MOGADISHU, Somalia - Gunmen in Somalia kidnapped three people a Swede, a Dane and a Somali working with a U.N. program to clear land mines in the volatile east African country, officials and residents said.
Some people just don't deserve to be helped. Pull every single aid worker out of Somalia today.
The gunmen abducted them in the town of Hudur, which is in the southwestern Bakol region, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) northwest of the capital, Mogadishu, authorities said. Five Somali soldiers were wounded during the kidnapping, Bakol Deputy Governor Sheik Hassan Ibrahim said. He said the three work with a U.N. program to clear land mines.
Residents said the gunmen were Islamic insurgents and that they had taken over the town. But officials disputed that version, saying the gunmen were unidentified and they had not seized Hudur. Ibrahim said Somali government soldiers were patrolling the town's streets.
Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Andre Mkandawire said the two kidnapped foreigners were a Swede and a Dane, but he could not immediately provide further details.
Update: they got released a few hours later. Apparently some well-armed 'elders' talked some sense into the kidnappers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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EL-ARISH, Egypt - Egyptian police shot dead two Africans, one a seven-year-old girl, in the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday as they tried to cross the border illegally into Israel, a security official said.
Officers opened fire on a group that included the child, a Sudanese, and a man in his thirties whose nationality was not immediately known, killing both on the spot, the official told AFP. The girl's mother who was not hit by bullets was arrested, added the official under cover of anonymity. He said police had fired on the group because they failed to stop when ordered to do so.
The latest deaths take to 16 the number of migrants killed by Egyptian police on the border with Israel this year, he added. Over the past year Egypt has arrested dozens of illegal immigrants, mostly Africans, trying to cross into Israel from the Sinai in search of work. The 250-kilometre (155-mile) frontier between the two countries is notoriously porous and is often used by drugs smugglers and people traffickers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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President Robert Mugabe faces humiliation as hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans defied intimidation and refused to vote in his unopposed re-election. Despite threats from Mr Mugabe's thugs to beat those who refused to vote, many polling stations in the capital Harare had not seen a single ballot cast three hours after opening. Others remained virtually empty and many of those who did vote simply spoiled their ballot papers. Mr Mugabe's militiamen warned they would launch "Operation Red Finger", targeting anyone whose left little finger is not stained with the ink used to indicate who has voted. But observers estimated that turnout was between a quarter and a third of the level seen in the first round on March 29.
Throughout the day, state television insisted that a huge turnout was taking place, attributing the absence of queues to a hitherto unknown efficiency among election officials. However, ZBC's Freedom Moyo, its reporter in Bulawayo, defied the station's remit by telling the nation: "There are very few people. People have listened to Tsvangirai's call to boycott the election." He was not heard from again. In rural areas, where monitors are few, reports emerged of coerced voting, with some all-night indoctrination sessions taking place outside polling stations. On Harare's western outskirts, militia from Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party rounded up hundreds of people and forced them to the polling stations.
MDC sources said that while they hoped for a low turnout, they expected figures announced in rural areas to be higher than in the first round. One source said the priority was for people to do whatever was necessary "so they are around and alive when the time comes to have a real election". Mr Tsvangirai denounced the process as an "exercise in mass intimidation with people all over the country being forced to vote. There is nothing legitimate about this election process." He urged African leaders to refrain from recognising the outcome of the "sham" poll. "Anyone who recognises the result of this election is denying the will of the Zimbabwean people," said Mr Tsvangirai. He added there would be "no role" for President Thabo Mbeki in mediating a solution if South Africa recognises Mr Mugabe's expected victory.
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush on Saturday ordered U.S. sanctions against the "illegitimate" government of Zimbabwe, and called Friday's election a "sham" in which President Robert Mugabe appeared heading for a landslide victory.
He also said the United States would press for U.N. action, including an arms embargo. "Given the Mugabe regime's blatant disregard for the Zimbabwean people's democratic will and human rights, I am instructing the secretaries of State and Treasury to develop sanctions against this illegitimate government of Zimbabwe and those who support it," Bush said in a statement.
Was there anything left to sanction that we hadn't already done?
"On Friday, the Mugabe regime held a sham election that ignored the will of the people of Zimbabwe," Bush said. "The international community has condemned the Mugabe regime's ruthless campaign of politically-motivated violence and intimidation with a strong and unified voice that makes clear that yesterday's election was in no way free and fair."
The U.N. Security Council has expressed deep regret and said a free and fair vote had been impossible.
Not that the Security Council would actually do anything about it of course ...
"We will press for strong action by the United Nations, including an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and travel ban on regime officials," Bush said. He said the United States stands ready to support a "legitimate government" through development assistance, debt relief, and normalization with international financial institutions.
The United States will continue to provide food assistance and AIDS treatment, said Bush.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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HARARE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is expected to be sworn in on Sunday after a landslide victory in a one-candidate election boycotted by the opposition, government sources said on Saturday. The sources told Reuters official tallies from two-thirds of polling stations showed Mugabe, 84, defeating opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai by a huge margin in a widely condemned poll.
You'll be able to tell the hard-core Marxists at the various blogs; they'll be the ones who accept the election result as 'credible' ...
Tsvangirai's name remained on ballot papers after electoral authorities refused to accept his decision to withdraw a week ago on the grounds of violence against his supporters. He has taken refuge in the Dutch embassy since then.
Election authorities said on Saturday evening that counting was complete and they hoped to finish verification and collation shortly, clearing the way to announce the result. "The tallies are indicating that despite the wishes of our detractors and the propaganda of our enemies, the voter turnout was very big and that we are going to see a landslide victory," said one of the government sources, who declined to be identified.
Wonder if this 'landslide' will compare to Saddam's ...
"If the official results are released today as we are all hoping, the indications are the inauguration will be tomorrow," he added.
A Sunday inauguration would be timed to enable Mugabe to attend an African Union summit in Egypt on Monday after extending his 28-year rule of Zimbabwe, a once-prosperous country crippled by poverty and hyper-inflation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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The theme of the day seems to be press censorship ...
MANAMA - Close on the heels of blocking of three web sites last week, newspapers in Bahrain have been warned not to publish reports and articles promoting sectarianism or hatred in the society. Violators would face suspension as part of a national drive to preserve peace and harmony in the kingdom.
Media Adviser at the Ministry of Information Salah Ahmed said that the drive isn't only for web sites but also for newspapers that violate the Press law and the Cabinet decision. The three web sites engaged youths from different schools of thought in dialogue of hatred by inciting them to resort to violence.
Bahrain has six Arabic and two English dailies and two weekly newspapers, while one more daily publication will be started soon.
He said that news, articles and columns in all publications would be monitored and those promoting sectarianism would be suspended. "We are monitoring all publications on a daily basis and looking forward to all newspapers to perform their national duty of protecting unity," Salah said.
The Cabinet last Sunday formed a watchdog committee headed by the Interior Ministry with representatives from Justice and Islamic Affairs and Information ministries. Besides monitoring the media, the committee is responsible for monitoring any violations at mosques aimed at disparaging the image of leaders, the national unity and Bahrain's Arab identity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
any word on them cancelling the open season allowing attacking Jews and Israel?
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Saturday that the six-party talks are the most effective framework to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and he supports the mechanism. Lee made the remarks during a meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice during which he expressed support for the six-party talks on the nuclear issue, reported the Yonhap news agency.
Lee reaffirmed Seoul's commitment to close cooperation with Washington in persuading the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon all of its nuclear programs, Yonhap said.
Rice briefed the president on the development in the denuclearization progress of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). At a press conference after talking with South Korean foreign minister Yu Myung-hwan on Saturday, Rice said she expected the DPRK to live up to the obligations set forth under the multilateral nuclear deal signed last year.
MITROVICA, Kosovo - Kosovo's hardline Serb leaders formed their own parliament on Saturday, ignoring Kosovo's declaration of independence and defying its United Nations administrators. The action in the Serb-controlled half of the divided town of Mitrovica represents an attempt by the Serbs to split the disputed territory, which they claim as their own despite the Kosovo Albanian majority's Western-backed secession in February.
The assembly consists of 45 Serb representatives elected in Serb local elections in Kosovo, held in May. Serbs control about 15 percent of Kosovo's territory in the southeastern corner of Europe. "The assembly is the foundation of the Serb protection of Kosovo," said Marko Jaksic, one of the hardline Serb leaders. "We will not allow the formation of another Albanian state in this part of Europe."
A declaration adopted by the self-proclaimed parliament said that Kosovo is "an inseparable part of Serbia," that Kosovo Serbs would abide by the Serbian laws and its constitution and that Kosovo's secession was an illegal act.
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu has said that the Kosovo Serb leaders are trying to destabilize the new country by creating a separate assembly. He said the self-proclaimed parliament is part of their "illegal structures."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Bill Clinton is so bitter about Barack Obama's victory over his wife Hillary that he has told friends the Democratic nominee will have to beg for his wholehearted support.
Mr Obama is expected to speak to Mr Clinton for the first time since he won the nomination in the next few days, but campaign insiders say that the former president's future campaign role is a 'sticking point' in peace talks with Mrs Clinton's aides. The Telegraph has learned that the former president's rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence.
A senior Democrat who worked for Mr Clinton has revealed that he recently told friends Mr Obama could 'kiss my ass' in return for his support. A second source said that the former president has kept his distance because he still does not believe Mr Obama can win the election.
Mr Clinton last week issued a tepid statement, through a spokesman, in which he said he 'is obviously committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States '.
Mr Obama was more effusive at his unity event with Mrs Clinton on Friday, speaking fondly of the absent former president, who attended Nelson Mandela's birthday celebrations in London instead. The candidate told the crowd: 'I know how much we need both Bill and Hillary Clinton as a party. They have done so much great work. We need them badly.'
But his aides said he has so far concentrated on cementing relations with Mrs Clinton first. They say they are content to let relations with Mr Clinton thaw gradually.
It has long been known that Mr Clinton is angry at the way his own reputation was tarnished during the primary battle when several of his comments were interpreted as racist. But his lingering fury has shocked his friends. The Democrat told the Telegraph: 'He's been angry for a while. But everyone thought he would get over it. He hasn't. I've spoken to a couple of people who he's been in contact with and he is mad as hell.
'He's saying he's not going to reach out, that Obama has to come to him. One person told me that Bill said Obama would have to quote kiss my ass close quote, if he wants his support.
'You can't talk like that about Obama - he's the nominee of your party, not some house boy you can order around. Hillary's just getting on with it and so should Bill.'
Another Democrat said that despite polls showing Mr Obama with a healthy lead over Republican John McCain, Mr Clinton doesn't think he can win. The party strategist, who was allied to one of the early rivals to Mr Obama and the former First Lady, said Mr Clinton was 'very unhopeful' about the nominee's prospects in November.
'Bill Clinton knows the party will unite behind Obama, but he is telling people he doesn't believe Obama can win round voting groups, especially working-class whites, in the swing states,' the strategist said. 'He just doesn't think Obama will be able to connect with the voters he needs.'
Joe Klein, the author of Primary Colours, a fictionalised account of Mr Clinton's 1992 election, who has known the former president for 20 years, said he also heard that he was 'very, very bitter', from people who have spoken with him. 'It's time for him to get over it or go off and do his charitable work. He knows the rules of the road. What's going on now is kind of strange. I think his behaviour is really, really predictable shocking.'
#1
Clinton's bitter, but he knows a lot about consituencies Obama's taking for granted. And - all snark aside - boomer women make up one of them.
Things could change between now and November, but there is a whole lot of fury on the part of many women aged 50+ about the condescending, snide way Hillary was treated. By the press, by bloggers, by party officials and in public by Obama.
I know she's detested here. Many wanted above all to see her humiliated. Well, she was and Obama has the nomination pretty much wrapped up. But even women like me who don't like her are very deeply angry about how she was treated.
#3
Why would I call you a male chauvanist pig, NS?
Politicians attack where they can, as do their supporters. Obama's race was declared off limits. But Hillary's sex was not - and that is what many women are fuming about. There were many things to criticize her for. What the press chose to use were unflattering photos and speculation about whether she was old and faded looking . About whether she 'cackled'. About whether Bill was getting any sex.
Lots of that here, lots of that out in the MSM and on 'progressive' blogs. And it has a lot of women angry that she was not dealt with at the level of policy etc. instead.
#4
well, lotp, what was Hillary's qualification for her NY Senate seat and presidential bid, besides being married to the Clenis? Sad to say even with that, she's more qualified than the empty suit that beat her
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/29/2008 13:40 Comments ||
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#5
The problem seems to be the way the MSM treated Hillary, not Obama. So why aren't women mad at the MSM instead of Barack? After all, the reason the campaign descended into that sort of garbage was because there were no policy differences between them.
The press screwed Hillary the same way they screw every other candidate who's not their favorite. Unflattering photos? George Bush any one? Old and faded? McCain now. The Cackle? Dean's Yarrrrrgh.
Yeah, she's a woman. Yeah, the press screwed her. But not because she was a woman, because that's where she was vulnerable. Just like they do to every male candidate they hate.
You know, if there's any subject I'd like to hear less of, that would be it.
Perhaps bill isn't getting any. Perhaps he's desesperate. Perhaps this "kiss my ass" thingie is not a bitter remark, perhaps it's a cry for help, a cry for action, any kind of action, aimed at obama. Who knows?
#10
The problem seems to be the way the MSM treated Hillary, not Obama.
Oh lordy -- watch the videos of the debates or of his press remarks about her. He ooooozes contemptuous male body language to and about her.
The only other person he comes close to using that body language on is Joe Lieberman.
The language he uses with her, tone of voice etc. was just as disrespectful. I recognize it from the years when I lived in LA and occasionally interacted on the fringes of South Central. It's the swagger style that labels women as bitches and hos. And the press never called him on it one bit.
He stopped using it when she was defeated.
As for her credentials to be in the Senate, ask the voters of NY. I didn't vote for her and don't plan to.
But look - if an opponent went after Lieberman by telling jokes about stingy Jews there would be a firestorm. Same thing if it were done via anonymous caricature cartoons on the Web.
But the equivalent was done to Hillary with impunity. And some of us have noticed that fact.
who elected you moral arbiter. Your knee jerk compassion for discompassionate low life disqualifies you in my book. Cut the straw man act. No wonder Zenster bailed out of here. Smack yourself in the head.
America charcoaled Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I approve of that, and I would like to see more of same. Think of our enemies as cockroaches in human form.
#15
Nobody elected me arbiter of anything, at least not at Rantburg (apart from arbiter re: trolls as delegated by Fred).
Doesn't mean I don't have opinions tho. LOL
Re: treatment of HRC, well ... I've reported here before what I hear women saying. Doesn't mean I always agree.
Conservatives and libertarians are reported to be willing to deal with facts. And the fact is that many women of a certain age are, at the moment, highly pissed about the treatment they perceive Hillary to have received. Now, their perception might be wrong or they may calm down by November. But at the moment? They're pissed -- and they see it as a bigger issue than one politician.
#16
who elected you moral arbiter. Your knee jerk compassion for discompassionate low life disqualifies you in my book. Cut the straw man act. No wonder Zenster bailed out of here. Smack yourself in the head.
America charcoaled Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I approve of that, and I would like to see more of same. Think of our enemies as cockroaches in human form.
Yah, all this moralizing's got to go. The next gnome we kill probably won't even HAVE a candy bar!
we must start putting lipstick on our pig, John McCain.
You know, McCain's over seventy years old, it's time for him to learn to manage his own lipstick. He's the one with all the airtime from his "friends" his "electoral reforms" have given a disproportionate voice in the process, there ain't really anything I can do about what he says or doesn't say when he gets up in front of the cameras.
2) I'm not interested in charcoaling anyone unless there is no other choice, and right now, we have lots of other choices.
Spusomble, perhaps you should actually read Rantburg for a while.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 17:24 Comments ||
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#21
Zenster did not bail. But if you prefer his words to lotp's, Spusomble Jones9012 via British Columbia (pretty bit of country you've got up there, to be sure), you can find him at the Belmont Club and a few other sites where he seems to be happier.
It will definitely be interesting to see whether the Hillary Clinton voters stick with the Democratic Party, or become "McClain Democrats". I've read a number of predictions of the latter recently. I have to agree with Candidate Obama oozing contempt of and condescension to his female competitor until she stepped back; now he merely oozes condescension of the "don't worry your dear pretty heads about it, the menfolk will handle all those difficult things for you" kind. All things being equal -- which of course they aren't -- I'd vote for McCain just to put a thumb in Obama's eye for it. There are a great many things I leave to those better fitted for the task, but thinking and judging I do for myself.
#24
I must just be a not too sensitive guy who doesn't watch TV, so I don't get to see the visual cues. But politics is a contact sport and it ain't beanbag.
#25
I don't buy the argument that Barack Obama will have difficulty connecting with female voters due to residual bitterness from the primary battle. He comes across as a good family man, pro-choice, and supportive of Democratic mommy-state policies which play well with women. He may lose if the inconsistencies in his positions over time become too glaring or he commits some horrendous political blunder, but right now his only weakness is with working class whites based on cultural suspicions.
And it's only one man's opinion, but Queen Hillary was in no way mistreated during her campaign. John McCain was wrongfully depicted as a warmonger and nastily as a doddering fool. He worked hard to clarify his "100 years" statement and mocked the latter smear job in a Saturday Night Live skit. A lot of people justifiably think worse of Hillary than they are willing to let on in public yet she (and her sexism-decrying supporters) could barely deal with even the mild criticisms she faced.
Politics ain't beanbag, but Hillary's sense of entitlement led her to believe that different rules continue to apply to her than to others.
#26
GL, you must be young. Because I have seen it in many of the women I work with aged 45-65. LOTP, an otherwise pretty conservative person, is clearly upset about the way Hillary has been treated. These women were the front wave of women's lib, feminism, whatever you want to call it. They see POTUS as their last glass ceiling. And they think Hillary was disrespected in her run and denied the nomination that was rightfully hers. And it runs deep, because it is quite an irrational belief. There is no evidence presented beyond body language and tone of voice, etc., that's it. It's nothing compared with what Clinton did to Obama, he was raised a Muslim, he's illegitimate, Rezko, etc. So, it may have legs.
#27
I don't think Hillary owned the nomination, although other women might have thought so.
I do think she was disrespected during the run in ways that have been stereotypically used for a long time to belittle women. Specifically, used to belittle women who are in contention for a position that ostensibly is about competance, or policy positions and leadership etc.
Been there, dealt with that in business back in the 80s, annoyed as hell to see it be this obvious in 2008.
There are plenty of more substantive criticisms to make of Hillary than her voice, her appearance etc. They start IMO with her policies and continue through character, among other things. So it's striking to see how little those were in fact the basis of critiques of her candidacy.
#28
There are plenty of more substantive criticisms to make of Hillary than her voice, her appearance etc. They start IMO with her policies and continue through character, among other things. So it's striking to see how little those were in fact the basis of critiques of her candidacy.
The big problem there is that those criticisms would have applied just as much, if not more so, on Obama. So they had to come up with a "she's not one of the cool kids like me" line of attack.
It's nothing compared with what Clinton did to Obama, he was raised a Muslim, he's illegitimate, Rezko, etc. So, it may have legs.
Uh, I consider his relationship with Rezko to be a legitimate complaint, much more serious than any allegations about the status of his birth.
And as I said before, if Obama were a Moslem, it might be an improvement over what he looks like prima facie: a power-hungry moral relativist who will attend any ritually-christian church that preaches the gospel of State according to Marx.
#29
seems to me that women are pissed that Hillary's gender didn't buy her any favors, and Obama's race did.
after 40 years of whining that they wanted to be treated as if their gender didn't matter they are all in a knot that in this case the gender card didn't buy a woman a free pass.
probably not a popular opinion, but i call it as i see it.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
06/29/2008 21:42 Comments ||
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#30
No wonder Zenster bailed out of here.
Funny way of saying "His ass was escorted out the door"...
For much of its term, the Supreme Court muted last year's noisy dissents, warmed to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s vision of narrow, incremental decisions and continued a slow but hardly steady move to the right. But as justices finished their work last week, two overarching truths about the court remained unchanged: It is sharply divided ideologically on some of the most fundamental constitutional questions, and the coming presidential election will determine its future path.
A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly balanced status quo, since the justices who are considered most likely to retire are liberal. A win for his Republican counterpart, John McCain, could mean a fundamental shift to a consistently conservative majority ready to take on past court rulings on abortion rights, affirmative action and other issues made constitutional by previous, liberal judges which are important to the right.
"If there's one thing you can see about this court, it is that it still sits on a knife's edge," said Jeffrey L. Fisher, a Stanford University law professor who argued three cases before the justices this year.
That was readily apparent in the court's closing days, as it whipsawed from left to right and back again on the constitutional rights of terrorism suspects, individual gun ownership and the ability of government to restrict it, and the increasingly narrow view of who is eligible for the death penalty. Each case pitted the court's four consistent conservatives against its four slightly less consistent liberals, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy returning to his role of last term as the deciding vote.
"The blockbuster cases, the really big cases, have now brought into very sharp focus how closely divided the court is on the really large and philosophically charged issues before the court," said Charles J. Cooper, a Washington lawyer who was an official in President Ronald Reagan's office of legal counsel. It has cast "the sharpest possible focus how important the court is going to be, I should think and should hope, in the upcoming election debate," Cooper added.
The next appointment to the court will almost surely fill the seat now held by one of the court's liberals, whose average age at the beginning of next October's term will be 75. For Obama, any initial appointment would likely replace one liberal with another, albeit with a younger and perhaps more outgoing advocate for his views of the court's role.
But a McCain victory could give the conservative bloc a clear-cut majority for years to come. President Bush has provided the model with his nominations of Roberts, to continue the conservative legacy of former chief justice William H. Rehnquist, and Samuel A. Alito Jr., to replace the former justice found most frequently in the middle, Sandra Day O'Connor.
"I think on any measure one would have to agree this is a more conservative court than was the court a couple of years ago, because on any measure Justice Alito is a more conservative justice than was Justice O'Connor," said R. Ted Cruz, a former Rehnquist clerk who argued before the court several times this year as Texas's solicitor general. "But that being said, this is very much an almost exquisitely balanced court, with Justice Kennedy remaining at the fulcrum of most -- if not practically all -- close decisions."
It is telling that Kennedy, currently the court's most influential justice, is never mentioned as a model by either McCain or Obama. Kennedy's iconoclastic views -- conservative on some constitutional questions, more liberal on others -- would not appeal to either candidate's base. Kennedy's record this year is not as auspicious as last year's, in which he was in the majority of every one of the court's 5 to 4 decisions. But his role at the end of the term cannot be overstated.
He wrote the court's decisions declaring that terrorism detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have a constitutional right to take their cases to U.S. courts, and that it is unconstitutional for states to impose the death penalty on child rapists. That broad decision established that capital punishment is appropriate only for the most violent of those who take another human life, and perhaps for crimes against the state such as treason and espionage.
Kennedy provided the fifth vote for the court's decision to strike the District ban on handguns and to find in the Second Amendment the right of private gun ownership. He joined the conservative majority in striking as unconstitutional the "Millionaire's Amendment" in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act, which increased contribution limits for candidates with wealthy, self-financed opponents.
(McCain's endorsement of Roberts and Alito as his models for judicial appointments is somewhat ironic, since each has authored an opinion dismantling part of the senator's most notable legislative achievement.) (Ironically, I did not put that in parentheses; the WaPo did, and on the front page.)
The addition of a conservative in the mold of Roberts or Alito to replace the court's longest-serving justice, 88-year-old John Paul Stevens, would make Kennedy's role less pivotal. For instance, it would not be hard to imagine the court's jurisprudence on the death penalty changing dramatically without Stevens, who this year announced that his 30 years on the bench had convinced him that capital punishment cannot be fairly administered.
Likewise, O'Connor had often been a pragmatic ally for the liberals on issues such as abortion rights, affirmative action and the separation of religion and government. Some of those issues already have been affected by Alito's appointment, and additional changes in those areas would seem likely.
The rush of one-vote constitutional rulings at the end of the term overshadowed the court's earlier ability to resolve equally controversial issues by larger margins. The court voted 6 to 3 on a complicated separation-of-powers case to deny the president's ability to tell courts to rehear a case. By the same margin, it said that requiring voters to present photo identification before casting a ballot was not an unconstitutional burden, an issue that starkly divides Democrats and Republicans.
It voted 7 to 2 to uphold lethal injection against a challenge that the process could sometimes cause pain that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and to approve a congressional rewrite of child pornography law that some said could violate First Amendment rights. In all of those cases, the lopsided majorities were formed by members of the usually liberal wing joining conservatives.
Conservative commentators credit Roberts. "I think those [cases] reflect the success of Chief Justice Roberts's stated intent to promote what he's characterized as judicial minimalism," Cruz said. "I think it's a theme one sees heavily his term." By that, he means Roberts wants to focus on the specific facts of the case, and demands proof that the law has caused harm, rather than finding it unconstitutional on its face. Critics such as Steven R. Shapiro, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said such a "wait-and-see attitude" means voters' rights must be demonstrably abridged, or an inmate inhumanely executed, before the court takes action.
Roberts has also made strategic use of the one real power the chief justice has over this colleagues: the ability to decide who writes the opinion when he is in the majority. He assigned the voter identification case, for instance, to Stevens, and has reportedly urged others to forgo broad pronouncements in the interest of attracting more votes.
Cooper said the narrow opinions "really don't establish far-reaching constitutional principles that will be readily and easily applied in cases down the line." And that may be fine for the core of the conservative wing, which could be revisiting them for years. Roberts is 53, Alito 58, and even Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been on the court for nearly 17 years, turned only 60 last week.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/29/2008 09:51 ||
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#1
The Donks will destroy the entire process rather than give in. McCain's best position would be to say that there is no Constitutional requirement on the number of active sitting members for it to issue decisions. The oldest and most likely to die off first are the socialist. Best to gen up the next Constitutional amendment to move the process from the Senate which has already degenerated it into a political circus to a popular vote, at least for SCOTUS.
#2
According to the Onion, the Roberts Court is trending less toward strictly constitutional and more toward strictly awesome. It's the Onion, folks. Not safe for work.
#4
Maybe term limits for EVERYONE, not just the president.
President appoints them, then a NATIONAL referendum on the first presidential cycle election after 10 years of service, then every 12 years after that. Simple Yes-NO "Should Justice so-n-so be retained?", judged on an electoral college count.
Why 12? It keeps one president from being able to completely pack the courts.
#5
SCOTUS picks are notoriously fickle. You pick a conservative and he turns into a Kennedy or a Souter. You pick a liberal, and he could turn into a potted plant, like Thurgood Marshall. But a potted plant with a party-line vote.
W. Bush had a hell of a time finding Roberts. If I had my druthers, I would pick a sunken-eyed Mormon judge from the bowels of Utah, who thinks Constitutional Amendments after 12 are too liberal and should be repealed.
Barack Obama's name could have been invoked more at the corruption trial of his former fund-raiser Tony Rezko. But it appears prosecutors opted against bringing Obama into the mix during the two-month trial.
Newly unsealed documents show that prosecutors sought to call witnesses to testify about Rezko's ties to Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. The Illinois senator was the recipient of "straw" campaign contributions made by others on behalf of Rezko -- money that Obama has since given to charities.
The documents indicate that prosecutors considered offering witnesses to explore why Rezko used others to contribute to Obama and also to Blagojevich, and U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve ruled that they could. But they did not end up offering any such testimony during the trial. "Witnesses will testify that Rezko was a long-standing supporter and fund-raiser of Barack Obama," prosecutors wrote.
Later, St. Eve ruled that Obama references would be allowed into the trial, but prosecutors apparently opted not to invoke Obama's name.
I think they're saving that one for later. Obama might not be their primary target: Blagojevich (Illinois Governor, and a swarmy jerk of one) is the next in the crosshairs. What will be interesting is how Blago decides to play it, since he could offer a very sweet deal or two to the prosecutors.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:50 ||
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#1
Two years after the donation, it was two days after the witness turned states evidence against Rezko that BO sent the $5k to charity. Coincidence and a tax write off to boot....
#3
C'mon folks, it was simple self preservation. If Obama was mentioned in the trial and wins the Presidency those Prosecutors would be exploring the exciting world of real estate closings. Chicago politicians are very, very into retribution and the Obamessiah is no differrent. But he is dirty, bet on it.
#4
Big Foot, when the Clintonistas took the reigns of power, one of the first things they did was fire all the prosecutors and installed their patronage clients. George was stupid enough to allow carry overs who've stabbed him repeatedly in the back out of DoJ. Obama is going to fire them regardless.
#6
It was probably smart tactics. If they mentioned Obama too much, and the meme got started (helped along by defense counsel, no doubt) that these were eeeevil RethugliKKKans persecuting Rezko to get to Obama, it might have backfired on them.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/29/2008 9:50 Comments ||
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#7
Why is the total corruption of the Illinois Democrat party/ Daley machine off limits in the press?
WASHINGTON Republican candidate John McCain promised on Saturday that he would make Immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal residents "my top priority" if elected president. McCain made the promise to a group of Latino elected officials as both he and Barack Obama court Hispanic voters who are a key constituency in several Western swing states and in the perennial electoral battleground of Florida.
In a separate appearance before the same group later in the day, Obama charged that McCain had backed away from his longtime support of comprehensive Immigration reform during Republican primaries under pressure from GOP conservatives.
Both McCain and Obama see opportunities for their campaigns among Latino voters. Asked if he would make comprehensive Immigration reform and not just strengthening border enforcement a high priority, McCain responded, "It will be my top priority yesterday, today and tomorrow," drawing sustained applause. "There are 12 million people here and they are here illegally but they are God's children, they are God's children," McCain said, pounding the podium for emphasis as he repeated the words.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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"There are 12 million people here and they are here illegally but they are God's children, they are God's children," McCain said, pounding the podium for emphasis as he repeated the words.
-the clinton's would call that triangulation - trying to reach out to latinos while referencing God in hopes it softens christian conservative critic's stance on amnesty. I call shennanigans on shamnesty which is what this is. f*ck you mCCCPain & all the idiots that misconstrue the original intent of the "anchor baby" ammendment - it was not meant for illegals - it was meant for the offsprings of newly freed slaves so as not to screw them out of citizenship. I'll grant that mCCCPain is definitely a war hero but he's also definitely a shitbag as a republican. I still can't believe this douchebag won the GOP primary. Un-f#cking-believable. Billary, Obomba, and mCCCPain - that's the best we got that will run? What a laughingstock we've become. Sorry Mr. Franklin, we could not keep the republic. Our congress is full of feckless myopic whores, our SCOTUS is infested by 4 lunatics and Not one of our three front runners for the prez generates the least bit of confidence from me.
#5
Lying sumbitch. He said during the primary that buidling the fence and securing the border would be what he would do first and foremost. Said he had heard us loud and clar last summer.
#8
Latinos will decide this election. You can get McCain with his faults or you can get Obama who will openly offer blanket amnesty and a return to the Clinton policy of deliberately not enforcing any immigration laws.
#9
This election will be won or lost in the strip of Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Are Latinos and their hangers-on more critical in those states than those desiring secure borders? I don't know, but I doubt it.
#12
I'm here in Utah now, where Rep. Chris Cannon just got his butt kicked by some unknown guy who had never run for office before but who absolutely NAILED Cannon on his pro-immigration stance. If this place is any indication of what the rest of the Republican Party is thinking, McCain better stop his pandering to Latinos NOW and get with the program of enforcement first, expulsion second, and citizenship nowhere. If he doesn't, he's toast because if these folks aren't going to vote for him, he doesn't have a chance in hell.
I don't like McCain worth a damn but I'd vote for him over Obama in a heartbeat. If Obama wins and appoints three more libs to the SCOTUS, we're not only screwed, I'm thinking we're on the fast track to civil war. We're way too divided, and the animosity is far too deep, to continue on this type of track long term.
#14
I loath McCains backstabbing conservatives like he did. However this cannot be overstated:
I don't like McCain worth a damn but I'd vote for him over Obama in a heartbeat. If Obama wins and appoints three more libs to the SCOTUS, we're not only screwed, I'm thinking we're on the fast track to civil war. We're way too divided, and the animosity is far too deep, to continue on this type of track long term.
Posted by: Lumpy Spusoth6394 2008-06-29 09:19
#15
...But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --
#16
Once again I'm in the minority here, but I don't have much problem with regularizing the status of the illegals currently in the country, ONCE the fence is built. 95%-plus of the illegals here now just want a decent life, one that they certainly aren't going to find in Mexico.
My family's ancestors had the same desires, and that's why I'm an American.
I keep saying it: 1) build the fence, high with a wide gate 2) guest-worker program for those who want to work 3) fix the employer abuses 4) take care of the people who have been obeying the law and who want to be here and 5) finalize the status of those already here.
And 6) limit welfare and aid to illegals. You came here to work. So work.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 10:58 Comments ||
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#17
Fence First.
Period.
Then internal enforcement of the laws, especially proof of citizenship or proper visa to work prior to hiring -- and criminal charges wiht expulsion for those who use falsified documents and stolen IDs.
After that, we can talk about "a path to citizenship".
#18
Both McCain and Obama see opportunities for their campaigns among Latino illegal voters.
Some of 'God's children' break the laws, why do they see these swing states as having to keep the illegals happy, instead of enforcing our rules on the books and making our citizens happy. If a strong stand isn't made now, it will only get harder to do in the future. Is it because Hispanics have illegal family members that they want to get citizenship and benefits?
Time for more blood pressure medicine.
Posted by: Jan ||
06/29/2008 13:29 Comments ||
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#19
Once upon a time, McCain made campaign finance reform a top priority. He blew that just like he will blow the election. This bulb is too dim to resolve anything without real help from a brain. I wonder if his old lady is smart enough.
#20
but I don't have much problem with regularizing the status of the illegals currently in the country
Welcome to permanent minority party status. Hispanics vote 2:1 for the Dems or a 4 million net shift for the Democratic party. Can you say $trillions more in taxpayer transfer payments and absolutely no hope of ever erecting barriers at the border? 12-20 million not enough? There's still 500 million more south of the border.
Posted by: ed ||
06/29/2008 14:18 Comments ||
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#21
Traitor. Fuck real Americans, this turd has made his intentions clear and right now there is little we can do about it.
Barack Obamas presidential campaign announced Saturday that the Illinois senator would travel to Europe and the Middle East to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security.
The campaign said the Democratic presidential candidate plans to visit France, Germany, Israel, Jordan and the United Kingdom to discuss national security issues and climate change. This will be an important opportunity to have an exchange of views with leaders in these countries about these and other issues that are critical to American national security -- and global security -- in the 21st century, Obama said.
Firmly stuck in the early 1990s. France and Germany are but peripherally important to our security these days, and only to the extent that they'll carry their weight in the War on Terror. Jordan has little influence over what happens in the Middle East, and the UK is going to see a change in government in the not-too-distant future.
The campaign did not reveal whether the senator would also visit Afghanistan and Iraq. Republicans have hammered Obama over the fact that he has not been to Iraq in about two and a half years. The Illinois senators campaign said, however, that he would go there before the election.
Apparently not on this trip. He's got to keep the nutroots with him until November.
Visiting Israel could help Obama with assuaging concerns that some Jewish voters have expressed over the presumptive Democratic nominee. Israel is a strong and close friend of the United States, and is confronting grave threats from Gaza to Tehran, Obama said regarding the trip.
But it's how we respond to those threats that matter. If Obama denounces Hamas as a bunch of murderous thugs, and the Mad Mullahs as murderous thugs writ large, then I'll begin to believe he's done the necessary intellectual heavy-lifting to understand the region.
By going abroad to meet with foreign leaders, Obama also hopes to show that he is ready to represent the U.S. on the international stage. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are key anchors of the transatlantic alliance and have contributed to the mission in Afghanistan, and I look forward to discussing how we can strengthen our partnership in the years to come, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Is he going to stop in Brussels and prostate before the throne?
#5
This trip will give Obama the excuse he needed to recalibrate his foreign policy positions for the general election campaign. He is one slick operator.
A US defence department team has arrived in India to prepare a search for the remains of hundreds of American personnel who went missing over the Himalayan 'Hump' during World War II, diplomats and officials said. The team, from the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC), will fly to the northeast frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh for a 'site survey' ahead of the search once monsoon rains stop in October.
'It's still very early on in the process, and currently JPAC is meeting with the Indian government and the operations will happen only in October,' said Henry Jardine, US consul-general in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. 'Right now we are in preliminary stages of discussions,' Jardine told AFP. 'We are hoping the operations can start after the monsoon and more information will be put out after the mission starts in October.'
The team will be hunting for US flight crews whose transport planes -- carrying supplies between Burma and besieged Allied forces in China -- went down in the notorious, mountainous area that pilots called 'The Hump'.
They were forced to fly the perilous route in April 1942 when the Japanese army cut off the main road between Burma and China, and the operations continued until near the end of the war in 1945. In all, Allied pilots ferried some 650,000 tonnes of fuel, munitions and equipment over the mountains to resupply the Chinese government and other anti-Japanese forces.
The mountains were eventually dubbed the 'Aluminium Trail' because of the number of crashes. 'It's impossible to pinpoint sites of crashed Allied planes, but JPAC analysts estimate more than 400 Americans are lost in this region,' said an Indian military official holding talks with the US team. 'The Hump was a busy sector during the war. We'll also take help in terms of intelligence and other ground support from our own ex-servicemen and World War II veterans who live in the state,' the official said.
Jardine said China had recovered some remains of US servicemen but JPAC had yet to make it to the Indian side of the border -- an extremely sensitive part of India because it is claimed by Beijing as part of Tibet.
The Indian air force will lend light helicopters and all-weather transport aircraft while the army will extend ground support and security to the JPAC team, officials here said. 'India will provide all logistics support to JPAC once the mission starts on our territory,' defence ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said in New Delhi.
But the task is not expected to be easy. 'The route passes over 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) of icy ridges, and it's going to one hell of a job to hunt for men downed six decades ago,' said Joginder Singh, an army veteran and a retired Himalayan climber. 'The extreme temperatures up there, however, may have preserved some bits and pieces,' added 83-year-old Singh, who fought Japanese troops in what was British India.
Posted by: john frum ||
06/29/2008 11:43 ||
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Having the musculature of a chimpanzee and aerogel underwear would help a lot. Though they'll need a pack elephant to carry a week's rations on a 1.5M calorie a day diet.
BAGHDAD - The World Health Organisation has opened a permanent office in Baghdad, the UN announced on Saturday, a sign of improving security in Iraq's war-torn capital.
Doctor Nae'ema al-Gasseer will be based in Baghdad as part of efforts to give more support to local people, Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Iraq, announced in a statement. "We will continue to provide more support to the Iraqis through our programmes in many areas of activity", Mistura said.
The UN has led vaccination campaigns of Iraqi children and helped fight a recent epidemic of cholera but some critics say it has not done enough in the violence-wracked country, especially after it scaled back operations here. That move was prompted by the August 19, 2003 attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 22 people, including the chief of mission, Sergio Viera di Mello.
Last month Mistura said that despite major tensions there were signs the situation is improving.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Aldrin revealed that he intends to lobby Barack Obama and John McCain, the two US presidential candidates, in an effort to ensure they find sufficient funds for Nasa's goal to establish a permanent base on the Moon and then send a manned mission to Mars.
Nasa celebrates its 50th anniversary this year but faces grave embarrassment. The ill-fated Shuttle is due to make its last flight in 2010 but it will be a further five years before its replacement, the Ares rocket and Orion crew capsule - also intended for trips to the moon - are ready. In that time American astronauts will have to hitch lifts on Russian Soyuz flights merely to visit the International Space Station.
Mr Aldrin, 78, said: 'To me it's abysmal that it has come to this: after 50 years of Nasa, and after putting about $100 billion into the space station, we can't get our own astronauts to our space station without relying on the Russians.'
He said his message to the next president is this: 'Retain the vision for space exploration. If we turn our backs on the vision again, we're going to have to live in a secondary position in human space flight for the rest of the century.'
He added: 'These are important issues for consideration by the potential leaders of our country. They're not welcome criticisms for the present heads of NASA.'
Earlier this month Rick Gilbreth, the head of the space agency's lunar exploration programme, warned that Chinese astronauts were on schedule to get to the moon by 2017 or 2018, two or three years before America is due to return.
Mr Aldrin said: 'All the Chinese have to do is fly around the Moon and back, and they'll appear to have won the return to the Moon with humans. They could put one person on the surface of the Moon for one day and he'd be a national hero.'
China only put its first astronaut into space in 2003 and its ambitions are more limited than Nasa's, but a Chinese moon landing before America's would be a serious blow to morale in the US space industry.
On June 20, the House of Representatives pledged $2bn (£1bn) in extra funds to narrow the gap between the last Shuttle flight and the first flight by its replacement, but the money has not been approved by the Senate and is likely to be vetoed by President Bush.
Mr Aldrin is critical of Nasa's failure properly to fund commercial ventures for spacecraft which could take astronauts to the space station between 2010 and 2015. He said: 'If we really wanted that to happen, we sure should have started putting more money into that programme sooner.'
It is all a far cry from the national pride that accompanied the Apollo programme, in which Mr Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong on to the surface of the Moon in July, 1969. Now he wants Nasa to generate the same kind of enthusiasm as it mustered during the 1960s. 'It's good for morale,' he said. 'The biggest benefit of Apollo was the inspiration it gave to a growing generation to get into science and aerospace. Are we inspiring the workforce now to work on the things we need? No!'
Mr Aldrin is also critical of the approach taken by Nasa in commissioning new crew vehicles that will splash down on water, rather than on a runway like the Shuttle. He says that is the best design for a moon vehicle, but will not encourage other ventures into space. In particular, it will not be suitable for short flights into low orbits, of a kind that could be used for space tourism - potentially a valuable new source of revenue for Nasa. 'Americans have been watching for over 25 years spacecraft coming back and landing on a runway,' he said. 'It is going to be a bitter disappointment to people here.'
Meanwhile Russia may adapt and enlarge its own Soyuz spacecraft in order to accommodate tourists, giving them an effective monopoly of travel into low earth orbit.
India is also a keen participant in space, regularly launching satellites and with plans to start testing a prototype reusable launch vehicle later this year that could take off and land like an aeroplane.
Last year Japan became the first country since the Apollo programme to launch an unmanned lunar orbiter. They have a stated goal of setting up a manned moon base by 2030.
Mr Aldrin now acts as an ambassador for space exploration and new developments in space technology through his company Starcraft Boosters. Mr Aldrin says he is joining forces with other space campaigners to give his unvarnished views to the presidential candidates.
Republican John McCain has expressed support for the Constellation programme to return to the Moon but the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, has questioned public interest in Nasa's space plans.
'I'm trying to assemble the best advice to two new candidates who are approaching election,' Mr Aldrin said. 'There will be one person preparing to take over the government in January to implement things that are of great concern.' The space programme was nowhere near the top of the list, he said. 'We want to get in there and talk to them because it's so important.
'Globalisation means many other countries are asserting themselves and trying to take over leadership. Please don't ask Americans to let others assume the leadership of human exploration.
'We can do wonderful science on the Moon, and wonderful commercial things. Then we can pack up and move on to Mars.'
Posted by: john frum ||
06/29/2008 11:45 ||
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#1
China only put its first astronaut into space in 2003 and its ambitions are more limited than Nasa's, but a Chinese moon landing before America's would be a serious blow to morale in the US space industry.
Not mentioned is the "blow to morale" suffered by workers in American industry and manufacturing at the hands of outsourced business to Communist China and cheap imports. Phuech the bloody "space industry." I've known no one who works there.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Government troops captured a Tamil Tiger rebel-held town in war-ravaged northern Sri Lanka while infantry clashes across the region killed 40 rebels and three soldiers, the military said on Saturday.
In the latest fighting, army troops took control of Andankulam town in Mannar district after a battle that killed 28 rebels and one soldier Friday, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara. The town's capture came a day after the troops seized a key supply base in Vavuniya district that had been used to replenish the Tamil Tigers' front-line troops. Nanayakkara said the capture of the base and town were strategically important for government troops to gain control of rebels' northern strongholds.
Other battles on Friday killed 12 rebels and one soldier in the Welioya region, while in the northern Jaffna peninsula a soldier died in a roadside bomb blast blamed on rebels, Nanayakkara said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/29/2008 00:00 ||
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Congress just passed a new law that will stop your capital -- or at least a good portion of it -- at the border, should you decide not to be a U.S. citizen anymore. Is it, perhaps, in preparation for the possibility that Americans might rebel at the debt and taxes incurred by their government by leaving for lower-tax locales?
You probably didn't notice this little provision inserted into the Heroes Act of 2008, passed by Congress on June 17. The headlines in the press release about the law were about the increased benefits for veterans and families of deceased military.
But Richard Kohan of Price WaterhouseCoopers drew my attention to one section of the act, which states that anyone voluntarily giving up his or her citizenship will be taxed on all of his assets as if he or she had sold them -- paying capital gains on assets that have increased in value, even though they have not been sold. Doesn't sound as bad as all that until you realize that congress will jack up the capital gains tax *first*, to what? 60%? 80%? 100%?
#3
Ship the assets offshore to a jurisdiction that doesn't recognize judgments from American courts or accept cases stemming from acts within the US first; leave later. They can try but they can't force capital to stay here and take the abuse.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Gunmen in Somalia kidnapped three people a Swede, a Dane and a Somali working with a U.N. program to clear land mines in the volatile east African country, officials and residents said.
HARARE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is expected to be sworn in on Sunday after a landslide victory in a one-candidate election boycotted by the opposition, government sources said on Saturday. The sources told Reuters official tallies from two-thirds of polling stations showed Mugabe, 84, defeating opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai by a huge margin in a widely condemned poll.
A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly balanced status quo, since the justices who are considered most likely to retire are liberal. A win for his Republican counterpart, John McCain, could mean a fundamental shift to a consistently conservative majority ready to take on past court rulings on abortion rights, affirmative action and other issues 
The next appointment to the court will almost surely fill the seat now held by one of the court's liberals, whose average age at the beginning of next October's term will be 75. For Obama, any initial appointment would likely replace one liberal with another, albeit with a younger and perhaps more outgoing advocate for his views of the court's role.
WASHINGTON Republican candidate John McCain promised on Saturday that he would make Immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship for illegal residents "my top priority" if elected president. McCain made the promise to a group of Latino elected officials as both he and Barack Obama court Hispanic voters who are a key constituency in several Western swing states and in the perennial electoral battleground of Florida.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Government troops captured a Tamil Tiger rebel-held town in war-ravaged northern Sri Lanka while infantry clashes across the region killed 40 rebels and three soldiers, the military said on Saturday.
