Joe Lieberman to vote AGAINST Alito

It's official. Senator Joe Lieberman will vote against Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court.

-- Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman will vote against confirming Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, a senior Lieberman aide said Thursday.

Aide Rob Sawicki said Lieberman would have no further comment until he takes the floor of the Senate, where the confirmation debate continued Thursday.

Lieberman, whose vocal pro-war support for President Bush has rankled fellow Democrats, joins Connecticut's other senator, Democrat Christopher Dodd, who said Tuesday that he will vote against Alito because his judicial philosophy is "outside the mainstream."

Lieberman also said that Katrina's devastation was predicted over and over.

Democratic Senators voting in favor of Alito included Tim Johnson, Robert Byrd, and Ben Nelson.

Ohio State Senator Eric Fingerhut, a gubernatorial candidate, sent the following press release out the other day after Gov. Taft delivered the State of the State.

I just returned from Governor Taft's State of the State address, which was delivered in the chamber of the Ohio House of Representatives in Columbus. I am struck by the gap between the governor's overall theme, with which I largely agree, and his programs, which don't come close to meeting the urgent situation we face as a state.

Taft's theme was straightforward and correct: Ohio is facing the challenge of creating and attracting good jobs in an increasingly competitive global economy. The problem comes in addressing solutions. In this, his eighth and final speech, we once again see proposals that fall far short of what is needed to meet this competition.

I will obviously give Taft's proposals a fair hearing, and support them when I can. I have always tried to do this, and I hope the legislature will do the same for me next year. I have promised to consider good ideas, wherever they come from. That's what I have done in the Ohio Senate, and that's what I will do as governor!

Some areas that Fingerhut believes Taft failed to address:
1. Create the best business climate in the world to create and grow businesses that create jobs for Ohio.
2. Train the workforce of the future.
3. Bring down health care costs for businesses and workers.
4. Protect and build up our communities.
5. The cost of corruption.

Jon Stewart was interviewed by SoccerAmerica.com. Apparently, he will expand The Late Show to 90 minutes when David Letterman retires.

Do you think your soccer background would give you the edge over the competition to take over for David Letterman when he quits The Late Show?
JS: Yeah, I'm going to do a 90-minute show. Then if the show's still not good we're going to go into two overtimes, and then a joke-out. One joke after another until one team wins.

Hey, whatever happened to The Rembrandts?

Jill Hennessy, an actress on Crossing Jordan, only has time for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart when it comes to watching TV.

Read Ehud Olmert's speech at the Herzliya Conference from this past Tuesday.

Zeev Jabotinsky defined the importance of a Jewish majority in his insightful and sharp way: “The term ‘Jewish country’ is certainly clear: it means a Jewish majority. With this, Zionism began, and it is the basis of its existence, in that it will continue to operate until its realization, or it will be ruined”.

The existence of a Jewish majority in the State of Israel cannot coexist with the continued control over the Palestinian population in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza strip. We firmly stand by the historic right of the Jewish people to the entire Land of Israel. Every hill in Samaria and every valley in Judea is part of our historic homeland. We do not forget this, not even for one moment. However, the choice between the desire to allow every Jew to live anywhere in the Land of Israel to the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish country obligates relinquishing parts of the Land of Israel. This is not a relinquishing of the Zionist idea, rather the essential realization of the Zionist goal – ensuring the existence of a Jewish and democratic state in the Land of Israel.

In order to ensure the existence of a Jewish national home, we will not be able to continue ruling over the territories in which the majority of the Palestinian population lives. We must create a clear boundary as soon as possible, one which will reflect the demographic reality on the ground. Israel will maintain the security zones, the Jewish settlement blocs, and those places which have supreme national importance to the Jewish people, headed by a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. There can be no Jewish state without the capital of Jerusalem at its center.

This is the path Prime Minister Sharon announced several years ago. We – who were his partners in its shaping – mobilized with him in order to establish a new public movement, which will realize our path in the coming years, and which will propel Israel forward.

The existence of two nations, one Jewish and one Palestinian, is the complete solution to all the aspirations and national problems of each of the peoples, including the issue of refugees who will be absorbed solely in the Palestinian state. We will not allow the entry of Palestinian refugees into the State of Israel. This is our clear stance, which is backed by the unequivocal American position expressed in George Bush’s letter of April 2004.

The only way to achieve this is the full implementation of the Road Map, and of the American President’s vision of June 2004.

Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia has made a statement against divestment. This is good news.

Yesterday, gubernatorial candidate Eric Fingerhut said the following about Ted Strickland's selection of a runningmate:

"Lee Fisher is a good friend, who has served with great distinction in public office. I wish him the best in this campaign. However, this campaign is about the future, not the past. And it's about which candidate --- Eric Fingerhut or Ted Strickland --- has the ability, knowledge and plan to move Ohio forward and create the good jobs that all Ohioans need today and in the future. I know I'm that candidate and I look forward to this contest."

The rise and fall of Woody Allen...

Will the International Holocaust Day help in the fight against anti-Semitism? I honestly don't know. Acting Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has hope.

Israel’s acting prime minister chaired a special Cabinet session at Yad Vashem on Thursday before the U.N.-declared global memorial day.

"From this year, International Holocaust Remembrance Day will be marked annually in most countries around the world. This is the result of an Israeli initiative that was approved by a great majority of the United Nations General Assembly," Olmert told fellow ministers. "I hope that this step will lead to the awareness of the Holocaust being instilled in many publics around the world, which for years tried to evade the need to deal with the Holocaust in all its aspects. I also hope that this step will lead to a reduction in anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, which in recent years, to my regret, we have witnessed with concern."

International Holocaust Day is tomorrow.

Norm Coleman is concerned about legislation dealing with lobbyist reform proposals.

Speaking at a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Republican Norm Coleman said the American Israel Public Affairs Committee provides a service by sending lawmakers to Israel to meet its leaders.

"That would be prohibited if we take the approach that’s been articulated here," Coleman said. "So I don’t think that helps us be better senators." Several congressional leaders and outside groups have proposed lobbying reforms that would curtail all private travel by members of Congress.

Other suggested reforms would allow non-profit groups to take legislators on trips.

Former Michigan Gov. John Engler, a Republican who now is president of the National Association of Manufacturers, praised AIPAC’s engagement.

"They’re far better than anybody else that could lobby on that issue when they have an opportunity," Engler told the committee. "They don’t lobby, but they are powerfully persuasive on a point of view."

Paul Mecurio writes some hilarious captions for Golf Digest about Tiger Woods' latest trip to New York.