So his choice to drive a V8 Hemi-powered Chrysler 300C emits a whiff of hypocrisy along with its exhaust fumes. Obama's choice proves once again that fuel economy is seldom the No. 1 factor when Americans buy cars. The 340-horsepower 300C has plenty of room for the lanky senator, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters. It gets 25 miles per gallon on the highway, good for a big sedan, but far short of hybrids and compact cars.
The former New York doctor accused of swearing allegiance to al Qaeda told a federal jury yesterday he was more interested in polygamy than terrorism.
Rafiq Sabir testified in Manhattan federal court that when he worked in Saudi Arabia in 2005, he reflected on the virtues of multiple wives. He read Islamic texts on the subject and wanted to convince his wife it could work.
At the time I reviewed Hugh Hewitt's book, I wrote, "Like Hewitt, were the election held today, I would vote for Mitt Romney, but unlike Hewitt, I am not very passionate about the former governor and have, over time, developed some qualms about him." As late as last week, in email correspondence between friends, I said the same.
I can no longer say that. It is not because Ann Romney gave money to Planned Parenthood. It is because this is the straw that broke the camel's back -- one light piece of straw piled on a mountain of political opportunism and reckless vacillation.
On October 7, 2001, President Bush told the nation, " We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail." I can no longer trust that Mitt Romney has a spine strong enough not to go wobbly with it becomes convenient.
Were the election held today, who'd get my vote? The man I said I would never vote for -- John McCain.
After months of conflicting signals on abortion, Rudolph W. Giuliani is planning to offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews in the coming days, despite the potential for bad consequences among some conservative voters already wary of his views, aides said yesterday.
At the same time, Mr. Giuliani’s campaign — seeking to accomplish the unusual task of persuading Republicans to nominate an abortion rights supporter — is eyeing a path to the nomination that would try to de-emphasize the early states in which abortion opponents wield a great deal of influence. Instead they would focus on the so-called mega-primary of Feb. 5, in which voters in states like California, New York and New Jersey are likely to be more receptive to Mr. Giuliani’s social views than voters in Iowa and South Carolina.
Obviously this will cost him some support among the Right to Life folks, but at least it's more honest that Mitt Romney's position.
Yet more evidence that Romney's position on abortion depends on what audience he's trying to get to vote for him.
ABC News is reporting tonight that Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, contributed $150 to Planned Parenthood in 1994.
That was the year Mitt Romney was running against Sen. Edward Kennedy in Massachusetts. Eleven years later, when he was governor and studying cloning legislation, Romney has said he changed his mind and turned against abortion rights. He is speaking to a Massachusetts group that opposes abortion on Thursday.
Campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said Ann Romney had no recollection of the circumstances under which she donated the money.
Madden said he did not know whether the former governor was aware of the donation, but he noted that Romney had been publicly committed to upholding a woman's right to an abortion until late 2004.
"This is an issue that the governor has changed his position on, that the governor was wrong on in the past and believes he is right on now," he said.
The article also notes that Rudy Giuliani has also donated to Planned Parenthood, but at least his position on abortion has been consistently pro-choice.
On the day before Thanksgiving, Professor Walter Kehowski sent out the text of George Washington’s "Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of 1789" and a link to the webpage where he’d found it—on Pat Buchanan’s web log. After several recipients complained of being offended by the e-mail, MCCCD found Kehowski guilty of violating the district’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy and technology usage standards. Kehowski then contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.
Let's be clear here. He's not being fired for quoting George Washington, or (surprisingly perhaps) for mentioning God. He's being fired for linking to Pat Buchanan's website, as this article states:
Greg Lukianoff, president of the Philadelphia-based group, said Kehowski is being targeted because of the e-mail, sent Nov. 22, with the 1789 proclamation and the link to the site of Buchanan, a conservative commentator and former presidential candidate. Lukianoff said five employees filed complaints because the Buchanan site criticized immigration policies.
To begin at the beginning, in October 2003, Kehowski objected to a “Dia de la Raza” event scheduled at the Glendale Community College and organized by the Movimiento Estudiantil de Aztlan.
Kehowski suggested instead a celebration of Columbus Day and Western culture. In a mass e-mail to his list containing links that challenge multiculturalism, Kehowski asked why the district was “endorsing an explicitly racist event.”
I'd certainly agree that the latter incident was a clear example of academic freedom, and sent to an email list presumably made up of people who wanted to receive emails from him. On the other hand this incident is murkier:
This year, district Chancellor Rufus Glasper notified the professor March 9 that he intended to recommend to the governing board that Kehowski be dismissed. He said Kehowski's Nov. 22 e-mail violated the district's electronic communications policy, which prohibits using district e-mail for private or personal matters.
Glasper's letter says the professor continued to disregard district policies despite previous sanctions and directives. Kehowski was suspended without pay for five days in September 2005 for a similar violation.
Of course, I would like to see some evidence that other employees of the community college district had been fired for similar violations of the email policy; I'm going to take a guess that this is one of those rules that is routinely ignored.
Our buddy Lone Star Pundit has a post about a soldier who had to take out a loan against his army pay in order to bury his father, who died at age 47 of lung cancer.
Sadler and his church are planning a benefit May 6 at Christian Life Church, 27501 SH 249 near Decker Prairie Rosehill Road, in the parking lot of his auto shop. Sadler said funeral expenses alone amount to $7,200. So far, $1,200 has come in from various donations. Sadler said that unless the community can help, the rest will be being taken out of Christopher Cooper's son's military pay for the next two years.
Hugh Hewitt was talking about this on the radio yesterday.
But Mr. Sharpton, in a jab at Mitt Romney (and the Mormon religion, which Mr. Hitchens had criticized because it once endorsed racial segregation), added, “As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don’t worry, that’s a temporary situation.”
Simply disgusting. Mormons are genuine people of faith, who really believe in God.
I missed the first episode of this season's series and now I missed the end, unavoidably. I could have taped it but I am heading out of town tomorrow morning and knew I would not be able to watch it until Wednesday.
Eric has his thoughts here. The overwhelming theme after watching all-stars in both Survivor and The Amazing Race is that these folks may have enough personality to entertain for one season, but two is too much. I hope never to see Rob & Ambuh again, and ditto for the rest of this season's crew.
As usual, the Democrats find that maintaining their coalition of special interest groups inevitably leads to conflict:
On Thursday, leaders of the liberal group MoveOn.org, including Tom Matzzie, the group’s Washington director who also serves as the campaign manager for the coalition, sent a harshly worded warning to the Democratic leadership.
“In the past few days, we have seen what appear to be trial balloons signaling a significant weakening of the Democratic position,” the letter read. “On this, we want to be perfectly clear: if Democrats appear to capitulate to Bush — passing a bill without measures to end the war — the unity Democrats have enjoyed and Democratic leadership has so expertly built, will immediately disappear.”
Of course, the Democrats did not run on an explicit campaign of surrender in Iraq; it was only implicit, for the simple reason they would not have won behind the white banner. This is, of course, the real problem with running a "stealth" campaign; you cannot claim to have a mandate for what you really want if you didn't run on that platform.
One of the coalition’s strengths is its diversity, bringing to together groups like MoveOn.org and organized labor on one end and former Iraq veterans in the group Votevets.org on the other, members said. But that diversity can also create some tense moments, as each of the groups have different constituencies and some of the groups are more invested in the Democratic Party than others.
