Republican presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani’s trip to
London covered on MSNBC.
** REPUBLICAN MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO BACKS GAY MARRIAGE. In a fascinating development, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican who was the city’s chief of police for most of the ’90s, has just reversed his previous position and come out in favor of gay and lesbian marriage. Acknowledging for the first time that his daughter is a lesbian and saying that she deserves the right to marry as much as anyone who is heterosexual in his or her orientation, Sanders agreed to sign a resolution passed by the San Diego City Council to file a friend of the court brief in favor of expanding marriage rights. The move comes as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a longtime advocate of gay and lesbian rights, again vows to veto a bill that would legalize gay and lesbian marriage in California, citing the defeat of the issue at the California polls at the beginning of this decade. But the times, they may be a-changing.
** CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATIVE FEUD SURFACES. The long-festering feud between legislative leaders Fabian Nunez in the Assembly and Don Perata in the Senate is coming to the fore on water policy. (Though the AP story lacks that perspective.) Perata wants a water bond on the February primary ballot. Nunez says it can wait, maybe, until November 2008.
Here is a thought, gentlemen. At this rate, despite all the terrific accomplishments, you will both be the lamest of ducks in November 2008, while of course NWN remains.
Despite many promises, you failed on redistricting reform. (Of course, the Republicans got cold feet there, too, but they are nowhere near being in charge.) Health care reform is iffy, looking presently like a Rube Goldberg construct. One thing the state actually needs in order to function is a highly reliable supply of water. Get something done. That is, if you want the term limits change initiative to pass next February. From the polls I have, which you may or may not have, California voters are not happy with you.
** JIM WEBB BILL FALLS SHORT IN U.S. SENATE. Virginia Senator Jim Webb’s bill to short-circuit the Iraq military build-up by requiring that US troops spend as much time in the US as they do on deployment in Iraq not surprisingly fell four votes short of the 60 it needs in the Senate to cut off debate on the issue. The vote was 56-44. This is is the most moderate of the bills tried by Democrats to curtail the Iraq War. But it only attracted a handful of Republican votes, with the rest still frozen in place by General David Petraeus’s argument last week for more time.
Webb, the most high-decorated Marine combat officer of the Vietnam War, is a best-selling novelist who served as secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration. His hopes on the bill were dashed when fellow Virginian John Warner, also a former secretary of the Navy, switched from supporting the bill to opposing. Warner, the former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman who has become a reluctant critic of the Iraq War, is retiring at the end of next year.
** CIA GROUNDED IN IRAQ. Meanwhile, PJ Media Washington columnist Richard Miniter reports that CIA officers in Iraq, like State Department officials in Iraq, are pinned down in the Green Zone of Baghdad by the grounding of Blackwater security operatives following the weekend incident we’ve been following. The mighty CIA, now dependent on private security contractors to protect them as they attempt to travel the streets of a major capital city the US military conquered over four years ago.
** BLACKWATER CRISIS. A joint US-Iraqi commission on the Blackwater situation is being formed. Over the weekend, security personnel from the controversial private security firm killed some 10 Iraqi civilians as they escorted a US State Department motorcade through the streets of Baghdad. The Blackwater personnel say they came under attack. Iraqis say no. The Iraqi prime minister labeled Blackwater a menace and the Iraqi interior ministry revoked Blackwater’s license to operate in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Blackwater will continue to guard State Department personnel. The State Department and other US officials in Iraq rely on Blackwater — rather than US military or State Department protective services personnel. But they have been instructed not to travel outside the so-called Green Zone enclave inside Baghdad.
** CLINTON AND SCHWARZENEGGER. Appearing together this in morning in a live webcast from Columbia Middle School in El Monte, east of downtown Los Angeles, former President Bill Clinton and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that they are co-chairing the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to promote healthier lifestyles for children. The two, accompanied by the president of the American Heart Association, appeared about 50 minutes later than scheduled after touring the school and its facilities.
Clinton praised Schwarzenegger for having the best child fitness and nutrition policies in the country. For his part, Schwarzenegger, in an energized and jocular mood, noted that he and the president have much in common, both coming from small towns and being married to “women who look a lot better than we do on television.”
Clinton, ever the master analyst of political performance, had a familiar appraising look on his face while Schwarzenegger spoke, and frequently peered at the governor’s text, the better to compare what was written there with what Schwarzenegger actually said.
The two both talked up the school’s weight room and how active and fit the children looked as they performed their morning exercises. Both spoke of a spreading obesity crisis around the country, with Schwarzenegger in particular imploring the school children before them to live healthy lifestyles, while Clinton, once the overweight boy in the school band, said that he can identify with people grabbing on to food, a still very affordable pleasure compared to others, one all too readily available in a society with increasingly sedentary lifestyles.
The governor said that, over the paast decade, Californians have gained 360 million pounds. (Presumably compared to a similar sample the decade before. One of three children and one of four teens he deemed overweight or at-risk of obesity. “Second only to tobacco,” said Schwarzenegger, “obesity is a leading cause of preventable death among Californians and costs the state $28.5 billion in health care costs, lost productivity and workers’ compensation.”
** CALIFORNIA BLACK CAUCUS MYSTERY. Last week, the California Legislature’s Black Caucus voted to endorse Barack Obama for president. Yesterday, two members who voted to endorse Obama reversed themselves and endorsed Hillary Clinton. They are current caucus chairman Mervyn Dymally of LA, who had a chilly relationship with then Governor Jerry Brown during his one term as lieutenant governor in the 1970s, and Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, once chief of staff to Ron Dellums. I haven’t heard a credible explanation for the shift. But I’ll bet one of you knows what’s at the bottom of this little mystery.
** GIULIANI IN LONDON: NO IRANIAN NUKES. Now in London to give the inaugural Margaret Thatcher Atlantic Bridge lecture and receive a medal from the former prime minister, now baroness, Rudy Giuliani said today that under no circumstances should Iran be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
Giuliani had a public meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a private meeting with former Prime Minister Tony Blair, now the special Mideast envoy. Giuliani, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2002 for his leadership of New York during 9/11, is clearly making the rounds in London.
But it is his linkage with Thatcher that may be most valuable. The former prime minister, a great ally of Ronald Reagan, may be the greatest conservative icon remaining. Fred Thompson, who went to London in July and also delivered an address there, also met with Thatcher but appeared to come away empty-handed. Giuliani is picking up some of Thatcher’s foreign policy advisors, along with his award and high-profile lectureship.
** UPDATE: SCHWARZENEGGER AND CLINTON WEBCAST TO START AT 9:45 AM. Let’s see, Schwarzenegger is well-known for being late, Clinton is well-known for being late …
** SCHWARZENEGGER AND CLINTON IN LIVE WEBCAST AT 9:15 AM. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former President Bill Clinton join forces this morning at a middle school in El Monte, several miles east of Los Angeles, in a new partnership to promote healthier living for schoolchildren. The two will announce that they are co-leaders of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.
They should be touring the school now and will appear in a live webcast set of addresses at 9:15 AM.
** AL QAEDA’S AMERICAN PRISONERS STILL NOT LOCATED. American troops are now in the midst of a 127th day of searching for the remaining two US soldiers captured by Al Qaeda in an ambush south of Baghdad. They have had no luck so far. A video put out by Al Qaeda forces in Iraq claims that all three men were executed after being captured. But, with the exception of the Californian found floating in the Euphrates River, that claim can’t be confirmed. The US high command in Baghdad has revealed that ID cards for the other two American prisoners were found in an Al Qaeda safehouse on June 9th.
** Track global and national energy prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Crude oil prices, which hit a new record yesterday, are rising again, now in the $82 to $83 per barrel range.
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My understanding is they are usually ex-military special ops — Army, Navy, Marines — who receive the special training and experience and then are lost to a private outfit like Blackwater that pays more.
But they only do what Blackwater is hired to do. And these guys frequently have higher skill sets than are needed to provide security for diplomats and spooks.
Meanwhile, the US military loses its return on investment and lacks control over what they do.
I heard Villaraigosa and Nunez pulled deals with Dymally and Swanson to switch them from Obama to Clinton.
That sounds right.
CIA stuck in the “Green Zone.” Can anyone say, pathetic?
How about, unfortunate and unseemly?
This is one embarassing situation.
If anyone wants to see “The End of Baghdad” read Frank Snepp’s “Decent Interval” about the fall of Saigon. While we don’t have the commies waiting to invade, I see a certain repetition of events.
Good book.
Good book.
Re the Webb Amdt. Harry Reid should have called their bluff and kept the debate going and going and going. Let’s see “Huckleberry” Graham and Warner and Speter and Lugar and all the other chickenshits so afraid of mr 29% that they’ll throw the troops under the bus!
Re the Webb Amdt. Harry Reid should have called their bluff and kept the debate going and going and going. Let’s see “Huckleberry” Graham and Warner and Speter and Lugar and all the other chickenshits so afraid of mr 29% that they’ll throw the troops under the bus!
After Monday’s Prison Break was the premiere of K-Ville – a Miami Vice type of show set in the mostly abandoned lawless post-Katrina New Orleans.
The timing was too funny – The villains were Gulf war ’91 veterans who recently made big bucks working for “Blackriver”, providing security in Iraq. Monday they were employed providing casino security, shooting up everyone who got in the way of their crooked plot to buy up lots of cheap land to keep blacks from returning.
Not a good week for Blackwater.
After Monday’s Prison Break was the premiere of K-Ville – a Miami Vice type of show set in the mostly abandoned lawless post-Katrina New Orleans.
The timing was too funny – The villains were Gulf war ’91 veterans who recently made big bucks working for “Blackriver”, providing security in Iraq. Monday they were employed providing casino security, shooting up everyone who got in the way of their crooked plot to buy up lots of cheap land to keep blacks from returning.
Not a good week for Blackwater.
Gay/lesbian marriage is in our future. Why not make it part of the present?
Gay/lesbian marriage is in our future. Why not make it part of the present?
Gay/lesbian marriage is in our future. Why not make it part of the present?
Sorry for the double- posting.
A little voice keeps telling me the Blackwater incident, which seems not particularly unique, has been seized upon either to send a pushback message to the US for leaning too hard on the Iraqis, or perhaps even a sincere step toward showing us the door? (please?)
I still think Arnold was setting-up the legislature for failure on the big three items of the year. If he doesn’t get at least one, I bet he goes to the ballot with all three. He’ll win those and legislators will lose term limits.
America must stop in Iraq.
More Guiliani video coming?
Not today.
That may be. It’s certainly a huge, even shocking, achilles heel.
>Wilbur :
A little voice keeps telling me the Blackwater incident, which seems not particularly unique, has been seized upon either to send a pushback message to the US for leaning too hard on the Iraqis, or perhaps even a sincere step toward showing us the door? (please?)
Sep 19, 2007 10:17 PM
How do we think Arnold was setting up the Legislature for failure?
>Brasky :
I still think Arnold was setting-up the legislature for failure on the big three items of the year. If he doesn’t get at least one, I bet he goes to the ballot with all three. He’ll win those and legislators will lose term limits.
Sep 19, 2007 10:29 PM
I agree with the San Diego mayor. If two people love each other and want the marriage certificate, I don’t see the problem?
I agree with the San Diego mayor. If two people love each other and want the marriage certificate, I don’t see the problem?
Arnold picked 3 things that would be big wins for him, but almost impossible for our current legislature to pass (2/3 vote + polarized legislature).
If he wins, he wins. If he loses, he goes to the ballot and he wins.
Arnold picked 3 things that would be big wins for him, but almost impossible for our current legislature to pass (2/3 vote + polarized legislature).
If he wins, he wins. If he loses, he goes to the ballot and he wins.
P.S. – Passing a comprehensive water package that has bipartisan support is impossible.
Actually, what you’re saying is that the Legislature is fundamentally dysfunctional.
With that as a premise, asking it to do anything major is “setting it up.”
But since Schwarzenegger actually wants to do major things, setting up the Legislature is not his goal.
Actually, what you’re saying is that the Legislature is fundamentally dysfunctional.
With that as a premise, asking it to do anything major is “setting it up.”
But since Schwarzenegger actually wants to do major things, setting up the Legislature is not his goal.
I think you can get major things done in the legislature, just not those three things.
What’s the legislature’s history in passing water, redistricting and health care reforms?
Water can’t be done, because of surface storage. Not going to happen with it, not going to happen without it.
Redistricting can’t be done for a lot of reasons, few of them to do with policy.
Health care? Well, health care = taxes. Enough said.
Workers compensation, infrastructure – these kinds of things can be done with this legislature. Those are important, big things. But there is enough wiggle room here and there for a back and forth and horse trading can occur. Prison reform could probably be done by the legislature.
Each of the three things Arnold put on HIS agenda this year suffer from very immutable barriers.
Anyone short of Arnold would not be able to get them done. Arnold might be able to do one of them done. But because he’s Arnold, he can turn that failure into victory through the ballot.
A few too many excuses, there, I think.
The capitol has never been short of excuses.
Redistricting – 1990 and 2000 were a joke (except for the court intervention). As long as the national democrats have a line drawn in the sand, we are at a standstill. And now republicans are having their own issues, so both ends of the boat are leaking.
Water – we’ve been having some version of the same problem (where does it go and who pays for it) for hundreds of years. Putting less water and more people in the state makes it harder, not easier, to pass these things.
Health care – that’s a minefield. Taxes, regulations, benefits, life and death – pretty much everything that is anathema to politicians finding real solutions.
These are all really important things – we need solutions to all of them. I’m just pessimistic that we can get 2/3 of the legislature to sing Cumbya at the signing ceremony. The hard fact is, most of these issues will have to be decided at the ballot.
Kill ‘em all.