Monday, January 5, 2009
Your Morning News 1.05.09
Posted by Josh in Al Franken, Barack Obama, bill richardson, Election 2008, Gaza, Israel, Transition 2008, Your Morning News
And we are back! Let me tell you, ANYONE can do year-end wrap up in the year they actually occurred, but only this blog can bring you on a nostalgic tour of 2008 with the distance and perspective that comes from the first week of 2009. So this week, now that the trees and “menorahs” have been taken down and the New Years hangover is over (replaced with a regular Monday hangover) we will be looking at some of the highs and lows of last year. But first! The news.
If you have really checked out over vacation and are only just coming back to the world, you may have missed that news that Israel has invaded the Gaza strip. Responding to the endless, if sporadic, rocket attacks coming from within Gaza, the Israeli army retaliated through massive air strikes and now with a ground offensive that has cut the strip in half. Fighting has left over 500 Palestinians dead (100 civilians) and a rapidly developing humanitarian crisis is putting millions in danger of starvation. Many experts are saying that Israel chose now to strike because they knew the Bush administration would support them pretty much no matter what they did. That has proven to be the case as the US has blocked moves in the UN to condemn Israel. This will be a major challenge for President-elect Obama when he takes office.
Your favorite, formerly bearded, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration for Secretary of Commerce. Apparently, he is the subject of an ongoing investigation into political donations made to him by a company with massive business interests in front of the state. This might not be the last we hear of him; President-elect Obama has signaled that he is interested in reviving the special envoys to deal with global crisis areas. I am not sure but I don’t think that requires legislative approval.
Because Republicans can’t stand building roads or feeding the hungry, President-elect Obama’s massive stimulus bill *titter* will contain almost $300 billion in tax cuts designed to attract Republican support for the parts that will actually help. Cha-CHING.
Al Franken is going to be the likely winner of the Minnesota senate seat by a margin of about 200 votes. That is awesome in so many ways.