Bush's Climate Charade

Cheney's Secret Talk

Robert Gehrke writes in the Salt Lake Tribune that Vice President Dick Cheney "addressed some of the most influential leaders of the conservative movement Friday in Salt Lake City, but their speeches, like the group itself, remain cloaked in secrecy.

"The Council for National Policy is a shadowy group comprising leaders in the family values, national defense and 'decency' movements, dubbed ' Sith Lords of the Ultra-Right' by the liberal blog DailyKos.

"Members are told not to discuss the group, reveal the topics discussed in the closed-door meetings, or even say whether or not they are members of the organization. . . .

"But for all the mystery, it was pretty mundane, according to those who were inside.

"Cheney stuck with a well-rehearsed message on his most familiar topic: staying the course in Iraq.

"'For liberty around the world, losing in Iraq is not a good thing,' summarized Utah Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert.

"Cheney answered questions from the group, fielding questions on immigration enforcement and Iran policy. Cheney said the regime in Iran is hostile to the United States and its allies and that poses a threat in its continual efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to a source who attended the speech, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the council's strict confidentiality rules."

Zinsmeister Stirs Up the Sociologists

Bush's controversial and secretive chief domestic policy adviser made a rare public appearance at Harvard University on Friday, stirring up a gathering of social scientists with his proposed solution to the problems of the underclass: More marriage counseling.

Karl Zinsmeister was the keynote speaker at a conference exploring the legacy of the Moynihan Report, a 1965 report by then-assistant secretary of labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan that launched a still-simmering debate about the sources of poverty in the black community and the role played by unwed childbearing.

Lamenting the "very rapid spread of the family decay virus," which he said was "dragging down entire communities," Zinsmeister on Friday expressed hope that the federal government could help. How? "I still think there's a big upside potential in the effort to strengthen marriages," he said.

Specifically, he urged more counseling to provide guidance before marriage and remediation before divorce. Marriage, as an institution based on "the male-female dyad," accomplishes the critically important goal of "rechanneling sexual energy into less self-interested activities," he said.

In a question-and-answer session, however, members of the audience suggested to Zinsmeister that marriage counseling was unlikely to make as much of an impact on the vicious cycle of poverty as, say, better schools or more accessible child care.