Iowa’s Final Day of Importance, Until 2011
Obama and Awwww-Shucks both won the Iowa caucuses by convincing margins. The New York Times
has extensive coverage. The most telling number, though:
Democrats had 239,000 participants to the meager GOP showing of 108,000. John
Dickerson at Slate explains how Obama’s “hope” strategy worked. Michael Barone pontificates on the huge Obama win in the Wall
Street Journal and shows off a shiny new meta-election theory. Politico follows-up on why the GOP is in shambles on top of the tepid turn-out (and may be heading
towards a brokered convention). And if you don’t think the GOP is in crisis
right now, check out Brooksand Noonan: both explain Awwww-Shucks’ win with, taken together, a
paradoxical narrative (Brooks says Huckabee’s the first Evangelical candidate
to have the religious right base and not be at war with American culture;
Noonan says he’s popular with Evangelical voters because he embodies/articulates
their steadfast conviction that American culture is the US’ true existential
enemy).
New Vote in Kenya, Perhaps
Mwai Kibaki announced that if a Kenyan court ordered new elections to take place, he would not protest and would, in fact, run again
for the office. There are
concerns, however, about the honesty and amount of corruption within the Kenyan
judicial system. This announcement follows the call of opposition leader Raila Odinga, of
the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), for another vote.
India’s Acquisition in the UK Toyota, although plagued by diminished demand for its
products in December, beat Ford in auto-sales last month (and was runner-up to GM). Ford’s
troubles continue and it appears that the manufacturer may be wanting to sell
off some of its high-end brands. India’s Tata Motors is in talks to buy Jaguar and Land
Rover.
The Nuclear Option
It’s another episode of pragmatic public policy being decried because it doesn’t conform to every “ought” on an interest group’s
dogma-checklist: Gordon Brown wants to use nuclear energy to slash emissions in
the UK and some Greens are protesting. The environmental groups
are upset that the Brown government is explaining this emissions-cutting
strategy to the public with pitches like: “Time is pressing. We need to
make a decision on whether we should continue to get some of our electricity
from nuclear, which is a low carbon form of making energy.” Hmmm, isn’t
politics a bitch?
Shooting Gallery
Roger Clemens denies that his trainer shot him up with
banned substances. Instead, Clemens’ defense is that taking intramuscular
injections in the ass is standard operating procedure for him. Happens all the
time. Yep, he’s not cheating, he’s just a stud.
No Roids Here
The International Tennis Federation needed some
press so they banned Martina Hingis from tennis for two years (she snorted some blow), even though she’s already retired. Quick, Major League
Baseball: this could work with Jose Canseco!
The Jewcy Newshound provides links to articles of interest, twice daily. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon.