Good morning . . .
Today President Bush announced his nominee for the newly created post of director of national intelligence.
John Negroponte, the US Ambassador to Iraq, was chosen by the preident to "lead a unified community" of intelligence agencies including the CIA.
"The director's responsibility is straightforward and demanding. John will make sure those whose duty it is to defend America have the information we need to make the right decisions," Bush said.
The newly created position will overseen 15 intelligence gathering agencies and was the primary recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.
US News Article | Reuters.com
--
Abortion will be a crime in South Dakota if states are giving the right to outlaw the medical procedure.
A committee in the South Dakota House passed the recommendation last Friday that would make it a felony to perform an abortion in the state. If passed, the law would go into affect if Roe v Wade were overturned by the Supreme Court. The bill would allow exceptions for cases where the life of the mother is at risk.
AP Wire | 02/11/2005 | House panel approves measure to make abortion a felony
--
Howard Dean has been the Chairman of the DNC for less than a week and there is controversy over his words and actions.
Before his election to the post Dean "joked" last Friday in from of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here."
Not everyone thought it was funny. On Monday, Republic National Commitee Chairman Ken Mehlman told ABC News the remark was "pretty offensive. It's pretty racist, if you ask me."
On Tuesday former Congressman JC Watts and Maryland Lt, Governor issued a joint statement that said in part, "We are simply outraged over recent racially insensitive remarks made by Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean. In his comments to the Democratic Black Caucus, Dean equates African-Americans who support Republicans to hired help.
"This kind of backward thinking reminds us of a horrible time in history when blacks were only seen as servants." Watts and Steel are demanding an apolgy for the racist statements. There is no word from Dean or the DNC.
NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story
In another incident, Howard Dean requested a press blackout of a debate with top Penatgon officvial Ruchard Perle then changed his mind.
Event coordinator Gabrielle Williams sent an e-mail to news agencies requesting the blackout Wednesday saying she "was just informed of the request."
Less than two hours later Williams had the embarassing mission to call press agencies and announce that it would be an open event.
Dean spokesperson Laura Gross said that Dean changed his mind after an inquiry from the Assocxiated Press and in light of his new position as DNC Chairman. Gross told reporters that the event was scheduled before Dean's election and was originally planned to be closed to media.
The more troubling part of this incident came from Dean's representative on the lecture circuit Don Walker. Walker is President of the Harry Walker Agency said that many of Dean speeches and events are closed to press. Saying it was up to the speaker to make that decision, Walker said that with Dean, "We default to a clossed press policy."
Since Dean changed his mind, it seems that the DNC has learned how to flip-flop, but not how to lead a party.
Yahoo! News - Dean Seeks Media Blackout, Changes Mind
--
This week's column from Ann COulter expresses her view on Ward Churchill and academic freedom.
HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE :: Not Crazy Horse, Just Crazy by Ann Coulter
--
More in the AFternoon Update.
No comments:
Post a Comment