Obama, Rice and the 2nd Obama Term

Guardian: Reports the battle to make UN Ambassador Rice the next US Secretary State has to be seen within the context of a 2nd Obama term, the article notes the following, " The combination of the Rice row and the showdown over taxes and spending offer the president an early opportunity to demonstrate he is going to be tougher in his second term. ".

Lets Get Real:

The US Senate gives advice and consent to Presidential nominations from the Government to the Courts, Nixon had two Supeme Court Justices  rejected by the Senate, Reagan had Bork rejected, Bush 41 had Senator Tower rejected as Defence Secretary, Bill Clinton had a nightmare getting a Attorney General, while Bush 43 had could not get his choice as UN Ambassador pass the Senate.   Thus the Rice fight matters folks, if the Republicans keep together they can block the choice, thus lets see if POTUS wants to spend his political capital on a fight that he could lose and does not need to have, Senator Kerry would be an excellent choice for State. 

The Leveson Report in to Press Standards

BBC News: Reports that the Leveson Report in to press standards has been handed to Coalition PM David Cameron. 

Lets Get Real: 

If there is any legal press regulation the Conservative Party of the Coalition Government should reject the idea, one can expect the Liberal Democrats and the Labour leadership to take the tone of the BBC and of the Guardian, they want to regulate the Conservative Press, on the whole they support the Conservative Party.  Lets be clear were the law has been broken there are already on going cases, just not open to discussion, but this shows that the law does work, thus why allow the Politicians to have a hand in running the press.   The idea that once you start down this road of regulation that it will stop it a worry, the UK elite system does not work that way, the elites are to close, what ever a Judge might think.  It would go wrong sometime in the future, and there will be another report on how to scrap any press laws.   Thus expect a fight folks, the majority of the press will fight tooth and nail any regulation and the politicians and the lawyers will try to regulate free speech, law and freedom of the press do not always go together folks, its regulation lead down a control of the press.