Morning copy 8/9/2005

Hillary v. Jeanine Pirro for 2006

Westchester DA Jeanine Pirro will contest Hillary Clinton's bid for re-election in 2006. Writes the New York Daily News, "With Clinton believed to be eying a run for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2008 and Pirro the darling of the state's Republican Party, the stage is set for a big-money, blockbuster Senate race. And a nasty one." LINK. That appears to be an accurate term, as Pirro likened Hillary's treatment of New York to that of a "doormat" and there's this excerpt:

Aside from Clinton's stature, Pirro faces a few other hurdles.

There are the misdeeds of her husband, lobbyist Albert Pirro, who did federal jail time for tax evasion. She deflected questions about him yesterday.

"There is only one person whose name is going to be on that ballot, and that's me. I have a 30-year record of achievements," she said. "I am not an ingénue running for office for the first time."

Pirro had called this bid a "suicide mission" when she first refused to run against Clinton, Village Voice LINK, but may have been offered something on the national stage, excerpt:

Privately, some Republicans without ties to the Pirro camp suspect that the national party helped to sell the Senate bid. "They probably have her convinced that if she doesn't win, they'll take good care of her and give her a position in the national spotlight," says one such GOP-er. Maybe a cabinet post in a future administration - or, better yet, maybe the U.S. attorney general slot.

"The Republican National Committee will owe her big time," echoes another Republican with no ties to Pirro. "It's a chip to cash in and the sky's unlimited."

The Reuters account, LINK, has one other interesting biographical aspect to Pirro's campaign, she was named on of People's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1997.

Peter Jennings

There is a noticeable shift from career-bio to what-comes-next in the news today.

Jonathan Alter, of MSNBC/Newsweek, has this anecdote:

I asked him how long it would take "World News Tonight" to move into first place now that Tom Brokaw was stepping down as anchor of "NBC Nightly News." It was a social occasion and Jennings was typically blunt. "We’ll never catch them," he said. Jennings explained that he had lost his lead during the 1994 O.J. Simpson case, when he refused to air nearly as many O.J. stories as the competition. He still went lighter on tabloid stories and heavier on foreign news, he said, and thus would never be number one again.

... The reasons for TV news ratings are complicated and if Brokaw successor Brian Williams hadn’t sprinted out of the gate so smoothly, Jennings might have passed him. But beneath the ratings talk was a justifiable pride in how he had chosen to use his fame over the years. At the expense of ratings, he insisted that his broadcast live up to its name as "World News Tonight." The challenge on a 22-minute broadcast is story choice. Every day, Jennings chose to cover a foreign news story or two that he knew would be an invitation to change the channel.

LINK to the story at MSNBC.com.

The New York Times editorial refers to Jennings as "The Last Anchor" in its headline. LINK. One line: "Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather ran operations that picked expertly through the noise of news and non-news and gave viewers a respectable 30-minute digest of what mattered every day."

A behind the scenes of the bleak evening at ABC, and a look forward, NY Times LINK. Excerpt:

It is known in the news business as an advance obituary - a report that can be published or broadcast on short notice should an important figure die on deadline.

Yet, as it became clear to his closest colleagues at ABC News that Peter Jennings appeared to be losing his battle with lung cancer, the network chose not to begin assembling an extended video compilation in anticipation of his death.

Indeed, after Charles Gibson announced on ABC just after 11:30 Sunday night that Mr. Jennings had died, his colleagues on "Good Morning America" worked through the night to prepare the two-hour morning program that would pay tribute to his four decades at the network.

Iran

Iran has resumed its uranium work, Washington Post LINK. Crisis looms, AFP LINK.

The Economist's analysis, LINK. Excerpt:

This was not the only bad news for those hoping to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Also on Monday, Tehran replaced its chief negotiator in the talks with the Europeans since 2003, Hassan Rohani, with the more conservative Ali Larijani, who is close to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The man behind the change was Iran’s new, hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had been sworn in only a few days earlier. Mr Rohani was no pushover. Mr Larijani is likely to be even less accommodating.

The Washington Post has a stern editorial, LINK. Excerpt:

What remains to be seen is whether the Europeans will come through, as they have promised they would, with a tough-minded push for sanctions. ...

The conclusion of these talks means that there is no excuse for Europe and the United States not to act in tandem; neither should they take any option off the table. It is no longer possible to consider the Iranian nuclear threat as anything but deadly serious.

John Roberts

An abortion rights group accused Roberts of siding with violent anti-abortion protestors, Washington Post LINK.

Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter said he would press Roberts on his beliefs on the ability of the legislature to issue "broad social" legislation, NY Times LINK.

The Washington Times analysis of Roberts limited judicial record, LINK, excerpt:

And a review of his 48 written opinions by The Washington Times shows a judge who gives the executive branch wide latitude, as long as officials don't act capriciously, and one who takes seriously the directions given to judges by Congress.

It's the homo erectus, stupid

President Bush has put the wind in the sails of anti-evolutionists with his brief remarks, SF Gate LINK.

The USA Today's Op-Ed says that this "intelligent design" is Creationism Lite, LINK.

In the interest of publishing stupidity, the USA Today also has a dissenting opinion from Utah State Sen. D. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan. LINK. Excerpt:

But in this tremendous effort to support Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, in all these "mountains of information," there has not been any scientific fossil evidence linking apes to man.

The trouble with the "missing link" is that it is still missing! In fact, the whole fossil chain that could link apes to man is also missing! The theory of evolution, which states that man evolved from some other species, has more holes in it than a crocheted bathtub.

I realize that is a dramatic statement, so to be clear, let me restate: There is zero scientific fossil evidence that demonstrates organic evolutionary linkage between primates and man.

Will the USA Today publish a correction tomorrow on this claim? I can strengthen my argument by using an exclamation point!



Iraq

Salaon.com's tag for Mark Benjamin's story today: "The U.S. government is reviewing 72,000 cases in which veterans have been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder, claiming that misdiagnosis and fraud have inflated the numbers. Outraged vets say the plan is a callous attempt to cut the costs of an increasingly expensive war." LINK.

Iraqis far apart, says the Christian Science Monitor, on role of Islam in the government. LINK.

US to increase troops in Iraq, just for the Constitutional process and elections. Honest! Boston.com LINK.

Cindy Sheehan's protest in Crawford, TX, in an attempt to meet (again) with Bush, taps into a growing sense of detachment of Bush-to-reality among the populus, says the Ed Board of the NY Times, LINK.

(That was a poorly written sentence, but I gotta move on.)

Iraqi soldiers facing supply issues, USA Today LINK. (THIS IS A BIG DEAL.)

Links...

Christian groups push Bush on human rights issues in North Korea, NY Times LINK.

Oil-for-food scandal, indictments, report. Bad news for UN's credibility. AFP LINK.

Oil prices climb to over $64/a barrell, BBC News LINK.

China will not move the yuan against the dollar for a number of months, Xinhua LINK. This is an effort, says a senior economist, to evaluate the currency move's effect.

If you think America is in the (sole) driver's seat of the global economy, think again.

Fareed Zakaria's analysis of the handling of the China Challenge to-date, includes this wonderful sub-head: "Donald Rumsfeld, fresh from wrecking U.S.-European relations over the last three years, has decided to try his hand at Asian affairs." Next week's Newsweek, available now, LINK.

Treasury Secretary John Snow admits that economic progress is not spreading equally, Washington Post LINK, favoring the already well-to-do.

That would seem to be the apparent design of the Bush administration.