The Larry Kane Report

What’s the buzz?

I’ll tell you. Political insiders are wondering what impact the latest Bob Brady, Chaka Fattah and Tom Knox manuevers will have.

First , we’ll talk Brady and Knox. Brady’s all star lawyer Steve Cozen has decided to ask the Pa. Supreme Court to rule on Tom Knox’s appeal of a judge’s decision to keep Brady on the ballot. This would avoid an appeal to Commonwealth Court and speed up the process. In a great show of chutzpah, Knox and his lawyer took a swipe at the legal system when they lost round one to a judge from out of town. We’ve learned that some supporters of Knox think he should give the appeal up. Others, in the legal community, are enraged at the tone of the Knox attack on the judge’s decision. This reporters assessment: The court decision will be upheld. Brady gets more attention as long as the case continues.

The second item: Renee and Chakah. The TV anchor has decided not to allow the joint tax return she filed along with the Mayoral candidate to go public, even though her station says there is no problem with that. Is this good for Fattah? The anchor has her rights. Are those rights forfeited when your husband runs for Mayor? Personally, I always hated it when people tried to guess my salary, but then again, I didn’t have to make my tax returns public. And I wasn’t running for office.

Third item - Michael Nutter. The former councilman is running against John Street. His ads attack the current Mayor, and spotlight Nutter’s independence. The spots are good. Nutter is gambling that he will attract voters who are unhappy with eight years of arrogance. Will it work? It just so happens that a key survey will be out this week. Nutter’s timing is interesting.
We will find out soon if the above moves are acts of great wisdom or possible blunders.

My continuing prediction is a close race at the finish with a few percentage points separating all of the Big Five.

A news alert - STANDBY. The coming week will be one of new revelations and accusations. Fasten your seat belts.

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Some years back, President Bush referred to Iran as part of the Axis of Evil. Now, in 2007, the renegade regime is showing its hand, and its utter stupidity in promoting its imagery as a poorly-run nation, whose leaders are engaging in stupid and negative diplomacy.

For those of you who find Iran just an irritant in a troubled word, there is much more to it than that. If you sensed that America and the West was distorting the Iranian threat, then you should think again. In most diplomatic standoffs, reason prevails. In the current impasse with Great Britain, and the capture of the British sailors, the Iranians are once again proving how scary and frightening that they can be.

If they thought that the British vessel intentionally violated Iranian waters, there could have been another direction. The Iranians would have received worldwide respect by simply lodging a complaint and letting it be. Instead, they decided to “capture” the crew, and create a dangerous international episode. This is the same mind-set that allowed the only criminal takeover of a foreign embassy in modern times, the illegal capture of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, an episode that led to the defeat of President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Irrational leaders have been accepted by the world until it was too late. It was too late in Rwanda, in Uganda, and of course, there was the greatest example of “too late” when the criminal Adolph Hitler began the mass death movement in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Iran is a dangerous regime. The British have showed great restraint. It is time for Tony Blair to step up to the plate and warn Iran that its waters and economic interests will be blockaded untll the sailors are freed.

Our failure to act in 1979 and 1980 allowed lawlessness to grow in a renegade regime. Can the world allow that to happen again?

We are fighting a desperate struggle for a questionable cause in Iraq, whlle the real threat is next door, where the religious fanatics in Iran are once again displaying the reasons we should be so concerned.

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The decision by John Edwards to stay in the Presidential race, despite his wife’s ilnness brings perspectives that cover every range of the emotional spectrum.

In a cynical society, there are some who view Edwards move as a way to garner votes, with some people expressing sympathy for his wife’s courage in the face of incurable cancer. Others see Edwards as doing the right thing - battling on for his dream with his sick wife by his side. And there are those who feel that his rightful place is with his family, and that political ambition should be tossed aside.

And then, I heard John Edward’s unusual and controversial assessment, suggesting that people shouldn’t support him out of sympathy for his wife. That statement bothered me. Whether you respect Edwards or not, the statement was most unusual. Was it a genuine plea and why would he suggest it at this early date? In a sense, he was addressing an issue of voter preference and how a terminal illness might affect it. If he believes that their medical crisis should not sway voters, why did he bring it up?
Am I making sense here? You let me know.

In the meantime, I’m puzzled by the way the Edwards family has handled this. On one hand, I admire their courage. On  the other hand, the handling of the whole situation by John and Elizabeth Edwards has a certain odd feeling surrounding it. The feeling is that the public, all of us, want to respect their privacy. But the couple, by their public declarations, have insured that privacy is out of the question during a political campaign.

In the meantime, our prayers and best wishes go out to Elizabeth Edwards.

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The paperback of Lennon Revealed, the New York Times Best Seller, has been released by Running Press with the DVD for half the price of the original. You can buy it online, or at your favorite bookstore. To check out the original, notice the left hand column. The book was the hardest to write of my three books, but the response was gratifying.

This is a big year, 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper, and 50th anniversary of the first meeting between John and Paul.

I’m excited about the paperback. My friends at Philly.com (see right column) will soon be featuring excerpts and a give-away.

As far as “real news”, read the newest entry down below.

Thanks,

Larry

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This is the campaign of the “great dodge.” Most of the Presidential candidates refuse to engage on controversies now surrounding us.

Not a peep from the majors on Gonzalez in crisis. Nothing is out there on the Iranian threat.  Little comment on the House vote to get the troops out in the Summer of 08. Only Obama and McCain have clear cut views on the war, in opposite directions. Clinton does speak about leadership, and at least stresses health care. Edwards is for everything, and for very little, except in the regrets department about the war.  Romney and Guliani are both careful. Only Bill Richardson is daring enough to propose change, in the style of government and the way we do business.

Am I missing something, or is this campaign a vast wasteland of new ideas?

All of this leads me to wonder if there’s anyone with real guts out there.

Al Gore has global warming, but he’s still an unexciting, if not, inspirational prospect. Jeb Bush doesn’t have a chance, not with his brother’s current problems. Mike Huckabee is slim, and has slim chances.

Maybe we need to look in other directions. Ed Rendell should give it a thought. He’s very appealing, and not afraid to take chances. Bill Bradley might take another shot at it.

The bottom line: the only candidate with the charm and experience to run the country is Joe Biden. Joe has one problem: He needs to think before he speaks. But at least he is willing to take a stand. Are the others?

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