News Cut: August 22, 2008 Archive

The Walldogs

Posted at 8:43 AM on August 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

MPR's Tom Weber has -- perhaps unwittingly, perhaps not -- reignited my fire to reintroduce an idea I had for News Cut when we started it last winter: the two-minute tale. OK, this tale, perhaps, isn't quite two minutes, but you'll get the idea of the kind of thing I'm looking for. Tom did an excellent job.

You are doing interesting things that can be told in two minutes, and told visually. So let me know about it.

Here's the Web site for the Walldogs.

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Who's watching 'the kids?'

Posted at 7:25 AM on August 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: War

Pakistan is crumbling, or so it seems. The Taliban set off two suicide attacks on a weapons factory in the country. And Pervez Musharraf, viewed in Washington as a pal, has been forced from power.

Most of the articles in the paper this morning seem to be focusing on the effect of a every-man-for-himself Pakistan in the terror war. But isn't there another important question that few people seem to be asking?

Who's got the nukes?

The country reportedly has 24-48 nuclear warheads. A 2001 report from the Defense Department contained this chilling summary: "no one has been able to ascertain the validity of Pakistan's assurances about their nuclear weapons security."

Judging by the news coverage, there aren't a lot of people on this side of the Atlantic who seem terribly concerned. "Experts say a 10-member committee makes decisions on how to use them and only a complete meltdown in governance - still a distant prospect in Pakistan - could put the atomic bomb in the hands of extremists," the Associated Press reported last week.

Last fall, the New York Times reported that the U.S. is intimately involved in guarding Pakistan's nukes. But it's a "highly classified" program and who knows what a collapsed government's effect on the program is?

A more recent story in the Times -- last week -- indicated U.S. officials have been unable to scrutinize security procedures in Pakistan.

Perhaps the greatest concern is what one senior Bush administration official recently termed "steadfast efforts" by the extremist groups to infiltrate Pakistan's nuclear laboratories, the heart of a vast infrastructure that employs tens of thousands of people. Some of the efforts, officials said, are believed to have involved Pakistani scientists trained abroad.

With a Russian general suggesting a nuclear response to the U.S. - Poland deal on missiles, and a member of the nuclear club under assault by the surrogates for Osama bin Laden, shouldn't this subject have a higher profile in the presidential race than who the vice presidential picks are going to be?

Photo: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

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An ill wind blows no good

Posted at 7:47 AM on August 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Surveys and trivia

I admit to occasionally wishing ill will on weather people who stand outside in the middle of a hurricane (or tropical storm), dressed in their sponsor-logo raingear, desperately trying to stand still, and ready to take one for the team, all in the interest of telling us to take the hurricane seriously and stay indoors.

But I wouldn't wish this on anybody, no matter how ill advised the activity that led to it. Kevin Kearney was badly injured while kite surfing during Tropical Storm Fay in Ft. Lauderdale.

The obvious question: What was he thinking? A less obvious one: Why didn't he let go?

His mother told a TV talk show this morning that the man saw the video for the first time last night. "He thought they filmed the wrong guy," she said. Alicia Paradise-Garza says he doesn't remember the incident. "He knew there was some kind of danger, but he didn't calculate the tornado or windspout that picked him up."

Last night, his friends set up a Web site on the man's behalf, to help raise money for his medical bills.

A similar accident in Spain last year won a Darwin Award nomination.

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Religion, politics, and the party base

Posted at 11:04 AM on August 22, 2008 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Pew Center is out with a survey that suggests people are growing more disenchanted with the role of religion in politics. Says the Pew Center Web site story on the poll:

A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters and not express their views on day-to-day social and political matters. For a decade, majorities of Americans had voiced support for religious institutions speaking out on such issues.

The most interesting aspect of the survey is that the Republican response to the question has shifted to the point where the majority of those surveyed now think religious organizations should stay out of politics. A growing number also said religious conservatives have too much control over the Republican Party.

The survey would appear to conflict with the vice presidential selection process in the Republican Party. If you can believe the analysis and whispers, the choice is going to be based to a large degree on who won't upset the evangelical Christians.

The race is now down to -- reportedly -- Sen. Joe Liebermann (who will play the part at the national convention later this month that Sen. Zell Miller played at the 2004 convention), Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and former Gov. Mitt Romney.

There was also speculation that Tom Ridge was in the running, but the New York Times says his position on abortion -- as well as that of Lieberman's -- is a turn-off.

Within Mr. McCain's campaign, a recent focus has been on Mr. Ridge and Mr. Lieberman. Mr. McCain thinks highly of both men and has traveled extensively with Mr. Lieberman. But Christian conservatives, a crucial Republican constituency, reacted with alarm this week to speculation that either man might join the ticket.

The same article said Romney wouldn't fly either...

Mr. Romney, who is Mormon, might not be the easiest sell to Christian conservatives, and there remains some opposition to him among evangelical Christians.

Which leaves Pawlenty, who is described in the Times' article only as...

... an evangelical Christian.

The Wall St. Journal also digs into the question of "acceptability" today.

The Republican Party's base would undoubtedly appreciate a more traditional pick of someone with a conservative record on social issues such as abortion. But a more socially moderate selection could ingratiate Sen. McCain with independents -- whom he has long attracted with his so-called maverick reputation, and whose vote could be crucial come November. In the latest Wall Street Journal poll of likely voters, 16% identified themselves as "strictly independent."

As we head into both national conventions, we'll hear more about the candidates catering to their base. One question worth asking: Is there room in the party for anyone but the base?

Are you one of the voters who doesn't mesh completely with the base of your political party? Do you feel included?

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