Caroline Kennedy Drops Out Of Senate Race

According to the New York Post Caroline Kennedy has dropped out of the race to replace Hillary Clinton as the Senator from New York.

Governor Paterson also admitted on Tuesday to considering state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for the spot. We’ll have more as it develops.

Blagojevich Appoints Roland Burris As New Senator

Roland W. Burris

(New York) – Illinois Governor Blagojevich has named Roland Burris as the new junior Senator from Illinois and he would be the only black senator. Burris has to be approved by the Illinois Secretary of State and then accepted by the Senate.

Roland Burris was the Illinois State Comptroller before being the Illinois Attorney General.

Burris himself has not been accused of any wrong doing in the investigation surrounding the governor and his appointment of the person to represent Illinois in the Senate.

The governor introduced him today at a press conference and we will await to see how the senate reacts to this. President-Elect Obama was upset that he did not listen to senate Democrats.

The Caroline Kennedy Sarah Palin Comparison

(New York) The media has quickly picked up the story of Caroline Kennedy’s desire to become the next Senator from New York. With the appointment of Senator Hillary Clinton to be the next Secretary of State for President-Elect Obama’s administration Governor Patterson is set to appoint a replacement. Caroline Kennedy is the apparent front runner for that Senate seat.

There has been an outcry from all sides of the political spectrum regarding her lack of experience to do the job. There is a belief that she seems to be a front runner simply because of the Kennedy name. We have heard the same arguments used by the left against Sarah Palin now being used by the right against Caroline Kennedy. Let us make some proper comparisons.

Under the Constitution of the United States both candidates met qualification for their respective offices. Up against each other, Governor Palin has undoubtedly more political experience. There is the feeling that both of these women were appointed instead of elected. One could make the case that Governor Palin had done more to earn the job of Vice President than Caroline Kennedy had done to earn the job as Senator.

If one were to look at these factors then there should have undoubtedly been no questions regarding Sarah Palin’s qualifications for the job. We learn however that these are not the only factors, we are missing the most important one.

Franken Pulls Ahead in Senate Race

Al Franken, seen here committing political suicide, is now showing promising signs of winning against incumbent Senator Norm Coleman

Democratic Contender, Al Franken, has just pulled ahead of Senator Norm Coleman (R) of MN by just over 100 votes.  The news comes over a month after the election, as the re-count rages foward. Both the Franken and Coleman teams have been challenging each others votes, dragging this into a contest that some have predicted to head into 2009.

With so many ballots such as these, it has been impossible to scan what the voter's intent was. Each ballot is now being looked over by hand to determine who the voter actually wanted to vote for

One of the biggest concerns in the race was “voter intent”  Minnesota ballots require the voter to fill in a bubble next to the name of the desired candidate. However many people used check marks, drew an X, or circled the bubble instead of filling it in. As a result, both Senate candidates have been challenging ballots claiming that the voters intent was to vote for them.  As seen in this example the voter bubbled in Al Franken, proceeded to X it over, then bubble Norm Coleman and declare in his/her own handwriting “would like Norm Coleman”. Going through the machines, this would register as a double vote (and subsequently invaid) however, now that the recounts are underway it is possible to distinguish how all of these disqualified ballots actually wanted to vote.

The pundits are saying that this recount is going to favor Mr. Franken, as he had been polling well in areas with lower education rates.

For more challenged ballots, please visit

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2008/11/19_challenged_ballots/

Here, you can be the judge as to what the voter intent was.

After Guantanamo… part 2

This is part two of a two part series on Guantanamo Bay. The first part can be found here.

Previously we answered the question about where detainees who are set free can go. Now we address the rest of the detainees….

So what about the rest of the detainees? Well most of them will face trails under the plans being crafted by the Obama administration. The Bush administration has set up military tribunals for the detainees.

Various organizations such as the ACLU and Amnesty International have cited these tribunals as unfair. Recently the ACLU released a letter about the tribunals.

“Many of us do not believe these military commissions to be fair, in accordance with American values, or capable of achieving the justice that 9/11 family members and all Americans deserve,”

Many are asking to give the detainees fair trials with Constitutional rights, the same rights anyone on American soil is entitled to. There is opposition to the plan to give the detainees trials in the US. One of those is Senate Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn, (R-TX) said it is a “colossal mistake to treat terrorism as a mere crime.”

Human Rights First which recently met with the transition team issued a statement saying since the attacks of 9/11 there have been 107 successful prosecutions of international terrorism cases in the federal courts, compared with three convictions in military commissions at Guantanamo Bay.

President-Elect Obama will no doubt have to address this issue very early on in his presidency. Many have cited the unfair treatment of prisoners as a violation of human rights and some have even resigned their positions in protest of the treatment.

Many inside the current administration are hoping Obama will keep the camp open after reading some of the classified information he now has access to. Will it happen?

After Guantanamo…

This is part one of a two part series covering the future of Guantánamo Bay.

(NEW YORK) Guantánamo Bay is a bay located in Guantánamo Province at the south-eastern end of Cuba. Most people however know the bay by the U.S. Naval base there. The land granted to the United States was granted to them in the terms of the Cuban-American treaty of 1903 which effectively leases the land indefinitely to the United States. Currently the United States leases the land for $4,085 annually.

In the American controlled Guantánamo Bay Naval Base are more than ships, barracks and an airfield. There are various food franchises owned by the Department of the Navy. There’s a Taco Bell, Subway, KFC, A&W, pubs, bowling allies, and even Cuba’s first and only McDonald’s.

Guantanamo Bay inmates upon arrival

The base is best known for the now infamous Guantánamo Bay Naval Base Detention Camp, where many detainees are held.

There has been controversy time and time again regarding the base. From the treatment of inmates, to the conditions they’re held in, to the ages of them.

Barack Obama campaigned on the promise of closing down the Detention Camp. He will not be closing down the base itself as the base is vital to the Navy’s interests and is a key strategic location in the Caribbean. The closing of the detention center on the base he has said is one of his top priorities.

There are very few, if any people who are against shutting down the detention center. But there’s a question which looms large and seems to have gone unnoticed by the media. What happens after the Detention center at Guantánamo Bay is closed?

Auto Loan stopped by Republicans

Republicans would not let the auto companies get the no interest bridge loan which they need to keep their workers. Minority Senate leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has annouced opposition for the bill. He and other republicans want more concessiosn from the UAW.

They believe the American workers don’t deserve to earn as much as they currently do. These lawmakers want these workers to earn as much as workers for the Japanese companies of Nissan, Toyota and Honda do.

Senator McConnell does not believe the idea of a car czar with the ability to take back the money if the car makers don’t live up to their end of the bargains is strong enough.

Harry Reid will soon call the Senate to a vote and we will see how this goes.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Arrested

AP Photo/Seth Perlman

The Governor of Illinois Rod Balgojevich was arrested for conspiring to gain financially through his power to appoint a successor to President-Elect Obama’s cabinet post.

The FBI had court authorized wire taps which proved he was willing to sell or trade the seat in exchange for benefits.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that “the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering.”

“They allege that Blagojevich put a for sale sign on the naming of a United States senator,” Fitzgerald said.

Northern Exposure: Ted Stevens found guilty

Ted Stevens

It seems the not so honorable 84 year old Senior Senator from Alaska Theodore Fulton Stevens aka Ted Stevens has been found guilty of all seven felony counts he was charged with. These charges stem from gifts received by the senator ranging around a quarter of a million dollars. Some of which were used to renovate his home.

For those that aren’t familiar with Senator Stevens he was the Senator who infamously said the “internet is not a truck. It is a series of tubes.”

I just the other day got… an Internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday. I got it yesterday [Tuesday]. Why? Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the Internet commercially. They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet. And again, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It’s not a big truck. It’s a series of tubes.

All that aside, all of these charges come after Ted Stevens claim of “I’m innocent” on July 31, 2008.

After all of this, he is still planning to run for re-election. Now you may ask what that means. He could theoretically still be Senator while in prison. However the Senate can kick him out with a two-thirds vote of the entire Senate.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued a statement regarding the conviction.

“Senator Stevens was found guilty by a jury of his peers, and now must face the consequences of those actions. As a result of his conviction, Senator Stevens will be held accountable so the public trust can be restored.”

Many believe that he will seek a pardon from Republican President Bush before he leaves office. It seems this is just another corrupt republican being found out and exposed to be the criminal he is.