Community Arts

Democrats, GOP senators criticize Rice

By Alyson Brodsy and Anne Gearan · Thursday, Feb. 16,2006 12:10 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Republican and Democratic senators criticized the Bush administration Wednesday over its policies in Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian territories, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered her first testimony on Capitol Hill in months. "I don't see, Madame Secretary, how things are getting better. I think they're getting worse in Iraq, they're getting worse in Iran," Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., told Rice as she appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Cheney speaks out for first time since shooting

By Alyson Brodsy and Nedra Pickler · Thursday, Feb. 16,2006 12:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday accepted full blame for shooting a fellow hunter and defended his decision to not publicly disclose the accident until the following day. He called it "one of the worst days of my life." "I'm the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry," Cheney told Fox News Channel in his first public statement since the shooting Saturday in south Texas. Cheney described seeing 78-year-old Harry Whittington fall to the ground after he pulled the trigger while aiming at a covey of quail.

Use American influence to end genocide

By Alyson Brodsy and David A. Nosko · Thursday, Feb. 16,2006 12:03 a.m.

Public concern and conversation following President Bush's State of the Union Address Jan. 31 has focused on the methodology of how we might save ourselves from our fossil fuel lifeline, but the president also said America needs to "act confidently in pursuing the enemies of freedom." He was, of course, referring to Islamic terrorists, Iraqi insurgents and the government of Iran. "The only way to protect our people, the only way to secure the peace, the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership," Bush said. "Abroad, our nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal: We seek the end of tyranny in our world."

Narking out China

By Alyson Brodsy and Joanna Borns · Thursday, Feb. 16,2006 12:02 a.m.

Every American woke up this morning, yawned, stretched, ate some Froot Loops and said, "Golly gee whiz it feels good to live in the land of the free." But is freedom really so great? It's really more of a hassle than anything else. Imagine sitting in your car and waiting for more than an hour while 57 small ducklings slowly cross the street. That's pretty much what freedom is.

Gunboat globalization

By Alyson Brodsy and Brian Stewart · Thursday, Feb. 16,2006 12:01 a.m.

"In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting -- yet it ends in danger and decline. ... The demands of justice, and the peace of this world (depend on) American leadership." So declared President Bush in his State of the Union address last month. As I sat that night in the company of conservatives -- fans of the president, to be sure -- I offered something to the effect of, "Take that, Patrick Buchanan!" I was nearly booed out of the room. For those unfamiliar with this right-wing gadfly, Mr. Buchanan has seldom seen an American military intervention or free trade agreement he didn't deplore. But how popular, really, is the isolationist temptation in American politics?

It's getting desperate

By Alyson Brodsy and Amy Obermeyer · Thursday, Feb. 16,2006 12 a.m.

By now, everyone knows the military is having trouble recruiting and is not meeting its goals. It attributes this in part to the war and the fact that, because of the war, many families do not want their sons and daughters putting themselves in harm's way. As a result, it has been putting forth an aggressive ad campaign to sway public opinion, not just of potential recruits, but of their families as well. I suppose that campaign isn't working too well.