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Niger's president pushed ahead Tuesday with a controversial referendum on a new constitution that would remove term limits and grant him another three years in office with increased powers. Security forces on trucks with mounted machine-guns blocked the streets around the mayor's office in Niamey, where President Mamadou Tandja cast his ballot. Opposition leaders called the move "illegal" and are boycotting the vote. International donors may respond by cutting aid to one of the world's poorest nations. Ruler of the uranium-rich country since 1999, Tandja, 71, has twice won elections that were hailed as free and fair. But in the...

You have to wonder if Obama is just trying to lay a foundation for not being a hypocrite when he tries to serve beyond 2016. I wouldn't be at all surprised if in the next number of years there is a move on the 22nd Amendment, which term limits the President of the United States. He may not do it that way, he may not openly try to change the Constitution. But there might be this movement in the country from his cult-like followers to support the notion that a democratically-elected leader who is loved and adored has carte blanc...

Barack Obama's first major acts as US president may have received considerable praise but commentators are questioning the transparency of his administration and how whether it marks a complete departure from the Bush era. Upon taking office Mr Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and called for an end to harsh interrogation techniques, which some had described as torture. It has emerged since, however, that the CIA will still have the power to carry out renditions in which suspects are picked up and taken abroad for secret questioning. The practice caused considerable outrage in the EU...

The Democrats like to say

Eugene Robinson once again takes a close look at the Clinton Restoration, and again decides that he can't abide it. The Washington Post columnist wonders exactly how Hillary can argue that her experience as First Lady somehow included actual governance, and then in the same breath insist that Bill will have nothing to do with running the country as First Spouse: There's no way that Hillary Clinton would go to the considerable trouble of running for president in order to let her husband make the decisions, as if the Clinton marriage were out of a 1950s sitcom. Hillary has her...

On June 1, The New York Times published a front-page article titled, ONE PLACE WHERE OBAMA GOES ELBOW TO ELBOW. The feature detailed Barack Obama's love for pickup basketball, his jersey-tugging style, even the time he hit a long game-winning shot after getting fouled. The Obama camp clearly welcomed the humanizing glimpse at Obama's life; his rivals, probably not so much. In an ordinary campaign, that might have been it. But this is no ordinary campaign--not when Hillary Clinton is a candidate. And so, the Clinton team let Times reporter Patrick Healy, who covers the Hillary beat, know about their...

<p>Nicolas Sarkozy, the aggressively pro-American president of France, has spent two days charming President Bush, but he also has his eye out for the end of the current administration. Between a frenetic round of appearances today in Washington, Sarkozy found 15 minutes to place a call to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.</p>

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama accused the Bush administration on Tuesday of pursuing a policy of "social Darwinism" that leaves every man and woman struggling. "It's a strategy that we've seen this administration pursue over the last six years, that basically says government has no role to play in making sure that America is prosperous for all people and not just some," Obama said to applause during an appearance before the Communications Workers of America. The Illinois senator said the attempt to "divvy up the government into individual tax breaks" may be tempting, but government research and investment is what...

Jacques Chirac failed yesterday to give his wholehearted backing to Nicolas Sarkozy, the Right's front runner in the French presidential race, refusing to rule out running for the presidency again himself in his final public address before the candidate for the Right is formally anointed on Sunday. Jacques Chirac: 'I am going to think on it' "When the time comes, I will let my decision be known to the French people, with only one thing in mind: national interest," Mr Chirac playfully informed journalists invited to the Elysée Palace for the traditional New Year's greetings to the press. "It (my...

Well .. that got your attention.Actually, the thought got mine .. I figured I'd throw it out and see what happened.

MOSCOW -- Lawmakers are considering an electoral amendment next week that could open the way for President Vladimir Putin to run for a third term, prompting the opposition to accuse his supporters of trying to cling to power. Putin has repeatedly said he will not change the constitution, which bars presidents from serving more than two consecutive terms. A senior member of his United Russia party, however, submitted a legislative amendment Thursday that would allow Putin to stand for re-election if he stepped down before the end of his second term ends in March 2008, and if the next presidential...

WASHINGTON — To some Republicans, the start of this presidential term is their moment, their chance to become the permanent majority party with a new vision that goes by various names: the ownership society, the Conservative New Deal, the New New Deal. But can they really significantly trim seven decades of ever-growing programs? Can the New Deal government be rolled back? Even some devout conservatives doubt that this can happen, and not only because of Democratic opposition. The skeptics believe that most Americans are unwilling to change the only kind of government that most of them have ever known. After...

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      Green-Eyed and an Utter-Failure, Impeached Ex-Ersatz Prez Wants A Presidential Mulligan"Clinton talked the talk and did diddly squat, whereas Bush doesn't talk, but does deliver." by Mia T   Kennedy Country (May 28, 2003 ) - Utter-failure impeached ex-ersatz president bill clinton angled for an Oval-Office mulligan during his reciprocal intern-exploitation-purgation attempt at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum here. In a move that surprised even his most servile toady -- clinton is not one ever to let the rule of law stand in his way -- the utter-failure impeached ex-ersatz president this time looked...

CLINTON LOBBIES FOR THIRD TERM LIE-BRARY A MIXED (-UP) METAPHOR BY MIA T, 12.29.02   DISCUSSION Get Interactive! What Do You Think of the Clinton Presidency? Discuss in the forum! Not yet a member?Then join us! Sunday's ProgramDecember 29th on C-SPAN at 6:30pm & 9:30pm ET A conversation with fmr. President Bill Clinton on his presidency, followed by a tour of the construction site for his presidential library in Little Rock, AR. Also, a tour of the Clinton papers and materials with Skip Rutherford, long time Clinton friend and President of the Clinton Foundation. "American Politics" is C-SPAN's weekly...

Get Interactive! What Do You Think of the Clinton Presidency? Discuss in the forum! Not yet a member?Then join us! Sunday's ProgramDecember 29th on C-SPAN at 6:30pm & 9:30pm ET A conversation with fmr. President Bill Clinton on his presidency, followed by a tour of the construction site for his presidential library in Little Rock, AR. Also, a tour of the Clinton papers and materials with Skip Rutherford, long time Clinton friend and President of the Clinton Foundation. "American Politics" is C-SPAN's weekly look at the candidates, issues and events which shape American politics and public policy. SOME HIGHLIGHTS...