Miscellaneous Breaking News: Short On Time, And Combining The Two
I have a doctor's appointment in about an hour, so I do not have time for the long-running diatribe that many of our readers are used to. (And to our regular readers who have expressed to us that our posts are sometimes too long, we are working on alleviating that standard. We will strive to make shorter, to-the-point posts more frequently.)
(Both of these stories I caught from Captain Ed Morrissey)
But, onto the news. And the news for Rep. William Jefferson today is not good. From Yahoo News:
House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point about ethics, voted to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment Thursday night while a federal bribery investigation runs its course.
Members of the rank and file approved the move after Jefferson refused for weeks to step aside on his own, and despite claims by some members of the Congressional Black Caucus that he was being treated unfairly.
Officials said the vote was 99-58. The action must be ratified by the full House, and Jefferson left open the possibility that he might at long last relent and surrender the seat on his own. "I don't want to speculate," he said. The session marked the culmination of a drive by the Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, to take action against the embattled Louisiana lawmaker, who maintains his innocence and has not been indicted.
"This is not about a court of law. This is about a higher ethical standard, and you know when it isn't being met," she told reporters several hours before the meeting.
While many are bringing the issue of race into this, that is irrelevant. Rep. Jefferson is on tape accepting a bribe. He had $90,000 wrapped in tin-foil in his freezer. It is clear that this man is as dirty as Duke Cunningham was, and while he did not state that he would surrender his House seat, I am hedging my bets that will come around soon enough. The House Ethics committee, if not already involved, should be, and should recommend that Rep. Jefferson lose his seat. If he is brought up on charges, and found not guilty, then he can attempt to retake that seat when it comes back up in a couple of years. But this move had to be made. He refused to step aside on the House Ways and Means committee, and he is facing federal prosecution. To keep him there until the prosecutors finish this case is a disgrace not only to the House, but the Democrat Party, as well. Rep. Pelosi's moves were political in nature, of course. She is hoping to show that the Democrats can clean up their house, too, but I question whether or not this is as sincere as she has presented it. While I applaud her for the move, I simply have to question the motives behind it.
And now we have a story from The Times Online of London regarding Iran. It seems that they are looking to forge an alliance with Russia and China against the West.
MAHMOUD Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, held talks with Chinese and Russian leaders at a summit meeting yesterday to build up a security grouping in opposition to the US and Nato.
Mr Ahmadinejad was invited to address a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), a China-sponsored proto-alliance that aims to strengthen defence links across Central Asia.
In an implicit reference to the US and its pressure on Iran to end its nuclear weapons programme, he said that the SCO could “ward off the threats of domineering powers to use their force against and interfere in the affairs of other states”.
The summit was also attended by the leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, India and four Central Asian former Soviet republics. A joint declaration signed by those attending appeared to back the Iranian President.
“Differences in cultural traditions, political and social systems, values and models of development formed in the course of history should not be taken as pretexts to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs,” the joint declaration said.
First, step back and look who signed onto this declaration, and ask if their support is anything more than posturing. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India have much, much more to lose by alienating the West than the gains in making Iran an ally. India wants that agreement that President Bush addressed on his last trip there. Pakistan could lose support from the US and Britain, which would put Musharraf's job and life at risk. Many people in his nation do not like him, but they tolerate him because of his alliance with the West. And we need not go into what Afghanistan would lose should they choose Iran over us; that nation still is not fully quelled though efforts are underway to deal a serious blow to remaining Taliban forces. The key to this whole little get-together is Russia and China. They have been in Iran's corner since the word go, and have done everything they can to deter any sort of accountable efforts to have Iran end its nuclear ambitions. But this does set the board up for an interesting gambit. Both nations could suffer under weakening relations with the West. Both nations depend on money from the United States, whether it comes in the form of foreign aid (Russia) or as a trade partner (China). Either way this is drawn up, this could prove to be very deleterious to relations for everyone involved, and it could set both sides up for a showdown I doubt the world would relish watching.
Marcie
I have a doctor's appointment in about an hour, so I do not have time for the long-running diatribe that many of our readers are used to. (And to our regular readers who have expressed to us that our posts are sometimes too long, we are working on alleviating that standard. We will strive to make shorter, to-the-point posts more frequently.)
(Both of these stories I caught from Captain Ed Morrissey)
But, onto the news. And the news for Rep. William Jefferson today is not good. From Yahoo News:
House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point about ethics, voted to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment Thursday night while a federal bribery investigation runs its course.
Members of the rank and file approved the move after Jefferson refused for weeks to step aside on his own, and despite claims by some members of the Congressional Black Caucus that he was being treated unfairly.
Officials said the vote was 99-58. The action must be ratified by the full House, and Jefferson left open the possibility that he might at long last relent and surrender the seat on his own. "I don't want to speculate," he said. The session marked the culmination of a drive by the Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, to take action against the embattled Louisiana lawmaker, who maintains his innocence and has not been indicted.
"This is not about a court of law. This is about a higher ethical standard, and you know when it isn't being met," she told reporters several hours before the meeting.
While many are bringing the issue of race into this, that is irrelevant. Rep. Jefferson is on tape accepting a bribe. He had $90,000 wrapped in tin-foil in his freezer. It is clear that this man is as dirty as Duke Cunningham was, and while he did not state that he would surrender his House seat, I am hedging my bets that will come around soon enough. The House Ethics committee, if not already involved, should be, and should recommend that Rep. Jefferson lose his seat. If he is brought up on charges, and found not guilty, then he can attempt to retake that seat when it comes back up in a couple of years. But this move had to be made. He refused to step aside on the House Ways and Means committee, and he is facing federal prosecution. To keep him there until the prosecutors finish this case is a disgrace not only to the House, but the Democrat Party, as well. Rep. Pelosi's moves were political in nature, of course. She is hoping to show that the Democrats can clean up their house, too, but I question whether or not this is as sincere as she has presented it. While I applaud her for the move, I simply have to question the motives behind it.
And now we have a story from The Times Online of London regarding Iran. It seems that they are looking to forge an alliance with Russia and China against the West.
MAHMOUD Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, held talks with Chinese and Russian leaders at a summit meeting yesterday to build up a security grouping in opposition to the US and Nato.
Mr Ahmadinejad was invited to address a meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), a China-sponsored proto-alliance that aims to strengthen defence links across Central Asia.
In an implicit reference to the US and its pressure on Iran to end its nuclear weapons programme, he said that the SCO could “ward off the threats of domineering powers to use their force against and interfere in the affairs of other states”.
The summit was also attended by the leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, India and four Central Asian former Soviet republics. A joint declaration signed by those attending appeared to back the Iranian President.
“Differences in cultural traditions, political and social systems, values and models of development formed in the course of history should not be taken as pretexts to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs,” the joint declaration said.
First, step back and look who signed onto this declaration, and ask if their support is anything more than posturing. Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India have much, much more to lose by alienating the West than the gains in making Iran an ally. India wants that agreement that President Bush addressed on his last trip there. Pakistan could lose support from the US and Britain, which would put Musharraf's job and life at risk. Many people in his nation do not like him, but they tolerate him because of his alliance with the West. And we need not go into what Afghanistan would lose should they choose Iran over us; that nation still is not fully quelled though efforts are underway to deal a serious blow to remaining Taliban forces. The key to this whole little get-together is Russia and China. They have been in Iran's corner since the word go, and have done everything they can to deter any sort of accountable efforts to have Iran end its nuclear ambitions. But this does set the board up for an interesting gambit. Both nations could suffer under weakening relations with the West. Both nations depend on money from the United States, whether it comes in the form of foreign aid (Russia) or as a trade partner (China). Either way this is drawn up, this could prove to be very deleterious to relations for everyone involved, and it could set both sides up for a showdown I doubt the world would relish watching.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 12:29 PM
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