Full Text: Sen. John McCain Speech – A World Without Nuclear Weapons

(Source: Office of Sen. John McCain)

(Editor’s Note: This speech was given on the floor of the U.S. Senate June 3, 2009)

Mr. President, today we celebrate the unveiling in the Capitol of a statue of Ronald Reagan, one of our country’s great presidents and a personal hero to me throughout my political life. While there are many aspects of President Reagan’s legacy we might reflect on today, I’d like to take the opportunity to discuss just one of them: his dream of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Speaking before the Japanese Diet on November 11, 1983, President Ronald Reagan said, “The only value in possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they can’t be used ever. I know I speak for people everywhere when I say our dream is to see the day when nuclear weapons will be banished from the face of the Earth.” That is my dream, too, and it is one shared by many of our most distinguished national security practitioners. In 2007, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, along with former Secretary of Defense William Perry and Senator Sam Nunn, authored an article titled “A World Free of Nuclear Weapons,” in which they laid out their vision of the globe free of the most dangerous weapons ever known.

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Look Out, Congress Has Its Back Up Over Auto Dealers …

Personally, I believe the president when he says he never wanted to be in the car business.   I fully expect that the White House will unwind taxpayers from stakes in car companies long before we are completely and safely out of Uncle Sam’s positions in banks and other financial services companies.

Congress on the other hand, these guys scare me.

The great strength of Congress is that local and regional representations may be made concerning public policy.  That parochial nature of the legislature is also its greatest weakness.  There are some big picture things that we need members of Congress to quash their urges to consider merely on the merits of “How does this affect my district?”

Today the Senate Commerce Committee will hold hearings on U.S. auto dealers affected by right-sizing efforts underway by Chrysler and GM.  Autodealers will claim something terrible has happened and Senators – especially those whose campaigns are partially funded by fat cat car salesmen – will wring their hands and agree.

If the politics stops here with a show of indignation and gnashing of teeth, we’ll be O.K.  If the show gets a run in the House, then the trouble starts.  Members of the House, with their ultra-parochial world view could end up with legislation attempting to reverse dealership closings by the automakers, or worse yet, extending dealers some sort of bailout.  The bailouts need to remain at the macro level of the economy.  All we need is 435 bailout plans for this and for that.

Reuters reports ahead of today’s hearing what the national organization representing car dealers will say:

General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC, both bankrupt, will try on Wednesday to ease congressional concern, and in some cases anger, over their plans to slash more than 2,400 dealerships.

Members of the Senate Commerce Committee plan to grill GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson and Chrysler President Jim Press about the lone aspect of restructuring that has triggered a broad response from Congress since dealers are nationwide.

“Rapid dealer reductions increase unemployment, threaten communities and decrease state and local tax revenue without any material corresponding decrease in an automaker’s costs,” said John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association who sells vehicles made by GM, Toyota Motor Corp and Hyundai Motor Co in Iowa.

We can’t dispute what McEleney says about the economic impact of auto dealers.  I’ve heard reported that the average employment of a new car dealership is around 50 to 60.  The point behind the pain being felt by anyone connected with the U.S. auto industry today – from boardrooms to union halls – is that the whole system was bloated.  Everyone is taking a hit.  If the industry is to regain any semblance of health, everyone needs to take a hit.

Here’s hoping Congress doesn’t try to micromanage the U.S. government’s temporary investment in the auto industry.  We elected the president to be the executive and too many competing interests pushing for setting aside the hard choices for interest groups will just water down the whole enterprise.  What Congress should be doing is oversight.  The auto dealers shouldn’t be on the Hill today, the Administration and the top management of GM should be on the Hill today explaining what this all looks like in six, twelve and 24 months.

Interview Transcript – President Obama on NPR – Mideast Relations, Guantanamo

(Source: White House Press Office) 4:02 P.M. EDT

Q    Mr. President, welcome to the program.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.

Q    Mr. President, thank you for joining us — that we could join you, in this case.  If you want to improve relations with the Muslim world, do you have to change or alter in some way the strong U.S. support for Israel?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I don’t think that we have to change strong U.S. support for Israel.  I think that we do have to retain a constant belief in the possibilities of negotiations that will lead to peace, and that that’s going to require, from my view, a two-state solution; that it’s going to require that each side — Israelis and Palestinians — meet their obligations.

I’ve said very clearly to the Israelis both privately and publicly that a freeze on settlements including natural growth is part of those obligations.  I’ve said to the Palestinians that their continued progress on security and ending the incitement that I think understandably makes Israelis so concerned — that that has to be — those obligations have to be met.

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Video: Obama Interview with BBC

Full Text: White House Fact Sheet on Government’s 60% Stake in GM and Bankruptcy Plan

The Obama Administration released the following fact sheet at 10 p.m. Sunday night regarding the path forward for GM and the government as 60% owner.

ELCA Has Nothing to Say About Murder of George Tiller?

Where the far-Right sees one’s stance on the abortion question as a litumus test for Christian faith, not so for most.  George Tiller, one of the few American doctors who perform late term abortions was shot today at his church, Reformation Lutheran Church, in Wichita, KS.

Killed on Sunday, at church it’s a situation ripe for the flock to seek some context or greater understanding from church elders.  Being an ELCA Lutheran myself, I visited their website to find some understanding, some context.

There’s nothing.  Not a message from presiding bishop, Mark Hanson, nor even a message to pray for those left behind at Reformation Lutheran in Wichita.

The political system has failed both sides of the abortion rights question for the decades since the Roe decision.  The fact that this wedge issue continues to divide Americans and rile the basest instincts in some is testament to that.    Another fact is that this issue is so difficult because it is so many things – politics, religion, biology – it’s not the sort of public policy issue that should ever be cast in all or nothing terms but it is by the noisy crowds for and against.

It may seem like nitpicking to call out my church for being quiet on the event of Dr. Tiller’s death, but because the underlying abortion rights debate is so multi-faceted and so completely wrapped up in our individual concepts of morality, this is exactly the time for the Church to be available.

This is the Internet age.  The opportunity is always there for immediate communication.  Too often the ease of communication today leads to garbage and “ill communication.”  It wouldn’t have today, though.

Video: Gibbs Answers Question on Obama Birth Certificate During Press Briefing

I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the question to be asked in a White House press briefing.  There is a fairly large amount of folks out there in Amerika who believe that President Obama has not released his birth certificate; that it resides behind lock and key in a vault somewhere in Hawaii.

Un-f*&cking believable.  You can see the president’s birth certificate here.  The tards on the right who continue to wring their hands over this issue say that the document is not what they expect for some reason.  According to Snopes.com, a site that never lets us down when it comes to debunking, the document linked above is consistent with other certificates of live birth from the time in Hawaii.

Lester Kinsolving is the fellow who asks the question.  Kinsolving a radio host and “correspondent” for Internet conservaporn World Net Daily has every right to ask the question, but it should be noted that WorldNet Daily has been the standard bearer for all things anti-Obama.

Daily Graphic: GOP Identification Down, Conservative Identification Not

Last week the Pew Center for the People and the Press released the latest in a series of polls going back to the late eighties measuring political values and core attitudes in the American public.  From business and Wall Street to social issues, the poll is a snapshot of where the polity stands today four months into a new presidency.  One of the interesting points made by the report writers and the data is that the waning fortunes of the Republican Party do not necessarily mean the demise of conservatism in America.  Go check out the entire report here.

Video: Sotomayor – Appeals Court is Where Policy Is Made …

Oopsie.

Perhaps when Judge Sonia Sotomayor was on a panel at Duke University and told the audience that “All of the legal defense funds out there, they’re looking for people with court of appeals experience, because it is – Court of Appeals is where policy is made …” she wasn’t thinking about facing the fire breathing dragons on the right during Senate confirmation hearings.

Let’s just say that explaining this statement is the first chapter of her briefing book.  She’s a smart lady, she’ll do it.  It should also be noted that “morgenr” the person who posted this video to YouTube only posted around 20 seconds of what was surely a longer statement.

Sotomayor’s Background & Bio

(Source: White House Press Office)

Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor has served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since October 1998. She has been hailed as “one of the ablest federal judges currently sitting” for her thoughtful opinions,i and as “a role model of aspiration, discipline, commitment, intellectual prowess and integrity”ii for her ascent to the federal bench from an upbringing in a South Bronx housing project.

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SCOTUS Update – Sotomayor Announcement – News & Links from Around the Web

• Obama Selects Sotomayor – New York Times

Judge Sotomayor, who stood next to the president during the announcement, was described by Mr. Obama as “an inspiring woman who I am confident will make a great justice.”

The president said he had made his decision after “deep reflection and careful deliberation,” and he made it clear that the judge’s inspiring personal story was crucial in his decision. Mr. Obama praised his choice as someone possessing “a rigorous intellect, a mastery of the law.”

But those essential qualities are not enough, the president said. Quoting Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mr. Obama said, “The life of the law has not been logic, it has been experience.” It is vitally important that a justice know “how the world works, and how ordinary people live,” the president said.

The judge described her selection as “the most humbling honor of my life.”

• Obama nominates Judge Sotomayor – Washington Times

The president said he wanted a nominee with intellectual rigor and an appreciation for the limits of judicial power — “a judge’s job is to interpret, not make law.” But he said it was Ms. Sotomayor’s “own extraordinary journey” from the housing projects of the South Bronx that he thinks will give her the “common touch” he wanted in a justice.

Mr. Obama also touted Ms. Sotomayor as a jurist with moderate appeal because she was first nominated to the federal bench by former President George H.W. Bush, a Republican.

• Obama chooses Sotomayor – Washington Post

However, Sotomayor is strongly opposed by conservative groups, who have signaled their intention to use her nomination as a rallying cry against liberal causes. Republican lawmakers said this weekend they would try to slow down her confirmation, which despite the strong Democratic majority in the Senate could lead to an all-consuming fight this summer that could divert attention from the rest of Obama’s political and economic agenda.

“Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important that the law as written,” said Wendy E. Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, in a statement e-mailed to reporters this morning. “She thinks that judges should dictate policy, and that one’s sex, race, and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench.”

• SCOTUS pick is Sotomayor – CNN

Sotomayor, however, has suffered through recent stinging criticism in the media and blogs from both the left and right over perceived — some defenders say invented — concerns about her temperament and intellect.

As she has risen through the judicial ranks, Sotomayor increasingly has drawn the ire and opposition of conservatives. A majority of Republican senators opposed her elevation to the appellate court in 1998.

However, an official with the Republican National Committee promised that the GOP will be equitable toward Sotomayor.

“The Republicans are going to strike a tone that’s fair, that allows the vetting process to happen like it should, and that’s in stark contrast to how the Democrats dealt with Judge Roberts when you look back a couple years ago,” the official said, referring to the 2005 confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts.

Asshat of the Day: Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ

There are lots of reasons to label Sen. Jon Kyl, “asshat.”  Today, though, there is only one.

In the partisan heat of Washington, our new president has gone to some lengths to take a log or two off the fire.  Barack Obama has been met time after time with the back of the hand from the GOP.  Now, days before Obama’s first nomination to the Supreme Court, Kyl is out there talking filibuster.  Hell, he doesn’t even know who the nominee will be.  For all he knows it will be Pat Buchanan. (Buchanan does show some empathy for the middle class.)

But no.  Sen. Kyl is just unimaginative enough to grab a headline the easy way.  He’s there in the middle of the Republican fire base cranking the air raid siren.  Hopefully calling attention to nothing more than his brutish sense of politics.

From the Associated Press:

The Senate’s No. 2 Republican on Sunday refused to rule out a filibuster if President Barack Obama seeks a Supreme Court justice who decides cases based on “emotions or feelings or preconceived ideas.”

Sen. Jon Kyl made clear he would use the procedural delay if Obama follows through on his pledge to nominate someone who takes into account human suffering and employs empathy from the bench. The Arizona Republican acknowledged that his party likely does not have enough votes to sustain a filibuster, but he said nonetheless he would try to delay or derail the nomination if Obama ventures outside what Kyl called the mainstream.

“We will distinguish between a liberal judge on one side and one who doesn’t decide cases on the merits but, rather, on the basis of his or her preconceived ideas,” Kyl said.

Gingrich, Durbin on Meet the Press – Video

Transcript – Gingrich, Durbin on Meet the Press – May 24

(Source: NBC’s Meet the Press)

MR. DAVID GREGORY: Our issues today: America’s fight against terrorism, a debate about the past…

(Videotape)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA: All too often our government trims facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions.

(End videotape)

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Video – Colin Powell on Face the Nation: Natl Security, Cheney, Limbaugh

Sorry … took the video down because it plays automatically when page loads which is freakin’ annoying.  If you want to watch the interview, go here.

If you want more fun and excitement visit the All That Natters homepage.

Powell, The Statesman, Swings Back – Tepidly

Former Secy of State Gen. Colin Powell is appearing on Face the Nation today.  An advance by CBS contains the quotes that follow.  Whatever.  Powell still thinks of himself as a Republican.  He should have hit back hard at Limbaugh and Cheney if he believes they are hurting his party.  You can hit hard without stooping to their smug level.  I wish Powell wasn’t so diplomatic.

“I am still a Republican. I’d like to point out that in the course of my 50 years of voting for presidents, I have voted for the person i thought was best qualified at that time to lead the nation.
Last year I thought it was President-now Barack Obama,” Powell said.

Powell said the Republican party needs a new look if it wants to stay relevant.

“I think the Republican party has to take a hard look at itself and decide what kind of party are we?” he said.

“I have always felt that the Republican party should be more inclusive than it generally has been over the years.

Powell also addressed criticism from conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, saying his assertion that Powell only voted for President Obama because “he is black” was “unfortunate.”

Daily Graphic: The Southernization of the GOP

Ron Brownstein and the National Journal tackles with data what most of us who follow politics know – the Grand Old Party is moving toward becoming a regional political party.

A look at the 2008 final electoral map is telling, but one can’t make a sweeping pronouncement based on one election.  Brownstein’s well-researched, thoughtful piece is worth a read.  Along with the graphic below, there is an interactive chart where you can pick an era and see the Republican Party’s share of the vote inside and outside the South.

Video: CSPAN Interview with President Barack Obama – Taped May 22

CNN Says Obama SCOTUS Pick Tuesday

Ed Henry, CNN White House correspondent says that a top aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy and three Obama Administration officials are sources for his reporting that President Barack Obama will announce his first Supreme Court nomination on Tuesday.

Still on the list according to Henry:

• Sotomayor
• Wood
• Kagan

Henry says the president is till mulling and that the pick could be announced somewhat later next week.

Video: President Obama Speech on National Security, Torture, Guantanamo – May 21

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