Archive for December 18th, 2006
Flap could not wait until tomorrow’s color rendering by Michael Ramirez.
Update:
Now, wait, Michael, Barack Obama is NO Diasy Duke (apologies to Jessica Simpson, 1080i and Direct TV).
And after America discovers the LEFTY Obama, Flap does not think Americans will want him.
Who says Obama is even running for the presidency?
Technorati Tags: Michaelramirez, BarackObama, JessicaSimpson
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Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., told his staff he wanted more family time.
Flap wrote on this subject last week and I am happy to reprise the post with some additional comments and a possible rationale for Prince Turki’s flight out of the United States.
Washington Post: Saudi Ambassador Abruptly Resigns, Leaves Washington
Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, flew out of Washington yesterday after informing Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and his staff that he would be leaving the post after only 15 months on the job, according to U.S. officials and foreign envoys. There has been no formal announcement from the kingdom.
The abrupt departure is particularly striking because his predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, spent 22 years on the job. The Saudi ambassador is one of the most influential diplomatic positions in Washington and is arguably the most important overseas post for the oil-rich desert kingdom.
So, what is up with this?
Internal political manuvering, an impending death in the royal family or a change in direction?
Captain Ed surmises here.
Hugh Hewitt: “Prince Turki Flies”
When Turki was appointed to be Ambassador to the United States, in July 2005 I noted that his movements seem to closely track major terror strikes.
- In July 1998, as head of Saudi intelligence, Turki reportedly traveled to Afghanistan and met with Taliban leaders (and possibly bin Laden) in Kandahar and arranges to send them 400 new pickup trucks. On August 7, 1998 al-Qaeda struck the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar-el-Salaam. Between the two bombings over 250 are killed and 5000 injured.
- In August 2001, two weeks before 9/11, Turki abruptly stepped down as head of Saudi intelligence (a position he had held since 1977) and shortly thereafter became the Saudi Ambassador to the U.K.
- In July 2005 he left his position in London to become the Saudi Ambassador in Washington – only two weeks after the London Tube bombings.
An interesting set of coincidences, no?
Hugh, Flap hopes you are WRONG.
Stay tuned……
Technorati Tags: SaudiArabia, PrinceTurkial-Faisal
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In this photo released by NBC, Meredith Vieira, left, host of the Today Show, interviews Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton , D-N.Y., on Monday, Dec. 18, 2006 in New York. Clinton said Monday she would not support a short-term increase in American troop presence in Iraq unless it was part of a more comprehensive plan to stabilize the country. Clinton also offered the broadest indication yet that she was close to a decision on whether to enter the 2008 Democratic presidential field.
ABC News: Hillary Clinton Says She Wouldn’t Have Voted For Iraq War
As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to assess a possible presidential candidacy and the contours of a Democratic nomination fight, she has taken another step away from her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq by saying that she “wouldn’t have voted that way” if she knew everything she knows now.
Clinton has often been asked if she regrets her vote authorizing military action and she usually answers that question with an artful dodge, saying that she accepts responsibility for the vote and suggesting that if the Senate had all the information it has today (no WMD, troubled post-war military planning, etc. . .), there would never have been a vote on the Senate floor.
However, she has never gone as far as some of her potential rivals for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination — who also voted for the war — and called her vote a mistake or declared that she would have cast her vote differently with all the facts presently available to her — until now.
This morning on NBC’s “Today” show, Sen. Clinton was asked about her 2002 vote and offered a slightly evolved answer. “Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn’t have been a vote,” she said in her usual refrain before adding, “and I certainly wouldn’t have voted that way.”
Hillary is OBVIOUSLY covering her LEFT flank from a possible challenge from Al Gore. John Kerry has self-destructed and John Edwards is a light-weight one term Senator who happened to be Kerry’s pick for the Vice Presidency.
And Barack Obama may not even run for the presidency.
So, why the change of heart?
To freeze out an issue on the LEFT that Gore could attack Hillary and to appease the NUTROOT LEFT activists who would be scrutinizing and gunning for her.
But, the REAL question is:
What is Hillary’s and the Democrat’s plan for the Iraq War?
Flap bets this question’s answer is NOT so forthcoming.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the media while signing copies of the her book ‘It Takes a Village’ in New York, Monday, Dec. 18, 2006. The book has recently been reissued in a 10th anniversary edition with a new introduction.
Previous:
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Leads McCain and Hillary Clinton in 2008 Presidential Poll
Hillary Clinton Watch: Time Magazine Photo Manipulation Ages Hillary
Technorati Tags: HillaryClinton, JohnKerry, JohnEdwards, BarackObama
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shows his ink-stained finger after casting his ballot in Tehran in this December 15, 2006 file photo. Iran’s biggest reformist party said on Monday Ahmadinejad had suffered a ‘decisive defeat’ in nationwide elections last week due to his government’s ‘authoritarian and inefficient methods’.
AFP: Ahmadinejad ‘thwarted’ in Iranian elections: US
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks to have been thwarted from keeping his ultra-conservative allies in control of key offices despite efforts to “cook the books” in weekend elections, the State Department said.
The elections for municipal councils and a powerful religious assembly saw Ahmadinejad loyalists suffer setbacks at the hands of more moderate candidates in a number of key races, including for seats on the Tehran city council.
“It would seem that they are not the results that President Ahmadinejad would have hoped for,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said when asked to comment on the vote.
“I think, despite the regime’s efforts to cook the books in terms of an outcome, they seem to have been thwarted in that regard,” he said.
While noting the high voter turnout in Friday’s election, McCormack said there had been “some fundamental flaws” in the polls, “in which there were numerous candidates that were excluded from even running.”
“So the people didn’t have that choice to make,” he said.
Looks like Ahmadinejad has trouble at home with his constituencies.
Remember last week:
An Iranian student holds an anti-president placard, reading: “Fascist President, Polytechnich is not your placeâ€, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, unseen, speaks at the Amir Kabir Technical University, in Tehran, Iran.
In the meantime, there are apparent winners:
Iranian former presidents Mohammad Khatami (L) and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani casts his ballot at a polling station in Tehran on December 15. Ultra-conservative allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are lagging in key election battlegrounds after gains by moderate conservatives and a solid reformist showing.
Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs will probably BLAME the Great Satan for their own failures at the polls.
But, the United States cannot resist sticking a finger in Ahmadinejad’s eye and talking to the Iranian people about helping them with “peaceful nuclear energy” (if that is what they really desire).
The Iranian student protesters though are hiding out.
Stay tuned……
Previous:
Iran Watch: Iran Students HECKLE Ahmadinejad in Tehran
Iran Watch: Iran Blocks Access to Top Websites
Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad
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Mossad chief Meir Dagan, left, and Kadima MK Tzachi Hanegbi attending a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Knesset on Monday.
Haaretz: Mossad chief: Iran will have nuclear bomb by 2009-2010
The head of the Mossad espionage agency, Meir Dagan, on Monday told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Iran will acquire nuclear weapons by 2009 or 2010.
He said that Iran in June began serious efforts to enrich uranium, and aspires in 2007 to acquire another 3,000 centrifuges, which will be located in bunkers.
AFP: Iran within four years of nuclear bomb: Israel spy chief
“If Iran’s nuclear programme continues at its current pace, they will succeed in having a bomb within three of four years,” Dagan was quoted as telling the commission Monday.
The general had in November 2003 told the same commission that Iran’s nuclear programme constituted “the greatest threat” to Israel since its creation in 1948.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has on a number of occasions said Israel will “not tolerate” an Iran with nuclear weapons capability.
Tick Tock Tick Tock
As the feckless and useless United Nations Security Council struggles with wording for a sanction resolution, the centrifuges at Natanz spin and enrich uranium.
The “POINT OF NO RETURN” is imminent.
 Previous:
Cox & Forkum: Genocidal Logic
Iran Nuclear Watch: A Military Option Redux
John Hinderaker: Mr. President, If I May Be So Bold…
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Rejects New United Nations Security Council Sanction Resolution Before it is Adopted
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad – †Just As the Soviet Union Was Wiped Out and Today Does Not Exist, So Will the Zionist Regime Soon Be Wiped Outâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Expands Uranium Enrichment – AGAIN
The Iran Nuclear Files
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad
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Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (right) attended a 2002 news conference with California GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon.
San Francisco Chronicle: Giuliani is wooing California’s conservatives for possible ’08 bid
He’s scheduled to be keynote speaker for state GOP convention
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a moderate Republican and possible presidential candidate, is working to strengthen his hand in California by scheduling a high-profile appearance and quietly gathering support from some of the state’s staunchest conservatives.
State GOP board members were informed by party officials last week that Giuliani is scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the state Republican Party convention in February in Sacramento, sources said.
That appearance will catapult what was expected to be a fairly routine GOP gathering into a national event — and is almost certain to ramp up the increasingly active parade of presidential hopefuls of both parties coming to California to court donors in a state viewed as the wealthiest source of campaign cash.
Giuliani, called “America’s mayor” after his formidable performance in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, already has established a camaraderie with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — a Republican in the same moderate, bipartisan mold who also supports gay rights, abortion rights and stem cell research.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (C) speaks at a news conference as he is joined by California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (L) and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca (R) in Santa Monica, California, August 17, 2006, urging California voters to support Proposition 83, Jessica�s Law on the November 2006 ballot. Proposition 83 calls for electronically monitoring sex offenders for life via a GPS system as well as allowing prosecutors to charge criminals who posses child pornography with a felony.
The fact that Mayor Giuliani is the KEYNOTE speaker at the California GOP organization meeting in Sacramento means that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed onto the Giuliani presidental campaign.
The Governator may not overtly endorse Giuliani over Senator John McCain but this event clearly shows the Governor’s hand.
Moreover, the Giuliani campaign has been courting other California conservative activists, like Bill Simon for fundraising
Simon has been a longtime friend of Giuliani, and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York under Giuliani, who was then the U.S. attorney.
Simon was on Wall Street and at breakfast with Giuliani on Sept. 11, 2001, when two planes hit the World Trade Center at the start of a terrorist attack that killed about 3,000 people.
Simon — who was traveling Friday and could not be reached for comment — has been tapped to help Giuliani with fundraising in California, GOP sources said.
and….. Steve Frank for liason to conservative grassroots organizations like the California Republican Assembly (CRA) and evangelicals:
Frank, a former consultant to Simon and a conservative who publishes the California Political News & Views newsletter, and has been a harsh critic of Schwarzenegger on the right — but he confirmed last week that he also will be supporting Giuliani’s effort.
Frank said the former New York mayor is in the best position to take the White House in 2008 against a roster of potential Democratic challengers who include New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and even Al Gore, the Democrats’ 2000 presidential nominee.
While conservatives may have differences with Giuliani on social policies, Frank said, “I have no differences with a guy who, as mayor, cut or eliminated 23 different taxes, and dramatically cut crime in New York. … Like Ronald Reagan, agree or disagree, he will look you in the eye and say, ‘This is where I stand.’ There’s a trust factor.”
Now, will the California Legislature change the California election primary from June to March? The Governator certainly has incentive to sign such a bill to help Giuliani.
But several Giuliani supporters are eyeing a front-loaded primary calendar that could have big states like Florida and New Jersey – where social issues are not so weighty and security is a major concern – vote earlier, a move that is seen as beneficial to him.
If states like Jersey – where a move is afoot to move the primary to early February 2008 – and Florida hold their votes earlier, it could diminish the impact of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, both of which are dominated by social conservatives. McCain, who won New Hampshire in the 2000 election, is leading polls there.
But, where do the Democrats who control the California Assembly and Senate by large electoral margins weigh into GOP politics?
To help Hillary Clinton?
Doubtful
To help ease term limits with a concomitant redistricting proposal?
Very possible
Stay tuned…….
Previous:
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Leads McCain and Hillary Clinton in 2008 Presidential Poll
Rudy Giuliani Watch: Giuliani Leads in Latest Fox News Poll
Rudy Giuliani Watch: California’s Model for 2008Â
The Rudy Giuliani Files
Technorati Tags: RudyGiuliani, ArnoldSchwarzenegger, CaliforniaGOP, CaliforniaRepublicanParty, BillSimon, SteveFrank
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