August 27, 2005
Roberts Supreme Court Nomination Roundup
:Democrats continued their demand for more documents this week – this time for more memos from his work in the Reagan administration. The memos’ topics, which range from Presidential pardons, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Iran Contra scandal, are known but not the contents. National Archive officials have said that the reason the memos have not been released is not political, simply that sensitive information are on the pages and that it will take time to remove them. Meanwhile, homosexual rights groups announced on Friday opposition to Judge Roberts despite his pro bono work in the 1996 Supreme Court Romer v. Evans case that solidified legal protections for gays.
Hurricane Katrina
:The Category-One storm hit southern Florida Thursday night causing millions to lose power and multiple deaths. The storm is now in the Gulf of Mexico and regaining strength. The storm is expected to hit land again this weekend and cause more damage somewhere between Louisiana and the Florida panhandle.
Israeli Withdraw
:By Monday, the historic withdraw from the entire Gaza Strip and four settlements in the West Bank were completed by the Israeli military. While there were protests, no one was killed during the controversial and emotional pullout of Israeli settlers. Around the world, there was much hope that this would lead to a return to the peace talks by showing the commitment of Israelis to the peace process. But these hopes may be dashed by an Israeli confirmation later in the week that they were seizing more land in the West Bank. This land will link current settlements and create a more defensible border.
War Protests Continue
:President Bush responding to declining poll numbers (36% approval rating, which is about the rate of LBJ’s rate during the turning point in the Vietnam War) and a large protest led by grieving mother Cindy Sheehan at his vacation ranch, went on the road to boost the war’s popularity. In Idaho and Utah this week, Bush spoke with veteran groups to reiterate his mission to fight terrorists abroad instead of at home and more references to 9/11. “So long as I’m the president, we will stay, we will fight, and we will win the war on terror.” This weekend pro-war and anti-war protests are expected in Crawford, Texas.
Iraq Constitution
:By the end of the week and two missed deadlines, it appeared that any chance of a compromise on the Constitution in Iraq was dead. Sunnis refuse to yield on the issue of federalism and the Shiite leadership is ready to take the Constitution to an October vote with or without a compromise. The Shiite and Kurdish leaderships have agreed to a constitution with a large degree of federalism and independence, with Sunnis (who make up a large part of the insurgency and about 20% of the population) largely protesting this agreement. Late in the week, these disagreements seemed to flame fights along ethnic lines and even some Shiite infighting. Two days of fighting has led to over 100 deaths.
Week of August 20-27, 2005
:The weeks of August are supposed to be slow in hard news. So, it seemed to be an ideal time to come back from an extended vacation (more on that later). Instead, the news from across the ocean just seemed to keep coming. So after much pairing down, here are a few of the most important stories of the week.
September 2, 2005
Commentary - Our Tsunami
:More than one Southern politician has referred to Hurricane Katrina as “our tsunami.â€? For all of us, this should be both a reminder and a challenge. The reminder is that those that had their lives destroyed and turned upside down by last year’s tsunami still have not received all the promised aid and support. Both President Bush (1) and Clinton have written op-ed pieces asking for America to live up to its commitment to those that suffered in Southeast Asia. We should be reminded this week and over the next couple months to years that these disasters take lots of time and commitment in response. We should then be challenged to live up to our commitments to the people of Asia and to the people of the Southern United States. In neither case will our commitment or their need end when we the horrific images stop flowing daily on the news.
Commentary - Presidential Leadership
:President Bush remarked during the 2000 campaign that natural disasters our “a time to test your mettle.â€? During what Bush, himself, calls “one of the worst natural disasters in our country’s history,â€? it is clear we have a President without much “mettle.â€? Wednesday, he delivered what the New York Times called “one of the worst speeches of his life.â€? I listened in disbelief as he listed the supplies that are being sent to Louisiana and Mississippi and the people he has put in charge of different aspects of the mission. I was surprised when he took the time to explain what a MRE was. And I was absolutely disappointed in his inability to show any sympathy or empathy. For a man that prides himself on being a discipline of Christ, there wasn’t even a prayer for the victims and their family.
Bush has been here before. It took him twenty-minutes of listening to a children’s book and hours of circling the Earth before responding to the 9/11 disaster. And maybe waiting to return to Washington for two days after the Hurricane Katrina struck (and fitting in a speech praising efforts in Iraq while people were dying in the south) was beneficial for him. Perhaps he can rebound and respond well. After all, the Federal Government is mobilizing the largest response effort in our nation’s history.
But I am not very certain in his leadership/emotional abilities. Thursday, in an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, she pushed him to show some sympathy. He was asked what he would say to those that do not believe the relief is getting to them fast enough. It was a softball question with an answer readily available of how he understands their frustration and pain and is working as hard as he can to provide full relief. He got incredulous. He said that people have to understand these things take time and that they need to wait. The man just simply lacks any sympathy or empathy (or at least can’t show it). And this fatal flaw of the President shows he lacks the mettle to be the leader and President that this nation needs.
Commentary - The Power of Mother Nature
:Once again, the natural world has shown its strength and again we will be forced to consider (and then ignore) what needs to be done. While I hesitate to blame anyone or anything for a natural disaster, a storm of such magnitude was always possible (they seem to happen every few years) and once again we were not ready. New Orleans, as we have learned over this last week, is almost completely below sea level. And it has been falling further annually (3 feet in the last 100 years). Human impact is huge. The levies, flood walls, and dams throughout the Mississippi system has ended the silt dump at the Louisiana basin, which has offered, for millenias, natural protection from hurricanes. Yet, efforts were not taken. In fact, Congress had been working to cut funding to projects to rebuild the Louisiana Bayou before leaving on recess.
This weekend, I will travel to the North Carolina outer-banks. I feel bad about the trip – I am supporting an industry that is simply going to cause a horrific tragedy. The islands off the American coasts is nature’s way of protecting the land from the storm. In the last one-hundred years we have gone a long way to destroying that natural system. By protecting beaches, we have destroyed the natural cycle of moving islands that will eventually protect us all from a violent hurricane.
With changing climatic conditions, we will see more violent hurricanes and other disasters. We must provide the resources to rebuild when they happen. But more cost effective (and better for the environment) would be to provide more proactive measures, such as replenishing the Louisiana bayou with silt lost to dams and allowing North Carolina islands to shift, which could protect us and our way of life. Without this change in thought and behavior, New Orleans will not be the last city to be completely submerged or rebuilt.
Iraqi Stampede
:Nearly a thousand people died on Wednesday when a stampede occurred due to a fear of a suicide bomber on a Baghdad bridge. Shiite worshipers were on a bridge to the Kadhim mosque in Baghdad. Moussa al Kadhim was a 9th Century descendant of the prophet Mohammad, which for the Shiites meant his line was the rightful leader of Islam. He was killed by a group of Sunnis, which continues to fuel hatred and religious strife to this day as it ended the prophet’s line of successors. Fears of suicide bombers led to a mass stampede with people jumping into the Tigris River or walking on each other. Nearby Sunnis rushed to the rescue of the Shiite worshipers, many dying trying to save those that had jumped in the river. It was the singles biggest disaster in Iraq since the American invasion began.
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