Biden enters race, Klobuchar on global warming

Congressman Ben Chandler is one of those co-chairing the Anti-Terrorism Caucus. It certainly is nice to see him moving on up in leadership positions since being elected to Congress in early 2004.

I admit that I was hesitant on blogging about the Democratic primary for the office of Attorney General as I did not find out til Tuesday afternoon, after class, that Ed Hatchett would not be a candidate for any public office. I supported State Auditor Hatchett's bid for Attorney General in 2003 when he ran in the primaries. I also supported Jack Conway's congressional bid in 2002--and knowing both candidates, I did not want to be placed in such an awkward position of blogging on the race without going negative as to why I support the one and not the other. As is the case, I am pleased to say that I support Jack Conway's bid for Attorney General and will do what I can to help.

Conway said he would focus on things such as being an advocate for consumers.

"I want the office, and it was just an opportunity that I couldn't pass up," Conway said at a Capitol rally attended by state Auditor Crit Luallen and former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice John Palmore.

Conway faces Robert Bullock, a former longtime assistant attorney general, in the primary.

Three other Republicans have filed - Louisville lawyer Philip Kimball, Jon Larson of Lexington and Tim Coleman of Morgantown.

Conway's name had been mentioned as a possible candidate for either governor or lieutenant governor, but Conway said he was not looking at the attorney general position as a springboard to higher office.

Conway said the fact that he had not previously held public office and was mostly known within Jefferson County contributed to his decision.

"I'm known in Jefferson County, but I need to begin a dialogue with people statewide," he said.

This is good news relating to Iran and their leadership.

More than 100 Iranian scholars, writers and activists living at home and abroad honored Holocaust victims and excoriated Iran’s government for denying the genocide.

A petition appearing in the latest New York Review of Books begins calls the Nazis’ “Final Solution” and their ensuing campaign of genocide “undeniable historical facts,” deplores the Iranian regime’s use of Holocaust denial as “a propaganda tool” and says “the new brand of anti-Semitism prevalent in the Middle East today” has no precedent in Iran’s history.

The petition concludes by saying that the petitioners “pay homage to the memory of the millions of Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and express our empathy for the survivors of this immense tragedy as well as all other victims of crimes against humanity across the world.”

Longtime Deleware Senator Joe Biden has announced his candidacy for President today. While John Edwards is my first choice right now with the depature of Sen. Bayh from the race, Biden certainly would not be a bad choice to lead the ticket given his standing in the Senate Foreign Relations Cmte. He has his flaws with the plagarism scandal in 1988 though. In an interview with the New York Observer, Biden certainly had a lot to say about the other candidates. Biden will appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart this evening at 11 PM eastern.

Freshman Senator Amy Klobuchar has called for action to be taken on global warming, citing the shorter season in Minnesota due to the warmer than usual temperatures.

She said she wanted to see several specific provisions in legislation aimed at curtailing global warming, including:

-Strong limits on economy-wide emissions of greenhouse gases;

-A cap and trade system, in which companies would be able to buy and sell emissions allowances;

-Strong renewable fuel content standards for cars and trucks;

-Incentives for hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles;

-Renewable energy standards for electricity generation, to make greater use of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.

"In Minnesota, stewardship for the environment is a part of our heritage and it has been an especially important part of preserving our economy," Klobuchar said. "So global warming is an issue that strikes us close to home."

President Bush, while acknowledging concerns about global warming, opposes mandatory caps of greenhouse gas emissions, saying that approach would be too expensive.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat who chairs the committee, has the most aggressive bill, touted as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by mid-century.

"I generally support that bill as well as the McCain-Lieberman bill," Klobuchar told reporters on a conference call later in the day. The latter bill, by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would cut emissions by two-thirds by 2050.

Klobuchar stressed that no one will get everything they want in the final bill.

Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon has signed on with the John Edwards for President campaign.