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Walls Are Nothing New In Iraq
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2007 CommentA proposed 3-mile wall in Iraq that would have partitioned off a Sunni enclave in Baghdad from the surrounding Shiite neighborhoods has invited a storm of controversy from top Iraqi lawmakers, who see it as segregating the neighborhoods by religious sect. U.S. military officials who back the project say that reports have been exaggerated.
It remains unclear whether the 12-foot-high wall will be constructed. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said the U.S. military would "respect the wishes" of the Iraqi government, while a spokesman for the Iraqi military said construction would continue.
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Effort to Draft Condi Rice Picks Up Steam
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2007 CommentThis item comes to us from Whispers Editor Paul Bedard:
An effort to get Secretary of State Condi Rice's name on key GOP primary ballots is picking up steam now that she has emerged as a top-three pick on several state and county straw polls. Crystal Dueker, spokeswoman for www.thinkcondi.net, said today that polls in key states, especially in the South, have Rice high.
"Her 90 percent name identification is worth $10 million in advertising, and she also has a 58 percent job approval. Whenever her name is included in national polls, she is at 10 percent or more," said Dueker. The group is already looking to the South and West to get Rice's name on the ballots. Dueker said that a "southern strategy" is obvious because Rice is from the South, a region that also supports the president's efforts in Iraq. She added that Rice appears popular in California.
"She is a rock star to the people of her home state," said Dueker. "Likewise, when her name was placed on the 2006 convention straw poll in San Jose, she was the top choice. It shows that California is in play with her on the 2008 ticket."
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Dems See Violence in Iraq as Hurting McCain; Giuliani Is Biggest Worry
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2007 CommentAssociate Editor Bret Schulte brings us this item:
As the violence in Iraq continues despite greater troop presence, Democratic strategists see Republican candidates facing an increasingly daunting task of keeping the White House after 2008. Most vulnerable, insiders say, is John McCain, the staunchest supporter of the war among GOP candidates. Once seen as the inevitable GOP nominee, his campaign is faltering badly. While plenty believe he'll turn his luck around--his campaign staff is stocked with former Bush campaign people--others see it as nearly finished.
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The YouTube Wars Meet Official Washington
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2007 CommentYouTube will probably always be ruled by amateurs, but that isn't preventing organized politics from getting in--finally--on the phenomenon of user-submitted video. Within 24 hours of each other, both the Democratic and Republican national committees released video potshots on the popular site.
The DNC's video, "Total Recall," is a three-minute compilation of C-SPAN clips of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales delivering variations on "I don't recall," presumably in response to his role in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. The RNC's video, "Reid's White Flag," intersperses quotes from prominent Republicans and military leaders defending the war in Iraq with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying, "This war is lost," a statement that won him considerable criticism last week.
But as we pointed out a few weeks ago, the Democrats still have a distinct upper hand when it comes to Internet activism. As of noon today, the DNC's video had been viewed over 15,000 times, while the RNC's video had been viewed fewer than 200 times.
--Chris Wilson
"Total Recall" (DNC) "Reid's White Flag" (RNC) -
A Look Back at Boris Yeltsin
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2007 CommentBoris Yeltsin, Russia's first elected president after the collapse of the Soviet Union, died today at age 76. Here's a look back at a few articles from the U.S.News & World Report archives about the Russian ruler:
- A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing, April 16, 2000
- Kremlin Gilt -- or Is It Guilt?, September 12, 1999
- Boris Is Back (for a Few Hours), December 13, 1998
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Morning Buzz: April 23, 2007
Tweet Share on Facebook April 23, 2007 CommentThis morning's top stories:
- At least 27 people are dead in Iraq in three separate suicide bombing attempts around the country.
- A close presidential race in France between conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and socialist Segolene Royal has advanced to the second round of runoff voting.
- California Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald died of cancer on Saturday evening in her home in Carson.
- The case of the missing honeybees--the exodus of millions of bees for unknown reasons, leaving valuable crops unpollinated--has scientists mystified.
- Iranian authorities are cracking down on women who they deem are dressing casually, issuing thousands of warnings and arresting dozens.
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Gunman Slipped Through Inconsistencies in State, Federal Laws
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2007 CommentInconsistencies between state and federal laws allowed Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung-Hui to purchase guns legally despite his record of exhibiting signs of a dangerous mental illness. But even if it had been illegal for Cho to buy the handguns, Virginia law would have been powerless to prosecute the dealer who sold them--both issues of the state law that at least one leader in the state legislature says will be "of significant debate" in the next legislative session.
At issue in Cho's case is the difference between being deemed by a judge as a "danger to himself or to others"--the standard for prohibition according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives--and actually being committed against one's will to a mental health facility, the threshold for prohibition in Virginia. (See the federal and state statutes).
Furthermore, the Virginia Code only outlines punishments for the illegal sale of firearms to convicted felons or those acquitted of a crime for reasons of insanity, neither of which applied to Cho. (See statute.)
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Johnson Space Center Evacuated
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2007 CommentBuilding 44 of the Johnson Space Center was evacuated this afternoon after reports of a gunman inside, Houston police said. The building houses communications and tracking development laboratory, the AP reports.
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Republicans See Gonzales as Weak Link for '08
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2007 CommentThere's another reason--discussed privately but rarely cited in public--that so many Republican senators are upset with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, reports Chief White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh.
More and more lawmakers are concluding that he has become such a weak advocate for conservative policies that he won't be an effective defender of those policies in the 2008 campaign, when the GOP will need all the help it can get to defend seats and try to recapture control of Congress.
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Democrats on Hill Expect Vetoproof Troop-Funding Bill, but It's Months Away
Tweet Share on Facebook April 20, 2007 CommentChief White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh reports:
Democratic congressional leaders remain confident that, over the long term, they will send President Bush a vetoproof measure establishing benchmarks for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. But that bill won't happen for months.
With Wednesday's White House meeting between Bush and the Democrats failing to break the current stalemate, it seems clear that the House and Senate will send the president combined legislation to fund the Iraq war that contains a timetable for withdrawal. He promises to veto it.
