The Veep Stakes

During a presidential term, the Vice-President’s most important role is to cast the deciding vote in a deadlocked senate.  Dick Cheney  found himself in such a situation during the first Bush Term when the senate was divided 50-50 amongst Democrats and Republicans.  Apart from that, Vice-Presidents attend a lot of foreign state funerals and, as [...]

He ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.

In South Africa, it appears that charity has its limits and those limits have been exceeded. While Thabo Mbeki’s government makes the right noises decrying xenophobia and calling on its people to remember the hospitality extended to South Africans in exile during the apartheid years, it has been instrumental in creating the atmosphere of hostility [...]

Should We Invade Burma?

The death toll in Burma is estimated by the Red Cross to be 128 000, and that is just from the immediate effects of Cyclone Nargis. More than one million of its citizens have lost heir homes. A secondary wave of deaths caused by hunger and disease, will result if food [...]

Obama, Kennedy and Echoes of 1968

In announcing his candidacy, he said he was running ” to close the gap that now exists between black and white, between rich and poor, between young and old.” Obama in 2008? JFK in 1960? With his youth, soaring rhetoric, and rock star appeal, Obama has often invoked parallels with [...]