Random News Tidbits

There are a few news tidbits that don't make up enough for a full post, but which are worth quick comment on...

First, for those who haven't heard, President Bush departed the G8 summit with the words "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." I assume he meant it as a joke, but as the leader who seems determined to single handedly kill Kyoto, it rings pretty hollow as humor goes.

Second, I'm willing to forgive a lot of personal failings (I've had my share myself), but I really find it hard to tolerate hypocrisy, and this week John McCain showed it in spades. Three examples:

1. He's accused Barack Obama of flip-flopping on some topics on which Obama actually has held true, while himself (McCain) changing positions as often as one would hope he changes underwear.
2. The Kyl-Lieberman Amendment. McCain has gotten a fair amount of mileage by condemning Obama for missing the vote on this amendment designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization: "This is the same organization that I voted to condemn as a terrorist organization when an amendment was on the floor of the United States Senate. Senator Obama refused to vote." Unfortunately, records show that McCain was in New York when that vote was taken (Obama was in New Hampshire), so McCain (who has at last count missed more Senate votes than any other Senator) missed the very vote he's condeming Obama for missing.
3. And finally, tacking towards the Religious Right, McCain and his campaign are trying to sell themselves as the family values candidate, but as this article shows, McCain's story about his divorce of his first wife and marrying of his second... doesn't ring true. It's pretty clear he was actually cheating on his first wife with his second, before they ever separated. Again, as a personal failing, I can forgive it. But in a guy who is trying to sell himself as the morality candidate, not so much.

Next up: According to the New York Times, there is a secret report by the International Committee of the Red Cross that concludes that CIA interrogation methods constitute terror and that the high level administration officials who signed off on them are guilty of war crimes. I have long held that if our conduct since 9/11 had been undertaken by a smaller nation, they'd already be under massive sanctions from the United Nations, and their leaders would probably be on trial at The Hague (in absentia at the very least).

A little one, interesting just as a tidbit, although I don't think it has any merit, there's this from the Times again. Apparently a law professor from U. of Arizona has determined that John McCain is not Constitutionally eligible to become President. It's already been discussed that he was not, technically, born in the United States, but in the Panama Canal Zone, and it's been pointed out that a 1937 law conferred citizenship on any child born in that area after 1904 to American parents, which makes McCain a citizen. But the Constitution requires a "natural born" citizen, and this professor argues that the 1937 law was passed just before McCain turned one year old, meaning that although he was granted citizenship, he did not have it for nearly the first full year of his life, which means that although he's a citizen, he's not technically a "natural born" citizen. The Professor says, and I agree with him, that it's kind of absurd that such a technicality should keep McCain from the Presidency. Still, the devil is in the details, and it will be very interesting to see if this gets any traction and how it plays out. Actually, my biggest question is what happens if McCain is elected and then he is determined to be ineligible? Is there another election? Does his VP immediately move up to become the President elect? Or, being disqualified, does the election go to the next top vote getter, which would almost certainly be Mr. Obama? I wonder if there's even a law in place covering this? I suppose it might fall under the same contingency of a President-elect dying before taking the oath. If that's the case, then it probably depends on whether it happens before or after the Electoral college meets. If after, the VP-elect immediately becomes the President-elect, but if before, then the Electoral college must decide who to elect, without being able to vote for the disqualified President. Interesting, if probably moot.

I think that's everything for today. I was asked in the comments on a prior article to comment further on the FISA stuff, and so hopefully tomorrow I'll get the opportunity to do the research thus requested and answer the questions.

Liam.