Washington Post – Biden to Shepherd Test Ban Treaty Vote
The Obama administration is wasting no time in pushing forward with the effort to achieve “nuclear zero.” The president has tapped veep Joe Biden to quarterback the effort to finally get the U.S. to sign the nuclear test-ban treaty that has long been an aim of advocates of America leading by example when it comes to disarmament.
Opponents of the treaty say that we lose while bad guys gain.
“The events that preceded the Oct. 13, 1999, ratification defeat preview the hurdles that Biden would have to overcome to shepherd the pact through the Senate… opponents brought in former defense secretary Caspar W. Weinberger to raise the issues that are certain to come up again.
When then-Sen. Biden argued that tests below one kiloton — the equivalent of 1,000 tons of TNT — would be ineffective in building a new weapon and that anything above 1 kiloton could be detected, Weinberger replied that some nations would be likely to go ahead with smaller tests that could be useful and would probably would go undetected. Weinberger also raised the argument that if the United States signed the treaty and could not test, the nation’s own weapons could no longer be considered reliable.”
The Hill — On defense cuts, Obama holds cards
Writer Roxana Tiron explains that despite widespread skepticism that the administration can actually push through huge cuts to defense programs, like missile defense and the F-22 Raptor, the president has a strong hand and likely will get his way.
By casting the cuts as moves to shift resources to troops in the field, having the non-partisan SecDef make the pitch early, and putting Obama’s charm behind the effort, the administration may succeed far beyond what the Clinton and Carter teams achieved.
One other way to get the job done will be to allow lawmakers one more pig out session before the cuts come.
“Before Gates and Obama get ready to fight for their defense budget, an intense battle is brewing over the upcoming war emergency supplemental for the remainder of fiscal 2009. Defense appropriators and other lawmakers may see that as one of the last opportunities they have to fund their priorities, such as more of Boeing’s C-17s, more F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets and perhaps more F-22s. But they could also encounter resistance from Democratic leaders who would want to pass the supplemental with most Democrats in support, according to congressional sources.”
New York Times – With Victories, Gay Rights Groups Expand Marriage Push
In an interesting twist, the push by social conservative groups from 2002 to 2008 to prevent gay marriage laid the groundwork for gay-rights activists to achieve their stunning string of victories in recent weeks.
Using the courts to overturn votes against gay marriage and now the first state legislature (Vermont), gay groups have created a situation in which either every state acknowledges full gay marriages administered in other states or faces a constitutional crisis.
And when the first gay couple files a joint tax return in Pinch, W.Va. or Dothan, Ala., a constitutional crisis may be just what the new president will face if he doesn’t use his justice department to sue states on the “full faith and credit” clause of the Constitution.
In not pushing for, but implementing gay marriage, Obama may be trying to do what Eisenhower did on desegregation – to oey the court but not appear as an activist. It’s a very fine line to walk, given the broad sentiment against full marriage equivalency
“Advocates have acknowledged that they strategically chose the states in which they have won battles for same-sex marriage so far. While states like New York and New Jersey offer strong possibilities for additional victories, many others — especially those with constitutional bans on same-sex marriage — present formidable challenges.
Jennifer C. Pizer, the marriage project director for Lambda Legal, said after the Iowa ruling on Friday that the approach in the states with constitutional bans would have to be different.
‘I think we will have a period that we really haven’t ever seen before in American history,’ Ms. Pizer said, ‘of people needing to undo state constitutional amendments — which is not an easy thing to do.’”
Associated Press — White House invites gay families to Easter event
With the White House hiring of Actor Kal Penn (Kumar of the “Harold and Kumar” weed movies and “House”) to do Asian political outreach and now the efforts to have a gay-friendly Easter at the White House, the Obama administration is finding remarkable new ways to hit identity groups in an effort to broaden the president’s political base.
The result of the gay Easter move may also be to distress Christians on their highest holiday.
But as gay marriage becomes the law of the land, the Obama administration will have plenty more options to deal with that issue.
“White House officials said that tickets for Monday’s Easter Egg Roll event were distributed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender organizations, but did not specify how many or to which ones. Representatives from Family Equality Council, Human Rights Campaign, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and other groups confirmed they were invited and encouraged to have their members participate.
“The Obama administration actually reached out to us as an organization, and said we want gay families there, and they are an important part of the American family fabric,” said Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Boston-based Family Equality Council, which is helping spearhead the effort to organize families to attend.
Washington Post — Some Link Economy With Spate Of Killings
Writer Philip Rucker had the tough task of explaining why we’ve seen an incredible surge in mass murders since last fall. Some cases, like the man dressed as Santa who slaughtered a family on Christmas Eve or the recent killing of three Pittsburgh police officers, have stood out. Some have faded into a nauseating blur of violence, often perpetrated against children or other helpless victims.
In the past month alone, 57 Americans have been killed in eight mass murders. The reasons go beyond the economy and into something that has become unsettled within the culture – a deeper sickness perhaps exposed by economic uncertainty.
The signals coming out of the Obama administration and some states is that stronger gun control measures will be taken in response to the killings. Meanwhile, a new survey from Gallup shows that support for gun control is at its lowest point (29 percent) than at any time since it’s been measured starting in 1960.
Even so, for liberals the possibility of a zero gun world remains tantalizing.
“Predictably, the carnage has focused attention on the nation’s gun laws. Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said it is too easy for dangerous people to acquire guns.
“The common denominator in all these is that they’re all using a gun,” Helmke said of the recent killings. “You don’t see police officers in Pittsburgh being killed by people throwing knives at them. . . . We’ve always had violence, but in the old days you couldn’t take out so many people so quickly. Now we make it very easy to do that.”
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson called the recent spate of killings “domestic terrorism” and said he hoped the slaughter would be a wake-up call for policymakers.”
