The government has been seeking to deport Hamide and Shehadeh since January 1987, based on their alleged support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a radical offshoot of the Palestine Liberation Organization that has taken credit for airline hijackings and car bombings in the Middle East.
A 55 percent vote still requires a larger majority to pass our budget than 47 other states and the federal government. Arkansas and Rhode Island are the only other states that currently require a two-thirds vote to pass a budget.
The Los Angeles Police Commission\’s 4-1 decision to reject Chief Bernard C. Parks\’ bid for a second five-year term presents the organized Jewish community with an important opportunity to speak out forcefully in support of its historic agenda promoting police reform.
The leaders of Los Angeles-area Jewish organizations (including the Progressive Jewish Alliance) remained quiet amid the political firestorm that broke out when our city\’s top elected officials and prominent leaders within the African American community precipitously weighed in on the chief\’s fate. Though that silence reflected appropriate deference to the Police Commission\’s role in the reappointment process under our city\’s charter, the time has now come for the organized Jewish community to join this momentous civic debate in order to again demonstrate its long-standing understanding of, and concern for, issues of LAPD governance.
As one who supported the confirmation of John Ashcroft as attorney general, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) is certainly no radical. But last week, Feingold, chair of the Constitution subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cast the lone Senate vote against final approval of the so-called \”USA PATRIOT\” (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act.
For those who believed President George W. Bush would chart a moderate course, the administration\’s first two months must come as a rude awakening. Those who were lulled into believing that Bush was a compassionate conservative have now discovered that only the latter half of this otherwise vacuous campaign slogan is true.
Earlier this week GOP presidential hopefuls John McCain and George Bush were speaking simultaneously on opposite coasts with seemingly opposite messages as they sought to drum up votes for the March 7 Super Tuesday primaries.
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