North Korea launched a long-range rocket this weekend, just hours before a Prague speech by President Obama in which he outlined his plans for a nuclear-free world. The New York Times reports a UN Security Council meeting yesterday "ended without any action being taken," because, says the Washington Post, China and Russia "were not convinced that Pyongyang had violated any UN rules." US officials, according to the Los Angeles Times, said "the launch violated terms of a 2006 UN resolution that imposed sanctions on the North after it tested a nuclear device."
The Washington Post says the launch "poses a critical test of...Obama's leadership on a major foreign policy crisis," and the Los Angeles Times adds that North Korea may "want to send a message" to Obama, and "bring the US to the bargaining table for one-on-one talks." The AP reports the State Department "said Washington would take 'appropriate steps.'" The New York Times reports that "hours after North Korea's missile test," Obama "quickly began talks with senior officials," including Secretary of State Clinton, "who offered up the now famous 'It's 3 a.m. and the telephone rings' campaign advertisement that was meant to show that Mr. Obama was not prepared to deal with an international crisis."
McClatchy says that the President "had long scheduled the speech on his broad vision for cutting and eliminating the nuclear threat." The AP reports Obama declared "the future of mankind at stake," and "dismissed those who say the spread of nuclear weapons...cannot be checked." The Wall Street Journal reports Obama outlined a strategy that "commits the US to take the lead in reducing its nuclear-weapons stockpile in a bid to gain Russian and Chinese support for curbing the mounting proliferation threats posed by North Korea and Iran." The Financial Times says the speech contained "the most sweeping set of arms control proposals by a US president in decades." The Politico says Obama "proposed...reducing America's arsenal, if not altogether eliminating it."
Obama Reaction Criticized The Politico reports, "Hard-line critics say North Korea's move makes the president's no-nukes aspirations all the more unrealistic, even dangerous." The Hill notes former House Speaker Newt Gingrich "said he would have taken pre-emptive measures to prevent" the launch. Former UN ambassador John Bolton, in the Wall Street Journal, writes, "incredibly," Special Envoy Stephen Bosworth "revealed...that he was ready to visit Pyongyang and resume the six-party talks once the 'dust from the missiles settles.' It is no wonder the North fired away." The Wall Street Journal editorializes, "Kim has every reason to expect that he will eventually get what he wants -- more recognition, more money and energy supplies" and "his nukes and missiles too." According to The Politico, "American voters across lines of age, party and gender support a military approach to eliminate North Korea's nuclear capabilities, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey." 57% "support such a response, while just 15 percent oppose it."
Experts: Test Was A Failure The Washington Post notes that "about four hours after the launch," North Korea said the satellite was in orbit," but the US and South Korea "said that the satellite had not reached orbit." The Wall Street Journal reports the rocket "flew for about 13 minutes and plunged into the Pacific Ocean 790 miles east of Japan."
During his speech on nuclear disarmament yesterday in Prague, President Obama addressed the ongoing standoff over Iran's nuclear program. His comments on Iran received limited attention, as coverage largely focused on North Korea and what the Chicago Tribune refers to as Obama's vow "to pursue the elimination of nuclear weapons from the planet." The Politico, however, notes that during his speech, "Obama reiterated his campaign pledge to engage the Tehran regime, winning applause for saying, 'We believe in dialogue.'" But he also "said that they if they did not agree to inspections, Iran would face 'isolation, international pressure, and a potential nuclear arms race in the region that will increase insecurity for all.' And Obama said he would continue to pursue a missile-defense system in Europe as long as the Iranian nuclear threat existed but suggested he would abandon it if Iran abandoned its nuclear pursuits."
AFP notes Obama said yesterday, "The Czech Republic and Poland have been courageous in agreeing to host a defence against these missiles. As long as the threat from Iran persists, we intend to go forward with a missile defence system that is cost-effective and proven." The Hill says "Obama is banking on Russian cooperation to convince Iran to shut down its nuclear program, thus rendering the missile defense system unnecessary."
Obama Didn't Demand Iranian Nuclear Program's End CBS Evening News reported, "Iran's nuclear program has also been a source of concern for the US. But in his speech today, the President did not specifically call on Iran to stop enriching uranium. That's an apparent change in official US policy." The New York Times editorializes that under Bush, Iran "brilliantly exploited international divisions to ward off significant sanctions. The difference now is that Mr. Obama is making a serious effort to find common ground with Iran on Afghanistan and Iraq and to dispel the Bush-era threat of regime change." The Wall Street Journal , meanwhile, notes in an editorial that "in a meeting Thursday at the Journal, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told us that 'there is a leadership in Israel that is not going to tolerate' a nuclear Iran. ... When we asked him whether Israel was capable of inflicting meaningful damage to Iran's nuclear installations, his answer was a simple 'Yes.'"
Media coverage of Treasury Secretary Geithner's appearance on CBS' Face The Nation highlighted his willingness to seek the ouster of banking sector executives -- just days after GM CEO Rick Wagoner was removed. The Financial Times reports in a front page story that Secretary Geithner "said the Obama administration would be prepared to force out senior management to protect US taxpayers, and ensure accountability, as a condition for providing money to help banks restructure."
On CBS's Face The Nation, Geithner said, "Where the government has asked, like in Fannie and Freddie, or like in AIG, where we've had to do exceptional things to stabilize them, we have replaced the management and the board. We've done that because we want to make sure that taxpayers' assistance is going to make these companies stronger, make sure there's accountability. Make sure it comes with strong conditions. We'll do that in the future if that is necessary. It's a single standard, a single principle."
The New York Times reports Geithner "said the chief executives of the American International Group, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had been removed after it became clear the companies could not survive without government rescues." The AP reports Geithner "denied there was a double standard and put banks on notice that they may need to change leadership teams in exchange for accepting more money in the future."
Meanwhile, The Hill reports the "unemployment rate may have reached a 25-year high this week and appears likely to rise further," but Secretary Geithner "said he sees 'encouraging signs' indicating the U.S. economy is on the rebound." Geithner said, "Progress is not going to be even. We're going to have fits and starts. There is going to be a period where it is going to feel very bad still and very uncertain."
Asked on CBS's Face The Nation if he thinks it is likely that the Administration will ask Congress for an additional round of stimulus spending, Secretary Geithner hedged repeatedly before answering, "I can't make that judgment at this time. Our first priority now is to move on the programs that Congress has passed and put those in place as quickly as possible."
In a related story, the Wall Street Journal reports top federal bank regulators "plan to meet early this week to discuss how to analyze the results of stress tests being conducted on the country's 19 largest banks, people familiar with the matter said." At this week's "meetings on the stress tests, regulators also are expected to discuss how new changes to accounting rules might affect each bank's performance in the tests."
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New York's Glens Falls Post-Star reported over the weekend that Jim Tedisco "will resign as the Assembly Republican minority leader after the razor-thin 20th Congressional District race left him tied with Democrat Scott Murphy." Both candidates "now have 77,225 votes, after Dutchess, Delaware, Otsego, Rensselaer and Warren counties announced revised totals." The Adirondack Daily Enterprise reports there "were 292 absentee ballots in Essex County and 10,162 throughout the district, most of which won't be counted until next week. About 6,000 have been returned so far."
The New York Times reports Tedisco "is so optimistic about winning the deadlocked race for Congress from upstate New York that he was giving up his coveted job as minority leader of the State Assembly." But "fed-up fellow Republicans were about to shove him out if he didn't jump first, several assemblymen said, out of pent-up anger at his insistence on keeping the leadership post, and its perks, despite his time-consuming pursuit of the Congressional seat."
USA Today reports a panel of three Minnesota state judges is set to begin counting "the last big batch of contested ballots in a case that has tested the state's reputation for efficient government." Democrat Al Franken "was 225 votes ahead of former Republican senator Norm Coleman after a recount of nearly 2.9 million votes cast Nov. 4. Each won 42% of the vote; 15% went to independent Dean Barkley."
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is applying lessons learned from the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race, the Washington Post reports. In the Virginia race, McAuliffe, who managed Clinton's campaign, is "employing many of the same tactics" successfully used by the Obama campaign. McAuliffe "is reaching out to new voters, exploiting new technology and casting himself as a fresh-faced outsider. He is not taking any region for granted, is targeting African Americans and is swarming communities with paid organizers."
The Politico reports former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio "is considering running for the Senate whether or not Gov. Charlie Crist ultimately decides to run, according to a source familiar with his thinking." Rubio, "who previously said he would run for governor if Crist jumped in the Senate race, has shifted his thinking since the governor made some decisions that have been met with anger from the party's conservative base."
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Jay Leno: "See, a lot of Americans don't understand the role of the Queen," who "is merely a figurehead. She wields no real political power," or, "as we call it in this country, the Vice President."
Jay Leno: "Well, you know what's interesting over the years" is "to watch the contrasting styles of US presidents when they meet royalty. For example," President Obama "always refers to the Queen as 'Her Majesty,' whereas President Bush used to call her 'The Queenster.'"
David Letterman: Top Ten Signs Your Kid Is In Al Qaeda: "10. His name: Mike Jenkins -- now goes by Mike bin Jenkins.
9. Runs inside for cover whenever a satellite flies overhead.
8. His chemistry tutor? Chemical Ali.
7. If he doesn't like what's for dinner, he throws a shoe at you.
6. On invitation to his birthday party, he wrote 'No Kurds.'
5. Hides in his room and communicates through randomly-released audiotaped messages.
4. Yearbook declares him 'Most likely to defeat the American jackals in the name of Allah.'
3. Asks to go to sleepaway camp in Peshawar, Pakistan.
2. Happiest day of his life: When Ayman Al Zawahiri showed up at his Bar Mitzvah.
1. Instead of Hannah Montana, he has a crush on Pooja Fallujah."
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