NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - September 05, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-News Analysis: Party in Power, Running as if It Weren't
The nominee's friend described him as a "restless reformer who will clean upWashington." His defeated rival described him going to the capital to "drainthat swamp." His running mate described their mission as "change, the goalwe share." And that was at the incumbent party's convention.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/politics/05assess.html?hp

-The TV Watch: Obama Steps Into O'Reilly's 'No Spin Zone'
It was billed as the ultimate smackdown, and it certainly promised to be awonk vs. wacko match: the cerebral, conciliatory Senator Barack Obama versusBill O'Reilly, Fox News Channel's most irascible, combative anchor: acommentator who calls liberals "loons" and "pinheads" and on Thursday's showdescribed reporters scrutinizing Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as "sniveling,left-wing, wine-drinking, brie-eating."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/politics/05watch.html?hp

-Bhutto Widower With Clouded Past Is Set to Lead
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of Benazir Bhutto, isset to become president on Saturday, an accidental ascent for a man knownmore as a wheeler-dealer than a leader. He will start his tenure burdened bya history of corruption allegations that cloud his reputation even as theyremain unproved. Though he has won the reluctant support of the Bushadministration, which views him as a willing partner in the campaign againstterrorism, Mr. Zardari will assume the presidency with what many consideruntested governing skills as a tough Taliban insurgency threatens the veryfabric of Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state of 165 million
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/world/asia/05zardari.html?hp

-The Real John McCain
If John McCain wants to convince Americans that he is offering a differentsort of leadership, he needs to take control of his campaign.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/opinion/05fri1.html?ref=opinion

-The Resentment Strategy
The G.O.P. is selling the politics of resentment; you're supposed to voteRepublican to stick it to an elite that thinks it's better than you. [...]Can the super-rich former governor of Massachusetts - the son of a Fortune500 C.E.O. who made a vast fortune in the leveraged-buyout business - reallykeep a straight face while denouncing "Eastern elites"?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/opinion/05krugman.html?ref=opinion

-Political Memo: Firing Up the Faithful With Echoes of Culture War Rhetoric
Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York, said Senator Barack Obamathought a small Alaska suburb was not "flashy enough" or "cosmopolitanenough," linking his campaign to "Hollywood celebrities." Mitt Romney, aformer governor of Massachusetts, denounced the "Eastern elites" that hesaid dominated the television broadcasts and editorial pages.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/politics/05memo.html?hp

-Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.1%
The nation's jobless rate zoomed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent inAugust as employers slashed 84,000 jobs, the government reported.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/economy/06econ.html?hp

-Rangel Failed to Report $75,000 in Income
Representative Charles B. Rangel has owned a villa in the Dominican Republicsince 1988 but never reported rental income on his tax returns.
ttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/nyregion/05rangel.html?hp

-Detroit's Mayor Will Leave Office and Go to Jail
Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to felony charges here on Thursdayand agreed to resign from office and serve 120 days in jail, ending eightmonths of political turmoil but also opening a new era of uncertainty forthe city.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/05detroit.html

-As Texas Execution Nears, Hearing Is Set on a Claim That Judge andProsecutor Had Affair
With less than a week to go before the scheduled execution of a man whocontends his murder trial was tainted by a love affair between the judge andthe prosecutor, a state judge on Thursday ordered a hearing into theaccusation and the Texas attorney general called for a review of thefairness of the trial.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/05texas.html


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-McCain campaign courts critical Catholic vote
Shortly after a priest's opening prayer and a screening of a short film onJohn McCain's faith, Sen. Sam Brownback stepped to the microphone and didn'twaste words. "Just to get to the whole meat of the matter, the Catholicvote is a swing vote," the Kansas lawmaker and Catholic convert said at aCatholic reception during this week's Republican National Convention.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/05/AR2008090500831.html

-Quick Take: Courage in the Face of Oppression
The relationship of Ferda and Kiymet is one of the few light moments in "AJihad for Love," Parvez Sharma's documentary about homosexuality in theMuslim world. The two Turkish women laugh and touch in public, and in apoignant scene, Kiymet meets Ferda's 80-year-old mother. The introductiongoes well, and the three women sit together and joke about life and love.This kind of normality is absent in the lives of Sharma's other characters,most of whom have had to make wrenching choices between pursuing love andremaining within the embrace of traditional societies. Payam, a gay man whofled persecution in Iran, calls his mother from a phone booth in Turkey toupdate her on his hope of political asylum in Canada. He can hear herweeping, which makes him break down.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090401024.html

-No More Mr. Maverick
The new McCain could win, but it's the old McCain who deserved to bepresident.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090402842.html

-The Support the Palins Really Need
Ever since John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate, many havelavished praise on her decision not to have an abortion after she and herhusband learned that their youngest child, Trig, would be born with Downsyndrome. Do those telling Palin "attagirl" and "way to go" have any ideawhat challenges and struggles Trig's parents -- and all of us who care forchildren with special needs -- live with every day? Though everyone cheeredthe Palin family in Minnesota this week, will those people be there for thatlittle boy and his family when their support is really needed?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403031.html

-Racism in Plain English
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it finally happened: A Republican congressmanhas come right out and called Barack Obama "uppity." Rep. Lynn Westmoreland(R-Ga.), often described as one of the most conservative members of Congress(which is saying something), used that racially loaded term to describeObama in a conversation today outside the House chamber with a reporter fromThe Hill. As you can see in The Post's news coverage, the reporter gaveWestmoreland a chance to take it back. Bless him, he didn't.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2008/09/_meanwhile_back_at_the.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-Abramoff Gets Reduced Sentence of Four Years in Prison
Judge Cites Assistance Ex-Lobbyist Provided In Corruption Probe
Jack Abramoff, the powerhouse Washington lobbyist who admitted running awide-ranging corruption scheme that ensnared lawmakers, Capitol Hill aidesand government officials, yesterday received a reduced sentence of fouryears in prison because of his cooperation with federal investigators.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090402321.html?hpid=moreheadlines

-Soldiers' Suicide Rate On Pace to Set Record
Suicides among active-duty soldiers this year are on pace to exceed bothlast year's all-time record and, for the first time since the Vietnam War,the rate among the general U.S. population, Army officials said yesterday.Ninety-three active-duty soldiers had killed themselves through the end ofAugust, the latest data show. A third of those cases are under investigationby the Armed Forces Medical Examiner's Office. In 2007, 115 soldierscommitted suicide.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403333.html?hpid=sec-nation

-U.S. Letter Puts India's Premier On Defensive Over Nuclear Deal
NEW DELHI, Sept. 4 -- As international negotiators met in Vienna to decidethe fate of the contentious nuclear energy agreement between India and theUnited States, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government found itselffacing a revived political battle at home over the deal because of therelease of a secret letter in Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403447.html?hpid=sec-world

-Palin: Iraq War 'a Task That Is From God'
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that theUnited States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is fromGod."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090303102.html?hpid=sec-religion


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Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-McCain competes with Obama for critical Catholic swing vote
Shortly after a priest's opening prayer and a screening of a short film onJohn McCain's faith, Sen. Sam Brownback stepped to the microphone and didn'twaste words. "Just to get to the whole meat of the matter, the Catholicvote is a swing vote," the Kansas lawmaker and Catholic convert said at aCatholic reception during this week's Republican National Convention.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-cvn-mccain-catholics,0,4484453.story


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Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Ike eyes Florida; Hanna races toward Carolinas
Almost as soon as Florida fell out of Hanna's forecast cone, it slipped intoIke's, and that mighty, major hurricane could be on our doorstep Tuesday.''We are in a state of emergency,'' Gov. Charlie Crist said Friday from thestate's emergency operations center in Tallahassee, repeating: ``We are in astate of emergency.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/574/story/673334.html

-Horrible scene in Haiti after Hanna
GONAIVES, Haiti -- Her third day without food or water, Fleurie Benita wadedthrough the calf-high mud, balancing her life's possessions on her head,uncertain of what to do next, or what will come next. With every step, themother of four recalled the blinding sheets of rain and the sound of deathknocking at her front door. Then her desperate decision.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/haiti/story/672860.html

-Arrests mark last anti-war march of convention
Percussion grenades, tear gas and nearly 400 arrests marked the finalanti-war march during the Republican National Convention. More than 800arrests were reported during a week of sometimes peaceful, sometimes violentdissent.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/672578.html

-Gov. Palin and Sen. Clinton 'could hardly be less alike'
LEONARD PITTS JR.
You know what bugs me most about Sarah Palin? It isn't that John McCainspent weeks claiming Barack Obama was unready to lead, then chose her as hisrunning mate -- and potential leader of the free world -- a woman who untilsix years ago was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population: 5,469. [...] No,what's troubling is that in choosing the Alaska governor as his runningmate, McCain makes a cynical and demeaning appeal to women upset thatHillary Clinton's presidential bid fell short and that she was snubbed byBarack Obama as his No. 2. Had McCain chosen a woman of greater experienceor higher national profile, he might at least have a fig leaf of deniabilityto hide behind. In settling on the relatively unknown Palin, he throws eventhe fig leaf away.
http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/670090.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Civil Rights Group Fires Back at GOP for Ridiculing Community Organizing
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama came under attack Wednesdaynight by several Republican convention speakers for his service as acommunity organizer in Chicago, including a zinger from GOP vicepresidential nominee Sarah Palin, who said, "I guess a small-town mayor issort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actualresponsibilities." Now, civil rights groups are fighting back.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/28052-1.html

-Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit
One of the persistent memes in the Republican line of attack against BarackObama is the notion that he is an elitist, whereas the G.O.P. represent realworking Americans like Levi "F-in' Redneck" Johnston. It caught ourattention, then, when First Lady Laura Bush and would-be First Lady CindyMcCain took the stage Tuesday night wearing some rather fancy designerclothes. So we asked our fashion department to price out their outfits.
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/09/cindy-mccains-300000-outfit.html

-Number of black GOP delegates at a marked low, survey finds
The Republican Party, which seemed poised to make inroads among African-American voters by backing three black candidates in major races - andexecuting a high-profile outreach effort that included a mea culpa forslavery - has far fewer black convention delegates in this year's conventionthan it did in 2004, according to a recently released study.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/05/number_of_black_gop_delegates_at_a_marked_low_survey_finds/

-Barack Obama sits down with Bill O'Reilly
He tells the conservative Fox talk-show host that the Iraq troop increasesucceeded 'beyond our wildest dreams.' In a much-anticipated interview withconservative nemesis Bill O'Reilly, Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday that thetroop surge in Iraq had "succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated" and"beyond our wildest dreams."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-na-oreilly5-2008sep05,0,6251356.story?track=rss

-Alaska's 'first dude' digs into job creation
Todd Palin - oil worker, champion snowmobiler, hunter and commercialfisherman - also has been boning up on mining lately in his role as Alaska'sfirst spouse. On two separate occasions last fall, the husband of theRepublican vice presidential candidate boarded planes chartered by miningcompanies that want to dig for gold, zinc and lead in remote Alaska valleys.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/campaign-2008/story/672523.html

-Nomination Itself Is a Testament to Obama's Readiness
Early in the 1960 campaign, Democratic vice presidential candidate LyndonJohnson jumped on a special train in Washington and headed out across theSouth, trying to rally that once-solid Democratic region to support hispartner, John F. Kennedy. At his first stop, in Culpeper, Va., Johnson,desperately trying to stem the defections to the Republican ticket, left afew hundred spectators pondering his shouted rhetorical question: "What hasRichard Nixon ever done for Culpeper?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403249.html

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