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The storm surrounding Caroline Kennedy’s shoo in as successor to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat may lead to a big name compromise. Associated Press’s Michael Gormley has been told by those close to Governor David Paterson, who has sole right to pick New York’s new junior senator, that bold faced names like Bill Clinton and Mario Cuomo are being considered as a stop gap senator until an election takes place in 2010. If Paterson takes that option, it lets him off the hook with Caroline. "You can say to Caroline Kennedy, ‘You know, you'd make a good senator. Run for it.' And you can tell everyone else that it's a level playing field," explains political scientist Gerald Benjamin, dean at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Other caretaker names in the frame, retired top jurist Judith Kaye and former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, president of the New School in New York City.
The Israeli novelist David Grossman weighs in on The Times op-ed page today, writing that Israel should declare a 48-hour cease-fire, even if Hamas continues to fire rockets. “Is it possible,” he asks, “or are we already captives of the all-too-familiar ritual of war?” Grossman won't be happy to learn that, as The Times is reporting, Israel has rejected “a proposal for a 48-hour cease-fire in its military onslaught in Gaza.” The 48-hour cease-fire was first suggested by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, in order to open a window for humanitarian aid. However, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesman said the Israelis “view it as important to keep up the pressure on Hamas.”
In appointing Roland Burris to Barack Obama’s Senate seat, Rod Blagojevich seems determined to take the Democratic ship down with him. Democrats are now scrambling to block the former state attorney general’s appointment. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Illinois’ other senator, Dick Durbin, have made their opposition to Burris clear. The Democratic leadership issued a statement saying that anyone appointed by Blagojevich “will not be seated by the Democratic caucus.” However, the Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that the House could not block the appointment of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. so long as he met the constitutional requirements for age, citizenship, and residency. Politico also runs a brief profile of Burris, who was Illinois’ first black statewide elected official. The best detail about him? His two children are named Roland and Rolanda.
In a chilly New Year greeting to its next door neighbor, Russia’s Gazprom will cut off all supplies of heating gas to Ukraine at 7am New Year’s Day. Talks in Moscow on a new contract between the Russian state owned gas giant and its pro-Western neighbor collapsed this afternoon, leaving the prospect of a freezing January for Ukrainians who are dependent on their former Soviet masters for energy. Gazprom blamed the breakdown on “political forces” in Ukraine. And Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister, threatened “very real consequences” if Ukraine intercepted gas piped through its territory from Russia to customers in the European Union.
Muslim anger over Gaza spilled over in Tehran last night, with the British embassy as its targets. According to The Times of London, “hundreds of Iranian radicals stormed the British compound in Tehran last night, replacing the Union flag wit ha Palestinian one.” As many as 300 people were involved, throwing stones and petrol bombs at the embassy, but the British Foreign Office is reporting that the embassy’s staff was safe. The British embassy has become the focus of Iranians’ anger at the West, since there is no American or Israeli embassy.
Was she cleaning out stacks of old newspapers? Washington lobbyist Vicki Iseman has filed a lawsuit against The New York Times over a much-disputed article it published…last February. The $27 million defamation suit, whose defendants include the newspaper, executive editor, the Washington bureau chief, and four reporters, alleges an “unprofessional relationship” was implied between the lobbyist and then-presidential candidate John McCain. The suit states: “In their attack on Senator McCain, the [defendants] were willing to sacrifice Ms. Iseman as acceptable collateral damage, recklessly indifferent to the avalanche of scorn, derision and ridicule Ms. Iseman would suffer.” While the original Times article was vague, the lawsuit argues that commentators assumed the two had an alleged affair and as a result Iseman suffered mental, emotional, and physical damage to her health.
Obama is not going to spend any time getting comfortable at his desk in the Oval Office. As soon as the inauguration celebrations are over, he plans to take to the road to sell his $775 billion stimulus package to the nation, appealing over the heads of Congress to the American people. And his cabinet will also scatter far and wide, stressing the need for quick passage of his bill to defibrillate the stalled economy. "We'll fan out," said David Axelrod, Obama’s chief public relations advisor. "We'll make clear to people why we need to do what we're doing, why it's the size it is, what the individual component parts are, and why they are an important part of the equation in terms of short-term recovery.” There are dangers, however, to going on tour like a rock star, writes David Nicholas in the Los Angeles Times: “By mounting an aggressive public relations campaign, Obama may be seen as bypassing the GOP en route to a major legislative victory. For a new president who promised bipartisanship, Obama's methods could leave Republicans feeling isolated and marginalized."
As if they weren’t smug enough already, the devoutly religious have a new reason to smile serenely: scientific research suggests they have been doing it right all along. According to University of Miami psychologist Michael McCullough, devoutly religious people do better in school, live longer, have more satisfying marriages, and are generally happier. A new report in the Psychological Bulletin says religious people have better self control than everyone else. “Brain-scan studies have shown that when people pray or meditate, there’s a lot of activity in two parts of brain that are important for self-regulation and control of attention and emotion,” McCullough told John Tierney of the New York Times. “The rituals that religions have been encouraging for thousands of years seem to be a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control.” As early as the 1920s, researchers found Sunday school students were more self-disciplined. And studies since have confirmed that religiously devout children are less impulsive. The devout are also more likely to wear seat belts, go to the dentist, and take vitamins.
Alberto Gonzales has decided to insert himself, on New Year’s Eve, no less, into the running for most tone-deaf political statement of 2008: “I consider myself a casualty, one of the many casualties of the war on terror." Gonzales, or “Fredo,” as he was known to President Bush, gives The Wall Street Journal his most extensive interview since he stepped down as attorney general in September 2007. "What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?" he asks. "For some reason, I am portrayed as the one who is evil in formulating policies that people disagree with.” Gonzales said he is writing a memoir "for my sons, so at least they know the story." He does not yet have a publisher.
Movie attendance was off 5.2 percent this year. In trying times like these, Hollywood thinks deeply and then…produces more sequels! Bloomberg notes that 2009 will include another raft of familiar faces: Star Trek, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and Terminator: Salvation. In fact, Warner Brothers’ decision to delay Potter to 2009 is probably what caused this year’s box office to tail off. Bloomberg notes that Hollywood's Christmas haul was up 7.9 percent from last year, helped along by Marley & Me, Bedtime Stories, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Al Franken’s lead over Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate recount has inched up to 50 votes, but further legal battles are expected. So what do the Democrats do when it comes time to seat the new Senate? A spokesperson for Harry Reid was cautious, saying, "At this stage, it appears that Franken will be certified the winner by the state Canvassing Board. We're keeping abreast of the situation and will make a decision with regard to Senate action at the appropriate point in the process." Minnesota’s other senator, Amy Klobuchar, said, however, that whoever wins, the Senate should "consider seating that person pending litigation." Texas Senator John Cornyn is suggesting that the GOP will block any attempt to seat Franken before the legal issues are settled.
On the year-end lists of 2008 catchphrases, we’ve noticed an omission: “since the Great Depression.” The phrase has been appearing everywhere, including today’s Financial Times. How bad was the year in stocks? The worst since the Great Depression. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones lost a greater percentage of their values than in any year since 1931, shedding 39.3 and 34.7 percent respectively. The Japanese and European markets had their worst years ever. More grim financial news: the U.S. consumer confidence index fell to 38, much lower than economists expected and down from 90.6 one year ago.
J.D. Salinger turns 90 tomorrow, but don’t expect a celebration: The Catcher in the Rye novelist hasn’t been heard from in more than 40 years. He lives in New Hampshire, but what he does there is anyone’s guess. Charles McGrath reads back over Salinger’s work and notes, “In general what has dated most in Mr. Salinger’s writing is not the prose…but the ideas …Mr. Salinger’s spiritual side is his least convincing. His gift is less for profundity than for observation, for listening and for comedy.”
The theory that all things can eventually be connected to Kevin Bacon is true, it seems, even of Ponzi schemes. In this case, the math is pretty simple. Kevin Bacon and wife Kyra Sedwick lost money to Bernard Madoff, although their spokesman refused to specify how much. Joining them on the losers list is Henry Kaufman, the Wall Street economist known as “Dr. Doom.” Kaufman called his losses “no more than a couple percent of my entire net worth" and "immaterial to my financial wellbeing.”
Israel's top three politicians met in secret Friday to discuss the attacks, even though they have little trust for one another, inflaming suspicions that the attacks were motivated by the upcoming elections. According to a government spokesman, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with the two of the top candidates for his job, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Both challengers were trailing hard-liner Binyamin Netanyahu, a former prime minister, who has long pressed for military action in Gaza. "With Netanyahu leading in the polls, and the security situation deteriorating, it would have killed Livni and Barak if they had let 50 or 60 rockets land every day and done nothing," said Reuven Y. Hazan, a professor of political science. Among Palestinians, the notion that the attacks are politically motivated is widespread. "The Israeli politicians are using this blood bath for the sake of their political campaigns," said Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician based in the West Bank. In 1996, Netanyahu came to power during an offensive against Lebanon.
As always, when people get addicted to the sweet stuff, the criminals end up profiting. The mysterious collapse of bee colonies around the United States has increased the demand for foreign honey. A five-month investigation by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reveals that Chinese firms are increasingly exploiting that demand by smuggling in diluted and sometimes contaminated honey. The FDA is cracking down on honey launderers amid fears that dangerously contaminated honey could harm consumers. But the article concludes that oversight is still rare. "There's more crooks than ever, and it has become a real nasty business out there," said the spokeswoman for an international group formed to fight Chinese honey laundering. "They gamble and very, very few—almost none—get caught. So they keep corrupting the system."
Caroline Kennedy’s interviews so far have been notable for their halting style and copious “you know’s” (c.f., “You know, I think really this is sort of unique moment both in our, you know, our country’s history, and in, you know, my own life”). Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he feels her pain. "If there's anybody who understands the pain and suffering of having the press criticize how you speak, it is me," Bloomberg said yesterday. The mayor noted that his clumsy style had improved greatly during his tenure his office. He also suggested that the press was being harder on Kennedy than the other contenders for the seat. "Nobody seems to be asking other particular candidates, 'Tell us what you would do in the situation of world chaos or whatever, a Depression, a world war,'" he said.
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