’t launch rockets or kidnap soldiers. So Israel might benefit from firmer states in Lebanon and Gaza that actually control their territories. Instead, the latest Israeli offensives foster anarchy to both the north and the south, potentially nurturing militant groups that are not subject to classical deterrence.
If Israel is ever to achieve real security, we have a pretty good idea how it will be achieved: the kind of two-state solution reached in the private Geneva accord of 2003 between Arab and Israeli peaceniks. The fighting in Lebanon pushes that possibility even farther away — and in that sense, each bombing mission harms Israel’s future as well as Lebanon’s.
...Following on from yesterday’s entry, here’s some compassionate insight from prominent Christian Zionist Christine Darg, at Exploits Ministry (ellipsis in original)(Color highlightings: GT12):
Military events in Israel are now likely to force the cancellation of the World Pride homosexual desecration of Jerusalem next month.
Believers in Israel and all over the world have been bombarding Heaven for God to intervene. . ..But sometimes God answers in ways that nobody wants. War is never pleasant, but its security demands take precedence over something as frivolous as a gay parade.
But then Warner stops his tour guide and short-circuits my [GW Bush 2000] flashback. I expect the perfunctory question or two that Bush asks at such events. Bush uses these appearances not to gain information but to create a scenic backdrop for his programmed message of the day. But Warner starts quizzing his host about advance-placement testing, articulation agreements for credit sharing, and how to educate different student populations. What's he doing? Shouldn't someone step in and save him before he makes a flub?
Democrats won't take back the White House unless they appeal to a broader constituency. "Democrats started to be more advocates for certain groups than for America writ large," he tells me. As a very popular Democrat in a state that voted twice for George Bush, he has the record and skills to reach out to independents and moderate Republicans. It's an appealing pitch made all the more so when Warner speaks the truth about his own party. "People are not going to take a look at a Democratic Party that is us against them, class warfare, '70s populism."
It has entered a more intense phase in the Middle East. Worried? Terrified? Fear not. Just drop by "Rapture Ready" website and you'll feel cheered up. The Christianists can't wait for the bombs to go off.
Money quote:
"Is it time to get excited? I can't help the way I feel. For the first time in my Christian walk, I have no doubts that the day of the Lords appearing is upon us. I have never felt this way before, I have a joy that bubbles up every-time I think of him, for I know this is truly the time I have waited for so long. Am I alone in feeling guilty about the human suffering like my joy at his appearing somehow fuels the evil I see everywhere. If it were not for the souls that hang in the balance and the horror that stalks man daily on this earth, my joy would be complete. For those of us who await his arrival know, somehow we just know it won't be long now, the Bridegroom cometh rather man is ready are not."
That poster's name is "ohappyday".Tom Lehrer, alas, is retired. Blogger Jonathan Swift comments here.
Democrats Pull Ad With Flag-Draped Coffins
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - Democrats pulled an Internet ad that showed flag-draped coffins Friday after Republicans and at least two Democrats demanded it be taken down on grounds the image was insensitive and not fit for a political commercial.
The ad by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called for a "new direction" and displayed a staccato of images, including war scenes, pollution and breached levees as well as a photograph of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay doctored to look like a police mug shot.
The AP-Ipsos survey asked 789 registered voters if the election for the House were held today, would they vote for the Democratic or Republican candidate in their district. Democrats were favored 51 percent to 40 percent.
Not surprisingly, 81 percent of self-described liberals said they would vote for the Democrat. Among moderates, though, 56 percent backed a Democrat in their district and almost a quarter of conservatives - 24 percent - said they will vote Democratic
The Gay Games open here tomorrow. Tonight we at the
amazing Frank Gehry designed Pritzker Pavillion.
Outside. Listening to some of Broadways Best - Hearn
Darcy-James Calloway - sing Sondheim. All is good.
Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) has "ramped up his fundraising for congressional Democratic incumbents and challengers, signaling a national organizing strategy to position the centrist Southerner for a White House bid in 2008," reports The Hill."Since Warner began raising money after the 2005 November election," his political action committee "has raked in $8.2 million and contributed $860,500 to 108 candidates and political committees. He has hired several top Democratic political consultants, including longtime Democratic operative Monica Dixon, pollster Peter Hart and New Democrat political guru and speechwriter Kenneth Baer."
I think we can see that these people are also the members of the faith community who I often call ‘The Fearful’, people whose faith is actually about controlling there own frightening impulses.
One of our goals is we want the government of North Korea to know and to understand that as Christians we're not enemy my [sic] and that Christians are good citizens. We're commanded by the scriptures to obey those that are in authority over us whoever they may be. We want the North Koreans to know that.
Beyond the Poll Numbers, Voter Doubts About Clinton
By Lois Romano Washington Post Staff WriterThursday, July 13, 2006;
Anna Shelley, a mother of three from Utah, says she is ready for a female president, and she is sure that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has what it takes.
But Shelley, a Democrat, is not sure she could ever pull a lever for Clinton. Her reservations are vague but unmistakable: Something about Clinton leaves her cold.
"I want to see her as a human being -- I can read a newspaper and see her agenda," said Shelley, 27, whose husband did a tour in Iraq and who is appreciative of Clinton's support of the military.
"I think she's a little hard," she said. "She may be strong, but at the same time, if you're driven sometimes you're perceived as not having sympathy. And perception is reality for most of us."It is a reality that Clinton's advisers are confronting as they seek to position the former first lady for a possible 2008 presidential run. They expect that any campaign would begin after this fall's election, in which Clinton, a Democrat, is running for a second Senate term from New York.
Never has a politician stepped onto a presidential stage before an audience of voters who already have so many strong and personal opinions about her, or amid arguments that revolve around the intangibles of personality and the ways people react to it.
Smokers Airline Set To Light Up Next Year
July 12, 2006 10:08 AM
Maddy Sauer Reports:
More legroom, an upper deck lounge and the freedom to smoke to one's heart's content are the promises of the new SMINTAIR which hopes to make a maiden voyage from Dusseldorf to Tokyo in March 2007.
Alexander Schoppman, Managing Director at SMINTAIR, assures his future flyers that smoking in airline cabins is safe, and he says that airlines only stopped allowing their passengers to smoke in order to save money on fuel and air conditioner filters. On SMINTAIR's website, Schoppman also denies that second-hand smoke is a health threat and compares today's anti-smoking campaigns to those of the Nazis.
Mark Warner's leadership PAC hired former John Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan, according to Hotline On Call. "He will serve as a part-time senior adviser, and a Warner aide said Jordan will primarily consult on the '06 elections.
"When asked if he'll work for Warner in a 2008 presidential bid, Jordan said, "Neither of us has made plans past this November."Kerry fired Jordan in a staff shake up about a year before the 2004 presidential election.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the President said we continue to be wise about how we spend the people's money.
"Then why are we paying over $100,000 for a 'White House Director of Lessons Learned'?
"Maybe I can save the taxpayers $100,000 by running through a few of the lessons this White House should have learned by now.
"Lesson 1: When the Army Chief of Staff and the Secretary of State say you are going to war without enough troops, you're going to war without enough troops.
"Lesson 2: When 8.8 billion dollars of reconstruction funding disappears from Iraq, and 2 billion dollars disappears from Katrina relief, it's time to demand a little accountability.
"Lesson 3: When you've 'turned the corner' in Iraq more times than Danica Patrick at the Indy 500, it means you are going in circles.
"Lesson 4: When the national weather service tells you a category 5 hurricane is heading for New Orleans, a category 5 hurricane is heading to New Orleans.
"I would also ask the President why we're paying for two 'Ethics Advisors' and a 'Director of Fact Checking.'
"They must be the only people in Washington who get more vacation time than the President.
"Maybe the White House could consolidate these positions into a Director of Irony."
The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday heard testimony from Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel. When questioned by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on whether the President’s interpretation of the Hamdan case was right or wrong, Bradbury replied, “The President is always right.”
Full transcript below:
LEAHY: The president has said very specifically, and he’s said it to our European allies, he’s waiting for the Supreme Court decision to tell him whether or not he was supposed to close Guantanamo or not. After, he said it upheld his position on Guantanamo, and in fact it said neither. Where did he get that impression? The President’s not a lawyer, you are, the Justice Department advised him. Did you give him such a cockamamie idea or what?
BRADBURY: Well, I try not to give anybody cockamamie ideas.
LEAHY: Well, where’d he get the idea?
BRADBURY: The Hamdan decision, senator, does implicitly recognize we’re in a war, that the President’s war powers were triggered by the attacks on the country, and that law of war paradigm applies. That’s what the whole case —
LEAHY: I don’t think the President was talking about the nuances of the law of war paradigm, he was saying this was going to tell him that he could keep Guantanamo open or not, after it said he could.
BRADBURY: Well, it’s not —
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRABURY: It’s under the law of war –
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRADBURY: The President is always right.
Warner Stresses His Appeal to Republicans
While visiting Iowa for the fourth time in two years, Mark Warner (D) said that "the $8 million he has raised while exploring a run for president demonstrates that he has broad appeal, even among Republicans," the Des Moines Register reports.
"But the former Virginia governor's pitch for Democrats to transcend conventional partisanship underscores a rift developing in the early race for the nomination... Warner said some Democrats may have to accept a candidate with views that differ from theirs on some issues.
"When someone noted that a quarter of the people attending a recent Warner fundraiser were Republicans, Warner said, "That goes to the appeal we are trying to make. This country can't afford further polarization."
"The Department of Defense's own investigation concluded that this technique migrated from Guantánamo to Iraq and Abu Ghraib. At least two members of the armed forces have now been convicted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for using dogs to frighten detainees. It is striking that as these soldiers were prosecuted, you were being promoted. What message are we sending our troops? And what message are we sending the world, in light of your role in promulgating abusive interrogation techniques, like the use of dogs, stress positions and forced nudity. What message are we sending if we promote you to the second highest court in the land? ... 'Well, we're going to dispatch a few privates, a few corporals, a sergeant, maybe it will get to a lieutenant, but it'll never get upstairs.' ... Apparently, upstairs there's a promotion party. Downstairs people are being sent to prison," -Dick Durbin, finally telling it like it is about the way the Bush administration has protected politicians, commanders, and White House lawyers from accountability for abandoning Geneva and endorsing torture, while scapegoating a few grunts.
Lieberman campaign files forms to run as petitioning candidate
By SUSAN HAIGHAP Political WriterJuly 10, 2006, 5:34 PM EDT
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman filed paperwork Monday that will allow him to collect signatures to petition his way onto the November ballot if he loses an August primary.Lieberman's campaign announced the move in an e-mail to reporters.
The three-term senator faces a tough Aug. 8 primary challenge from Greenwich businessman Ned Lamont. Lieberman, who has been criticized by fellow Democrats for his support of the war in Iraq and a perceived closeness with President Bush, is popular among many unaffiliated and Republican voters in Connecticut.
But beneath the outward signs of normalcy, the infighting is taking a toll on Norquist's standing. Some social conservatives who have jousted with him over his more libertarian views on the regulation of television and its depictions of violence and depravity are exploiting his weakness to press their positions on Capitol Hill. Security-minded defense hawks who for years have questioned his ties to Muslim activists are resurrecting charges that Norquist has turned a blind eye to terrorist sympathizers.
Republican lawmakers who have chafed at his dogmatic position on taxes are also ready to shrug off his heavy hand. In recent interviews, a half-dozen conservative GOP lawmakers said they are consciously avoiding Norquist's meetings, and they have begun questioning the purity of an activist who has always portrayed himself as motivated by ideals, not money.
Sam Harris on why he chose to write a his book The End
Of Faith. Interestingly Harris is believer in
spirituality and mysticism as well as an attacker of
moderate faith for providing context and legitimacy to
the lunatic fringe .
FROM SALON-
...It was really my immediate response to the events
of Sept. 11 -- the moment it became apparent to me
that we were meandering into a religious war with the
Muslim world and were not going to call it as such,
and paradoxically, in our efforts to console
ourselves, we were becoming increasingly deranged by
our own religious certainty. We have a society in
which 44 percent of the people claim to be either
certain or confident that Jesus is going to come back
out of the clouds and judge the living and the dead
sometime in the next 50 years. It just seems to me
transparently obvious that this is a belief that will
do nothing to create a durable civilization. And I
think its time someone spoke about it.
Just a note...while GT12 is on the road posts are
being made via e-mail. Fo some reason commas and
apostrophes do not come thru. You will have to fill
them in yourself.
Im struggling a bit with this Connecticut Controversy
over what to do with Bush Butt-Boy, Religious
Extremist and general scold Joe Lieberman.
If anyone is guilty of sabotaging The Dems disjointed
attempt at sane leadership its this twit. His defense
of Ws war on American Freedom places him firmly on the
criminal side of Congresss refusal to provide any
check on the Executive. Hes a man who thought Bill
Clintons sex life was worthy of Senatorial Attention
but not the murderously inept management of our
Occupation of Iraq.
So Im inclined to say Fuck him... and no kiss from the
Pres this time.
BUT I think we can send that message to Joey much more
effectively after we take over the Senate and can
strip him of his power. Hes a safe seat and we need
that seat (apostacy and all) more than we need Ned
Lamont turning CN into a seat we have to fight for -
and expend resources on - in the fall.
So, I guess Im pro-Joe-fo-Nov.
Yeesh. I need a shower.
GT12 is currently enjoying a nostalgic trip to the
Eighties in a suburban columbus bar. Who knew that you
could make Funky Town a pop-metal song?
Having made it to this states capital city with
minimum difficulty (and eventually Air America and Ed
Schultz) I am relaxing at a Sams Club where my visitee
is an on-site healthcare provider.
We big city types dont realize what a multi-national
hot bed the heartland is becoming. Its a bit like the
U.N. here (without the nice clothes).
So, like 90 pct of the mountains of goods around me
were once in China. As long as China needs us I think
we have little to fear from that doofus in North Korea.
Ohio, land of my upbringing! Currently enjoying a pit
stop in my home county. Have just passed the giant
Mosque in Perryburg and my alma mater, BGSU. traffic
cops are everywhere. Do not even think about speeding
in this state. Here, the speed limit seems to be
unattainable goal.
Onward we crawl (how Red State is that?)
Listening to Limpbow as I speed thru IN. R sez that
recently exposed plans to attack NYC tunnels was
inspired by Gores movie.
One hour, 42 miles. Im at my fave gas stop where
prices are the lowest on the IN Toll Road... $3.19!!!
Thank you R. Oilman Presidente
Foreign Policy magazine has a survey of 116 foreign policy heavyweights in this month's issue and the results are pretty easy to summarize: they think America's efforts in the war on terror are failing on practically every measure. The chart on the right shows the consensus.
The survey respondents are listed here. They trend slightly liberal, but the survey results were weighted to give equal weight to self-described liberals and conservatives. Here's FP's summary:
Despite today’s highly politicized national security environment, the index results show striking consensus across political party lines. A bipartisan majority (84 percent) of the index’s experts say the United States is not winning the war on terror. Eighty-six percent of the index’s experts see a world today that is growing more dangerous for Americans. Overall, they agree that the U.S. government is falling short in its homeland security efforts. More than 8 in 10 expect an attack on the scale of 9/11 within a decade.
These dark conclusions appear to stem from the experts’ belief that the U.S. national security apparatus is in serious disrepair. “Foreign-policy experts have never been in so much agreement about an administration’s performance abroad,” says Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and an index participant. “The reason is that it’s clear to nearly all that Bush and his team have had a totally unrealistic view of what they can accomplish with military force and threats of force.”
Gay-marriage foes' petitions falling short on valid signatures
By Deanna Belland Associated Press Published July 4, 2006
An early review shows gay marriage opponents don't have enough valid signatures to get a measure on the November ballot, but that doesn't mean it can't still make it, [an Illinois] Board of Elections spokesman said Monday.A check of 64,000 signatures--a 19 percent sample of more than 330,000 submitted--did not find enough registered voters to put a measure on the ballot that would ask voters if the state should amend its constitution to ban same-sex marriage, elections board spokesman Dan White said.
The requirement is that more than 95 percent of the sample's signatures be valid, and gay marriage opponents had 91 percent, White said. It was the board's second check of a sample of signatures
Soldiers to wed in Spanish military's first public brush with gay marriage
By ASSOCIATED PRESS June 27, 2006
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Two male air force privates will wed this summer, taking Spain's new gay marriage law to the ranks of the military for what is believed to be the first time.Their union may not be well-received in the military but they don't care, said one of the two Seville-based men, both of whom are named Alberto. Their last names were not released."We know we are in the armed forces and this is touchy because we are not gardeners but rather soldiers. I know there are superior officers who will make life difficult for me, and they are already doing so," said one of the Albertos, according to the Cadena Ser radio station.
On Wednesday night's [The Colbert Report], Colbert suggested that the Times could learn a thing or two from Superman (now appearing in yet another movie sequel) about keeping a secret.
Superman, he said, went so far as to hide his identity "by disguising himself as the farthest thing from a hero -- a newspaper reporter." He could have broken the story of his own identity at any time, won headlines and maybe a Pulitzer, but no, he wanted to save his friends Jimmy and Lois from the terror of Lex Luthor.
So Superman, Colbert added, courageously continued to be "a pretend journalist"-- with a title card on the screen next to Colbert commenting "like Brit Hume."
'Cosby: Live' soon dead at MSNBC
MSNBC personality Rita Cosby yesterday went from the floodwaters of Pennsylvania into the fire of 30 Rock.
After a grueling nine-hour meeting involving Cosby, her agent and top NBC News and MSNBC execs, the third-rated cable news network announced that her weeknight show, "Rita Cosby: Live & Direct," will be canceled in early July.
[In the Hamdan decision,] Justice Thomas refers to Justice Stevens' "unfamiliarity with the realities of warfare"; but Stevens served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945, during World War II. Thomas's official bio, by contrast, contains no experience of military service.
Analysis that suggests that this is a political setback for the GOP has it exactly wrong. Republicans would like nothing better than a pre-election debate over whether Osama's buddies should receive ACLU approved rights. It is likely that many Democrats will join Republicans in supporting tough guidelines for military commissions. This is the law and order issue of our time.
"On December 18th, Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State, joined other prominent Washington figures at FedEx Field, the Redskins stadium, in a skybox belonging to the team's owner. During the game, between the Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys, Powell spoke of a recent report in the Times which revealed that President Bush, in his pursuit of terrorists, had secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on American citizens without first obtaining a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, as required by federal law. ...
According to someone who knows Powell, his comment about the article was terse."It's Addington," he said. "He doesn't care about the Constitution." "
"Bruce Fein, a Republican legal activist, who voted for Bush in both Presidential elections, and who served as associate deputy attorney general in the Reagan Justice Department: ... [Bush and Co.] staked out powers that are a universe beyond any other Administration. This President has made claims that are really quite alarming. He's said that there are no restraints on his ability, as he sees it, to collect intelligence, to open mail, to commit torture, and to use electronic surveillance. If you used the President's reasoning, you could shut down Congress for leaking too much. His war powers allow him to declare anyone an illegal combatant. All the world's a battlefield, according to this view, he could kill someone in Lafayette Park if he wants! It's got the sense of Louis XIV: "I am the State.""
"...Bruce Fein said that the Bush legal team was strikingly unsophisticated. "There is no one of legal stature, certainly no one like Bork, or Scalia, or Elliot Richardson, or Archibald Cox," he said. "It's frightening. No one knows the Constitution,certainly not Cheney."
"...[Another] former high-ranking Administration lawyer said that Addington regularly attended White House legal meetings with the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency. He received copies of all National Security Council documents, including internal memos from the staff. And, as a former top official in the Defense Department, he exerted influence over the legal office at the Pentagon, helping his protege William J. Haynes secure the position of general counsel. A former national-security lawyer, speaking of the Pentagon's legal office, said, "It's obvious that Addington runs the whole operation.""
"...[Richard]Shiffrin ... left with the impression that Addington "doesn't believe there should be co-equal branches." Another participant recalled, "If you favored international law, you were in danger of being called 'soft on terrorism' by Addington." He added that Addington's manner in meetings was "very insistent and very loud." Yet another participant said that, whenever he cautioned against executive-branch overreaching, Addington would respond brusquely, "There you go again, giving away the President's power.""
* A majority of Fortune 500 companies, 253 (51 percent), offer domestic partner health insurance benefits. HRC notes that this is the first time it's topped 50%. [Jeff's note: this coverage is considered 'income' by the IRS if you're not 'married']
* 430 (86 percent) of the organizations include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies
* 81 include gender identity and/or expression, marking a tenfold increase from 2001.
"I'm totally intolerant. Totally, radically intolerant. Some people call me a narrow-minded, Bible-thumping, backward-thinking, fundamentalist white male bigot. In fact, it happens every day.""I'm intolerant. I'm not ignorant, but I am intolerant. I'm not a racist or a bigot, but I am intolerant. I don't hate people; I disagree with ideas. Make no mistake, I am intolerant. I am intolerant because I love. The world hates me because I love in this way, but I cannot stop. I dare not stop. I serve a Lord who loved enough to be intolerant. No more trying to please the world and please God at the same time. Get your armor on, take up your cross, and come on out to where the adventure beings. Go out and be intolerant--in love."
"New maps may well put more Democrats in the House of Representatives, possibly enough to tip the balance of power from Republicans to Democrats. We expect Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey and New York to wind up with Democrats in control of both the governor's mansion and the state legislature after the November elections. So redistricting in those states might shift enough seats to the Democratic column to give that party a majority."
Washington Wire: "The Supreme Court’s decision is the culmination of one of the hardest fought redistricting battles in history."
The best analysis of the court decision comes from Rick Hasen and Nathaniel Persily.
Meanwhile, a Houston Chronicle editorial calls it a "pyrrhic victory" for Texas. "If Wednesday's court decision was a victory for Texas, another such victory, and we are undone."
By ROGER ALFORD, Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. - When Gov. Ernie Fletcher's day is over, he leaves his Capitol office, climbs into a Lincoln Town Car driven by a state trooper and returns to the Governor's Mansion , which is just across the street.
Meanwhile, his administration is encouraging Kentuckians to get out and walk more for their health.
The Republican governor (a physician by training) makes no apologies for riding back and forth to work. "I think that's been a tradition for a long time," he said. "That's what security likes."
If the church is utterly indifferent to marriages conducted by other churches or the state, then why has it devoted so much effort to demonizing civil marriages for gay couples? Shouldn't they be as irrelevant to the Vatican as, say, civil divorce or re-marriages in other churches? The double standards abound. Some of them can be explained by catering to the rich and powerful (the Kidmans and Sinatras and Kerrys); some can be explained by Orwellian-speak (calling divorces "annulments"); but some can only be explained by bigotry and fear. None of it speaks that well of the Church, it seems to me.
What movie have you seen the most? That's the question Slate asked a collection of filmmakers and critics, knowing that what's addictive is different than what's deemed the best. The answers vary from Ghostbusters to Dr. Zhivago, from Citizen Kane to Election.
Spike Lee, director, Inside Man West Side Story
An arranger and composer as well as a producer, Mr. Mardin was a guiding force behind hit records by many pop luminaries, most notably Aretha Franklin, the Bee Gees, Bette Midler, Chaka Khan and Norah Jones, whose careers he was instrumental in shaping. Winner of 12 Grammys, including two for best producer, nonclassical (in 1976 and 2003), he was a major architect of the pop-soul style nicknamed the Atlantic Sound in the late 1960's.
That influential style was a three-way collaboration with his fellow Atlantic Records producers Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd; Mr. Mardin was the arranger of the three. It resulted in a series of stirring groundbreaking pop-gospel albums that catapulted the career of the young Aretha Franklin out of the doldrums and earned her the nickname Queen of Soul. The same basic formula of recording with Southern musicians was successfully applied to a number of other artists, most notably Dusty Springfield in her classic "Dusty in Memphis" album.
Out of the Atlantic Sound grew the sophisticated mainstream style of rhythm and blues made by white musicians that he developed working with artists like Daryl Hall and John Oates, Average White Band and the Bee Gees that was labeled "blue-eyed soul." His work with the Bee Gees reignited their stalled career and directly influenced their score for "Saturday Night Fever," whose soundtrack became the best-selling album of all time before being surpassed by Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
His association with Atlantic, which was founded by his fellow Turks Ahmet Ertegun and his brother Nesuhi, began in 1963, lasted for nearly four decades until he retired in 2001.
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