The Des Moines Register’s GOP Caucus Endorsement: Mitt Romney Is Best to Lead

DES MOINES REGISTER: Sobriety, wisdom and judgment.

Those are qualities Mitt Romney said he looks for in a leader. Those are qualities Romney himself has demonstrated in his career in business, public service and government. Those qualities help the former Massachusetts governor stand out as the most qualified Republican candidate competing in the Iowa caucuses.

Sobriety: While other candidates have pandered to extremes with attacks on the courts and sermons on Christian values, Romney has pointedly refrained from reckless rhetoric and moralizing. He may be accused of being too cautious, but choosing words carefully is a skill essential for anyone who could be sitting in the White House and reacting to world events.

Wisdom: Romney obviously is very smart. He graduated as valedictorian at Brigham Young University and finished in the top 5 percent in his MBA class at Harvard, where he also earned a law degree. Romney also exhibits the wisdom of a man who listened and learned from his father and his mother, from his church and from his own trials and errors in life. He does not lack self confidence, but he is not afraid to admit when he has been wrong.

Judgment: Romney disagrees with Democrats on most issues, but he offers smart and well-reasoned alternatives rather than simply proposing to swing a wrecking ball in Washington. He is a serious student of public policy who examines the data before making a decision. His detailed policy paper on the economy contains 87 pages of carefully crafted positions on taxes, energy, trade and regulatory policy, complete with 127 footnotes.

Mitt Romney is making his second bid for Iowans’ support after an unsuccessful run in 2008. We did not endorse him then, but this is a different field, and he has matured as a candidate. Rebuilding the economy is the nation’s top priority, and Romney makes the best case among the Republicans that he could do that. » | REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD | Saturday, December 17, 2011

Republican Debate: Romney and Gingrich Defend Positions

BBC: Republican presidential front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were forced to defend their records, in the final TV debate before primary season.

Mr Gingrich was challenged over his work with federal housing firm Freddie Mac, while Mr Romney had to explain his stances on gay marriage and abortion.

The two rivals played it safe, but their conservative credentials were assailed by lower-tier candidates.

The eventual nominee faces Democratic President Barack Obama next November.

Thursday night's two-hour forum, hosted by Fox News in Sioux City, Iowa, also featured Texas Republican Ron Paul, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

'Scam'

In his opening remarks, Mr Gingrich challenged the president to series of lengthy policy debates: "I believe I can debate Barack Obama and I think in seven three-hour debates, Barack Obama will not have a leg to stand on in trying to defend a record that is terrible and an ideology that is radical."

Mr Romney lambasted President Obama for trying to "appease or accommodate the tyrants of the world", criticising his approach to retrieving a drone which recently went down in Iran.

"Foreign policy based on pretty please? You have to be kidding," Mr Romney said. » | Steve Kingstone, BBC News, Washington | Friday, December 16, 2011

Sarah Palin's Iowa Trip Points to 2012 Presidential Run
THE GUARDIAN: Attendance at Republican dinner in key state is seen as biggest sign yet that Sarah Palin aims to take on Obama in 2012

Sarah Palin addresses a 9/11 event in Anchorage, Alaska, that was also attended by Glenn Beck. Photograph: The Guardian
There are boxes that US presidential hopefuls have to tick early. They have to start building a campaign team, albeit discreetly. They have to set up a fundraising machine. And they have to visit Iowa, the small but politically crucial state that traditionally kicks off a White House run.

Sarah Palin has ticked the first two and on Friday will tick the third when she is the main speaker at a $100-a-seat Republican dinner in Des Moines, Iowa. The party's sole superstar has not yet said whether she will seek the nomination to take on Barack Obama in 2012. But all the indications point to a run, and Friday's visit is the biggest sign yet.

Democrats may detest her, and so does the Republican establishment, for her perceived lack of sophistication and polarising effect on the electorate. But neither will make the choice in the Iowa caucus. The party activists will, and they are shifting behind her. Long before the contest has formally begun, Palin is fast on the way to becoming unstoppable. >>> Ewen MacAskill in Des Moines, Iowa | Sunday, September 12, 2010

Barack Obama Compared to Hitler and Lenin in Tea Party Billboard
THE TELEGRAPH: A roadside billboard created by a branch of the Tea Party in Iowa comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin has been condemned by other groups in the movement.

North Iowa Tea Party co-founder Bob Johnson said the sign highlighted what the group argues is Mr Obama's support for socialism. Photograph: The Telegraph
The North Iowa Tea Party began displaying the sign in Mason City last week. It shows photographs of Mr Obama, the German Nazi leader and Russian communist with the statement: "Radical leaders prey on the fearful & naive."

The words "Democratic Socialism" are featured over Mr Obama's picture, over Hitler's photo is "National Socialism" and over Lenin's head is "Marxist Socialism." The word "Change" – Mr Obama's campaign slogan – is included on each photo.

North Iowa Tea Party co-founder Bob Johnson said the sign highlighted what the group argues is Mr Obama's support for socialism. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Tuesday, July 13, 2010

It Looks As If You’ll Soon Qualify to Live in Florida Yourself, Arnie!
THE TELEGRAPH: Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, is facing a backlash from fellow governors after saying that Florida is just "for old people" and that "no one would want to go to Iowa".

Mr Schwarzenegger took a swipe at the two other states in a speech in Silicon Valley promoting his own state as a destination for tourists and businesses.

"No matter where you go in the world, people still want to come to California," he said. "There's no one screaming 'I can't wait to get to Iowa.' That I can guarantee you. They want to come here to California." Florida just for old people, says Arnold Schwarzenegger >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles | Friday, February 05, 2010

There's No Pride in Bashing Gays, Bishop
THE TELEGRAPH: Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali's campaign against homosexuality worries George Pitcher.

If you're reading, Bishop Michael, I really didn't want to have another pop at you about your trenchant and sometimes bizarre views about what constitutes Christian truth. As to the rest of you reading this, I'm sorry if it looks as if whenever Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who retires as Bishop of Rochester in September, makes a public statement I launch an attack on him. Believe me, the routine is tiresome for me, too.

But his comments in yesterday's Sunday Telegraph, which he is expected to repeat today, that homosexuals should "repent and be changed" cannot pass unchallenged. Or rather, they should not go challenged only by homosexual rights campaigners, such as Peter Tatchell, who you would expect to be somewhat antipathetic to the expressed view.

Because Dr Nazir-Ali is wrong in the eyes of a broad swath of kind and tolerant people of differing sexualities, social mores and of the Christian faith, other faiths and no faith at all. Badly, badly wrong.

I say that I didn't want to have another fight with him because such fights polarise Anglicans, and we're at our best when we're talking. I went to a private lunch recently, to which Dr Nazir-Ali was also invited. He didn't show. The seat next to me went empty. I do hope he didn't bottle it; it's important that religious leaders don't just inhabit comfort zones with friends who share their views.

Dr Nazir-Ali's friends are the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (Foca), who this week will try to get the Anglican schism over homosexuality going again, while denying that they are doing any such thing. Had he turned up to our lunch, I would have asked him why he and Foca are so convinced that they know the mind of God better than those who disagree with them and that their interpretation of scripture is with absolute certainty the one and only true one.

When I write about the Church and homosexuality, inevitably I receive messages that read simply "Romans 1:26-27" or "1 Corinthians 6:9", as if that settles something. We can argue scripture until we're at the pearly gates. But the essential difference between Dr Nazir-Ali and me is this: I accept, disappointing as I would find it in my fiery furnace, that he might be right. By contrast, he and his friends cannot accept that I might be right, claim that I can't be a proper Christian, and some of them go so far as to suggest that I'll burn in hell for all eternity.

And there's the real problem: it's an issue of intolerance. Anglicanism has long been characterised by a broad tolerance. But my tolerance of Dr Nazir-Ali and his friends, that they are Anglicans with whom I happen vehemently to disagree, doesn't seem to be reciprocated.

Dr Nazir-Ali is leaving his bishopric, it is said, to develop his ministry among persecuted Christians. That is admirable. Persecution of Christians is a very bad thing. But persecution of homosexuals is a pretty bad thing, too, as is persecution of any part of humanity, all of which he will agree is made in God's image. >>> George Pitcher | Monday, July 06, 2009

TELEGRAPH TV: Same-sex Marriage in Iowa

Iowa Kosher Slaughterhouse Supervisor to Be Sentenced on Federal Immigration Charges
SEATTLE TIMES: A supervisor arrested after a massive immigration raid at an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday afternoon in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A supervisor arrested after a massive immigration raid at an Iowa kosher slaughterhouse is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday afternoon in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, who supervised four departments at Agriprocessors Inc. in Postville, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to hire illegal immigrants and one count of aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal immigrants.

He was arrested last summer following a May raid in which 389 people were arrested. A few months later he struck a plea deal with prosecutors and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Another supervisor, Martin De La Rosa-Loera, was sentenced earlier this month to 23 months in prison followed by two years supervised release. [Source: Seattle Times] Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company | Thursday, March 19, 2009

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