Monday, February 28, 2005

Senators Clinton and Shumer Get Tough, As Meter-Maid Having been wrong on everything from the war on terror to our own economy and job market, two New York Senators get tough on parking violations.   What? Diplomats get the (parking) boot. You can thank a pair of New York Democrats -- Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer -- for forcing foreign diplomats posted in this country to adhere to U.S. traffic and parking laws. And they are paying up, by golly, under threat by Uncle Sam that U.S. aid sent to their countries would get cut by 110 percent of the amount owed in unpaid fines. For a country like Egypt, which had owed $1.8 million to federal and local police jurisdictions in Washington and New York, this could add up to some serious bucks. Other countries that made a habit of ignoring traffic tickets included Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil and Morocco, to name a few. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Schumer inserted the clever measure into a current spending bill, the latter remarking that it "is simply outrageous for these individuals to park illegally and blatantly ignore paying their parking tickets -- New Yorkers face severe penalties if they do this and so should diplomats." -- John McCaslin, "Inside the Beltway" columnist [TWT Politics] 5:30:22 PM    comment [] trackback []

People Want Freedom / Self-Determination Today, the Syrian backed government in Lebanon resigned, amid massive peaceful demonstrations in Beirut, Lebanon.  The people swarmed the streets waving their flag, ecstatic of the resignation of the Syrian backed government, clearing the way for elections of their own, ending the Syrian occupation.  Freedom and democratic-like government representation seems to be catching on around the globe where it hasn't existed in decades, if not centuries.  So goes Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, now Lebanon and Togo. Togo Sanctions Lifted After Leader Quits (Reuters). Reuters - African leaders lifted sanctions against Togo after Faure Gnassingbe bowed to huge international pressure and quit as president of the West African country, the United Nations said on Saturday. [Yahoo! News: Politics] So who thinks any of this would have happened, had it not been for the Bush doctrine that keeps us safe for the short run and the long run?  Let Freedom Reign! related link 5:24:13 PM    comment [] trackback []

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