My News at Noon

• Some form of energy sanity has finally prevailed, with the House Committee on Resources voting overwhelmingly to lift restrictions on coastal driling. I swear in the debate about oil and gas drilling, critics are stuck in the 1930s with the images of the great gushers in the Permean Basin...things have gotten so much cleaner since then. The drilling permitted by the vote would be out of sight from shore, within our broad belt of territorial waters. Although it's not as good as finding cleaner sources of renewable energy, anything that's not Saudi oil or Russian natural gas is okay in my book.
• Two former Clintonistas show some courage on foreign policy. Perry and Carter urge a first strike on that Taepodong missile which is causing everyone such a headache, which would also send a clear signal to North Korea about the gravity of the situation. The worst the North could do is threaten an invasion of the South, they say, a threat they're unlikely to carry out. I largely agree with their analysis, but unfortunately it will have to be a largely unilateral action; I don't think Seoul would support us on the offchance Kim Jong-Il is actually crazy enough to invade. Japan would support us only if in their strategic calculus such an action does more to stabilize than destabilize the volatile region. As for our friends in China, I suspect they'll be vehemently opposed merely because of the precedent set. Yet in some way I think our back is to the wall, we've used the proverbial carrot for a decade now with no tangible results. Smacking "Dear Leader" around a little bit might make him realize that he's the ruler of an impoverished nation of starving people with a third-rate military, his fantasies of greatness aside.
• In the Washington Senate campaign, the wishy-washy Maria Cantwell is steadily losing ground to former Safeco CEO and Republican challenger Mike McGavick. It's not a race that has been in the headlines much, but at present Cantwell holds a slender four-point lead (44%-40%), and her numbers have been steadily declining over the last couple of months. McGavick is the sort of candidate whose beliefs mesh with the dual nature of Washington politics, what with its liberal Seattle face and conservative trans-Cascades bit too. I also feel like Washingtonians remember the recent governors race where, and I'm not being a partisan hack here, it certainly seems like the Democrats stole the election from Dino Rossi. Cantwell may just be unlucky enough to feel their wrath in November.
• The House won't vote to renew the Voting Rights Act right away; don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds. The original act contained provisions designed to ensure the compliance of select (read: Southern) states via federal oversight. The "rebellious" Reps feel that those days are gone and thus those provisions should be removed. In an interesting piece on Tuesday, WSJ OpinionJournal argued that the removal of those Section 5 clauses might permit (God Forbid!) an end to racially-based gerrymandering and the resultant creation of majority-minority districts to provide safe Democratic and Republican seats. The removal of those same provisions might also allow states, if they so desire, to publish ballots only in English...though, call me crazy, but I feel like if you don't speak English you shouldn't really be voting anyways? That there has been such a "Republicans are racist" firestorm is easy to understand considering the relative complexity of the issue and its intersection with racial tensions; hopefully some sanity at all levels will soon be forthcoming.
• Looks like Carl Levin's amendment, what's been termed "cut and jog" by some, has also failed. Again, as soon as the Senate posts the votes I'll break them down.
• Saddam valiantly presses on with his hunger strike - no more eating your Doritos in his underwear? (It was one thing when Gandhi would go on hunger strikes, he always looked on the verge of expiration; Saddam, not so much).
• US loses, Italy wins. Italy and Ghana will advance. I'm bitter about this - Stanley Cup: done, NBA: finals done, World Cup: US is out...what am I supposed to watch now?