LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST 12-05-08

GARY NESS PLEADS GUILTY, TO RESIGN POST

The director of North Dakota's aeronautics commission has pleaded guilty to felony theft for taking an envelope with $1,770 from the counter of a Bismarck service station.

HERE COMES THE GREAT MAN COMPLEX

All Great Men intending to make their mark on history need great monuments. For Barack Obama just a single one won't do. No, this is more like a whole country full of shiny new buildings, an Edifice Complex so splendiferous that future generations will stand Fascist plaza in awe

ABSTINENCE PHOBIA

Prepare for the new administration's budget axe to bludgeon the Bush administration's cultural policies first.

A SEA CHANGE IN THE CARIBBEAN

The Hemisphere: A Russian warship passes through the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II. Is it a mere annoyance or the beginning of a challenge in America's backyard?

The Russians are great chess players, a game of patience and strategy, and they've just moved their queen.

CANADA'S CONSERVATIVES OVERREACH

Americans, however, may be more interested in what brought the three-party, anti-Harper coalition together. It was an attempt by Mr. Harper to do away with public financing of political parties.

TAX HOLIDAY OR BAILOUT BALONEY?

Conservatives should offer the tax holiday bill as a substitute for the automaker bailout.

COLEMAN-FRANKEN UPDATE

The Minnesota Star Tribune calculates Coleman is up by 192 votes.

Franken's team says their "internal" numbers show their candidate is ahead by 4 votes.

TIM PAWLENTY: A MODERN, NOT A MODERATE, PARTY

JUSTICES TACKLE CHILD DEFINITION

The justices of the North Dakota Supreme Court must determine whether a fetus should be considered a child under the state's endangerment of a child law, and a lawyer for an advocacy group says the court's decision will set a precedent for the state in such cases.

COLEMAN AHEAD AS RECOUNT WRAPS UP

Election officials are wrapping up the U.S. Senate recount, but the campaigns still have work to do.

HOEVEN BEST DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR

"I said to one of my colleagues as I walked out, 'I think we won the election,'" said Potter, a Democrat. "This is the best Democratic governor we've had in a long time."

FOGGY CRYSTAL BALL INTO CHINA’S FUTURE

There’s an honest debate about how much blame institutions like Fannie Mae and laws like the Community Reinvestment Act deserve for the financial crisis, but few honest observers dispute that they played some kind of deleterious role. Well, China’s entire economy is one big Fannie Mae, its laws one big Community Reinvestment Act.

U.S., INDIA BECOMING BEST OF FRIENDS

Terrorists tried to drive India and Pakistan to war by their attack on Mumbai. They failed. But signs are pointing to a deepening U.S.-India alliance instead. It may be the final result of the war on terror.

OUR DRUG POLICY IS A SUCCESS

Society conveys the dangers of drugs to young people through the right mix of parental concern and legal strictures. And driving down the availability of dangerous drugs requires all the skills of agencies such as the DEA and local law enforcement. None of these approaches can work if drugs are simply legal.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, I GOT YOU AN ABORTION...

Come on Obama supporters, he may not have put a chicken in every pot, but he did promise Planned Parenthood a very Merry Christmas. And knowing that 7 out 10 black pregnancies are of unwed mothers, and 7 out 10 of those will end in abortion, isn't that a fine promise for the President-Elect to make to the only ethnicity in America whose population is actually SHRINKING?

THE CROSS AND THE CRESCENT

Radical Islamists will never be integrated into American society. They will grow like a cancer, but let us not be fooled by them. They are well educated and lavishly funded. And they know when to wear suits and pretend to conform while seeking to destroy our economy. The Islamists know how to exploit our system of government and they have established deep roots in prisons and operate training camps as well.

DEMANDING RELIGIOUS RECIPROCITY FROM THE SAUDIS

The Saudis have recently asked permission to build a mosque in Moscow, a city where there are only four mosques and 2 million Muslims. The Russians, however, are saying they want, in return, an Orthodox church in Saudi Arabia.

BACK TO THE OLD 9/11 WORLD

Now Obama gets to deal with Islamic terror, and has no Bush to blam

DON'T CONFIRM HER!

Hillary Clinton likely would be the most leftist American Secretary of State ever, and certainly the most ethically conflicted and unqualified. For her to be confirmed for the position would be a travesty. And it would be profoundly dangerous for American interests.