by PunditGuy | Oct 10, 2006 | General |
I’m not one to agree much with most of what Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says or does, but on North Korea, McCain’s got it right (even if he’s saying it for his own political advantage).
North Korea isn’t Bush’s failure. It’s Clinton’s.
Republican Sen. John McCain on Tuesday accused former President Clinton, the husband of his potential 2008 White House rival, of failing to act in the 1990s to stop
North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.
“I would remind Senator (Hillary) Clinton and other Democrats critical of the Bush administration’s policies that the framework agreement her husband’s administration negotiated was a failure,” McCain said at a news conference after a campaign appearance for Republican Senate candidate Mike Bouchard.
“The Koreans received millions and millions in energy assistance. They’ve diverted millions of dollars of food assistance to their military,” he said.
A spokesman for Hillary spouted off the typical talking point rebuttal. And, apparently not wanting to be left out, John Kerry jumped in on the squabble.
“He must be trying to burnish his credentials for the nomination process,” said Kerry, who labeled McCain’s comments “flat politics and incorrect.”
“The truth is the Clinton administration knew full well they didn’t have a perfect agreement. But at least they were talking. At least we had inspectors going in and we knew where the (nuclear fuel) rods were. This way, we don’t know where the rods are, the rods are gone. There are no inspectors. Ask any American which way is better,” Kerry said.
Yadda yadda yadda, John. With you Democrats, it’s never the results that matter, it’s good intentions.
McCain went on to say he rejects Pyongyang’s call for bilateral talks.
“The worst thing we could do is to accede to North Korea’s demand for bilateral talks,” McCain said. “When has rewarding North Korea’s bad behavior ever gotten us anything more than worse behavior?”
Exactly, and that’s what we should be focusing on now as sanctions are being deliberated.
by PunditGuy | Oct 10, 2006 | General |
China has agreed that North Korea must be punished for testing a nuclear bomb earlier this week, but they won’t go as far as a U.S and Japan suggested plan.
Why? Well, because it would hurt Pyongyang too much.
Boo fricken hoo.
China, which reacted to Monday’s blast with a strong condemnation but considers North Korea a useful buffer against U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, said it envisioned only a limited package of sanctions – not what the United States and especially Japan were demanding.
China and Russia object to plans to interdict shipments and block financial transactions. They also oppose a new suggestion that Japan proposed Tuesday – to include mention of the North’s abduction of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and ’80s.
“We certainly understand that Japan is close to the country. But I think you cannot ask by this resolution to kill a country,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya told The Associated Press. He said the Security Council must impose “punitive actions” but that they have to “be appropriate.”
Though far less than what the Americans and Japanese seek, even calling for some punishment was significant for China, which usually opposes sanctions, particularly against an ally such as North Korea.
The Bush administration asked the U.N. Security Council to impose a partial trade embargo including strict limits on Korea’s profitable weapons exports and freezing of related financial assets. All imports would be inspected too, to filter out materials that could be made into nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
The United States reiterated that it would not talk with the North Koreans one-on-one, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured the North that the U.S. would not attack.
Why the assurances? Why not keep the threat out there? Isn’t that the only thing Pyongyang fears? They obviously don’t worry about being starved to death, since they’re already doing that to their people today.
As I’ve said before, our reaction to North Korea is writing the playbook for Iran. They’re watching, with interest.
by PunditGuy | Oct 10, 2006 | General |
Via Cader Books:
Reuters editor Joe Maguire “no longer works” for the wire service after giving his boss a galley of his forthcoming book Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter, though “neither side in this dispute would say that he was fired,” according to the NYT.
Reuters did “confirm that Mr. Maguire was granted conditional approval to write his book on Ms. Coulter.” In a statement trying to explain why he doesn’t work there any more, the service cited their principles of “integrity, independence and freedom from bias.” An employee who worked under Maguire says that when colleagues were told he was no longer employed, it was made clear they “weren’t allowed to ask why.”
More: NYT
by PunditGuy | Oct 9, 2006 | General |
I shook my head in despair when I read the headline to this story.
The United Nations Security Council today began working on a resolution condemning North Korea’s announcement of the test, shortly after President Bush said the move requires an “immediate response.”
I guess there’s just no diplomatic blood running through my veins. I mean, I know we’re not just gonna start droppin’ bombs, but still, anytime the U.N. “crafts” a response, I imagine it will be the first of twenty-something resolutions condemning the DPRK. Pardon me while I yawn.
And then we have the Democrats, who would rather make yet another point of how Iraq is the reason for EVERYTHING going wrong in the world than stand united with Republicans (representing America) in their condemnation of Pyongyang.
The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, a condemned North Korea for its “reckless and counterproductive actions.” But he asserted that the Bush administration has been in a “state of denial” about North Korea, in part because the administration has been “distracted by Iraq and parayzed by internal divisions.” A comprehensive review of American policy toward North Korea is essential, the senator said.
So typical.
by PunditGuy | Oct 9, 2006 | General |
John Derbyshire thinks he might. Sure, we all know Bush is pro-immigration, and he’s certainly willing to grant amnesty to illegals who are in the country right now. Yet I can’t imagine he has the political will to brazenly veto a fence when a large majority of Americans want one.
by PunditGuy | Oct 9, 2006 | General |
They did it.
North Korea said Sunday night that it had set off its first nuclear test, becoming the eighth country in history, and arguably the most unstable and most dangerous, to proclaim that it has joined the club of nuclear weapons states.
The test came just two days after the country was warned by the United Nations Security Council that the action could lead to severe consequences.
Nations across the world condemned the test today, and an emergency meeting of the Security Council was set to take up the issue this morning.
China, Pyongyang’s closet supporter, called it a “flagrant and brazen” violation of international opinion and said it “firmly opposes” North Korea’s conduct.
In Russia, which shares a short border with North Korea, officials reacted with dismay and condemnation. “Russia absolutely condemns North Korea’s nuclear test,” President Vladimir V. Putin said in televised remarks during a meeting with his senior government ministers.
Senior Bush administration officials said that they had little reason to doubt the announcement, and warned that the test would usher in a new era of confrontation with the isolated and unpredictable country run by President Kim Jong-il.
What form that confrontation would take was not yet clear. Last week, the administration’s special envoy for North Korea issued a stern warning to Pyongyang not to go ahead with its threatened test, saying “’We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea.”
The world response over the next 48-hours could change life as we know it. This is no time to play a war of words. Severe action must be taken against the DPRK government. If not, Iran will consider this event their green light to proceed with nuclear weapon development.
MORE: Hot Air
UPDATE: Bush statement
by PunditGuy | Oct 5, 2006 | General
Just wondering…is this the first time a Secretary of State has been photographed wearing a flak jacket over clothing? I don’t begrudge the extra protection, but in this image conscience political season, you’d think someone in charge would have framed this one a little differently.
by PunditGuy | Oct 5, 2006 | General
“After the 1936 election, in which President Franklin Roosevelt shellacked the Republican nominee in all but two states, a humorist wrote: “If the outcome of this election hasn’t taught you Republicans not to meddle in politics, I don’t know what will.” If, after the Foley episode — a maraschino cherry atop the Democrats’ delectable sundae of Republican miseries — the Democrats cannot gain 13 seats, they should go into another line of work.”
George Will.
by PunditGuy | Oct 5, 2006 | General
Drudge has the siren out, screaming the following headline:
CLAIM: FILTHY FOLEY ONLINE MESSAGES WERE PAGE PRANK GONE AWRY
Does that peak your interest? I though so…
According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.
According to one Oklahoma source who knows the former page very well, Edmund, a conservative Republican, goaded Foley to type embarrassing comments that were then shared with a small group of young Hill politicos. The prank went awry when the saved IM sessions got into the hands of political operatives favorable to Democrats. This source, an ally of Edmund, also adamantly proclaims that the former page is not a homosexual. The prank scenario was confirmed by a second associate of Edmund.
The news come on the heels that former FBI Chief Louis Freeh has been named to investigate the mess.
OK, one of two scenarios can be suggested here. #1: the ‘outed’ page could just be concocting this story so he can stay ‘in the closet’ as it were or #2: the story is true, the page in question is an angry jilted ex-lover of Foley’s who enacted a strange sort of revenge tactic (blackmail?). Foley wouldn’t take the bait and so the page passed the fake instant message conversation to Democratic operatives. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Oh, and one more thing. Neither scenario diminishes the fact that Mark Foley is still a raging pedophile who needs help and should never be a public servant ever again.
There’s always more to the story, and it’s clear we haven’t heard all of this one, yet.
by PunditGuy | Oct 4, 2006 | General
Speaker Denny Hastert is trying to keep his job while he weathers a storm of controversy swirling around Representative Mark Foley’s come-ons to house pages.
Backed by measured words of support from President Bush, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert opened an intense drive on Tuesday to hold on to his post, but behind the scenes senior Republicans weighed whether he could survive the scandal surrounding former Representative Mark Foley.
Among the options being considered by senior Republicans is for Mr. Hastert to announce that he will stay on as speaker through this year but not seek re-election to the post assuming Republicans retain control of the House, said people on and off Capitol Hill who were involved in the discussions. They said the advantage of such a step would be to postpone a disruptive leadership fight until after Election Day.
In a round of interviews with right-leaning radio shows after the conservative editorial page of The Washington Times called Tuesday for his resignation, Mr. Hastert vowed he would not quit. He accused political opponents of stoking the furor over Mr. Foley, Republican of Florida, in an effort to influence the coming elections and strip Republicans of Congressional control.
“If they get to me, it looks like they could affect our election as well,” Mr. Hastert said in an interview on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show.
And that’s the real problem. Too many people are worried about how this will effect the results in November. What about the people who were thrown under the bus by Foley? What about the minors he’s harmed mentally if not physically? If members of the Republican party intentionally kept the Foley matter from becoming public, I don’t want them reelected. I don’t want them serving our country. They need to be rooted out and their careers cut short.
And yeah, Hastert should step down. I haven’t been that impressed with the guy as it is, and now there is this whole can o’ worms. He should have done something about it before now.
I say, clear the halls of all the bums, Democrat and Republican alike. If their only goal is to keep getting elected, then I don’t want them running the country.
