Twenty-three CIA agents are going to have to think twice about leaving the U.S. now that an Italian court has convicted them in absentia for snatching an imam in Milan and sending him to Egypt, where the cleric says he was tortured. (continued)
Why did voters in Maine reject a law that would have sanctioned same-sex marriage? Well, according to some marriage equality supporters, one big reason currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and another has to do with conservative scare tactics played out via television ad campaigns.
In the aftermath of Afghanistan’s scuttled presidential runoff, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged President Hamid Karzai to go after the corruption within his ranks. Meanwhile, Karzai’s former challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, advised his supporters to contain their discontent and avoid violence.
Tuesday’s elections were dispiriting in some ways for Democrats, particularly in Virginia and New Jersey (not to mention Maine, though that issue cuts across party lines), but the New York Daily News’ Michael McAuliff wonders whether another, more encouraging object lesson for 2010 might’ve happened in upstate New York.
The expression “as Maine goes, so goes the nation” has troubling implications if applied to the same-sex marriage movement, although “as goes California” might be a more accurate maxim. On Tuesday, voters in the Pine Tree State overturned a law that would have legalized gay marriage. (continued)
They may have lost the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia, but Democrats expanded their majority in the House of Representatives by one seat Tuesday. Bill Owens won a surprise victory after a bizarre race that saw a third-party conservative candidate drive the Republican in this staunchly GOP district out of the running and into the arms of the Democrats.
It was a night of disappointment for Democrats, who lost the governor’s mansion in New Jersey shortly after losing in Virginia. But was it a referendum on President Barack Obama’s agenda, as some pundits claimed, or testament to the unpopularity of incumbent governor and former Goldman Sachs CEO (great timing) Jon Corzine? (Continued)
He changed the rules, he put down the cash, and now New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been re-upped for a third term, beating his Democratic competitor, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, by a slim margin on Tuesday.
A year ago, Virginia surprised the nation by skewing blue in the presidential election, handing Barack Obama a key win below the Mason-Dixon Line. However, this trend didn’t extend into the 2009 gubernatorial race in the state, as the majority of Virginians voted in favor of conservative Republican Bob McDonnell on Tuesday.
An Italian mom’s wish for her kids to have a secular education provided the catalyst for a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights to bar crucifixes from being displayed in Italy’s classrooms. Needless to say, the court’s decision didn’t sit well with the Vatican.
We can’t be certain why Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell quit his post Tuesday because his one-sentence resignation doesn’t say, but we can guess it has something to do with his refusal to preside over an interracial marriage—and the public outcry that soon followed.
Bubba will battle the Decider in a debate at Radio City Music Hall. MSG Entertainment is billing its salty showdown as “the hottest ticket in political history.” How hot? It’s $60 to $1,250, depending on how close you want to get. Don’t expect fireworks—ex-presidents tend to be chummy and WJC is practically BFFs with W’s daddy. Update
As President Barack Obama considers whether to send more American forces to fight in Afghanistan, it’s looking as if European countries are unlikely to commit more of their own troops to the cause, according to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Could the current climate in Washington, D.C., be discouraging lobbyists from practicing their persuasive trade in and around the White House? Or does the downsizing of their ranks have more to do with the economy than the political zeitgeist on Capitol Hill?
About half of all American children will receive food stamps by the age of 20. Among black children, the figure is a stunning 90 percent. A new study drew those conclusions from data spanning 1968 to 1997. (Continued)
The first lady entered the White House with no public agenda and with promises to focus on her children, but a year in, she has already made an impact. Her latest project is a mentoring program meant to inspire local girls by giving them access to some of the White House’s powerful women. (continued)
Hillary Clinton continued her diplomatic spree in the Middle East on Monday, meeting with Arab heads of state in Morocco, and she once again found herself revisiting, and perhaps revising, her words when she read a statement qualifying a comment she’d made last weekend about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
It was partly intended as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on New York’s Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, but, considering America’s bellicose response to that tragedy, it’s hard not to read more into the story of the USS New York, a new Navy warship constructed partly from melted-steel remnants of the World Trade Center.
Even if all the countries slated to show up in Copenhagen for next month’s climate talks are represented around the negotiating table, there remains a huge amount of work to do. For one, a legally binding measure to replace the Kyoto Treaty has yet to be created. Still, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen is “optimistic” about the summit.
Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission has declared President Hamid Karzai the winner of a second five-year term after his rival Abdullah Abdullah dropped out of the race. Abdullah said the runoff would be just as corrupt as the original election and withdrew in protest. (continued)
The party lines in New York’s 23rd Congressional District got even more confused Sunday. A day after a conservative third-party campaign hounded Dede Scozzafava out of the race, the moderate Republican turned around and endorsed her Democratic rival. Politico reports on the Democrats’ ... (continued)
Palestinian officials have accused the U.S. of killing prospects for peace after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed Israel’s position that West Bank settlements were not a deal-breaker to resuming negotiations. A not-so-nuanced paraphrasing of the policy is exemplified by Israel’s prime minister telling Palestinians to “get a grip.”
Analysts looking ahead to the November 2010 election are sounding an alarm bell for Democrats looking to keep or add to their hold on Congress. With nationwide unemployment standing at 9.8 percent and likely to go higher, the notion that the recession has lifted may not sit well with voters as they weigh in on the party in power.
Afghanistan’s political drama hit another bump Sunday when Abdullah Abdullah, President Hamid Karzai’s main rival in the Nov. 7 runoff election, bowed out of the race. An aide said Abdullah dropped out because the “odds are illegally stacked against him.”
In what is being described as the biggest change to how the Internet works in 40 years, the ICANN Internet oversight organization has finally approved plans to allow Web addresses to include non-Latin letters, such as Arabic and Chinese, instead of just www.whatever.com.
Afghanistan’s Sham Army
