In Brief - December 9th, 2007

Here is today's brief news digest:

In the Pacific Northwest

• Oregon's Republican Senator up for election next year, Gordon Smith, is only at forty percent approval ratings, according to the Oregonian. The two Democrats in the race, Steve Novick and Jeff Merkley, are undoubtedly cheered by this news as they prepare for next year.
• Governor Gregoire, Senators Murray and Cantwell, and other local elected officials toured flooded regions of Washington on Saturday, after Dubya finally declared the area a federal disaster area. Washingtonian leaders are pressing for more relief funding, however, with Gregoire calling the federal response thus far just a temporary "band aid."
• King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer is mounting an initiative to make King County's elected offices non-partisan. Dwight Pelz and other Democratic leaders are adamantly opposed to this idea (as are we) with Pelz pointing out that "King County is becoming an increasingly and possibly permanently Democratic county, and this is a way for Republicans to try to maximize their power in a Democratic county."

Across the Nation

• Oprah Winfrey introduced Barack Obama to an audience of 10,000 in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday night. It was the beginning of Ms. Winfrey's much-discussed and anticipated three-state tour promoting Obama's candidacy.
• The Decider's budget director threatened a White House veto of Congress's $500 billion spending package, despite the apparent capitulation (again) of Congressional Democrats to the President's demands of continued Iraq war funding without troop withdrawal deadlines.
• The Justice Department on Saturday announced a formal inquiry into the destruction of video tapes associated with interrogations of two suspected terrorists. Shockingly, the President has "no recollection" about the tapes' existence or destruction, prior to being briefed regarding the matter on Thursday.

Around the World

• A British soldier was killed in Afghanistan Saturday during an exchange of heavy gunfire pitting the Taliban against British and Afghan forces in a town called Musa Qala, a Taliban stronghold. Atleast two children were killed in the fighting.
• India's national security adviser issued a "stark terror warning" regarding new anticipated attacks against economic infrastructure in the Middle East. The warning is the result of intelligence gathered regarding al-Qaeda's training schools on the Afghan-Pakistani border. According to Mr. Narayanan, al-Qaeda will be targeting, among other things, oil tankers and pipelines.
• Swarms of locusts are damaging crops and worrying authorities in Kenya. The BBC is reporting that it has been 45 years since such large numbers have been seen in the area.

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