This story is just in from the Associate Press. Ordinarily my sarcastic side would force me to say something, but I will just shake my head.

WASHINGTON – The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit suspected terrorists from buying firearms. Backed by the Justice Department, the measure would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales, licenses or permits to terror suspects.

In a letter this week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA executive director Chris Cox said the bill, offered last week by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., “would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere ’suspicions’ of a terrorist threat.”

“As many of our friends in law enforcement have rightly pointed out, the word ’suspect’ has no legal meaning, particularly when it comes to denying constitutional liberties,” Cox wrote.

In a letter supporting the measure, Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling said the bill would not automatically prevent a gun sale to a suspected terrorist. In some cases, federal agents may want to let a sale go forward to avoid compromising an ongoing investigation. Click here to read more.

The New York Times has an article today about civilian deaths in Afganistan.  It appears that the populace is about to revolt against the American sponsored government there due to large numbers of civilian casualties caused by the air war in Afganistan.

Scores of civilian deaths over the past months from heavy American and allied reliance on airstrikes to battle Taliban insurgents are threatening popular support for the Afghan government and creating severe strains within the NATO alliance.

Afghan, American and other foreign officials say they worry about the political toll the civilian deaths are exacting on President Hamid Karzai, who last week issued another harsh condemnation of the American and NATO tactics, and even of the entire international effort here.

What angers Afghans are not just the bombings, but also the raids of homes, the shootings of civilians in the streets and at checkpoints, and the failure to address those issues over the five years of war. Afghan patience is wearing dangerously thin, officials warn.

The civilian deaths are also exposing tensions between American commanders and commanders from other NATO countries, who have never fully agreed on the strategy to fight the war here, in a country where there are no clear battle lines between civilians and Taliban insurgents.

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, military commanders and diplomats alike fear that divisions within the coalition and the loss of support among Afghans could undermine what until now was considered a successful spring, one in which NATO launched a broad offensive but the Taliban did not. Click here to read more.

Our regular May meeting will be held Saturday, May 12th 2007. Alessandra Meetze of the American Civil Liberties Union will be here to talk about the erosion of civil liberties. She wants focus on habeus corpus and the military commission act. The meeting starts at 3:30 pm following a half hour of social interaction. As normal, the meeting will be held at the Activities Center (HOA #1) at 64518 E Galveston Lane. Following the meeting we will have a pot luck buffet at the home of one of our members. See you there!

The Bush Administration has apparently failed to pursuade the World Bank Executive Board that Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the Iraq War, should remain as chief of that institution.  Apparently only Japan backed the U.S. and all other members of the board including Canada, France, Germany and Britain voted to oust him, a severe rebuff of the Administration.

This breaking news can be read on the Reuters News wire.  As more complete stories become available, we will post them.

In a story from Reuters today, Americans get the poorest health care and yet pay the most compared to five other rich countries, according to a report released on Tuesday.

Germany, Britain, Australia and Canada all provide better care for less money, the Commonwealth Fund report found. “The U.S. health care system ranks last compared with five other nations on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes,” the non-profit group which studies health care issues said in a statement.

Canada rates second worst out of the five overall. Germany scored highest, followed by Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

“The United States is not getting value for the money that is spent on health care,” Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis said in a telephone interview. Click Here to Read More.

In a related story, medical tourism, the practice of obtaining expensive medical treatments abroad is booming. Click here for a story about medical tourism.

The Pinal County Democrats hold their meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of each month in Florence. We generally gather for a dutch treat supper at about 5:30 pm at the A&M Pizza on Highway 287 west of Florence. This is great opportunity to meet and greet fellow Democrats in an informal setting. The meeting is held at the offices of the Pinal County Attorney at 31 N Pinal St. Carpooling is generally available from SaddleBrooke.

The fragile compromise on immigration reform proposed this week by the U.S. Senate has angered conservatives. While many liberals and progressive comentators have also expressed reservations, it is the conservatives who who feel that they have been betrayed by the White House. Click here to read about the major provisions of the proposed reforms.

All sorts of special interest groups are beginning to clamor for changes and revisions.  Whether or not the compromise will continue to hold together is a real question.  It appears that John McCain may be the only Republican candidate to support the immigration reforms.

GOP presidential candidates are especially affected because they need to appeal to far right wing forces in order to obtain a nomination in the Republican Party. The neo-conservative base of the Republican party seems to prefer a solution that would deport all twelve million unregistred residents and their native born children.  So far, McCain, Brownback and Gingrich have all weighed in and found themselves in hot water. Click here for an article from the Washington Post on the Republican split.

Key figures on the right, including conservative talk radio hosts, analysts at the Heritage Foundation and National Review columnists, derided the agreement as a sellout of conservative principles, while GOP presidential candidates criticized the plan as a form of amnesty — a characterization rejected by the White House.  As a side issue, this plan is likely to disrupt relations between Bush and his conservative cronies in congress (what a shame).

Presidenital aspirant, Senator Sam Brownback, an original sponsor of the legislation, has flip flopped to express his new disgust for his bill.  “I would not vote for the same bill,” Mr. Brownback told reporters yesterday morning only hours after having voted for the legislation on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who last year said similar efforts for a comprehensive immigration bill were “reasonable,” called the deal reached this week the “wrong approach” to the problem. “Any legislation that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the country indefinitely, as the new Z Visa does, is a form of amnesty,” he said.

It is John McCain (R-Az.) who probably faces the toughest challenge.  McCain’s campaign which has been foundering of late, now has to deal with anger and criticism from the far right. According to several sources, McCain and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) got into a shouting match when Cornyn began voicing concerns about the number of judicial appeals illegal immigrants could make. After McCain swore at Cornyn and accused him of trying to blow up the pact, Cornyn accused the presidential candidate of “parachuting” into the negotiations at the last minute.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich used the Georgia Republican Convention on Friday to air complaints about a Senate compromise on immigration reform. He called the plan a citizenship “giveaway,” adding, “These inherited bureaucracies do not work.”

Rush Limbaugh has announced his opposition on his radio program.  He believes that this issue “could kill the Republican Party.”  Click here to read more.

Crawford, Tx. In a biting rebuke the White House on Sunday dismissed former President Jimmy Carter as “increasingly irrelevent” after his harsh criticism of President Bushie.

Jimmy Carter blasted Bush on Saturday as saying “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.”

The Georgia Democrat said Bush had overseen an “overt reversal of America’s basic values” as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own farther, former President George H.W. Bush.

Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman responded by name-calling and abusive remarks about the former President who has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Let us remind our readers that in a few months, Bush will be  the irrelevent one. Click here to read more about this story.

The Pinal County Democrats hold their meetings at 7pm on the third Wednesday of each month in Florence. We generally gather for a dutch treat supper at about 5:30 pm at the A&M Pizza on Highway 287 west of Florence. This is great opportunity to meet and greet fellow Democrats in an informal setting. The meeting is held at the offices of the Pinal County Attorney at 31 N Pinal St. Carpooling is generally available from SaddleBrooke.

From the New York Times. A senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers has withdrawn his name from consideration to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission as a growing number of Senators questioned both his suitability and a $150,000 departure payment that the association was preparing to give him.

Administration officials and Congressional leaders said that the lobbyist, Michael E. Baroody, decided to step aside after it became clear that his nomination would be rejected by the Senate commerce committee. It was scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing on Thursday. Thank you Senate Democrats! Click here to read more.