president ahmadinejad called for, quote, this occupying regime, israel, to be wiped off the map, unquote. whereas on april 14, 2006, iranian president ahmadinejad said, quote, like it or not, the zionist regime, israel, is headed -- heading toward annihilation, unquote. whereas on june 2, 2008, iranian president ahmadinejad said, quote, i must announce that the zionist regime, israel, with a 60-year record of genocide, plunder, invasion and betrayal, is about to die and will soon be erased from the geographical scene, quoint. -- unquote. whereas on june 2, 2008, iranian president ahmadinejad said, quote, today the time for the fall of the satanic power of the united states has come. and the countdown to annihilation of the emperor of power and wealth has started. whereas on may 20, 2009, iran successfully tested a service to service long range missile with an range of 1,200 miles, which, by the way, if it were on a ship off the texas coast, could get it up to the middle of the country, 300 miles up, which, if exploded, as well known among those who have looked at the issue, would create

unquote. not a different application, mind you, but a different interpretation. she wrote quite candidly that it is -- quote -- "not necessarily wrong or invalid" unquote for judges to -- quote -- "mold and steer the law in order to promote certain ethical values and achieve certain social ends." unquote. and in 1995 law review -- law journal article, she agreed that in most cases that come before the supreme court, the judge's own experience and values become the most important element in the decision. in her words -- quote -- "many of the votes of supreme court -- many of the votes a supreme court justice casts have little to do with technical legal ability and much to do with conceptions of value." unquote. that sounds a lot like president obama, who said as a senator that judges decide cases based on their own deepest values, core concerns, the depth and breadth of their empathy and what is in their heart. if that is too results-oriented, ms. kagan wrote, so be it. ms. kagan has not hersel

story says and i'm quoting the obamadmintration is looking fo wo build up, quote, moderate elements unquot the banese/hezbollah guerilla movement and top white john brennan met with lesesy. leaders on a recent visit. i haven'seuch analysis that i want to get your sen of what t intent of that statement was an wh, if anything,s being don t effectuate that that's the policy of this administration. >> mr. chairman, mr. brean who spent career in the intelligence comnity may have made an analytic statent about what's going on in lebanese poll tick, but i think this story itself distorts t sen of his remarks. an i would just say th and i would say theolicy s not cnged regarding hezbollah or contacts with hezbollah. we do not distinguish between thpolitical wing and military wing. we do not echo wt secretary feman said a moment ago. i thi i don't think there is any room wi engage want with hezbollah and i would add to what he said be to senator cork's questi tha i think it would be enormously damaging to our broadeco broader counterterrorism polic if we to ange con hezbollah in a way tt we have no

. >> should judges ever look to foreign law for, quote unquote, good ideas? >> i guess i'm in favor of good ideas coming from wherever you can get them. but i don't think that foreign law should have independent precedential weight in any but a very, very narrow set of circumstances. so i would draw a distinction between looking wherever you can find them for good ideas, for just to expand your knowledge of the way in which judges approach legal issues; but makinging that very separate from using law as precedent or independent weight. >> reporter: amidst tense exchanges there were also humorous most as when pennsylvania democrat arlen specter asked about televising supreme court proceedings. >> i think it's always a good thing when people understand more about government rather than less. certainly the supreme court is an important institution and one that the american citizenry has every right to know about and understand. i recognize that some people, some justices may have views to the contrary. i would want to hear those views and to think about those vi

because there is no chance of a positive outcome, or we stay basically indefinitely and do quote unquote whatever it takes for as long as it takes. and what i said last year, i will repeat, which is we have a vital national interest in making sure that afghanistan is not used as a base to launch terrorist attacks. it is true that al qaeda right now is in pakistan, and you often hear, "why are we in afghanistan when the terrorists are in pakistan?" well, al qaeda has been weakened in part because they do not have the run of the territory. we would be less secure if you return to the situation that existed prior to 9/11, in which they had a government that was friendly to them and willing to house their operations, and i do not think anybody would dispute that, so, a, we have got a vital interest in the region. b, we do not expect because of our involvement in afghanistan that the country is going to completely transform itself in one year or two years or five years. president karzai does not expect that. the afghan people do not expect that. afghanistan has its own culture. it is a proud

this is going to end in argument, unquote. before the larger offensive began, he went to president karzai's palace to get his consent on the operation and according to the article, karzai's staff insisted the president was sleeping. he was sleeping off a cold and could not be disturbed. after several hours of haggling, mcchrystal enlisted the aid of afghanistan's defense minister who persuaded karzai's people to wake the president from his nap. a senior advisor to general mcchrystal said if americans pull back and start paying attention to this war, it would become even less popular, end quote. as senior -- a senior military officer said this, and i quote, there's a possibility we could ask for another surge of u.s. forces next summer if we see success here, end quote. so the administration has determined general mcchrystal's exit strategy but it's the exit strategy for the rest of our brave soldiers i'm worried about. madam speaker, i voted in 2001 to go to war in afghanistan to hunt down al qaeda and eliminate their threat,

in bp's management and safety hierarchy, there was a statement from bp that you all would quote, unquote focus like a lizzer on safety. and it is concerning to us that the appearance is, mr. hayward that bp has not learned from previous mistakes, so it leaves us asking the questions of you and of bp, was this accident caused bnegligence? was it caused by risk taking? was it caused by cost cutting measures? by bp decision makers and unfortunately for citizens, beaches and wildlife all along the coastal gion, they are paying a price for those misplaced decisions. bp cannot blame mother nature or equipment failure or even other subcontractors. their actions have put at risk the livelihood of communities and businesses that depend on the gulf, not only for seafood and tourism,ut also energy production that this nation as a whole relies upon. in addition, the current administration also shares a significant portion of the blame for the oil spill. i mentioned mms earlier and the mms officials approved inadequate spill response plans and field inspectors rubber stamped inspection papers submitt

in bp's management and safety hierarchy, there was a statement from bp that you all would quote, unquote focus like a lizzer on safety. and it is concerning to us that the appearance is, mr. hayward that bp has not learned from previous mistakes, so it leaves us asking the questions of you and of bp, was this accident caused by negligence? was it caused by risk taking? was it caused by cost cutting measures? by bp decision makers and unfortunately for citizens, beaches and wildlife all along the coastal region, they are paying a price for those misplaced decisions. bp cannot blame mother nature or equipment failure or even other subcontractors. their actions have put at risk the livelihood of communities and businesses that depend on the gulf, not only for seafood and tourism, but also energy production that this nation as a whole relies upon. in addition, the current administration also shares a significant portion of the blame for the oil spill. i mentioned mms earlier and the mms officials approved inadequate spill response plans and field inspectors rubber stamped inspection papers s

colloquies that somehow indicated that the gentleman and i werunable to come to the floor and play quote-unquote nice together. i will say, i know the gentleman dot take any of th personay, nor do i, beuse i enjoy cong to e floor to bate bstance and policy in these colloquies, something that frankly is not done oft enough in this house buas it relates to the porities that t mority s as refted through its scheduling abilities. and in fact, again, mr. speaker, th house doesn't do nrlenough of this kind of exchange of opinto ferre out how we can come to some agreement. i know the geleman shares in th spirit as we engage spifally as th artle points to, ov our differences. our differences abo the priority of cutting spendi now. d i know the geleman does know, as i value the opportunity to work wit him on issues as we have just discussed having to do with the promotion of the u.s. surity in the middle east as it pla out through our ally israel, i enjoy t working relationship we have had on that issue,he issuearound the iran sanctions resolion, as well as he knows, asell we work together well on thissu

interior's land and energy responsibilities will make her a valuable member of our leadership team, unquote. still continuing with the press release from interior, bacca who is currently general manager for social investment programs and strategic partnerships at something called b.p. america inc in houston has held several management, focusing on environmental organizations and developing safety and emergency response programs and working on climate change through diversity and sustainability objectives. as director of global health, safety, environment and emergency response for b.p.'s shipping limited in london, bacca led a worldwide team to proactive initiatives. she oversaw health safety and environmental outcomes for an $8 billion ship building program resulting in the youngest, greenest and most technically advanced fleet in the world. the project has received numerous awards for its safety and environmental advancements. as vice president for health, safety and environment, b.p. north america in los angeles, bacca served as policy adviser on environmental initiatives such as climate

turkish television, quote, we will definitely resist and we will not allow the israelis to enter here, unquote. another said, quote, if israel wants to board this ship, it will meet strong resistance, quote. israel's mistake was not taking those quotes to heart, not taking them literally. may 31, 2010, israeli navy personnel warned all six flotilla ships that they are about to enter restricted waters. again, israel offers to collect humanitarian aid and have it zhriffered to gatza strip -- gaza strip by united states nations but the ship refused to comply. so now it's, quote, we're going to resist and resistance will win and militants on the ship begin yelling, quote, ind fat fada, int fad -- intifada, intifada. well, we know what happened from there. some don't, some haven't watched -- i mean, they've watched mainstream america and they haven't seen the israelis being beaten with metal pipes, being stabbed, israeli soldiers shot, thrown overboard, how would we react in america if people who decided to peacefully overwhelm security at our airport, to get on airplanes, for benevolent causes, an

host: think she was going toward the nomination process and why she has to be quote, unquote grilledn front of the committee but will the republicans from what you've learned will the republicans on the judiciary committee go after her? work hard. guess guess i think they're going to ask a lot of tough questions. they're going to be respectful, unlike what happened with judges clarence thomas and works when they were really b put through the ringer. she is, by all accounts, a charming lady. she's somebody who get as long with people. and she, she does have a good record at harvard law and they're going to respect her. but that doesn't mean they're going to let her off easily. they going to ask her to explain things in the editorial today. host: san antonio, texas. go ahead ryan. caller: i have a question. i want to know what are - what is like - what makes her qualified to be a supreme court justice? guest: what do you mean by that? caller: she has no bench. never been to bench. never been a judge before. as like sotomayer has. what makes her qualified to be on the ben snch guest: do

general eric holder on the decision to hold the trial for alleged 9/11 plotter was weeks away, quote, unquote, and they expect the obama administration to punt the decision until after the november mid-term elections when the controversial plan could be less damage to the political mort tunes of endangered democrats and might face less resistance on capitol hill. holder's -- holder explicitly denied thattthe mid-terms had anything to do with the timing but said discussions were ongoing. the white house had no comment. so the article goes on and discusses in quite some length about the 9/11 trial and the problems and figuring out what to do about it. and then while i was looking % this weekend, i saw some great news. this is from the "new york times" and this is exactly quoting from the "new york times" article, five charged in the 9/11 attacks seek to plead guilty. so they're going to plead guilty. great news in guantanamo bay, cuba. the five detainees charged with coordinating the september 11 attacks told a military judge on monday that they wanted to confess in full and a move that seemed

why do you think president obama doesn't take the quote unquote opportunity of this disaster to lay theisaster squarely at the feet of the bush-cheney administration where it belongs? i do think it's time to put this disaster, this trageey of gigantic proportions exactly where it belongs. and one last comment to the gentleman who just called a little earlier about the leadership of barack obama. i shiver to think what would have happened if we would have had the alternate leadership in place during this dire situation. guest: well, i think that barack obama has suggested that bush's administration bears some of the cuppability. but i don't mean to focus on optics too much because i share your concern that the modern your concern that the modern presidency is far too consumed with image management. i wrote an article about that on image management and the way it's consuming presidential time in a way it didn't in the era of eisenhower and truman. but that's the world we live in. the american people follows these things and learn about them through a visual way. and if barack obama said i

unquote. that's no way to do business. the fundamental assumption of this bill is that since the smart people regulating banks let us down, we should just hire really, really smart people to prevent it from happening again that assumption is not only false, it's dangerous. when the government picks winners and losers, the nation loses. if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle believe the same leg reg lators who failed to see the housing crisis are going to see the next chi sis thanks to heavy handed government regulation, the american people would say to the democrats in charge that they put too much faith in the power of washington to see the future. the fundamental question we've got to answer is, if this law were in place in 2008, would it have prevented the crisis? the answer to that question is clearly no. more os preive, job-killing regulation isn't the answer. what we need is flexible and accountable and nimble regulation this bill does not do it. what will it do? it will ensure bailouts, puts bailouts in pla

s high-risk lending practices negatively impact the housing marketpla, unquote. you can translate that into increasing taxpayer exposure. if we're honest wh ourselves, when appropriately sizedthe f.h.a. is helpful. at this point, it's another government program distorting the market. f.h.a.'s huge market share is a hindnce to regning equity in the housing market. fannie and freddie's unlimited government lifeline is a hindrance to the hoing recovery this amendment my amendment, wou ensure the f.h.a. longer crowds out the private market for home loans. its a modest first step to cap f.h.a. new originaon market share to no more than 10% of the private market home loans each year beginning in 12 there is significant time to adjust. the arican people are not further exposed to the next bailout. mr. airman that ans the tax payer is noexpoto gater liility. the american people are sick d tired of bailout they see another one of the horizon. it's te for us to act. no more bailouts. what they're telling us across the country iso stop the madness this amendnt begs the proc

transition security tasks to afghanistan forces at a rate to be determined by conditions at the time, unquote. with all due respect, madam speaker, could there be any more qualifers and escape hatches in that sentence? the american people, who have 1,000 fewer fellow citizens and 278 billion fewer dollars than they did when this war began, aren't looking at the beginning of a process. they're looking at an end to this, an end to this miserable war. shouldn't we be at the end or at least in the middle of the process of transig security tasks to afghanistan forces? shouldn't the beginning of the process have come at some point over the last 8 1/2 years that we've been fighting this war? my concern, madam speaker, is that statements like this one are laying the predicate for an% extension of president obama's deadline, which is exact low the wrong lesson and the wrong approach. the problem is that if you're locked into a certain mindset it will never seem like the right moment to remove our troops from afghanistan because the mission, as currently defined, will never be complete, and conditions

if that is too results oriented, so be it, unquote. ms. kagan outlined that approach, which she argued as necessary for supreme court nomination hearings to be more than farce. when she was working on this committee for a supreme court nomination. i believe you'll be hearing a lot about your remarks in the past. she was not a student writing a blog about some hypothetical topic she knew about. i'm confident that senators will give ms. kagan many opportunities in the next few days to provide the information and insight that she has argued is critical for the senate to properly make a decision on her confirmation. this is a critical decision. and it is about more than just one person. our decision will affect liberty itself. george washington said this in his federal address. "the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and order their constitutions of government. but the constitution at which any time exists till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all." the peop

host: think she was going toward the nomination process and why she has to be quote, unquote grilled in front of the committee but will the republicans from what you've learned will the republicans on the judiciary committee go after her? work hard. guess guess i think they're going to ask a lot of tough questions. they're going to be respectful, unlike what happened with judges clarence thomas and works when they were really b put through th ringer. she is, by all accounts, a charming lady. she's somebody who get as long with people. and she, she does have a good record at harvard law and they're going to respect her. but that doesn't mean they're going to let her off easily. they going to ask her t explain things in the editorial today. host: san antonio, texas. go ahead ryan. caller: i have a question. i want to know what are - what is like - what makes her qualified to be a supreme court justice? guest: what do you mean by that? caller: she has no bench. never been to bench. never bn a judge before. as like sotomayer has. what makes her qualified to be on the ben snch guest: do y