POLITICS

2006 MONTY PYTHON DEAD PARROT AWARD

AL KAMEN, WASHINGTON POST - And now, the Monty Python Dead Parrot Award
for 2006. It's always best to wait till the very end of the year before
declaring the winner of this prestigious spinmeister award -- given in
honor of the iconic scene in which Michael Palin, as a pet-shop owner,
insists that the obviously dead parrot he just sold John Cleese's
character is merely napping.

And, sure enough, the winning entry came in on Dec. 28, when CNN's Ed
Henry interviewed White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos
Townsend. Henry pressed her to admit that the administration's failure
to kill or capture Osama bin Laden in the past five years was, well, a
failure. She wouldn't. "Well, I'm not sure," Townsend said. "It's a
success that hasn't occurred yet. I don't know that I view that as a
failure."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/
AR2007010401524_2.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

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AND YOU THOUGHT MUSLIMS WERE BAD: BUDDHIST CONGRESS MEMBER TAKES OATH
WITH NO BOOK AT ALL

AZ CENTRAL - While a new, Muslim member of Congress sparked a
controversy for taking his oath of office with a Quran instead of a
Bible on Thursday, another new member who is Buddhist was sworn in with
no book at all. Rep. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat who was raised in
the Buddhist tradition but doesn't actively practice the religion, said,
"I don't have a book. ... But I certainly believe in the precepts of
Buddhism and that of tolerance of other religions and integrity and
honesty.". . .

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0104buddhist-ON.html

MUSLIM CONGRESS MEMBER BLINDSIDES CRITIC WITH SMILE AND HANDSHAKE
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/virgil-goode/virgil-goode-attacked-by-muslim-
terrorist-on-house-floor-226122.php


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-01-04-mcconnell_x.htm

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LAWS YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW HAD PASSED

PAULINE VU, STATELINE - California public colleges no longer will be
able to censor their student journalists, Missouri will end all limits
on campaign contributions and Ohio pet owners will be able to set up
trust funds for their furry and feathered friends. On Jan. 1, a host of
new state laws will take effect in at least 32 states, according to the
National Conference of State Legislatures.

Minimum wage laws likely will have the greatest reach. On New Year's
Day, 18 states will raise their rates. . . That brings the total number
of states with wages above the federal minimum to 29.

This year's fierce immigration debate has led to a tough new law in
Colorado, where employers will have to verify new workers'
identification in 2007 to ensure they aren't illegal immigrants. . .

A few lobbying laws also will be implemented. On Jan.1, Pennsylvania
ends its status as the only state without a lobbyist disclosure law,
requiring lobbyists to make quarterly reports about how they spend their
dollars.

North Carolina has also tightened ethics laws, restricting gifts to
lawmakers, requiring more disclosure from lobbyists and banning them
from making personal donations to candidates' campaigns. . .

The state also passed the country's first-in-the-nation law to protect
student journalists from censorship by public colleges or universities,
and gave principals at poor schools the power to reject bad teachers
trying to transfer in, a process that has been referred to as "the dance
of the lemons" and "passing the trash."

By Jan. 1, every house and apartment in Illinois must have a carbon
monoxide detector, restaurant patrons will be permitted to bring home
opened bottles of wine, and doctors will be able to begin preserving the
organs of corpses for transplant purposes before the patient's wishes
are known or familial consent is determined.

In the new year it also will become tougher for local governments to
seize land for economic development in Florida, Illinois and Iowa, as
the three states' new eminent domain laws take effect.

Beginning in 2007, gift cards in Kansas will have to be good for at
least five years. . .

Musical copycats in Illinois will have to sing a different tune. Bands
no longer will be able to use the same name as a classic band unless at
least one of the band's original members is in the ensemble. . .

Pistol-packing judges in Kansas will be able to carry concealed weapons
into their courtrooms. . .

Debtors in New Hampshire - where the state motto is "Live Free or Die" -
can no longer be subject to peonage, or holding a person in servitude or
partial slavery to work off a debt.

Ohio will become the 35th state where pet owners can establish trust
funds for their pets in the event the owner dies or becomes
incapacitated, according to The Humane Society. And in California,
owners will be prohibited from tethering their dogs to stationary
objects for more than three hours. . .

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=165645

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EMANUEL MEETS POLITICAL REALITY AT NEWS CONFERENCE

S.A. MILLER, WASHINGTON TIMES - Cindy Sheehan. . . yesterday routed the
leaders of the new House Democratic majority from their press conference
where they attempted to present their legislative agenda. Chants of
"de-escalate, investigate, troops home now," drowned out the new
majority leaders, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman
of the Democratic House Caucus. The flustered lawmakers retreated to a
room behind closed doors, and surrendered the field to Mrs. Sheehan,
whose son, an Army soldier, was killed in Iraq in 2004.

With her quarry in full retreat, she scolded Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi
for abandoning the war issue in the agenda for the first 100 hours of
the 110th Congress, which convenes today. The agenda focuses on other
promises from last year's campaigns, including raising the minimum wage,
stricter ethics rules and cutting student loan interest rates. "Speaker
Pelosi and the Democratic leadership can no longer tell us what is on
the table," Mrs. Sheehan said.

"We are the ones that put them in power and they are not including the
peace movement. ... It needs to be at least included in the discussion."
She demanded the elimination of funding for the war, an investigation
and impeachment of President Bush for what she called "lies" to justify
the war. Mrs. Sheehan was leading about 75 others lobbying congressional
offices when they happened upon the press conference

http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20070104-120950-2424r

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MUSSOLINI OFF BY ONLY ONE CENTURY

If it is admitted that the 19th-century has been the century of
Socialism, Liberalism & Democracy, it does not follow that the 20th must
also be the century of Liberalism, Socialism & Democracy. Political
doctrines pass; peoples remain. It is to be expected that this century
may be that of authority, a century of the "Right," a Fascist century.
If the 19th was the century of the individual it may be expected that
this one may be the century of "collectivism" & therefore the century of
the State. — Benito Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism, 1932

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