A biweekly feature of news and opinion pieces from the Israeli and Palestinian press. 1.) A new poll has found an uptick in popularity for Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. His surge in public approval comes as Mahmoud Abbas's is dropping. The survey, which was conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey … [Read more...] about News From the Israeli and Palestinian Front: March 18th
Obama Threads the Needle
Earlier, I posted my take on the speech and Shaun Mullen posted his. Jill Miller Zimon offered the full text. Elsewhere, publius and Justin Gardner believe the finest moment of the speech was Obama's decision to reiterate his condemnation of Rev. Wright's remarks while refusing to disavow completely the man behind the words. They have a point. It was a clear moment of … [Read more...] about Obama Threads the Needle
No Do-Over in Florida
It looks like there won't be a do-over Democratic contest in Florida, mail-in or otherwise. "We researched every potential alternative process -- from caucuses to county conventions to mail-in elections -- but no plan could come anywhere close to being viable in Florida," said state party chairwoman Karen Thurman. The state's congressional delegation had already come out … [Read more...] about No Do-Over in Florida
Spitzer’s replacement and his wife had extra-marital affairs
The New York Daily News is reporting that,"In a stunning revelation, both [New York Governor David] Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago." In the course of several interviews in the past few days, Paterson said he maintained a … [Read more...] about Spitzer’s replacement and his wife had extra-marital affairs
‘Not This Time’
I watched most of Obama's speech live on CNN.com. Of all the words he spoke, those three -- "not this time" -- seemed the defining words of the moment; not just of the speech, but of his entire campaign. Better than most, those words capture, I think, why so many people from so many corners of the country -- from different races, income levels, genders, and ideologies -- … [Read more...] about ‘Not This Time’
Obama: Race, God & A More Perfect Union
I have come to believe that the 2008 presidential contest will be the last -- or perhaps the second to last -- where the race and the religion of the candidates really matter. The reason is that many voters, and this is especially true of young voters, simply don't care about that stuff like their parents and forebears did and do. This already is substantially true in the … [Read more...] about Obama: Race, God & A More Perfect Union
Text of Barack Obama speech on race, 3/18/08
From the Union Leader: "A More Perfect Union" Remarks of Senator Barack Obama Constitution Center Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania As Prepared for Delivery “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these … [Read more...] about Text of Barack Obama speech on race, 3/18/08
With Barack Obama, Democrats Find Answer to the Paucity of Ideas
While the debate in the United States seems to center around whether with Barack Obama, there is any there there, it seems that in some places he is regarded as the Democratic answer to the much vaunted Republican idea machine. Alfredo Toro Hardy of Venezuela's El Universal writes, 'Confronted with the flood of proposals from their Republican counterparts, the fonts of … [Read more...] about With Barack Obama, Democrats Find Answer to the Paucity of Ideas
A Trillion Here, a Trillion There
A publisher I knew once proposed a picture book, "They Must Know What They're Doing or They Wouldn't Be Where They Are," to show the captain of the Titanic, the designers of the Edsel, LBJ running the War in Viet Nam and other overseers of spectacular 20th century blunders. The Bush Administration now rates a sequel all its own for being in charge of two cataclysms, in the … [Read more...] about A Trillion Here, a Trillion There
‘Barack is Not White, Barack is Not Black’ The Possible Gift in Being Bi-Racial
Barack is, like I am, like many others of us are--for lack of a more graceful word-- we are Bi-racial. Cross-racial is probably a slightly better, but still awkward term. That is, we are born twinned: one of each of two or more races is inside us. The blood of often opposing groups, runs in our cells, our bloodlines. Barack's mother was Caucasian. His father was an African from … [Read more...] about ‘Barack is Not White, Barack is Not Black’ The Possible Gift in Being Bi-Racial
Air Passengers Can Be Dumped Off…If…
I always thought that passengers were kicked out of the aircraft after becoming a nuisance... too much tippling, or harassing a woman. Please click here for ten interesting reasons why people were not allowed to remain on board... … [Read more...] about Air Passengers Can Be Dumped Off…If…
Florida Primary Re-Vote Nix Increases Clinton Difficulties
The Democratic party's monumental mess involving the Michigan and Florida delegations to the Democratic Convention is messier than ever with news that Florida won't do a primary re-do vote via mail-in ballot -- news that will increase difficulties Senator Hillary Clinton faces in overturning delegate-front-runner Senator Barack Obama in an extremely tight race. It seems … [Read more...] about Florida Primary Re-Vote Nix Increases Clinton Difficulties
The Way We Were-And Are
Around 1977 or so, my dad and I started going to this barbershop on Detroit Street in my hometown of Flint, Michigan. It was called Eddie and Earl's Barbershop and it was your typical African American barbershop, if such a thing exists. Black men from all walks of life would come to this shop to get their hair cut, especially for church on Sunday. While I was waiting my … [Read more...] about The Way We Were-And Are
Power and Pity
Like anyone who wants America to still have an economy tomorrow, I support the government's intervention to head off disaster in the Bear Stearns fiasco. But I admit discomfort, for this seems to be precisely the type of governmental assistance that I hear many people decry when it's proffered to the less fortunate. We give it to Bear Stearns -- even though they were reckless … [Read more...] about Power and Pity
Too bad ‘us’ is going to bring Obama down…
Conversation I just had with my Uncle Ronny over Yahoo Instant Messenger. Text is accurate. I added the who said what and cleaned up the punctuation: Uncle Ronny: "Well it's all over for brother Obama." Me: "How so?" Uncle Ronny: "He has to be the black guy tomorrow at his big race speech. That's all some folks need to hear to not vote for him." Me: "Yeah. … [Read more...] about Too bad ‘us’ is going to bring Obama down…
Economic Storm
Cartoon by Daryl Cagle … [Read more...] about Economic Storm
When The Media Gets It Wrong About Bloggers
A MUST READ by skippy (who created the word "blogtopia" and writes in lowercase). … [Read more...] about When The Media Gets It Wrong About Bloggers
Clinton Rules versus Obama Rules
Those of us who support Hillary---and make no mistake, the numbers are substantial, or there wouldn't be all this squabbling over delegates and the disenfranchisement of Florida---have noticed a certain imbalance not only in the media's coverage of Hillary, but also within attitudes currently prevalent among many of our fellow Dems. This perceptive blogger has looked … [Read more...] about Clinton Rules versus Obama Rules
Harness your Outrage
This is Sunshine Week 2008 Regardless of your partisan leanings, if you support a more transparent government consider checking this out and even encouraging your representative to do the right thing. … [Read more...] about Harness your Outrage
Iran’s Election Brings More of the Same
Details are still coming out about Iran's recent parliamentary elections, but here are a couple of my early thoughts and observations. First, a lot of English newspapers are inaccurately spinning this as a crushing win for conservatives. That's somewhat misleading. The Guardian Council -- which vets majlis legislation and monitors elections -- disqualified about 1,700 … [Read more...] about Iran’s Election Brings More of the Same