Day: January 17, 2007

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential presidential candidate, on Wednesday called for capping the number of U.S. troops in Iraq and linking funds for Iraqi security forces to the government’s control of the violence-plagued nation.

Back from a weekend trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York senator also called for increasing U.S. forces in Afghanistan, arguing more troops are necessary as Taliban forces are waiting to attack when weather permits.

Pundits on both sides of the political spectrum have themselves in a tizzy over Jack Bauer and his latest escapades with the hit action series 24.

Seems Fox and Bauer (Keifer Sutherland) kicked off the new season with a four-hour, two-part, premiere that ended with a suitcase nuke pulverizing Valencia, California.

Writes Hal Boedeker, TV critic of the Orlando Sentinel:

A movement to essentially junk the Electoral College and award the presidency to the winner of the nationwide popular vote is making some headway in states large and small — including, somewhat improbably, North Dakota.

The National Popular Vote movement is aimed at preventing a repeat of 2000, when Democrat Al Gore lost despite getting more votes than George W. Bush.

Backers are asking states to change their laws to award their electoral votes to the candidate who wins the popular vote nationally.

Bruised by the elections and divided on the Iraq war, Republicans will find themselves in a tough spot when Democrats force them to go on record for or against President Bush’s troop strategy.

Democratic House and Senate leaders intend to hold votes to gauge GOP opposition to Bush’s decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq. Senate leadership is expected by Thursday to propose a resolution denouncing the plan, with debate planned around the same time Bush delivers his State of the Union speech next Tuesday.

Today we will underscore our president’s desperate call for Americans to “sacrifice” so we can win at last our long war in Iraq.

We will highlight the president’s plea by recycling the words of President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, critics Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and a onetime government spokesperson who hasn’t made much news lately, Donald Duck.

Twenty years ago, in its pre-season baseball issue, Sports Illustrated predicted the Cleveland Indians would finish with the best record in the major leagues. Cleveland went on to finish with the worst record. Statistical guru Bill James pointed out that this represented an example of what might be called Maximum Possible Error.

When it comes to the Iraq war, some of our most prominent pundits have achieved similar results. Perhaps the most spectacular example is provided by William Kristol.

Rep. Tom Tancredo waded deeper into the 2008 presidential race Tuesday, when he announced he was forming an exploratory campaign committee.

“I’m going to do so because I believe there is a void in the present panoply of people seeking that office,” Tancredo said during a morning appearance on the FoxNews program “Fox and Friends.”

Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa first confirmed the exploratory bid late Monday to the Rocky Mountain News.

The White House said on Tuesday a planned congressional resolution against President George W. Bush’s U.S. troop increase in Iraq could send a signal to the world that America is divided on the war.

Bush’s “new way forward” for Iraq unveiled last week has faced heavy criticism from Democrats and skepticism — if not outright opposition — from many in the president’s own Republican party.

Considering the speed and efficiency with which Saddam Hussein dispatched his fellow citizens, often in wholesale numbers, perhaps it speaks well of the new Iraqi government that it clearly showed amateur status in its first attempts at executions.

But the clumsiness and carelessness of the hangings of Saddam and two of his top lieutenants reflect no credit on that government and little credit on us. The White House gently denounced the lack of dignity in carrying out the death sentences.