Thank God.
No matter what your opinion on his peace initiatives, it’s clear that a person who is negotiation with an eye toward redeeming himself from charges of corruption is less likely to cut a deal that will last.
Elections will be sometime early next year.
Desperation does not make for good statesmanship.
Because those people with the sign up sheets may want to steal your identity and get credit cards in your name.
So says Delegate Jeffrey Frederic, chairman of the Virginia Republican party.
Of course, a lot of this has to do with fact that it’s black people that are being target by the Democratic party for registration.
Both the European Union and the United States have expanded sanctions against Zimbabwe
As to the negotiations that have been going on for a few days, we have the ZANU-PF saying that the results of the runoff are ‘Non-Negotiable’, but that could be put down to normal gamesmanship in any negotiation.
As to what will happen in the negotiations, the The Grauniad* and the Times of London have two diametrically opposed views of what is happening next, with the Guardian suggesting that the talks are a ploy, and that Mugabe is using them for time to prepare for even more extreme violence against the opposition, and the Times of London suggesting that South Africa is insisting that Robert Mugabe and his allies to surrender real power in Zimbabwe.
I think that the Times is wrong for a number of reasons. First, as the Guardian notes, this sort of negotiation has happened before, in the late 1980s with Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU party, with no real power devolving to ZAPU, and second because it would be completely out of character for Thabo Mbeki to insist that Robert Mugabe do anything.
I expect it to get much worse before it gets better.
*According to the Wiki, The Guardian, formerly the Manchester Guardian in the UK. It’s nicknamed the Grauniad because of its penchant for typographical errors, “The nickname The Grauniad for the paper originated with the satirical magazine Private Eye. It came about because of its reputation for frequent and sometimes unintentionally amusing typographical errors, hence the popular myth that the paper once misspelled its own name on the page one masthead as The Gaurdian, though many recall the more inventive The Grauniad.”
CQ politics 14 districts have shifted in a Democratic direction. Good stuff, though I could deal without Melissa Bean.
(No link to her, not ever)
It appears that Michelle Malkin is screaming * about the fund raising success of a challenger to John Murtha for congress, one William Russell.
The guy hasn’t campaigned, but he’s raised nearly $1 million, so Michelle Malkin is jumping around like a cheerleader with cerebral palsey.†
The kicker is that this money has come from a corrupt Republican direct mail fund raising outfit called BMW direct, which has a history of raising lots of money for long shot candidates, and then eating up pretty much all of the money raised through their fees, and for fees from consultants close to the firm:
In the most recent quarter Russell raised $669,534, almost all from out-of-state donors who presumably are on BMW Direct’s list of self-styled conservatives with a good track record of responding to direct-mail fundraising.
At the same time, he spent $442,990, almost all of it on expenses related to the direct mail effort and paid to BMW Direct and its affiliates (some of which share the same downtown Washington office).
The only expenses that appear to be spent on an actual campaign totaled about $20,000 for Web site design, a low-budget video and a campaign consultant based in Pennsylvania rather than Washington.
He reports having $269,953 in cash on hand. But he also reports debts totaling $242,521 — almost all for direct mail expenses to BMW Direct and its vendors.
So that leaves him only about $27,431 ahead — not much for a guy who’s raised a total of nearly $1 million this election cycle.
Of course, if Ms. Malkin really thought about what would benefit the Republican party, though she’s not paid to think, she would realize that folks like BMW direct are a cancer on her party, and direct some of her venom against them.
*Yes, I know, she’s always screaming.
†Actually she does “jumping around like a cheerleader with cerebral palsey” bit a lot. Have you seen the video of her in a cheerleader outfit‡ cheering “Defeatocrats”?
‡As to why she has a cheerleading outfit when it’s clear that she was never a cheerleader, that’s between her and Jesse Malkin, her husband, and I really don’t want to know the details.
Jalal Talabanivetoed the legislation because it puts off a vote in Kirkuk, where the Kurds, including Talibani, want a vote to establish governance of the oil rich region.
This Iraq thing is going so damn well, huh?
Ah….Yes…Republicans…..
Senate Republican leaders are now allowing senators to vote as they wish in an attempt to keep seat losses to a minimum in November.
We also have reports that Republicans see Bush as a “jinx”, and that they are trying to avoid the party brand.
No wonder they aren’t letting press into Bush fund raisers. They are afraid of pictures of the candidate and Bush together showing up in the press.
Maybe Republicans should campaign with a more popular member of the Bush administration, like Dick Cheney….I think that I just threw up in my mouth.
According to Zimbabaw’s state run newspaper, The Herald, reconciliation talks are to start tomorrow.
It’s not a bad sign, but I don’t expect to see progress while Mbeki is the chief mediator.
A slightly more positive note, the EU is pressing ahead with more sanctions.
If you look at the list of where the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is making media buys, you learn where they think that they will be competitive, “more than $15 million in buys in North Carolina, New Mexico, Minnesota and Maine, with the buys in Maine and North Carolina exceeding $5 million each.”
They are going hard after Collins in Maine, and Dole in North Carolina, though Dole seems far more secure. Minnesota is definitely in play, and Tom Udall seems comfortably ahead in New Mexico.
According to Rasmussen Reports™, Democrat Mark Begich is ahead of Ted Stevens 50% to 41%, and he is ahead 52%to 44% when “leaners” are counted.
Buh bye uncle Ted.
The last time Alaska sent a Dem to Congress was 1974.
On the bright side, Mugabe and Tsvangerai have signed an agreement to enter into negotiations.
I’m not optimistic about the outcome, as Mugabe is still engaging in retribution, and just threatened to expropriate “unfriendly” firms.
Even more concerning is that Thabo Mbeki appears to still be the only mediator involved in the process, which seems to be a recipe for an “Epic Fail”.
It’s clear that his clear favoritism toward Mugabe has weakened the SADC, the regional governmental organization, with a number of countries, most notably Zambia and Botswana, breaking with Mbeki’s accommodation of Mugabe.
Rather than asking for explicit his explicit removal, the MDC is now requesting that another mediator in addition to Thabo Mbeki be included in MDC-ZANU-PF talks.
Interestingly enough, it appears that Mbeki’s pathetic performance as mediator is getting some visibility, as you can see in this Washington Post articlediscussing how the South African president’s legacy has been harmed by his embrace of Mugabe.
In the latest Rasmussen Reports™ poll Jeff Merkeley has taken the lead, 43% to 41%, over Gordon Smith (R), the incumbent.
Smith has been below 50%, which is trouble for an incumbent, for some time, but I think that this is the first time that he has been shown in the lead.
So the MDC nd ZANU-PF have agreed to start negotiations, but the MDC is asking the AU to appoint a second mediator, because they think that Thabo Mbeki is completely in the tank for Mugabe.
The depressing thing is that they are completely right.
They were polite about it, they called Sarkozy’s order that they conduct a revote “premature”, though the Irish Times reported “quiet fury” in the government when presented with his ultimatum.
Good for them. Maybe some people in France should tell Sarkozy to go pound sand now and then.
Looks like a 3:1 victory for Vichy Democrat John Barrow in Georgia’s 12th district.
And his new wife is not hot enough to make up for that.
As proof of this, he is now demanding that the Irish rerun their referendum on the new EU treaty.
I hate to tell you this dude, but you are not Irish, and right now, a lot of Frenchmen wish you weren’t French either.
I will tell you that part of the reason for this is that after repeated rejections of an update to the EU governance structures in a number of countries, including France, the response, which is to game the system to ensure passage, makes people distrust you.
I do know that if you attempt to keep passing a document that is hundreds of pages long, and too complex for anyone to understand as a whole, you will keep being rejected.
The supporters of EU reform have been opaque in their behavior and tactics, so it’s no surprise that people think that they have something to hide.
In Louisiana, we have Rasmussen Reports™ saying that:
U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu now attracts 49% of the vote in her bid for re-election while Republican challenger John Kennedy earns 44%. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows that, when “leaners” are included, it’s Landrieu 51% Kennedy 45%.
I think that this is significant, because she is above 50%, which is the worry point for an incumbent.
We also have an SurveyUSA Election Poll for Minnesota which shows Franken down by 13%, 39% to 52% to Coleman.
Both Survey USA and Rasmussen are reliable, so I’m unclear whether this poll, or the one from last night, which showed Franken up by 2%, is accurate.
In terms of how much I care, I care more about Minnesota than Louisiana, because we have a real Democrat running in Minnesota, and I think that after the ethnic cleansing of post Katrina Louisiana, the state is no longer viable territory.
Here’s hoping that Regina Thomas beats Bush Dog John Barrow in the GA-12 primary…I have my fingers crossed.
First, Rasmussen Reports™ shows Franken having his first lead on Coleman: 42% for Coleman to 44% for Franken, and Jesse Ventura is now saying that he is not running for Senate.
Generally both good for Franken, I think.