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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/world/asia/04assess.html
News Analysis: Straying Partner Leaves White House in a Lurch
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and HELENE COOPER
November 4, 2007
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 - For more than five months the United States has beentrying to orchestrate a political transition in Pakistan that would manageto somehow keep Gen. Pervez Musharraf in power without making a mockery ofPresident Bush's promotion of democracy in the Muslim world.
On Saturday, those carefully laid plans fell apart spectacularly. Now theWhite House is stuck in wait-and-see mode, with limited options and a lackof clarity about the way forward.
General Musharraf's move to seize emergency powers and abandon theConstitution left Bush administration officials close to their nightmare: anAmerican-backed military dictator who is risking civil instability in acountry with nuclear weapons and an increasingly alienated public.
Mr. Bush entered a delicate dance with Pakistan immediately after theattacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when General Musharraf pledged his cooperation inthe fight against Al Qaeda, whose top leaders, including Osama bin Laden,are believed to be hiding out in the mountainous border region betweenPakistan and Afghanistan.
The United States has given Pakistan more than $10 billion in aid, mostly tothe military, since 2001. Now, if the state of emergency drags on, theadministration will be faced with the difficult decision of whether to cutoff that aid and risk undermining Pakistan's efforts to pursue terrorists -a move the White House believes could endanger the security of the UnitedStates.
Adm. William J. Fallon, the senior American military commander in the MiddleEast, told General Musharraf and his top generals in Islamabad on Fridaythat he would put that aid at risk if he seized emergency powers.
But after the declaration on Saturday, there was no immediate action by theadministration to accompany the tough talk, as officials monitoreddevelopments in Pakistan. Inside the White House the hope is that the stateof emergency will be short-lived and that General Musharraf will fulfill hispromise to abandon his post as Army chief of staff and hold elections byJan. 15.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Romney-Profile.html?pagewanted=print
Romney's Life Is His Father's Legacy
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 4, 2007
Filed at 3:06 a.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- From his slicked, carefully coifed hair to his data-drivenbusiness principles to his unwavering devotion to his oft-maligned Mormonfaith, Mitt Romney is the spitting image of his father physically,professionally and morally.
The depth of their bond can be seen in one early story.
As an 18-year-old, Mitt Romney met a 15-year-old girl with whom he felt hecould share his life. He then left for a year of college and a 2 1/2-yearMormon mission in France, during which time his father not only took hisfuture wife, Ann Davies, to church, but converted her to their faith.
''Your gal looked lovely as always,'' George Romney wrote to his son inFebruary 1967. ''I sat next to her in church and asked if that ring of yourson her engagement finger meant what it usually means, and she said it did.''
At the time, George Romney was governor of Michigan and former chairman ofAmerican Motors; Ann's father, Edward Davies, had a less lofty title as thepart-time mayor of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., where both families lived.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/weekinreview/04rutenberg.html
Flip-Flopery: Said That vs. Meant This, a Hot Matchup for '08
By JIM RUTENBERG
WASHINGTON
November 4, 2007
TO hear the presidential candidates tell it, this has been a great year for"personal evolution." Less self-interested parties have considered it theseason of the "flip-flop."
The flip-flop is not a new ingredient in presidential politics. But it isespecially pronounced this year, with every major candidate getting into theact in some way.
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has said his views haveevolved on abortion and gay rights, among other issues. Rudolph Giuliani,the former New York mayor, was once a dogged opponent of the National RifleAssociation; now he is courting the group by saying his views on thenecessity of handguns in part changed after 9/11. A die-hard Yankees fan nowfishing for votes in New Hampshire, he also threw in with the nearby Red Soxin the World Series. Blasphemy!
Last week, it was Senator Hillary Clinton's turn. Under questioning from TimRussert of NBC News in a debate Tuesday, she acknowledged saying recentlythat a proposal by Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York to give illegal immigrantsdriver licenses "makes a lot of sense," but that, in fact, "I did not say itshould be done." On Wednesday, her campaign said she supported the idea.
It all raises the question of what does it take for a flip-flop to become apublic flap? And, better still, when does the flap become a candidacykiller? Accusations of flip-flopping work - occasionally.
Their success often depends on the public mood, the moment in history andwhether the charges feed into existing doubts about a candidate.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/world/asia/04pakistan.html?hp
Pakistani Sets Emergency Rule, Defying the U.S.
By DAVID ROHDE
November 4, 2007
This article was reported by David Rohde, Jane Perlez and Salman Masood, andwas written by Mr. Rohde.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 4 - The Pakistani leader, Gen. PervezMusharraf, declared a state of emergency on Saturday night, suspending thecountry's Constitution, firing the chief justice of the Supreme Court andfilling the streets of this capital city with police officers.
The move appeared to be an effort by General Musharraf to reassert hisfading power in the face of growing opposition from the country's SupremeCourt, political parties and hard-line Islamists. Pakistan's Supreme Courthad been expected to rule within days on the legality of General Musharraf'sre-election last month as the country's president.
The emergency act, which analysts and opposition leaders said was more adeclaration of martial law, also boldly defied the Bush administration,which had repeatedly urged General Musharraf to avoid such a path andinstead move toward democracy. Washington has generously backed the general,sending him more than $10 billion in aid since 2001, mostly for themilitary. Now the administration finds itself in the bind of having topublicly castigate the man it has described as one of its closest allies infighting terrorism.
In blunt and brief comments on Saturday, American officials condemnedGeneral Musharraf's move. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded a"quick return to constitutional law." And in Washington, the White Housespokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said, "This action is very disappointing,"and he called on General Musharraf to honor his earlier pledge to resign asarmy commander and hold nationwide elections before Jan. 15.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04rich.html?ref=opinion
Noun + Verb + 9/11 + Iran = Democrats' Defeat?
By FRANK RICH
Op-Ed Columnist
November 4, 2007
WHEN President Bush started making noises about World War III, he onlyconfirmed what has been a Democratic article of faith all year: Between nowand Election Day he and Dick Cheney, cheered on by the mob of neocondead-enders, are going to bomb Iran.
But what happens if President Bush does not bomb Iran? That is good news forthe world, but potentially terrible news for the Democrats. If we do go towar in Iran, the election will indeed be a referendum on the results, whichthe Republican Party will own no matter whom it nominates for president. Butif we don't, the Democratic standard-bearer will have to take a clear standon the defining issue of the race. As we saw once again at Tuesday night'sdebate, the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, does not have one.
The reason so many Democrats believe war with Iran is inevitable, of course,is that the administration is so flagrantly rerunning the sales campaignthat gave us Iraq. The same old scare tactic - a Middle East Hitler plottinga nuclear holocaust - has been recycled with a fresh arsenal of hyped,loosey-goosey intelligence and outright falsehoods that are sometimesregurgitated without corroboration by the press.
Mr. Bush has gone so far as to accuse Iran of shipping arms to its Sunniantagonists in the Taliban, a stretch Newsweek finally slapped down lastweek. Back in the reality-based community, it is Mr. Bush who has mostconspicuously enabled the Taliban's resurgence by dropping the ball as itregrouped in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Administration policy also opened thedoor to Iran's lethal involvement in Iraq. The Iraqi "unity government" thatour troops are dying to prop up has more allies in its Shiite counterpart inTehran than it does in Washington.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04dowd.html?ref=opinion
Gift of Gall
By MAUREEN DOWD
Op-Ed Columnist
November 4, 2007
WASHINGTON
Girlfriend had a rough week.
First Hillary got brushed back by the boys in the debate. Then some womenbemoaned Hillaryland's "Don't hit me, I'm a girl" strategy.
The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus deplored the "antifeminist subtext" ofHillary's campaign playing the woman-as-victim card. "Using gender this way," she said, "is a setback."
I must rush to a sister's defense.
Women need to rally to support Hillary and send her money because there aremen, men like Tim Russert, who have the temerity to ask her questions duringa debate. If there are six male rivals on stage and two male moderators andheaven knows how many men manning lights and boom mikes, the one womanshould have the right to have it two ways.
It's simple math, really, an estrogen equation.
If she wants to run on her record as first lady while keeping the lid on herfirst lady record, that's only fair for the fairer sex. And if she wants tohave it both ways on illegal immigrants getting driver's licenses, then sheshould, especially if those illegal immigrants are men, or if Lou Dobbs isranting on the issue, because he's not only a man, he's a grumpy, cranky,border-crazed man.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04friedman.html?ref=opinion
Op-Ed Columnist
No, No, No, Don't Follow Us
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
November 4, 2007
New Delhi
India is in serious danger - no, not from Pakistan or internal strife. Indiais in danger from an Indian-made vehicle: a $2,500 passenger car, the world'scheapest.
India's Tata Motors recently announced that it plans to begin turning out afour-door, four-seat, rear-engine car for $2,500 next year and hopes to sellone million of them annually, primarily to those living at the "bottom ofthe pyramid" in India and the developing world.
Welcome to one of the emerging problems of the flat world: Blessedly, manymore people now have the incomes to live an American lifestyle, and theIndian and Chinese low-cost manufacturing platforms can deliver them thatlifestyle at lower and lower costs. But the energy and environmentalimplications could be enormous, for India and the world.
We have no right to tell Indians what cars to make or drive. But we can urgethem to think hard about following our model, without a real mass transitalternative in place. Cheap conventional four-wheel cars, which wouldencourage millions of Indians to give up their two-wheel motor scooters andthree-wheel motorized rickshaws, could overwhelm India's already strainedroad system, increase its dependence on imported oil and gridlock thecountry's megacities.
Yes, Indian families whose only vehicle now is a two-seat scooter often maketwo trips back and forth to places to get their whole family around, so acar that could pack a family of four is actually a form of mini-masstransit. And yes, Tata, by striving to make a car that could sell for$2,500, is forcing the entire Indian auto supply chain to become much moreefficient and therefore competitive.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04sun2.html?ref=opinion
Editorial
Republican Tricks on Children's Health
November 4, 2007
Cynicism and hypocrisy were on full display in the Senate last week whenRepublican leaders refused to wait for a possible compromise on a bill thatwould provide health coverage for millions of uninsured children. Instead,they forced a vote on a bill that they know President Bush will veto, withno chance of being overridden.
For weeks now, the president and his Congressional allies have charged thatthe Democrats are unwilling to negotiate a compromise on expanding the StateChildren's Health Insurance Program, or S-chip, because they want to useRepublican opposition as a campaign issue. But it is the Senate's Republicanleaders who are doing their best to block any compromise.
They clearly would prefer to have no bill enacted - and provide ammunitionfor the president's campaign to depict Congress as a failure - than doanything meaningful to help children.
The bill up for consideration in the Senate had already passed the Housewith substantial bipartisan support - but not quite enough votes to overcomeanother veto. As a result, a few prominent senators from both parties hadbeen meeting with House Republicans to work out a compromise that couldattract enough moderate Republicans to overcome a veto. Those talks,according to a key participant, were making "really good progress."
That is when Senate Republican leaders stepped in and, under the rules,refused to postpone a scheduled vote to allow more negotiations. The resultwas predictable. The Senate, which has always been enthusiastic aboutexpanding S-chip, approved the House-passed bill by a thumping 64-to-30vote. But the bill lacks enough Republican support in the House for anoverride.
The efforts to find a compromise are expected to continue, and we can onlyhope they ultimately bear fruit. Surely there are enough Republicans in theHouse who are more concerned with children's health than with ideologicalposturing and gamesmanship.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04sun3.html?ref=opinion
Editorial
Selling America
November 4, 2007
Karen Hughes brought strengths to the job of public diplomacy, a critical,often overlooked tool for advancing the national interest. She was aninsider's insider, a confidante from President Bush's Texas inner circle whocould speak for him authoritatively. Yet as she prepares to leave office,polls shows the United States is hated more than ever in the Muslim world.
President Bush originally picked Charlotte Beers, a former advertisingexecutive who once marketed Uncle Ben's rice, as under secretary of statefor public diplomacy. But Madison Avenue slickness did not play well whenpromoting Mr. Bush's go-it-alone foreign policy after 9/11, and in less thantwo years, she was out.
Next up was Margaret Tutwiler, formerly Secretary of State James Baker'sspokeswoman and ambassador to Morocco, who had a deft political touch. Shesoon moved on to a big executive job on Wall Street.
Ms. Hughes's weaknesses quickly became apparent when she took over. She hadnever been to the Middle East and had no expertise in the Muslim communitythat was a main target of the administration's public diplomacy efforts. Herearly forays to the region were embarrassing. "I am a mom, I love kids" isone phrase reflecting the folksy approach derided by the Arab media.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04essig.html?ref=opinion
This Is Going to Hurt
By MARK ESSIG
November 4, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
WHEN the Supreme Court last week granted a stay of execution for a murdererin Mississippi, it imposed a de facto moratorium on capital punishment inthe United States. With prosecutors in Texas and other states now sayingthey will stop seeking execution dates, that moratorium is likely to last atleast until the court issues a ruling on another death penalty case, Baze v.Rees, probably in June.
Some foes of capital punishment are celebrating this as a sign of a shift inthe national debate. They're mistaken.
Yes, in one sense, Baze v. Rees is a departure. For the first time since1878, when the Supreme Court gave its approval to Utah's firing squad, itwill rule on the constitutionality of a particular method of capitalpunishment. But the court won't rule on whether lethal injection violatesthe Eighth Amendment, and it certainly won't decide if the death penaltyitself is unconstitutional. Instead, it plans at most a minor tuneup, a bitof tinkering intended to salve the national conscience regarding theinfliction of pain.
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The New York Times
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/orphans-of-rwanda/index.html?ref=opinion
Orphans of Rwanda
By Josh Ruxin
November 3, 2007, 2:08 am
Josh Ruxin is a Columbia University expert on public health who has spentthe last couple of years living in Rwanda. He's an unusual mix of academicexpert and mud-between-the-toes aid worker.
Ange Benitha Bamuyugire is not your typical orphan in Rwanda. Orphans inRwanda are generally living at or beyond the brink of desperate poverty.Ange, however, is a terrific student who's studying computer science at thecountry's finest technical institution, the Kigali Institute of Science andTechnology. She'll be starting an internship soon at a Rwandan company thatdevelops websites. But there's more to her story.
She survived the 1994 genocide. She saw her father brutally slain by a bandof killers wielding machetes. Although she survived with her mother andbrother, she lost her entire extended family: grandparents, aunts, unclesand cousins.
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The New York Times
http://homefires.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/single-dad-soliloquy/index.html?ref=opinion
Single Dad Soliloquy
By Lee Kelley
November 2, 2007, 4:26 pm
Just yesterday, it seems, I was in the middle of an 18-month deployment. Andmy life back home, and my family, went through drastic changes during thattime. I felt that the pieces of everything I found familiar were beingshattered apart like a busy marketplace during a suicide bombing or athousand sparrows lifting off from a single tree. I wrote this, and this,and this to describe my feelings back then.
These days my life is mostly defined by the fact that I am a single parent.After all, transitioning from a married man with two kids, to an active dutyArmy officer in Iraq, to suddenly fulfilling the roles of Dad, caretaker,cleaner, cooker, provider, driver, chauffeur, good guy, bad guy,breadwinner, tooth fairy, Santa Claus, birthday planner, shopper, medic, andmentor, does require a bit of an adjustment to the way I approach the days,my awareness of time passing, and to the overall pursuit of happiness andmeaning.
All of the things I dreamed about in Iraq I have since experienced time andtime again. I have sat beside a mountain stream, fishing, contemplating myplace in the world like a character from one of Hemingway's short stories. Ihave been reunited with family and friends, and spent countless hours withmy kids. I've gone to restaurants, movies, and parks with them. I have hadconversations with them and laughed out loud one million times.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/us/nationalspecial3/04gitmo.html?hp
New Detainee Rights Weighed in Plans to Close Guantánamo
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
November 4, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 - Administration officials are considering grantingGuantánamo detainees substantially greater rights as part of an effort toclose the detention center and possibly move much of its population to theUnited States, according to officials involved in the discussions.
One proposal that is being widely discussed in the administration wouldoverhaul the procedure for determining whether detainees are properly heldby granting them legal representation at detention hearings and by givingfederal judges, not military officers, the power to decide whether suspectsshould be held.
Although the Bush administration has long defended the legal protectionsafforded detainees at Guantánamo against strenuous criticism, some officialsnow say that moving them to American soil would require giving them enhancedprotections.
"If you were to bring them to the United States, there is a recognition thatfor policy reasons you would need even more robust procedures than thosecurrently at Guantánamo," one senior official involved in the discussionssaid, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no decisions have beenmade.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/washington/04earmarks.html?hp
Even Cut 50 Percent, Earmarks Clog a Military Bill
By MARILYN W. THOMPSON and RON NIXON
November 4, 2007
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 - Even though members of Congress cut back their porkbarrel spending this year, House lawmakers still tacked on to the militaryappropriations bill $1.8 billion to pay 580 private companies for projectsthe Pentagon did not request.
Twenty-one members were responsible for about $1 billion in earmarks, orfinancing for pet projects, according to data lawmakers were required todisclose for the first time this year. Each asked for more than $20 millionfor businesses mostly in their districts, ranging from major militarycontractors to little known start-ups.
The list is topped by the veteran earmark champions Representative John P.Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is the chairman of the powerful defenseappropriations subcommittee, and Representative C. W. Bill Young of Florida,the top Republican on the panel, who asked for $166 million and $117 millionrespectively. It also includes $92 million in requests from RepresentativeJerry Lewis, Republican of California, a committee member who is underfederal investigation for his ties to a lobbying firm whose clients oftenbenefited from his earmarks.
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, requested $32 million in earmarks, whileSteny H. Hoyer, the majority leader, asked for $26 million for projects inthe $459.6 billion defense bill, the largest of the appropriations billsthat go through Congress.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/technology/04jammer.html?hp
Devices Enforce Cellular Silence, Sweet but Illegal
By MATT RICHTEL
November 4, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2 - One afternoon in early September, an architectboarded his commuter train and became a cellphone vigilante. He sat downnext to a 20-something woman who he said was "blabbing away" into her phone.
"She was using the word 'like' all the time. She sounded like a Valley Girl," said the architect, Andrew, who declined to give his last namebecause what he did next was illegal.
Andrew reached into his shirt pocket and pushed a button on a black devicethe size of a cigarette pack. It sent out a powerful radio signal that cutoff the chatterer's cellphone transmission - and any others in a 30-footradius.
"She kept talking into her phone for about 30 seconds before she realizedthere was no one listening on the other end," he said. His reaction when hefirst discovered he could wield such power? "Oh, holy moly! Deliverance."
As cellphone use has skyrocketed, making it hard to avoid hearing half aconversation in many public places, a small but growing band of rebels isturning to a blunt countermeasure: the cellphone jammer, a gadget thatrenders nearby mobile devices impotent.
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Pakistan.html
Activists Detained in Pakistan Emergency
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 4, 2007
Filed at 5:05 a.m. ET
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Authorities rounded up opposition leaders Sundayafter military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended Pakistan'sconstitution, replaced the chief judge and blacked out independent TVoutlets, saying the country must fight rising Islamic extremism.
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup but had given a conditionalpledge to step down as military chief and become a civilian president thisyear, declared a state of emergency Saturday night, dashing recent hopes ofa smooth transition to democracy for the nuclear-armed nation.
He vowed to go ahead with parliamentary elections, originally due byJanuary, but gave no timeline.
''Unfortunately everything has been put on the back burner,'' DeputyMinister for Information, Tariq Azeem, said Sunday when asked about plansfor the polls. ''I'm still hoping the election will happen shortly ... but Ican't give you the exact date.''
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/us/04pagan.html
At a West Virginia University, New Protections for Pagans
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 4, 2007
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Nov. 3 (AP) - At Marshall University, pagan students arenow allowed to miss classes to observe religious holidays or festivals.
A new policy makes the university in Huntington, W.Va., with an enrollmentof about 14,000, possibly the only college in the country to protect pagansformally from being penalized for missing classes, although manyinstitutions have policies intended to protect students of every faith.
One Marshall student, George Fain, took advantage of the policy on Thursday,missing class in observance of Samhain, a pagan and Wiccan holiday honoringthe dead.
"I think we may have opened a door," Ms. Fain said of the policy. "Now thatwe know we can be protected, that the government will stand behind us and wefeel safe, it's going to be more prevalent."
The decision to allow pagan students to make up missed work is an extensionof existing policy toward members of other religious groups, said SteveHensley, the dean of student affairs at Marshall.
"I don't think there are a lot of students here who have those beliefs," Mr.Hensley said, "but we want to respect them. It was really just a matter oflooking into it, and deciding what was the right thing."
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The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/us/politics/04dems.html?pagewanted=print
Clinton Rebuts Accusations of Secrecy
By PATRICK HEALY
November 4, 2007
DES MOINES, Nov. 3 - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's political camp struckback on Saturday against rivals who were attacking her as overly secretive,circulating legal arguments from a Clinton ally asserting that the Clintonsare not blocking the release of presidential papers about their discussionsin the White House in the 1990s.
Bruce Lindsey, a top adviser to former President Bill Clinton, issued alengthy statement on Friday evening saying that, contrary to some newsreports, Mr. Clinton had "not asked that records related to communicationswith Senator Clinton be withheld," and that Mr. Clinton had not blocked therelease of any presidential documents.
In pushing to clarify the issue, the Clinton camp is trying to correct animage of Mrs. Clinton, a Democratic presidential candidate, that is beingpainted by her critics - that she is too secretive, and that because shewill not release the papers more quickly, her experience argument lackscredibility.
Mrs. Clinton, in an interview with Radio Iowa on Saturday, said she did notknow what the papers would reveal, but she supported releasing them asquickly as possible. "I think it's like people think we have boxes ofrecords in our basement and why don't I just go and get them and hand themover," she said. "And you know my husband has never blocked a record ever.He has been the most forthcoming of all presidents."
Three Iowa supporters of another candidate, Senator Barack Obama, ofIllinois, sent Mrs. Clinton, of New York, a letter Saturday, urging that sheexpedite the release of documents, to "be as open as possible with theAmerican people."
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301053.html
Democrats Appear to Resurge in Kentucky
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 4, 2007; A05
CADIZ, Ky. -- Republicans are making Steve Beshear's life look easy.
Beshear, a Democrat, is expected to sail past the GOP incumbent into theKentucky governor's mansion Tuesday, and Republicans in the Bluegrass Stateare already concerned about next year, when the White House is in play andSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) faces reelection.
No wonder Beshear bounded into the Cadiz Restaurant on Main Street lastweek, all smiles and confidence, his tie knotted tightly and his pennyloafers gleaming. A new statewide poll showed him with a 23 percentage-pointlead over Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R), an ordained minister whose ethicalchallenges have merged in voters' minds with frustration over Republicanleadership in Washington.
Beshear joked to an equally upbeat crowd that Fletcher is now called "thegreat unifier": unifying Democrats, Republicans and independents who want tothrow him out.
Four years ago, when Fletcher became the state's first GOP governor in threedecades, the mood in Kentucky's political parties was reversed. Kentuckyappeared reliably Republican and the Democrats were scrambling to fieldwinners. But recent results indicate fresh doubts.
Last year, progressive political newcomer John Yarmuth (D) took the northernKentucky seat of five-term Rep. Anne M. Northup (R). In 2004, DanielMongiardo, an unknown state senator now running for lieutenant governor withBeshear, came surprisingly close to beating Sen. Jim Bunning (R), 76.
Most analysts think it unlikely that McConnell could lose. But KentuckyDemocrats no longer think it out of the question. Beshear points toMcConnell's ties to Bush, his firm support of the Iraq war and his leadingrole in an unpopular Congress.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301115.html
Immigration, Democratic Shift Compete to Steer Va. Elections
By Amy Gardner and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 4, 2007; A01
Candidates for the Virginia General Assembly entered the final sprintyesterday toward a hard-fought election Tuesday in which two major forcesare likely to determine which party controls the Senate: the resurgence ofDemocrats in vote-rich Northern Virginia, and the Republican advantage inthe emotional debate over illegal immigration.
Dozens of candidates knocked on doors, phoned voters and held rallies toencourage their supporters to go to the polls Tuesday, when all 140 seats ofthe legislature will be decided, as well as county and school boardpositions throughout the state.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, former governor Mark R. Warner and U.S. Sen. JamesWebb, all Democrats, traveled to southern and southwest Virginia yesterdayto stump for candidates. Republicans, led by Attorney General Robert F.McDonnell, gathered in Fairfax County in an attempt to stem the Democratictide that has swept Northern Virginia in recent elections.
"I don't need to tell you that winning Fairfax County is the key to ourwinning the Virginia Senate and keeping strong leadership in the House,"said McDonnell, referring to the fact that three of the five closest Senateraces in the state are in Fairfax, where incumbent Republicans are trying tohang on in increasingly GOP-unfriendly districts.
Democrats have maintained all year that the Republicans' 23-17 majority inthe Senate is in jeopardy. Although Democrats don't expect to take controlof the Republican-heavy House of Delegates, they think they can gain as manyas six seats. That kind of swing could give Kaine more leverage to push hisprograms regarding such issues as protecting the environment, finding moneyfor an academic pre-kindergarten and reforming the state's mental healthsystem, which has been in the spotlight since the Virginia Tech shootings inApril. It also would dramatically shift power in the legislature to NorthernVirginia, whose lawmakers would control nearly all leadership and committeepositions in the Senate.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201783.html
What Burma's Junta Must Fear
By U Gambira
Sunday, November 4, 2007; B07
In August, the Burmese people began to write a new chapter in theirdetermination to find peace and freedom. Burmese monks peacefully protestedto bring change to our long-suffering country. As we marched, hundreds ofthousands of Burmese and our ethnic cousins joined us to reinforce ourcollective demand: that military rule finally give way to the people'sdesire for democracy.
Video and the Internet have allowed the world to witness the brutal responsedirected by Gen. Than Shwe, Burma's de facto ruler and military leader. ThanShwe unleashed his soldiers and the regime's thugs, who attacked us. Onceagain the streets in Rangoon and Mandalay ran red with the blood of innocentcivilians seeking o save our country from the moral, social, political andeconomic crises that onsume us.
Hundreds of our monks and nuns have been beaten and arrested. Many have eenmurdered. Alarmingly, thousands of clergy have disappeared. Our acredmonasteries have been looted and destroyed. As darkness falls each ight,intelligence units try to round up political and religious leaders.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201785.html
Congress's Unused War Powers
By George F. Will
Sunday, November 4, 2007; B07
Americans are wondering, with the lassitude of uninvolved spectators,whether the president will initiate a war with Iran. Some Democraticpresidential candidates worry, or purport to, that he might claim anauthorization for war in a Senate resolution labeling an IranianRevolutionary Guard unit a terrorist organization. Some Democraticrepresentatives oppose the president's request for $88 million to equip B-2stealth bombers to carry huge "bunker-buster" bombs, hoping to therebyimpede a presidential decision to attack Iran's hardened nuclear facilities.
While legislators try to leash a president by tinkering with a weapon, theyare ignoring a sufficient leash -- the Constitution. They are derelict intheir sworn duty to uphold it. Regarding the most momentous thing governmentdoes, make war, the constitutional system of checks and balances is broken.
Congress can, however, put the Constitution's bridle back on the presidency.Congress can end unfettered executive war-making by deciding to. That mightnot require, but would be facilitated by, enacting the Constitutional WarPowers Resolution. Introduced last week by Rep. Walter B. Jones, a NorthCarolina Republican, it technically amends but essentially would supplantthe existing War Powers Resolution, which has been a nullity ever since itwas passed in 1973 over President Richard Nixon's veto.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201781.html
How to Rein in Iran Without War
By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, November 4, 2007; B07
Iran is working to produce a 20-to-50-pound stockpile of enriched uraniumthat it can use to build atomic weapons within eight to 10 weeks, once itdecides to do so -- and has consistently lied to the United Nations aboutthose efforts.
That headline conclusion is one of two basic points that I draw from aseries of private meetings on Iran's nuclear ambitions involving diplomats,leading academic experts, senior military officers and experienced analystsfrom around the globe. The other: The impressive unity that the Bushadministration has established in imposing sanctions on Iran is frayingbecause of war fears and commercial pressures and temptations.
Held over the course of this year in Europe, China and Russia, theseunofficial traveling seminars provide a snapshot of international reactionto the unmistakable effort by Iran to develop nuclear weapons and to thethreats by President Bush and Vice President Cheney to prevent that fromhappening.
The conversations, organized by the London-based International Institute forStrategic Studies (IISS), have dealt in mind-numbing detail with Iran'suranium-enrichment program, diplomatic and military options open to theWest, and more. In Moscow two weeks ago, I was treated to several hours ofexplication on precisely how a subclause in a recent Russia-Kazakhstannuclear power treaty prevents Russia from demanding that Iran forsakeenriching uranium on its own territory.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300886.html
Two for Mr. Mukasey: Sens. Schumer and Feinstein buck the crowd.
Sunday, November 4, 2007; B06
THE HALLS of Congress are too often filled with cowardice and groupthink. Soit is reassuring when not one but two lawmakers show the moral fortitude todefy party politics to take a stand on principle.
Democratic Sens. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.)showed such courage Friday when they announced their support forattorney-general nominee Michael B. Mukasey. Both are members of theJudiciary Committee, which is scheduled to vote Tuesday on Mr. Mukasey'snomination. It is likely that their support salvaged Mr. Mukasey'snomination, imperiled because he would not state outright that theinterrogation method known as waterboarding, or simulated drowning, isillegal. While we, like Mr. Schumer, Ms. Feinstein and others, would havewished for such an answer, supplying it would have put Mr. Mukasey inconflict with Justice Department memos that likely allow the technique --memos that those who may have carried out or authorized waterboarding reliedon for legal protection. Both Mr. Schumer and Ms. Feinstein cited Mr.Mukasey's intellect, his stellar qualifications and his reputation for beingstraightforward and independent as reasons to support his nomination.
Nonetheless, that decision seems not to have been an easy one for eitherlawmaker, particularly Mr. Schumer, who recommended the former New Yorkfederal trial judge for the position. "When an administration, so political,so out of touch with the realities of governing and so contemptuous of therule of law is in charge, we are never left with an ideal choice. JudgeMukasey is not my ideal choice," Mr. Schumer said in a statement. But hesaid that given his integrity and independence, "Judge Mukasey . . . is farbetter than anyone could expect from this administration."
Both lawmakers also deserve credit for taking the occasion of announcingtheir support for Mr. Mukasey to renew their call for passage of legislationthat would once and for all unquestionably outlaw waterboarding and othertactics most Americans would recognize as torture. One such measure, theNational Security with Justice Act, would forbid U.S. military and civilianpersonnel from using any interrogation techniques not explicitly authorizedby the U.S. Army Field Manual on Intelligence Interrogation. The manual,which military officials say contains all the interrogation tools they needto procure reliable information from even difficult subjects, expresslyprohibits waterboarding. Many of the senators objecting to Mr. Mukasey couldhave embraced such a measure long ago. It's not too late now.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300888.html
A Bet Goes Sour: President Bush can hardly be surprised by Pakistan's state of emergency.
Sunday, November 4, 2007; B06
ON FRIDAY, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pleaded with Pakistan'spresident, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, not to declare a state of emergency.Yesterday, he declared a state of emergency, suspending the constitution.Did he not believe that the Bush administration really would object, or didhe not care?
If the former, his judgment would be understandable. From the start, theadministration has exempted Pakistan's dictator (among many others) fromPresident Bush's supposed commitment to democracy promotion, which is basedon the idea that freedom offers the most attractive alternative to Islamistextremism. Mr. Musharraf took power in a coup in 1999, promising to bring"true" democracy to his Muslim state. That promise, like many others -- togive up his uniform, for example -- was discarded. But with every brokenpromise, the administration was tolerant, even supportive, always citing thegeneral's claimed willingness to fight the extremists. Even yesterday, asthere was no mention of suspending military cooperation or otherwise givingmeaning to those words.
The irony is that Pakistan seems to be bearing witness to Mr. Bush'sprofessed belief that autocracy breeds more extremism. The Taliban andal-Qaeda have strengthened in parts of the country, rebuilding safe havensthey can use to plan attacks in Afghanistan, in Europe and beyond. They havemanaged to bring their battle to urban Pakistan in ways they never didbefore. The institutions that could have provided some defense againstextremism -- Pakistan's two largest political parties, the judicialsystem -- have been weakened by Mr. Musharraf in his desperation to cling topower. That was again his motive yesterday; he feared that the Supreme Courtwas about to rule that he was ineligible to serve another five-year term aspresident. His declaration, punctuated by arrests, the firing of the chiefjustice and the seizure of television networks, will further weakenmoderation and exacerbate Pakistan's crisis.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301153.html?hpid=topnews
Thompson Adviser Has Criminal Past
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 4, 2007; A01
Republican presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson has been crisscrossingthe country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by abusinessman and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing.
Thompson selected the businessman, Philip Martin, to raise seed money forhis White House bid. Martin is one of four campaign co-chairmen and the headof a group called the "first day founders." Campaign aides jokingly began torefer to Martin, who has been friends with Thompson since the early 1990s,as the head of "Thompson's Airforce."
Thompson's frequent flights aboard Martin's twin-engine Cessna 560 Citationhave saved him more than $100,000, because until the law changed inSeptember, campaign-finance rules allowed presidential candidates toreimburse private jet owners for just a fraction of the true cost offlights.
Martin entered a plea of guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in1979; the court withheld judgment pending completion of his probation. Hewas charged in 1983 with violating his probation and with multiple counts offelony bookmaking, cocaine trafficking and conspiracy. He pleaded no contestto the cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges, which stemmed from a planto sell $30,000 worth of the drug, and was continued on probation.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201650.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Why Her Dreams Crashed: Rice's Worldview Flipped, And Her Policies Flopped
By Fred Kaplan
Sunday, November 4, 2007; B01
As Condoleezza Rice jets around the world, she must sometimes wonder whereshe's going. Over her three years as secretary of state, she has squanderedgreat opportunities by putting faith and loyalty above her old worldview.The problem isn't just that she has swerved from the realism that propelledher to prominence; it's that the result has been a shambles.
Rice isn't used to failure, and most Americans aren't used to thinking ofher as one. In Beltway wisdom, she's the star of President Bush'ssecond-term team, someone who has employed smarts, sense and style to try tosteer a wiser course in the world. But if she is now veering back torealism, it's after too long a detour into post-9/11 messianism. Riceremains one of the architects of a fantasy foreign policy, and her record assecretary of state gives little hope that she'll be able to reverse thatverdict in the administration's final months.
The case against Condi starts with her dismal tenure as national securityadviser in Bush's first term -- perhaps the worst in the office's history.Her main task was to coordinate policy, but she was outmaneuvered at everyturn by the ruthless infighters around her, especially Vice President Cheneyand Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. So she focused on the job's othermandate: counseling the unschooled president on foreign affairs. As Bush'stutor in the 2000 campaign, she'd gained his trust, which became the basisof her power: When she spoke, everybody knew that she was speaking on Bush'sbehalf, not advancing her own agenda.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300427.html?hpid=sec-politics
Ohio Dems Hope to Cement 2006 Gains
By DAVID ESPO
The Associated Press
Saturday, November 3, 2007; 7:50 PM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The way Democrats figure it, they borrowed about 500,000voters in bellwether Ohio last year and ended more than a decade ofstatewide political frustration. Now they seek a more durable relationshipin time for the 2008 presidential election.
Their salesman of choice?
That would be Gov. Ted Strickland, off to a fast start as the state's firstDemocratic chief executive in 16 years, and the face of an attempt to remakethe party in his own soothing, centrist image.
As governor, he said in an interview in his statehouse office, "we've triedto avoid being overly partisan." As party builder, he said he wants to focuson "what I call the kitchen table issues ... the basic issues that areimportant to a family's quality of life."
Strickland's first budget passed with only one dissenting vote in theRepublican-controlled legislature. It included a property tax cut forseniors and the disabled as well as more money for higher education. It alsoprovided health insurance for children living in families with up to about$62,000 in income _ a bipartisan accomplishment that stands in contrast tothe veto struggle now unfolding in Washington over the same issue.
No Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio, andPresident Bush sealed his second term with a statewide victory of 118,601votes. Two years later, an estimated 563,000 Ohioans who supported Bushbacked Strickland for governor, and 442,000 of the president's voters helpedSherrod Brown topple Republican Sen. Mike DeWine.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110301095.html?hpid=sec-religion
Fugitives Find Relief in 'Safe Surrender'
Hundreds of Offenders Go to Face Judge
By Michelle Boorstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 4, 2007; C11
Over the past three days, more than 475 people have come to a NorthwestWashington church to turn themselves in to a government-run "safe surrenderprogram" for fugitives, including a man who walked from Landover, a womanwho had been wanted for 20 years for shoplifting and a father encouraged byhis son, who had just finished a 15-year prison sentence.
John Carrington Jr., 39, said he held his father's hand as the two walkedinto Bible Way Church on Friday. John Carrington Sr. had been facing a drugpossession misdemeanor for three years but didn't want to turn himself inuntil his son got out, "so we could be together without any bars betweenus," Carrington said yesterday.
"When I heard about this program on the radio, I said, 'Dad, I heardsomething that I think is really meant for us,' " said the youngerCarrington, who was released three weeks ago. He was convicted of possessionof a firearm during a violent crime.
Like dozens of others who filed into Bible Way's basement, the elderCarrington went before a robed judge in a makeshift courtroom, where the62-year-old, of Northeast Washington, pleaded guilty and was given sixmonths' probation.
An additional 55 people turned themselves in to the courts after hearingabout the Fugitive Safe Surrender program, which is being run by the U.S.Marshals Service in Washington and five other cities. It aims to enticenonviolent offenders with favorable consideration of their cases on neutralground.
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The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/03/AR2007110300146.html
Why You Pay Social Security Benefit Taxes
By Martha M. Hamilton
Sunday, November 4, 2007; F01
I see Jack Woodard almost every Sunday when I pick up my mother at herapartment building. Woodard works at the building one day a week, and forseveral months, he's been asking me a question I couldn't answer.
"Tell me something," he would say. "Tell me why I have to pay taxes on mySocial Security when I've already paid taxes on it."
During the week, Woodard, 73, is an addiction counselor for the Departmentof Veterans Affairs, and he plans to work two more years so he can collecthigher retirement benefits. Then he hopes to move to Honolulu where hisdaughter and her husband live.
He has been working a long time -- "since I was knee-high to a duck," as hesays. At age 9 he was helping bricklayers and other laborers at constructionsites operated by his dad, who was a contractor. He has been working eversince and paying taxes on his earnings, including the portion that went intoSocial Security.
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Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-wills4nov04,0,7799993.story?coll=la-opinion-center
Abortion isn't a religious issue
Evangelicals are adamant, but religion really has nothing to say about theissue.
By Garry Wills
November 4, 2007
What makes opposition to abortion the issue it is for each of the GOPpresidential candidates is the fact that it is the ultimate "wedge issue" --it is nonnegotiable. The right-to-life people hold that it is as strong apoint of religion as any can be. It is religious because the SixthCommandment (or the Fifth by Catholic count) says, "Thou shalt not kill."For evangelical Christians, in general, abortion is murder. That is why whatothers think, what polls say, what looks practical does not matter for them.One must oppose murder, however much rancor or controversy may ensue.
But is abortion murder? Most people think not. Evangelicals may argue thatmost people in Germany thought it was all right to kill Jews. But theparallel is not valid. Killing Jews was killing persons. It is notdemonstrable that killing fetuses is killing persons. Not even evangelicalsact as if it were. If so, a woman seeking an abortion would be the mostculpable person. She is killing her own child. But the evangelical communitydoes not call for her execution.
About 10% of evangelicals, according to polls, allow for abortion in thecase of rape or incest. But the circumstances of conception should notchange the nature of the thing conceived. If it is a human person, killingit is punishing it for something it had nothing to do with. We do not killpeople because they had a criminal parent.
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Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-jindal_thinknov04,0,6233325,print.story
THAT'S BOBBY, NOT BARACK
GOP trailblazer has a life story to rival Obama's
By Jay J. Chaudhuri
November 4, 2007
Who's the skinny brown kid with a funny name, a son of immigrants who couldbe president of the United States one day?
Barack Obama? You're only half right.
Try Piyush "Bobby" Jindal, a 36-year-old Indian-American who late last monthwas elected governor of Louisiana.
While political reporters have amply charted Obama's meteoric rise fromIllinois state senator to United States senator to Democratic candidate forpresident, they have given us only a glimpse of an equally compellingbiography and background with Jindal.
Both men are second-generation Americans with fathers who came from pooragrarian backgrounds in developing countries. Both excelled academically tonational acclaim. Obama became the first African-American president of TheHarvard Law Review. Jindal was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship after graduatingwith a perfect grade point average from Brown University.
Both men gave back to their communities at an early age. Obama became acommunity activist at 24; Jindal became Louisiana's state secretary ofhealth and hospitals at 24.
And both arrived at their Christian faith after soul-searching.
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