News In Brief (And The Usual Opinionated Commentary)

From the PYY news desk:


Early Minn. Senate Polls Show Coleman With Wide Margin Over Franken

Despite Norm Coleman's drop in popularity, Al Franken is way behind. Important to note is the fact that Franken still has to win his primary. But early polls show that if he were matched up with Coleman, the incumbent would win hands down with a 52% to 32% margin. That leaves 16% of the vote up for grabs. Even if Franken were to take all of the 16% (which is very unlikely), he would still lose. I sense a Stuart Smalley skit here.


Secularists In Turkey Flex Political Muscle

By now, you have all no doubt heard of the rallies that drew what some claim to be about 1.5 million people to protest what they see as the Islamization of their government. Turks have grown accustomed to separation of church and state, in the years since Ataturk. And even though Turkey is overwhelmingly Muslim, there are many that would prefer religion to be a matter of conscience (to be adhered to willingly, and not legislated).

I say, bully for them. In my opinion, religion has no business in any form of government, because there are no two religions alike. And although I am Christian, I do not want a Christian government here either. There too many denominations to accommodate all and besides, this aspect of life is best left up to the individual to believe a certain way, or not.


Putin Compares America To Third Reich

This happened a few days ago, but let's look at it a little closer.

Putin has problems with his own opposition and has dealt with protests in a pretty rough way. Both the EU and US are distancing themselves from the bold moves that he has made of late, most of which involve the loss of freedoms for Russians and the increasingly hostile rhetoric coming out of Moscow. Opponents of his policies have a way of getting dead. The people are getting restless.

But one thing will fix all of that in Putin's eyes: A new Cold War. The old principle of inventing an enemy to unite the people is being used here. It appears this is a gamble he's willing to take.