News Cut: October 26, 2008 Archive

Nuclear middle age

Posted at 8:57 AM on October 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

The effort to contain the spread of nuclear weapons isn't working. That's just one more problem facing the next president, according to Robert Gates, the secretary of defense.

On Tuesday, Gates will give a speech to put the issue on the news agenda.

If the effort to deter countries from joining the "nuclear club" isn't working, that also means the United States strategy for possessing nuclear weapons isn't working either.
Gates will call for a new strategy.

What should it be?

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Al Franken's lousy weekend

Posted at 10:10 AM on October 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (13 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

The Al Franken campaign in Minnesota has a dynamic public relations machine. No sooner does something happen in politics, than a news release appears in the inbox of every reporter.

But not today. The Star Tribune, said to be the worst friend the Republicans have had since Checkers the dog, has endorsed Norm Coleman.

Oh, so did the Pioneer Press.

Update - Franken appeared on WCCO. He says he and the editorial board disagreed on the bailout bill. He then launched into his stump speech, which at this point in the campaign has become more noticeable with Franken. There's not a lot of improv and while it's good to get a message out, one doesn't get the sense there's a real conversation taking place.

He was asked again about the endorsement and the contention that Coleman is better to work in a bipartisan fashion, and he talked about ending the war. He didn't stray from the message and that obviously is the goal of a campaign, but from a warm-and-fuzzy aspect -- and at this stage of the campaign, these things tend to come down to that -- he didn't deliver in a way that might've eased the shock of people waking up to the news that the Strib endorsed Coleman.

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Pawlenty 2.0

Posted at 9:44 AM on October 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
Filed under: Politics

Compared to his visibility before Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain's running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been invisible since the Republican National Convention ended. There were some reports that Pawlenty and some family members were upset that his career path had once again been disrupted by his own party.

Today, however, Pawlenty was back on national TV -- this time CBS' Face the Nation -- refusing to take Bob Schieffer's bait by not answering any of the questions with either a "yes" or "no" answer.

On whether it was a bad idea putting Sarah Palin on the ticket: "I think Gov. Palin has brought a lot of strength to the McCain ticket, energized the base, appealed to women voters." Is that a "yes" or a "no"?

On whether McCain should've lambasted the Bush administration in an interview with the Washington Times: "As a maverick, he's been doing it his whole career. It's (the interview) one that's born in the facts."

On that question, Schieffer asked Pawlenty how one runs against his own party. It's a question that Pawlenty is completely unqualified to answer, given that the party is what defined Pawlenty the candidate back in 2002. Over 12 ballots at the party's state convention, Pawlenty was pulled further to the right to defeat Brian Sullivan. And Pawlenty was quick to bow out of the U.S. Senate race in 2001 when his party called.

Schieffer also asked whether the Republican Party should start shifting money from the race for president, and send it to Senate races in which Republicans are threatened: "if you look at Sen. McCain's life, it's one of overcoming adversity. You don't want the entire country run by Democrats and liberals." Is that a "no"?

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Is Twitter a terrorist tool?

Posted at 8:48 PM on October 26, 2008 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Tech

Monday's Future Tense (already recorded) was the last one on which I get to fill in for Jon Gordon. Too bad, because the U.S. Army's assertion that Twitter, the social networking/microblogging/instant messaging service, poses a threat as a terrorist tool is worth exploring.

"Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences," the report said.

Vegetarians? Are they on a watch list now?

GPS cellphone service was also highlighted as a potential threat.

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