Bush paints Democrats as defeatist on Iraq
WASHINGTON – In his fifth State of the Union address, President Bush criticized Democrats for speaking out against his march to war in Iraq and protectionist for questioning new trade deals and tax-cut extensions.
Encumbered by some of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, Bush hoped to take charge of the agenda at the start of a year that will see races for most of Congress and 36 governorships.
Bush has been beset by criticism that his optimistic messages of recent years haven’t squared with the worries many Americans feel over high energy and health care costs, the costly and deadly Iraq war and continuing terrorist threats. He acknowledged the anxieties of “a period of consequence,” while still expressing confidence in the future.
“Sometimes it can seem that history is turning a wide arc, toward an unknown shore,” he told a joint session of Congress and a national prime-time television audience. “We will finish well.”
Alito wins Supreme Court confirmation after partisan Senate fight
WASHINGTON – Samuel Alito took his place on the Supreme Court Tuesday after winning Senate confirmation, a personal triumph for the son of an Italian immigrant and a political milestone in President Bush’s campaign to give the judiciary a more conservative cast.
The 58-42 Senate vote was largely along party lines as Democrats registered overwhelming opposition to Bush’s choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, whose rulings have helped uphold abortion rights, affirmative action and other legal precedents of the past 50 years.
Alito, 55 and a veteran of 15 years on the appeals court, was sworn in as the nation’s 110th justice about an hour later in a low-key ceremony at the Supreme Court building across the street from the Capitol. Chief Justice John Roberts, Bush’s first nominee for the high court, administered the oath of office.
Coretta Scott King dies at 78
ATLANTA – Coretta Scott King, wife of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., died Tuesday. She was 78.
The “first lady of the civil rights movement” died in her sleep at an alternative medicine clinic in Mexico, her family said. Arrangements were being made to fly the body back to Atlanta.
She had been recovering from a serious stroke and heart attack suffered last August. Just two weeks ago, she made her first public appearance in a year on the eve of her late husband’s birthday.
News of her death led to tributes to King across Atlanta, including a moment of silence in the Georgia Capitol and piles of flowers placed at the tomb of her slain husband. Flags at the King Center-the institute devoted to the civil rights leader’s legacy-were lowered to half-staff.
Former postal employee kills five, commits suicide
GOLETA, Calif. – A former postal worker who had been put on medical leave for psychological problems shot five people to death at a huge mail-processing center and then killed herself in what was believed to be the nation’s deadliest workplace shooting ever carried out by a woman.
The attack Monday night was also the biggest bloodbath at a U.S. postal installation since a massacre 20 years ago helped give rise to the term “going postal.”
Investigators would not release the killer’s name or discuss a motive for the attack.
The 44-year-old woman had not worked at the plant for more than two years but still managed to get inside the fenced and guarded Santa Barbara Processing and Distribution Center.