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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) said during her 2018 Senate campaign that she wants to be the next “John McCain,” according to a report released Friday. Sinema, a moderate-leaning Democrat who frequently bucks her own party, told her advisers in 2018 that she wants to emulate “John McCain.” The Arizona Democrat lauded the former Arizona Senate Republican and one-time presidential candidate, calling him a “legend” and “my personal hero.” Sinema even copied some of McCain’s most dramatic acts in the Senate, including when he bucked his own party.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday expressed his appreciation towards his Secretary of State’s peace efforts in the Middle East. Speaking at an interfaith breakfast in Washington, D.C., Obama said, “I want to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Kerry for his extraordinary passion and principled diplomacy that he’s brought to the cause of peace in the Middle East. Thank you, John.” “As we support Israelis and Palestinians as they engage in direct talks, we’ve made clear that lasting peace will require freedom of worship and access to holy sites for all faiths,” he added. The expression of support for...

US Vice President Joe Biden, throwing punches as a warrior for the middle class, plunged into the 2012 election race Thursday, hailing President Barack Obama as a man with "steel in his spine." Obama meanwhile launched his own political barbs, mocking Republicans who oppose his energy plans as "naysayers" on a day his reelection campaign stepped up a notch with the release of a laudatory documentary on his presidency. Biden praised Obama for rescuing US auto companies with an unpopular $80 billion bailout opposed by many Republicans, but which has nursed America's iconic industry back to health. And standing before...

Washington, CA (AP) -- President Barack Obama is asking federal regulators to reconsider tougher emissions standards that California and at least a dozen other states have been seeking for years. It marks a sharp departure from Bush administration policy on the environment. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has championed the tougher tailpipe standards since 2005, says Obama's swift action shows the environment now has a strong ally in the White House.

U.N. lauds Gore, environment leaders at green awards Thu Apr 19, 2007 11:33AM EDT SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The United Nations named former Vice President Al Gore and Olympics chief Jacques Rogge as recipients of environmental awards on Thursday, and urged more action to stop global warming. Only two of the seven winners were present at the ceremony in Singapore to receive trophies made from recycled metal. Gore, a dedicated climate crusader who starred in his 2006 global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth", was represented by actress and environmental activist Darryl Hannah. "It has taken too long for global leaders, especially...

Just returned from the Tenebrae service and thought I would share it with you, since there had been such interest. The Tenebrae is the office of Matins and Lauds sung on the last three days of holy week, with a ceremony of candles. There was a 7 candle candelebra on the altar. The gradual extinction of the candles during the service is accompanied by chorales and narrations. "Tenebrae" is the Latin word meaning "Shadows". The sanctuary is progressively darkened as the candles are extinguished. At the end, only one candle remains burning. This light is removed for a short time,...

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2006 — Vice President Richard B. Cheney reiterated America’s commitment to winning the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere during a rally at Fort Stewart, Georgia, yesterday. Cheney paid special tribute to the 3rd Infantry Division and the 48th Brigade Combat Team of the Georgia National Guard, both of which recently returned from deployments in Iraq. “The 3rd ID’s performance in the field – not just the progress you’ve made, but also your character as men and women – has left a lasting impression on people up and down the chain of command,” Cheney said....

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Army News Service, May 30, 2006) – Pike Field was a sea of maroon berets May 25 as more than 12,000 paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division underwent a Division Review on the fourth day of All-American Week. Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez hosted the ceremony, and Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey served as the reviewing officer. “Distinguished guests; past, present and future paratroopers; glider riders and pilots; family and friends of the All-American Division, thank you for attending today’s Division Review and helping us celebrate the division’s rich history,” Rodriguez said in opening...

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2006 – Not far from the city that bears his name, George Washington reposes in his crypt at Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate he retired to after serving as America's first president and commander in chief of the armed forces. George Washington, commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and the first president of the United States, originated the Purple Heart Medal. After the American colonists had won their freedom from England, the medal was discontinued until it was revived in 1932. Photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Yesterday,...

CLAREMONT - While the images of students marching, chanting and waving Mexican flags this week made a local Latino activist proud, he is discouraging students from protesting any further. Sal Castro, a former teacher at Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, fears for the students' safety and puts the responsibility on the parents to keep pressure on lawmakers from passing the legislation. Castro spoke at Claremont McKenna College Thursday, as part of the Cesar Chavez Commemoration Program, about the contributions of Mexicans to American society. Castro is familiar with student protests and walkouts. In 1968, nearly 10,000 students from five...

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Former President Clinton praised former members of the Soviet bloc in the Baltic states and eastern Europe for moving to democracy, but said "we're going through a critical period" on the future of Kosovo. The Serbian province populated by ethnic Albanians and Serbs has been run by the United Nations since NATO's 1999 air war against Yugoslavia, later renamed Serbia-Montenegro. Kosovo wants full independence; Serbia refuses to give it. As president, Clinton ordered the bombing of Serbian targets to force former President Slobodan Milosevic to end a crackdown on armed ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo. Clinton...

WASHINGTON -- Within hours of Hurricane Katrina passing through the Gulf Coast region, the Air Force started responding by not only taking care of its own people and infrastructure, but also assisting in rescue and recovery missions. "The total force of the Air Force -- the active duty, Guard and Reserve -- have responded aggressively and effectively to the challenge of the Hurricane Katrina (aftermath)," said acting Secretary of the Air Force Pete Geren. "We currently have over 8,000 Air Force personnel deployed right now (in support of operations)." Air Force units have provided aerial photography and imagery of the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. officials are negotiating with Sunni Arab leaders to pull insurgents into Iraq's political process, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday. An American-Iraqi offensive, meanwhile, killed at least 10 militants, including four blown apart by their own car bomb. The U.S. official's statement to reporters came after a Sunni Arab politician and a senior Shiite leader told The Associated Press they were holding talks with some groups in the insurgency, thought to include up to 20,000 fighters in their ranks. "Some insurgents are irredeemable and have to be dealt with in a purely military way and there...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) called Kofi Annan (news - web sites) a "good" U.N. secretary-general on Friday, after days in which Washington chose not to defend the diplomat against a U.S. senator's demand he resign. It was unclear whether Powell's comments signaled genuine support for Annan, under fire over suspected corruption in the U.N.'s now-defunct Iraq (news - web sites) oil-for-food humanitarian program, or simply aimed to soften the widespread impression Washington has no great desire to back the U.N. chief. "Secretary-General Annan is a good secretary-general," Powell told Reuters in the...

ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) - Facing increasing competition from states trying to raid California jobs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday traveled to a movie set in the foothills outside Los Angeles to thank an old friend for keeping his business at home. Standing amid cameras and cables outside a house being used in the movie, Schwarzenegger patted Danny DeVito on the back and said his new film, "Relative Strangers," was a model for how the state could win a bigger slice of entertainment jobs that now sometimes go overseas because of lower costs. DeVito, who is acting in the film and...

NEW YORK - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) drew on his childhood in Soviet-occupied Austria to praise President Bush (news - web sites)'s war on terror. "Terrorism is more insidious than communism," the bodybuilder-turned-politician said Tuesday in a speech to the Republican convention. Bush "knows you don't reason with terrorists. You defeat them. He knows you can't reason with people blinded by hate," he said in prepared remarks. Putting his star power to work for President Bush in a prime-time address, Schwarzenegger also urged optimism about the country's economy. "To those critics who are so pessimistic about...

IONE, Calif. (AP) - California is improving its "expensive and inefficient" prison system as it tries to ward off a federal judge's threatened takeover, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said after touring his first prison as governor Monday. He touted programs including a tripling of spending on a prison watchdog program he previously tried to cut, and predicted U.S. District Judge Thelton E. Henderson will decide to work with state corrections officials rather than assigning a receiver over the largest state prison system. Schwarzenegger said he never asked Henderson during their recent half-hour telephone conversation whether the judge plans to carry out...