Brits to leave Iraq

Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce Wednesday a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,500 to return home in several weeks, British media reported.

Blair will also tell the House of Commons during his regular weekly appearance before it that a total of about 3,000 British soldiers will have left southern Iraq by the end of 2007, if the security there is sufficient, the British Broadcasting Corp. and The Sun newspaper said, quoting government officials who weren’t further identified.

And amazingly

Blair and Bush talked by secure video link Tuesday morning, and Bush views Britain’s troop cutbacks as “a sign of success” in Iraq, said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Damn right.

McCain: Roe v. Wade should be overturned

How moderate he is!!

Republican presidential candidate John McCain (news, bio, voting record), looking to improve his standing with the party's conservative voters, said Sunday the court decision that legalized abortion should be overturned.

"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states.

CBS has learned terrerism charges brought against a GOP donor

Interesting.

Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.

CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.

If it were in Taiwan, people would call this a work of NY Democrats.

HRC's approach on elections

I first noticed this issue on AMERICAblog, and then read the article on the Boston Glibe.

Playing down its support for gay marriage, the HRC mobilized its 650,000 members to staff phone banks, raise money, and participate in get-out-the-vote campaigns to elect candidates sympathetic to gay issues, even if they didn't support gay marriage. The group was the single biggest donor to Democratic state Senate races in New Hampshire, helping the party take control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since 1874.

Honestly I have no problem with that. In fact, I think it's not a bad strategy. I mean, with the majority of people against marriage equality, more friends are needed, and spending on those half way candidates (who are for civil union but not full equality) sounds reasonable to me. I don't quite get it why people have such negative responses to such a news.

Bush's English

I think it's funny.

Democrats found it demeaning when the president, in his State of the Union address last month, referred to the "Democrat majority," as opposed to the "Democratic majority."

"Now look, my diction isn't all that good," Bush told the 200 lawmakers who wrapped up two days away from Washington with family and aides. "I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English language. And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the Republic Party."

Sen. Warner to filibuster Warner Resolution

Isn't that bizarre?

CNN just reported that all 49 Republican Senators have agreed to filibuster the Warner Iraq surge resolution if even more Republican demands are not now met. Which is fascinating, since John Warner just agreed to filibuster his own resolution.

January reading report

According to AdSense, there were 82 impressions. Doesn't look impresive at all. It peaks on the 1st (11), with a discussion of Federal Judicial pay.