The Senate won’t move on the Law of the Sea until after the August recess. Holding hearings on the Convention this month, ensuring that it won’t compete with appropriations bills for floor time in the fall, would’ve been the right move.
I just wanted to acknowledge what CNN is now reporting, that Dick Cheney will hold the power of the Presidency while Bush undergoes a colonoscopy. This will likely just end up as a blip on the radar screen.
My colleague Raj Purohit writes on the Citizens for Global Solutions blog: A few years ago I was talking to a former high level official from the Clinton Administration about Pol Pot. Specifically we were discussing why he was never brought to trial for his crimes in the weeks before he committed suicide.
I’ve been fielding a number of inquiries on the UN Emergency Peace Service since I threw up a post on it last week. I have been extremely pleased with the reception it’s getting on Capitol Hill and now am very pleased too with how readers of this blog have taken to it.
I heard Sen. Dick Lugar deliver some insightful remarks this morning on energy, Iraq, and U.S. foreign policy at the 20/20 Vision National Summit on Energy Security. The talk was an acceptance speech for the first ever Energy Security Leadership Award.
Most of the political news today is focused on the McCain staff shakeup. The departures of Terry Nelson and John Weaver are noteworthy, but the biggest news is the end of Mark Salter’s official employment with McCain.
I mentioned in a post last week that I’ve been pushing an exciting proposal to make the U.N.’s peacekeeping and disaster relief capacity far more responsive and effective than it is now. It’s time to tip my hand.
I’ll throw in my two cents on Bush friend Pete Domenici’s statement on Iraq this week. My organization doesn’t work on Iraq, but my colleagues and I spend a great deal of time thinking about how we use language and how it affects the public debate.
I imagine Steve figured his “Happy 4th of July” post would stay up here throughout the holiday, but I’m bumping it down to announce my triumphant return to The Washington Note and explain my two-week absence.
I’ve never met Bill Scheurer, but I think his Peace Majority Report is a wonderful contribution to the debate on the U.S. role in the world. He takes a broad view of peace advocacy and is refreshingly willing to challenge the peace movement on its strategic choices and effectiveness.