Free Republic

December 6, 1999 The Collapse in Seattle A New York Times Editorial Many trade experts warned that a new round of global trade talks was premature. The world, they said, needed more time to absorb the trade-opening measures that were adopted five years ago. A week of protests at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and, more important, the embarrassing refusal of the W.T.O. to endorse President Clinton's trade-liberalization program proved that the warnings were prescient. But the failed talks augur no general calamity. Trade will continue to be governed by rules that have served the trading community well ...

December 6, 1999 ESSAY / By WILLIAM SAFIRE The Clinton Round WASHINGTON -- In the opening minute in the global trade arena he wanted to call "The Clinton Round," President Clinton took a huge swing and kayoed himself. But cheer up: even as he permitted U.S. policy to be determined by organized anarchists joined by organized labor in the street battle of Seattle, the U.S. president ultimately scored a kind of negative victory. Flat on his back, dumped on by dumping nations and object of catcalls of the undeveloped world, a frustrated Clinton did not abandon our interests. In aligning ...

December 6, 1999 Author Reveals Much About Others and Little of Herself By MELINDA HENNEBERGER Are Bill and Hillary Clinton a) political partners with a plan that required them to stay married b) together for the sake of their daughter and/or the Republic or c) in love, no matter what anybody thinks? Washington has never been able to decide, despite efforts that usually end with somebody citing information gleaned from the novel "Primary Colors." Now, Gail Sheehy's controversial new book, "Hillary's Choice," which claims to have broken the code, answers definitively: It is all of the above. And more, much ...

December 6, 1999 Seattle Protest Could Have Lasting Influence on Trade By STEVEN GREENHOUSE The surprisingly large protests in Seattle by critics of the World Trade Organization point to the emergence of a new and vocal coalition that will make it far harder for the Clinton administration to move ahead with its plans for freer trade. In addition, many Seattle protesters hope their movement will last longer than the Vietnam War movement because their target, globalization, is not a single issue that can be resolved by a peace treaty. "We're really in it for the long haul on the trade ...

December 6, 1999 After Riots, Seattle Is Chagrined Yet Cheerful By SAM HOWE VERHOVEK SEATTLE -- At the beginning of the week that was to showcase Seattle to the world as a friend to free trade and free expression alike, the city's Public Development Authority promised yet more good news for local merchants. "PDA + WTO = Business as Usual -- Maybe Better!" proclaimed a bright yellow flier distributed to businesses as the World Trade Organization got under way here, adding: "Thousands of potential customers with time on their hands and money in their pockets will descend upon the Downtown ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — GOP Presidential candidate Steve Forbes said yesterday he has been clear in letting voters know what he stands for, unlike front-runner George W. Bush, and hopes for "a real interchange" among the six candidates in tonight's debate so people can judge for themselves. Scheduled to join Forbes and Bush in Phoenix are Gary Bauer, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Alan Keyes. The state's senior senator, John McCain, will participate via satellite from New Hampshire, where he is campaigning. McCain led Bush 39 percent to 31 percent in Arizona in a late October poll by the Media ...

DERRY (AP) — Steve Forbes used the Mars Polar Lander to further his message yesterday that he is a Washington outsider needed to get federal office holders to listen to the rest of the country. "They sent that thing up to Mars and didn't hear anything from it. It's the same thing with Washington, D.C.," Forbes said during a Presidential campaign stop at a restaurant. "We send people there, and then there ends up being this disconnect with the rest of America." The Mars Polar Lander has failed to send radio messages back to Earth after its scheduled landing ...

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Conservative activist Gary Bauer criticized Republicans George W. Bush and Steve Forbes for not attending a health care forum on Saturday, saying the two skipped the event to avoid answering "tough questions." Bauer, one of six candidates vying for the Republican nomination, spoke to about 50 members of Iowa's AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons. They're fairly typical politicians, they tell everyone they can have everything," Bauer said of Bush and Forbes' Social Security plans. Bauer's health care proposals push to guarantee Social Security benefits to current retirees and take better ...

U.S. secrets aboard latest Chinese sub By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES China is beginning work on a new strategic submarine that will be targeted against U.S. nuclear forces and carry missiles with small warheads similar to American weapons, The Washington Times has learned. The People's Liberation Army Navy will start construction in the next several weeks on its first Type 094 missile submarine, according to Pentagon and other administration officials with access to intelligence reports. Preparations for the construction were detected by U.S. spy agencies and reported to senior Pentagon officials late last month. The submarine will carry a ...

BOSTON (AP) — Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain of Arizona were in a statistical tie, according to the first poll taken following Thursday's nationally televised Republican forum in New Hampshire. Bush was supported by 34 percent of those questioned, McCain 33 percent in the Boston Herald poll released yesterday. The survey had a margin of error of five percentage points. Bush led McCain, 44 percent to 26 percent, in the newspaper's Oct. 26 poll. The forum in Manchester was the first time Bush appeared at the same event with the other five GOP Presidential hopefuls. Sixteen ...

Sen. John McCain says he would not accept the No. 2 spot on a ticket with George W. Bush, but he does not rule out serving in a Bush Cabinet. The Arizona Republican was asked about those options in a television interview yesterday as a new poll showed him in a "virtual dead heat" with Mr. Bush in the GOP presidential primary race in New Hampshire. Many were struck by the friendly banter between Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain in last week's debate among Republican presidential candidates in New Hampshire. On NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, Mr. McCain was asked ...

Sen. John McCain says he would not accept the No. 2 spot on a ticket with George W. Bush, but he does not rule out serving in a Bush Cabinet. The Arizona Republican was asked about those options in a television interview yesterday as a new poll showed him in a "virtual dead heat" with Mr. Bush in the GOP presidential primary race in New Hampshire. Many were struck by the friendly banter between Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain in last week's debate among Republican presidential candidates in New Hampshire. On NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, Mr. McCain was asked ...

Sen. John McCain says he would not accept the No. 2 spot on a ticket with George W. Bush, but he does not rule out serving in a Bush Cabinet. The Arizona Republican was asked about those options in a television interview yesterday as a new poll showed him in a "virtual dead heat" with Mr. Bush in the GOP presidential primary race in New Hampshire. Many were struck by the friendly banter between Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain in last week's debate among Republican presidential candidates in New Hampshire. On NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, Mr. McCain was asked ...

Clinton linked to collapse of talks in Seattle By Charles Clover LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH European sources yesterday said President Clinton instructed his negotiators to let world trade talks in Seattle collapse over the weekend, infuriating participants from Britain and other European Union countries. The discussions among 135 countries foundered because Mr. Clinton decided the likely result would not have been favorable for the United States or have won support from the labor unions who are backing Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign, said these EU sources. Facilities were booked for the talks to run until 7 a.m. Saturday and the ...

SANTA FE, N.M. - An outpouring of complaints coupled with vandalism has prompted Santa Fe Community College to remove from public display a controversial painting that depicts a gorilla nailed to a cross. "I think it's too bad people are so ignorant," said Monika Steinhoff, the Santa Fe artist who painted the work and donated it to the college. "It's too bad people are simplistic like that," she said. "The cross was not invented by Christianity." Ms. Steinhoff said the painting, And God Gave Dominion, is not sacrilegious. It symbolizes the destruction humans are carrying out against animals and Earth, ...

All of the major Presidential candidates were invited, but only four Republicans came to vie for votes at a Gun Owners of New Hampshire dinner and forum in Manchester Sunday night. The day after a number of individual gun-owner rights activists endorsed Steve Forbes at Riley's Sport Shop in Hooksett, Forbes joined Sen. Orrin Hatch, Alan Keyes and Gary Bauer to speak and answer questions for about 350 people at the Center of New Hampshire last night. Vice President Al Gore, Bill Bradley, George Bush and John McCain declined invitations.

Original Sources Presidential Candidates for the Year 2000 Check out the presidential candidates - and work for the candidate of your choice. The Year 2000 will be a pivotal year - one which will take us deeper into political chaos or...a leader will emerge that the majority of the American people can support. In 1998, half of those eligible to vote didn't vote. Don't leave the fate of the nation to a minority that doesn't represent you! Which Candidate best reflects your views? Your informed vote is important. The new President's responses to the issues below may affect your ...

In a stinging insult to Granite Staters who passionately defend their Second Amendment right to own firearms without the interference of government, George W. Bush and John McCain declined invitations to attend the Gun Owners of New Hampshire dinner last night. This newspaper's preferred candidate for the GOP nomination — Steve Forbes — gladly agreed to mix with Granite State gun owners and reinforced his strong Second Amendment credentials, even though his native New York/New Jersey region is a bastion of gun-control laws. (Forbes himself was a skeet shooter, armed with a 20-gauge shotgun.) All the Republican candidates except Bush ...

U.S. secrets aboard latest Chinese subBy Bill GertzTHE WASHINGTON TIMEShina is beginning work on a new strategic submarine that will be targeted against U.S. nuclear forces and carry missiles with small warheads similar to American weapons, The Washington Times has learned.     The People's Liberation Army Navy will start construction in the next several weeks on its first Type 094 missile submarine, according to Pentagon and other administration officials with access to intelligence reports.     Preparations for the construction were detected by U.S. spy agencies and reported to senior Pentagon officials late last month. The submarine will carry a smaller underwater variant of China's ...

America accused of sabotage in Seattle By Andrew Marshall in Seattle 6 December 1999 Recriminations over the collapse of world trade talks flew yesterday after some European officials suggested the US deliberately sabotaged the summit when it became clear other nations would not acquiesce to its demands. Some US officials have also hinted at the same ugly situation after the debacle in Seattle, where the four-day meeting of the World Trade Organisation ended without agreement. The Americans apparently preferred to let the summit fail rather than try to explain their failure to US unions and other interest groups, with ...