Senator Vs. the President

And now the most intriguing two minutes in television, the latest from the political grapevine:

Last Man Standing
Senator John McCain now stands all alone in his determination to hold up Senate action on all of President Bush's nominees until he gets the person he wants on the Federal Election Commission. The administration and Senate Republicans worked out an agreement under which the Democrats would allow action on a range of nominations, but the deal stalled when Republican McCain insisted that the White House nominate an FEC candidate favored by Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Now even Daschle has agreed to move ahead and force votes over McCain's procedural objections.

Changing Times, Changing Minds
Remember that speech Vice President Dan Quayle made criticizing the TV show Murphy Brown for its approving attitude toward a career woman bearing a child out of wedlock? It caused a huge controversy at the time, and brought ringing denunciations of Quayle from Hollywood. But it now turns out that Candace Bergen, who played the TV anchor Murphy Brown in the hit series, thinks Quayle was right. "His speech," she says, "was a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable and nobody agreed with that more than I did."

Denouncing Suicide Murders
Even Amnesty International, which has been a harsh critic of Israel and its occupation of Palestinian areas, is saying that suicide murders are beyond the pale. A new report by the group says the suicide attacks are "widespread, systematic and in pursuit of an explicit policy to attack civilians. They therefore constitute crimes against humanity under international law." The group also said that "no violations by the Israeli government, no matter their scale or gravity, justify the killings."

A New Personal Record!
Washington gadfly Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch, who filed numerous lawsuits against the Clinton administration, managed last night to do something he'd never done before. He made all three broadcast network evening newscasts. This time, of course, he was filing a shareholder lawsuit charging Vice President Cheney with fraud when he was running Halliburton Corp. The conservative Media Research Center reports that last night was the first time Peter Jennings of ABC News had ever spoken the name Judicial Watch.