Bhutto’s Journey Leaves Trail of Smoke
Monday, December 31st, 2007 
Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan on October 18th of this year greeted by welcoming crowds of political supporters estimated to reach 200,000. Her procession in a staged rally for her homecoming was attacked by a suicide bomber killing 140 of her supporters but missing Benazir. She would not be so fortunate this last Thursday when she was assassinated with another 20 supporters dying from the bomb blast little two months after her triumphant return. (more…)
Consider, if you will, the political fallout from the outing of Valerie Plame. Unless you’re a regular attendee at Georgetown cocktail parties you may not have known that this compelling blond was once a covert CIA agent. If not, the January 2004 cover photo on Vanity Fair with husband Joe Wilson in a Jaguar convertible could have given you a clue. Hard to identify with those shades though. Since Ms. Plame hasn’t been part of any mission within a time frame that would qualify her as outed by the story Jim Novak released no one was really subject to prosecution. Scooter Libby’s sentence, after all, was the result of his questionable testimony. As Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald described it Libby “told a dumb lie and got caught.” But a special prosecutor had been appointed none the less and someone had to hang. 
Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton can hardly afford the misguided oddities flowing out of the mouth of husband Bill Clinton in addition to those she has inflicted upon herself. Once considered the embodiment of political genus, the former President has portrayed his wife as the little woman victimized by a bunch of rambunctious boys after fellow candidates attacked the former Iowa front runner in a televised debate. In his own words,
In her first political appearance Oprah Winfrey addressed Iowa’s voters beaconing them to embrace a new vision of America with Barack Obama. There is no doubt that Obama’s star has been on the rise recently while the other Democratic presidential candidates languish in a sea of negativity. But how much is Oprah contributing to this trend? 
Mitt Romney delivered his “Faith in America” speech this morning powerfully owning to his own faith and the responsibility of the political office he seeks to respect the faith of others. Like Kennedy, Romney made the speech to erase doubts about his allegiance to a Christian faith considered out of the mainstream, particularly among Iowa’s Evangelicals who have favored the former Baptist minister and Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Though many comments were made today regarding the two men and their speeches the difference in political circumstances and the part their beliefs played in the way they lived their lives couldn’t be more different. 
Hugo Chavez suffered his first real political defeat since becoming Venezuela’s president in 1998. His supporters failed to turn out in numbers that would have allowed him to run for re-election when his term ends in 2012. The ardent support he had gained among the nations poor by redistributing the nations oil wealth has not bought their trust that he would act in their best interest indefinitely.