| The Kensington Review |
22 June 2005 |
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Latest Commentary:
Bolton Nomination Stalled, Not Dead -- By a vote of 54-38, the Senate failed to halt debate on the nomination of John Bolton to be America’s next UN ambassador. The President and his party needed 60 votes and couldn’t get them. The GOP whined about Democratic obstructionism, and the Democrats railed about White House stonewalling. But it doesn’t matter. Mr. Bolton will get a recess appointment, thereby getting the job until this session of Congress ends, and he won’t have a bit of success in changing the UN anyway. Vietnam’s PM Visits Mr. Bush -- Vietnam still has a hold over the American political psyche, remaining a war in the minds of most and not a country. It was 30 years ago that the helicopters left the embassy after the greatest military power in the world got beat by peasants in black pajamas – or more accurately, after the US let the South Vietnamese do their own fighting and the North took over. So when the Prime Minister of Communist Vietnam came to visit President Bush this week, the conversation was about human rights, US soldiers’ remains and trade. In short, it proved that Vietnam really wasn’t very important strategically ever, and that after the French lost, the US should have ignored Indochina. Rigas Gang Gets Hard Time -- June 2005 is turning out to be a good month for punishing criminal businessmen. Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, both formerly of Tyco, got nice long jail terms last week. This week, the Rigas father and son team who bankrupted cable provider Adelphia got 15 and twenty years each. One looks forward to the Enron trials. Wimbledon Bores Yet Again -- June is an awkward month in sports. Baseball is hitting its stride, but the All-Star break looms, and half a dozen teams can be written off already. The NBA is just about done with its playoffs, which is good because the season starts again awfully soon. And across the pond, Chelsea’s premiership trophy remains a glorious bit of silverware, but all eyes are on Thursday’s draw for the Champions’ League. And the dreadful Wimbledon tennis tournament has arrived. © Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux. |
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