Some Real Leadership

Nancy Pelosi, House minority leader, was among the 359 Representatives who apparently think that "economic benefits for the American nuclear industry" should outweigh both the rule of law and the safety of the people of this dear planet. The House, then, yesterday voted to approve the deal Bush made with India, making it legal to trade nuclear fuel and technology with India despite India's refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Brava, Rep. Pelosi: what better use your position and influence than to work to make the world less safe and laws less enforceable? Brava.

Disclose and DiscussPlease

As we await possible commentary from Mr Lee on the latest Plame developments, I offer the following.
In a small tribute to Leeroy, then, I’m going to try for a smorgasbord post today; patience and criticism are your obligations, reader.

Down South
Andrés Manuel López Obrador has claimed that the Mexican presidential election (which he lost by less than 1%) was decided by fraud. He’s shown videos which allegedly show ballot-stuffing and other offenses. He has asked the Trife, Mexico's electoral court, to order a recount. The court has until 31 August to decide.

I'll confess, López Obrador's policies appeal to me, as does his populism. Does that mean that I would support a recount out of affection for Obrador? No. However, as we learned all too well here a few years back, refusing to conduct recounts upsets Yancies to no end. Democracy demands that all votes be counted in good faith. I hope the Trife comes closer to justice than our own Justices did in 2000.

An Inconvenient Film
Speaking of those upsetting memories, watching the inevitable recap of 2000 in the excellent Al Gore film was almost as painful to me as the shots of the receding glaciers. Dammit.

Anyway, the movie is a must-see, as is the website that the credits point viewers to, http://www.climatecrisis.net.

And Inconvenient Friends
Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, is running for Lt. Governor of Georgia. Unfortunately for him—though, I hope, fortunately for the rest of us—he has many ties to a Mr Abramoff. In particular, "he was paid by Jack Abramoff to organize opposition to a gambling bill in the Texas legislature, which would have opened the door to competition for Mr. Abramoff's client casinos in Louisiana."

That's a quote from, believe it or not, an Op-ed piece by the inimitable Garrison Keillor. GK, as they call him in some movie I saw recently, offers this judgment:
The sexual trespass of a president is a story any mortal can understand, and the use of your father's influence to sneak you into a military unit where you're less likely to face combat is an act of cowardice all of us cowards can appreciate. But the chutzpah of Mr. Reed in wheedling money from Abramoff to snooker Christians into an uproar against gambling is cold-hearted greed. And his work in behalf of the sweatshops and sex factories of the Marianas, arguing that the Chinese women imported there were being given the chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, reaches an entirely new level.

Here's hoping Georgians will listen to reason and send Mr Reed packing.

Listening Up?
On the subject of listening, the administration has at last agreed to a review (secret, of course) of its eavesdropping program. Hope springs eternal.

Except in the Mideast
Where Israel, in response to an illegal raid and the abduction of two soldiers by Hezbollah, has gone on the offensive, attacking the Beirut airport and not shying away from attacks that lead to civilian deaths.

Is Israel wrong to defend itself? No, I don't think so. Surely, though, another path ought to be sought. The UN tried to pass a resolution criticizing both the Israeli attacks and Hezbollah; guess which country was the only one to oppose it?

A grim note to end on, I suppose (and I apologize, DGL, for failing to incorporate the piece on the future of the Republicans that you pointed me to—oh wait, there's the incorporation right there!).
The lesson in all of this, it seems to me, is that dialogue and disclosure—direct public consideration of elections, lobbying, spying, and bombing—is always the best—go ahead, call me naïve—option.