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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lou Weed who wrote (247541)	11/7/2007 10:15:26 AM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 281500

Sarkozy to address joint session of US Congress by Philippe Alfroy 1 hour, 10 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy was to address a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday, in the latest sign of warming Franco-US relations after years of bitter namecalling over the Iraq war. ADVERTISEMENT A day after President George W. Bush gave him an effusive welcome at an exclusive reception, Sarkozy will make his speech to US lawmakers -- an honor extended to few foreign dignitaries. Sarkozy, on his first official visit to Washington, attended a black-tie dinner at the White House late Tuesday in which Bush welcomed him with a hearty "Bienvenue a la Maison Blanche" -- in Texas-accented French. Sarkozy said he came to the United States with a simple message: "To reconquer the heart of America in a lasting fashion." Elected in May, the leader often called "Sarko the American" is one of the most pro-US French leaders in decades and clearly aims to show Bush that France has turned a page on the past. Sarkozy even quipped at one point that one can "be a friend of America and win an election in France!" The French leader frequently highlights "the historic friendship" between the two countries, even though such talk still rankles among those of his countrymen who remain wary of all things American. "France and the United States can meet great challenges when we work together, Mr. President," Bush told Sarkozy. "You and I share a commitment to deepen the cooperation of our two republics -- and through this cooperation, we can make the world a better place." Sarkozy hailed US courage after the attacks of September 11, 2001. "On 9/11, terrorists thought that they had brought, or they could bring America to its knees. And I will tell you that, seen from the French perspective, never has America seemed so great, so proud, so admirable as on 9/11." The leaders and their guests dined on Maine lobster bisque and Elysian farm lamb along with wine from California's Napa Valley. The evening's entertainment featured a performance celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French soldier and diplomat who played a key role in the American Revolution and was a friend of the first US president, George Washington. An Elysee spokesman said that during the visit Bush and Sarkozy would discuss "all the main international dossiers, whether regional crises or big strategic questions," but the highlight of the visit is the event in Congress. The last French president to address both chambers of Congress was Sarkozy's predecessor, Jacques Chirac, in 1996. Chirac however left a sour note in 2001 -- the last official visit by a French president -- when he described France as an antidote to American "hyperpower." Even if the crisis over the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq never led to a complete break in cross-Atlantic cooperation, Paris-Washington relations have been notably cool for years. French officials said that Sarkozy's speech to Congress is "a great honor," and recalled how in 1824 the Senate and the House of Representatives held their first joint session to greet the Marquis de Lafayette. After the speech Sarkozy will join Bush for talks at Mount Vernon, George Washington's historic residence located just outside the US capital. Sarkozy and Bush agree on many of the top global issues including the Iran nuclear standoff, where Paris has given strong support for the US attempt to secure stronger sanctions. Speaking Tuesday to French and American business leaders, Sarkozy ruled out a nuclear-armed Iran but called for dialogue. "The hypothesis of a nuclear weapon in the hands of the current leaders of Iran is for France unacceptable," he said. However, "one must remain open to dialogue, with a hand extended." Sarkozy also implied that the US and Chinese economic superpowers were unfairly benefiting from weak currencies. "I will go to China and I will tell (authorities) they have such a spectacular success ... you don't need to have a currency so devalued to succeed," he said, referring to his scheduled visit on November 25-27. On the US dollar, which hit another record low Tuesday against the euro, Sarkozy added: "A strong economy should have a strong currency. You don't need a dollar too weak; your technology, your know-how is enough." Bush and Sarkozy met for the first time at the Group of Eight summit in Germany in June and shared a hamburger lunch during the French leader's holidays in the United States in August. That last meeting made headlines when Sarkozy's wife Cecilia snubbed the US president. The French president and his wife have since divorced.

To: Lou Weed who wrote (247541)	11/7/2007 10:56:28 AM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 281500

No Fairness Doctrine for PBS How Taxpayer-Funded Broadcasting Is "Surging" Left Under Democrats EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Full Report \| PDF Version The Democratic takeover of Congress in 2007 quickly made one definitive change in the national media infrastructure. For the first time since Newt Gingrich became speaker in 1995, America's public broadcasting system didn't have a skeptical majority party that might sporadically ask questions about PBS using the taxpayer-funded airwaves for overt liberal activism. In previous years with Democratic control of Congress, PBS has played a more activist role within the media, dragging the rest of the national media further to the left and spurring more aggression and ill will against conservative and Republican leaders. Just as 2007 has been a year for a "surge" of troops in Iraq, it's also been a year of "surging" activism within PBS. At the same time, Democratic congressional leaders now in the majority have been entertaining the idea of reviving a federal "Fairness Doctrine" which would require private broadcasters to comply with notions of balancing out each station's daily schedule of news, talk, and public-affairs programming. These same Democrats have been highly offended at the idea that anyone outside or inside taxpayer-funded broadcasting would monitor PBS content for fairness or balance. Despite taking federal money from all taxpayers, PBS stations across America often air programs and documentaries that tilt decidedly to the left. In funding filmmakers to go out and make one-sided left-wing films and talk programs, public broadcasting subsidies serve, in effect, as ideological pork-barrel spending. While conservatives like Frank Gaffney have seen their films stripped from the national PBS schedule due to his activist "day job," liberal activism is not eschewed at PBS, but encouraged. In this analysis, the Media Research Center outlines three trends that herald an increasing misuse of public television against American conservatives: Bill Moyers and His Impeach-Bush Bandwagon. Partisanship was redefined as statesmanship when the latest reincarnation of the PBS program Bill Moyers Journal devoted an hour of supportive air time on July 13 to two guests who agreed that President Bush and Vice President Cheney urgently need to be impeached. Even PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler found the show wasn't remotely balanced in its zeal to abort the Bush presidency, reporting "there was almost a complete absence of balance." Tavis Smiley Campaigns Against the GOP. PBS authorized Tavis Smiley, who hosts a nightly natonal talk show out of Los Angeles PBS station KCET, to organize two presidential debates at black colleges in 2007. The Democratic debate in June was overtly friendly and barely made a national ripple. But in September, Smiley grew furious when four Republican front-runners decided to skip the GOP debate right before the third-quarter campaign fundraising deadline at the end of the month. He skewered the candidates before, after, and during the debate on PBS, and also took his anti-GOP outrage to other TV networks. On his PBS show, he asked if the no-show Republican candidates "will pay" and suggested the empty podiums he set up to dramatize their absence will be props in Democratic campaign ads in 2008. The "Independent" Television Service. ITVS, a left-wing filmmakers' collective with its headquarters located in Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district, draws about $15 million a year from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to make films supporting their statement of values that "a civilized society seeks economic and social justice." Taxpayers have funded a long list of films knocking the Bush administration's policies, celebrating leftist agitators, and promoting "progressive" sexual politics. Nurturing a new generation of liberal filmmakers, and not conservative filmmakers, is the mission of ITVS. The report concludes with some simple recommendations for public broadcasting executives. Since public television is supported by taxpayers of all political stripes, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ought to live up to its mandate to monitor content for objectivity and fairness. Calling for impeachment of Republican presidents with one-sided panels doesn't help make PBS look fair. If public broadcasters want to moderate presidential debates, its moderators ought to display fairness and balance toward both political parties. If the system funds liberal filmmakers, it ought to fund conservative filmmakers as well, and not just serve as a political organizing tool for one side. The nation's PBS stations should reflect the diversity of its whole audience.