THE FLASHLIGHT, August 30-September 5, 2008

THE FLASHLIGHT
August 30 to September 5, 2008
No Peace without Justice, no Justice without the Facts
Mary K. Matossian, Editor
mary@matossian.net, Apt. 9-M

The Republicans’ Big Week

CNN and PBS 8-29, NYTimes 8-30, Wikipedia, CNN 9-3, NYTimes 9-4. John McCain picked Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as a running mate. She studied journalism and graduated from the University of Idaho.
She married a sportsman, fisherman, and member of the United Steelworkers Union. They have five children. She prided herself in being a “hockey mom,” [which meant that she actually played ice hockey.]
. She started her political career on the town council and as mayor of a town 45 miles north of Anchorage: Wasilia, population 7,000.
From an early age she has been an evangelical Christian fundamentalist, opposed to abortion, stem cell research, same sex marriage, and any sex education that covers alternatives to abstinence. She believes that creationism should be taught in the schools alongside evolution. She believes that global warming is not at all man-made. She threatened to fire the town librarian for refusing to ban certain books on account of their “inappropriate” language. In a speech last June in her former church in Wasilia, she said the war in Iraq was “a task that is from God.”
Sarah Palin was elected Governor of Alaska in December 2006, 20 months ago. She was lucky in her opponents, who were notorious crooks. Alaskan politics is famous for its corruption. But she was also lucky in that Alaska had plenty of money, running a $5 billion dollar surplus last year, while other states faced serious shortfalls. This has been because of the sharp rise in oil prices, and Alaska has abundant oil. She favors drilling for more in the Arctic National Wild Life Refuge. Alaska also receives a great deal of federal money for various projects.
She won election to Governor 20 months ago, in December, 2006. She condemned corruption and supported ethics legislation. She also distributed some of the budget surplus from oil revenues among the people. She fostered the development of a natural gas pipeline. She initially favored the $200 million dollar “bridge to nowhere”, but later changed her mind and used the money for other projects. Her current favorability rating is 76%.
In her speech to the Republican National Convention, 9-3, Sarah Palin aroused the gathering with her aggressive, sarcastic attacks on Obama, while maintaining her “femininity.” She said that compared with Obama as a community organizer, she had real responsibility as a small town mayor. She acknowledged that her Downs Syndrome baby was a child with “special needs.”
She acknowledged that she is an outsider to the “Washington elite” and unbeloved by the national media. She claimed that she was a champion of “small town America,” challenging the “status quo” [of dominance by urban Americans and Ivy League graduates like Obama]. She claimed to be an opponent of the “good old boys”, the oil companies, and wasteful spending. She said that she wanted to put government “back on the side of the people.”
She accused Barack Obama of never having authored any important legislation or reform. She said that he never spoke of “victory” abroad, only in connection with his own campaign. She accused him of planning to raise all major taxes. She mocked him for his “journey of personal discovery.”

Commentary on Palin Speech

CNN 9-3, NYTimes 9-4. Wolf Blitzer: “A star has been born.” Donna Brazile said it was “a red meat speech.” Harry Reid’s office called her “shrill.” Other commentators noted that she smiled when she put in the knife; that she was energizing the Republican base (small town folks, evangelicals); that she was starting up again the cultural war between urban, coastal culture, and small town, rural culture, while other leaders were trying to transcend it; that after this speech the Democrats would take off their gloves. Indeed, the Obama campaign promptly announced that everything she had said about Obama was false.
NYTimes 9-4. The Times writers observed that Palin made no mention of the economy and the hardships being experienced by so many Americans. They said that it will be difficult for the Republicans to talk about change when they have been in charge of the government in Washington for the last eight years. A handful of giant corporations still dominates Alaska in spite of Sarah Palin.
NYTimes 9-5. John McCain, instead of appealing to the party base, turned to the wider electorate. He vowed an end to partisan rancor. He distanced himself from the unpopular White House.
[The editor was unable to listen to this speech, hence the brief coverage.]
The Economist 8-30. McCain does resemble Pres. Bush, however, in his hawkish foreign policy positions, his advocacy of irresponsible tax cuts for the very rich, and in his positions on religion and abortion.

US Politics, General

CNN 9-3. Poll: Obama leads in Iowa +15; in Minnesota, +12, but in Ohio, only +2.

US Economy

NYTimes 8-30. Compressed natural gas can now be used as fuel in specially designed cars, i.e. the special Honda Civic. It is available in Utah for 87 cents a gallon. The drawbacks are that the number of fueling stations is limited, and that a full tank of compressed natural gas can only go half as far as a full tank of gasoline in a typical car.
The government of California is providing incentives for the development of this technology.

CNN 9-4. The Dow Jones, in a broad based sell-off, lost 344 points, ending at 11,188. Oil went down to $108 a barrel.
NYTimes 9-5. The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, the highest since December, 2003.

The Middle East

Georgia
NYTimes 9-4. The US gave Georgia only $63 million dollars in 2007, one-third of which was for military purposes. Now the US is going to give it $1.8 billion over the next 17 years. This does not include military funds. The announcement angered the Russians.

Turkey/Armenia

Turkish Daily News 9-3. Pres. Abdullah Gul of Turkey has gone to Erevan [capital of Armenia] and hopes for a breakthrough in talks with the Armenian government.

Iraq
The Economist, 8-30. “Iraq is still a bloody mess.” Hundreds of Iraqis are being killed every month, and four million are still displaced from their homes. In the north, a vicious insurgency continues, especially around Mosul. There has been no decision on the management and distribution of profits from Iraqi oil.

Israel/Palestine

Haaretz 9-5. In an effort to strengthen Pres. Abbas, Israel ordered that 1,000 rifles be sent to the Palestine Authority.