Monday, September 11, 2006

The Day Nothing much Changed

The Day Nothing Much Changed

Amidst the rah-rah and flag waving, an espresso shot of reality:

If you were in either of the two cities that were attacked on September 11, you might have picked up a copy of one of the daily newspapers. The headline of one story in the Washington Post read, “Israeli Tanks Encircle a City in West Bank.” The front page of the New York Times led with a story headlined, “Scientists Urge Bigger Supply of Stem Cells.” Inside the paper, readers might have also noticed a small item that read, “Iran: Denial on Nuclear Weapons.” The headlines on that morning—before the world learned of the attacks—suggest that our pre-9/11 preoccupations are certainly not that different from those we carry today.





Rounding up some weekend stuff:

  • The Overrated One gets it wrong again, this time on last wee's choice wars

    At the end of the day, we knew what we knew before the flap started: Culver is a strong pro-choicer while Nussle is a big pro-lifer.

    Other issues need attention, too. They may not whip up supporters like the abortion issue does, but they're profoundly important to more voters...


    He then goes on to his usual litany of eat your peas economic issues. Meanwhile, in the same edition of his own paper, Tom Beaumont: gets it right:

    With South Dakota’s abortion ban and a new U.S. Supreme Court as the backdrop, the question of what role state governments could play in determining the future of abortion is expected to weigh on voters more this year than in past elections.

    If that’s the case, Nussle could face a heavier burden than Culver in this campaign, given independent voters’ tendency to support abortion rights in Iowa.
    “Independent voters … are more likely to believe abortion should be legal ,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer of Des Moines. “They are definitely swing voters, and if they can be persuaded to vote on this issue, the sheer numbers at stake give the advantage to the Democrats.”


  • Tom Harkin at Fighting Bob Fest in Madison this weekend:

    'We need to elect a Congress that will start having hearings and holding investigations and put their feet to the fire,' Harkin said. Harkin, who sits at La Follette's former desk at the U.S. Senate, called the Wisconsin progressive icon one of his heroes.


  • Common Iowan's take on the JC Dem's BBQ.

  • Please. God. No:

    Al Gore said Sunday he hadn't rule out making a second (sic; they seem to have forgotten `88) bid for the White House, though he said it was unlikely.

    "I haven't completely ruled out running for president again in the future but I don't expect to," Gore said to reporters in Sydney, Australia, where he was promoting the local premiere of his documentary on global warming...
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