‘Imminent Arrest’ in Chandra Levy Case Would Be Partially Result of Great Investigative Journalism
It’s hard to remember what the biggest news story was just prior to 9/11 — it was the Chandra Levy disappearance case. Levy a Washington, D.C. federal intern was having an affair with then-Congressman Gary Condit and she disappeared off the face of the map. Her body was eventually discovered and the case has been an usolved murder.
Last year, two Washington Post reporters produced this 13-part investigative series on the case. It made for compelling reading, but more importantly it showed the power of the Fourth Estate to ferret out truth and force government’s hand in fixing its mistakes. The series pointed out a multitude of mistakes on the part of police investigators, most notably getting fixated on Condit and not pursuing whether or not a Salvadoran immigrant’s attacks on female joggers in the D.C. park where Levy was last seen was tied to Chandra’s disappearance.
We may find out in the next couple of days that it was – eight years later.
Congressional Republicans Fiddle While Economy Burns
Filed under: Barack Obama, Recession, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy
Apparently, GOP leaders still don’t get it.
The events of last Fall should’ve been enough failure, enough repudiation for even the most stubborn to take a step back and rethink their world view, re-evaluate their approach. Rational people might think that the continuing unwinding of the economy should be enough to appeal to Republican lawmakers’ sense of patriotism and push them in favor of government investment in jobs and the future. On the contrary, President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill received not a single Republican vote in the U.S. House and is only moving in fits and starts through the Senate.
Notably, one Republican amendment which passed the Senate last night added $19 billion to the bill.
Today, in the Washington Post, Obama made a direct appeal to Washington in an op-ed piece. Two things stand out form me in what the president wrote.
First, he reminds political Washington about the ‘fierce urgency of now.’
What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives — action that’s swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis.
We are in historic times, perilous times in fact. At this point it doesn’t matter why we’re here, what matters is what moves us forward.
Second, Obama illustrates the stakes and describes the solution:
Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.
That’s why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come.
As the fundamentals of the broad economy begin to turn positive and unemployed Americans go back to work and those with jobs shed their anxiety, we can rebuild parts of the system and have all of the big government/small government arguments from a position of economic security. The time for Democrat v. Republican is not suited for this stage of the game. We’ve tried trickle down tax policies as an economic engine and the horsepower just isn’t there for where we need to go today. Barack Obama and the Democrats have the ‘hemi.’
Transcript: Interview of Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in Washington Post
On Tuesday, Dec. 9, The Washington Post interviewed Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou in the Presidential Building in Taipei.
The Washington Post: Given the global downturn and the current financial crisis, how quickly will Taiwan see some of the benefits of closer economic ties with China, and given rising unemployment, do you feel any political pressure to move more slowly?
President Ma Ying-jeou: Actually, when we decided to inaugurate cross-strait direct flights beginning last July, the idea is to reduce the cost of firms doing business with mainland China. For instance, for ocean-going ships, they could save $5,000 to 10,000 just to get a stamp to show that they have anchored in a third place, and to reduce the travel time for around 5 million people who travel between Taiwan and the mainland. So that will be an immediate benefit. So by the time later this month when we have everyday charters, the savings will be much greater as a result. Read more
Sunday Papers – November 9, 2008
Filed under: Barack Obama, Bush Foreign Policy, Iraq, Obama Transition, Sarah Palin, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy
New York Times Magazine
- After the Imperial Presidency– Jonathan Mahler
- Payday Lenders, Check Cashers – Redeemed?– Douglas McGray
- Deprogramming Jihadists– Katherine Zoepf
New York Times
- Obama team weighs what to take on first
- Harsh words about Obama? Never mind
- Citing workload public lawyers refuse new cases
- How Merrill fell
- Pelosi, Reid want aid for U.S. automakers
- Op-Ed, Frank Rich: It still felt good morning after
- Op-Ed, Al Gore: The climate for change
- Op-Ed, Thomas Friedman: Show me the money
- Op-Ed, Nicholas Kristof: Obama and the War on Brains
- Rice visits West Bank
- U.S. electricity project in Afghanistan
- Back home, Palin finds landscape changed
- After push for Obama, Unions seek new rules
Washington Post
- Preparing for the Obama era
- Reid, Pelosi urge Treasury to extend aid to automakers
- Self-sufficiency evades Iraqi security forces
- Obama positioned to reverse Bush actions
- Medvedev calls Obama; Kremlin describes call
- Congressional Democrats say economy first priority
- Op-Ed, Rich Lowry: The right needs to get centered
- Op-Ed, Joseph Stiglitz: More pain to come even if he’s perfect
- Op-Ed, Ron Suskind: U.S. has power – it could use authority
- Op-Ed, David Broder: Governors know best
- Op-Ed, George Will: Democratic ironies and Republican Afflictions
Los Angeles Times
- Democrats set sights on Texas
- Public works on the table once again
- Obama relies on a close-knit inner circle
- Op-Ed, Norman Ornstein: The GOP’s deep hole
- Op-Ed, James Rainey: Right-wing media feeds its post-election anger
- Political blogger be nimble, be quick
- Election leaves gay couple feeling isolated
Democratic National Convention: News Coverage – Ohio and National
Filed under: Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, Presidential Campaign 2008
From the Columbus Dispatch
- Black Ohio Delegates Full of Pride
- ‘We are a better country than this’
- Obama attempts to offer specifics and inspiration
- Ohioans salute Tubbs Jones
- Corporations convene to treat Ohio delegates
- Arrested reporter got start in Athens
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer
From the New York Times
- Obama takes aim at McCain, Bush with a forceful call to change America
- In speech bringing lofty words down to earth
- Politics, spectacle and history under an open sky
- The Godfather
- On the small screen, intimacy and welcome silence for Obama’s Big Rally
- Editorial: Mr. Obama’s Party
- Op-Ed, David Brooks: A speech to the delegates
- Op-Ed, Paul Krugman: Feeling no pain
From the Washington Post
- Obama, accepting nomination, draws sharp contrast with McCain
- The message that the party wanted to hear
- A new day for King’s dreams
- Op-Ed, Tom Shales: A big moment for the small screen
- Op-Ed, Charles Krauthammer: The Perfect Stranger
- Op-Ed, Eugene Robinson: So many miles from Selma
- Op-Ed, E.J. Dionne: Rekindling the flame
- Editorial: The message from Denver
Oil Shock: Drilling for Answers on High Prices Part IV of V
As posted here (and why), I continue to post the Washington Post articles from the Oil Shock series.
from The Washington Post
Gas Prices Apply Brakes To Suburban Migration
By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 5, 2008; A01
That 1958 brick rambler inside the Beltway is suddenly looking a lot better to Dawn and Jeff Schaefer, who are buying their first house in Northern Virginia.
Not too long ago, they were looking farther out — for a newer house, a bigger yard and all the amenities. But no more. “You get less house and property for the same price, but we’re willing to make that sacrifice to save on gas prices and commuting costs,” Dawn Schaefer said.
Cheap oil, which helped push the American Dream away from the city center, isn’t so cheap anymore. As more and more families reconsider their dreams, land-use experts are beginning to ask whether $4-a-gallon gas is enough to change the way Americans have thought for half a century about where they live.
“We’ve passed that tipping point,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said. Read more
Oil Shock: Drilling for Answers on High Prices
Washington Post series shows the national media may be waking up
Last Sunday the Washington Post began a series of articles titled Oil Shock. As stated by the Post, the purpose for these stories is to examine the economic and market forces behind the recent spike in oil prices – and therefore gasoline – and therefore everything else.
Better late than never, the national media may finally be waking up to the reality that the world’s supply of oil will not last forever and may have already peaked. So far, the Post’s series has been excellent and is suggested reading for anyone. All the more timely, the series comes during a presidential campaign. Neither the energy policies outlined by Sen. John McCain, nor those of Sen. Barack Obama seem to acknowledge the long-term gravity of the problem with oil. It is a campaign and there are more people (and special interests) to avoid riling than there is room for a grand vision of the U.S. energy future.
Information such as that contained in the Post’s series will be all the more important after the election. It will be the next President and Congress that will begin to formulate the energy policies that either make or break the U.S. economic and security future. We could have been doing things 10 or 20 years ago, or at the very least continued some of what we started after the last oil shock, namely conservation. That didn’t happen and there is no more time for dithering. Waiting this long to begin to think about an economy and society not built on oil has ensured all of us some measure of economic pain and societal strain. In large part, the decisions made by the next President of the United States will determine how much.
I am going to post the Post series here at Clips & Comment mainly because I don’t want to lose the information. I hope you’ll take the time to read these articles and consider the part you can play in ensuring an energy future for the country that brings the sort of prosperity and opportunity that oil has brought us.
