He served as the Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2002. Dean is a physician who previously shared a medical practice with his wife, Dr. Judith Steinberg. He received his B.A. from Yale University in 1971 and his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in 1978. He served in the Vermont House from 1982 to 1986; was elected lieutenant governor in 1986, and became governor in 1991. His campaign website is

www.DeanForAmerica.com.

Equal Rights is the Responsibility of Every American By Governor Howard Dean t r u t h o u t | Exclusive Editorial

Sunday 27 April 2003

George W. Bush ran for President on the promise that he would be a uniter, not a divider.'' Nothing could be further from the truth. Earlier this week, Senator Rick Santorum, the third highest ranking Republican in the Senate, compared homosexuality to bigamy, polygamy, incest and adultery. On Friday, President Bush praised Santorum as an inclusive man.'' With his praise, this President has once again demonstrated his willingness to follow the extremist Republican tradition of dividing our country for political gain. The President knows that his defense of Santorum's inflammatory words deeply offends millions of gay and lesbian Americans, their family and friends; his praise also raises grave concerns about this Administration's commitment to civil rights and civil liberties.

Senator Santorum has called his repugnant remarks ``a legitimate public policy discussion.'' Senator Santorum is wrong. Equating the private, consensual activities of adults to the molestation of minors is not a policy discussion. It is gay-bashing, and it is immoral.

Senator Santorum asserted that the government has the right ``to limit individuals' wants and passions.'' While the government has the right to protect citizens from the harmful acts of others, as well as an obligation to promote the general welfare of all people, I do not believe that it is the proper role of government to step into the private bedrooms of consenting adults. The continuous assault by right-wing radicals on the privacy of ordinary Americans must stop.

Senator Santorum must step down from his leadership post. His failure to recognize that it is wrong to attack people because of which group they belong to makes him unfit to hold a leadership position in the United States Senate.

The issue at hand is about more than Senator Santorum's reprehensible statements, however, and the issue is also about more than the dignity and respect of gay and lesbian Americans.

The issue is whether we, as Americans, will continue to allow ourselves to be led down a path by this Administration to a country that is divided against itself by race, income, gender, sexual orientation and religion.

Senator Santorum's remarks do not exist in isolation. In January, President Bush went on national television to discuss the Supreme Court's hearing of the University of Michigan's affirmative action case. One of the most despicable moments of this President's Administration occurred when, on national prime time television, he used the word "quotas" repeatedly to describe the University of Michigan's admissions policy.

President Bush knows that the University of Michigan does not now have, and has never had, quotas. His use of the race-loaded word "quota" is intended to incite people's fears of losing their jobs, or their positions in America's leading universities, to minorities. Such rhetoric, which is designed to appease the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party and to appeal to Americans' worst instincts, betrays the guiding principle that America is a nation in which all people are created equal.

Achieving this equality requires moral leadership. It sometimes requires standing against your party's base. It is not moral leadership when the third highest ranking Republican in the Senate intimates that the sexual abuse of minors is no different than the consensual acts of adults, and the President's spokesperson responds by praising that man for ``doing a good job as Senator.''

Three years ago, I signed into law the civil unions bill, a law that guarantees same-sex couples in Vermont the same legal rights as married couples. The Vermont Supreme Court in December of 1999 held that gay and lesbian people were not being provided with equal rights in our state. An hour and a half after that court issued its decision, I told the press and the people of Vermont that I would support a bill making our state the first in the country to provide all Americans with equality under the law. At the time, approximately 35% of the people favored the bill, and 60% were opposed.

I signed the civil unions bill because it was the right thing to do. Those of us who came of age during the civil rights movement have long understood that the strength of America lies in our commitment to equal rights under the law for everyone. Civil unions provide equal inheritance rights, equal hospital visitation rights, and equal insurance rights. Every legal right that I have as a married person, anybody in Vermont can have, including gays and lesbians. Today, Vermont is the only place in America where equal rights under the law means equal rights under the law for every citizen, not just for the people we like or the people we're comfortable with or the people who look like us.

President Bush's and Senator Santorum's remarks remind us that while laws may guarantee equal rights, laws alone do not create equality. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 guarantees equal rights for minorities in this country, but the law did not end racism and prejudice. The civil unions law guarantees equal rights for same-sex couples in Vermont, but the law did not end discrimination toward gays and lesbians.

Creating equality for all requires the personal responsibility of everyone. As Americans, we can no longer tolerate politics of division and still hope to achieve the promise of equality envisioned by our Founding Fathers. The dream of equal rights for all Americans will only be realized when all of us-whether in the corridors of power or in the hallways of our schools and offices-come together to create a community in which bigotry and hatred is cast out from the forum of public discourse. I believe equal rights can be achieved, but it will only be achieved when we have leaders in the highest offices of the land who stop pandering to bigots in exchange for a handful of votes.

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Tagen-Anzeiger, Dienstag, 29. April 2003

18:30 -- Newsticker Ausland Erste Annäherung der Irak-Kontrahenten Putin und Blair

MOSKAU - Das erste Treffen zwischen dem russischen Präsidenten Wladimir Putin und dem britischen Premierminister Tony Blair seit Beginn des Irak-Krieges hat eine leichte Annäherung der Positionen gebracht.

Sowohl Putin als auch Blair sprachen sich für eine Beteiligung der UNO an den Ereignissen im Irak aus, wenn auch mit unterschiedlichen Vorstellungen. Putin bekräftigte die Forderung nach einer Führungsrolle der UNO bei der Nachkriegsordnung in Irak, während Blair von einer engen Zusammenarbeit der UNO und der Alliierten sprach.

Der von Blair vorgeschlagene Drei-Stufen-Plan sieht in der ersten Etappe den Wiederaufbau im Lande, die Stabilisierung der Lage und humanitäre Hilfe vor. Danach könne eine Interims-Regierung eingesetzt werden, ehe in der dritten Stufe eine neue Verfassung verabschiedet und eine neue Führung in Bagdad eingesetzt würde.

Putin wertete diesen Vorschlag als "für Russland annehmbar". Er stelle eine gute Grundlage für eine Annäherung der Positionen dar. Er betonte, dass die UNO unbedingt an einer Friedenslösung im Irak beteiligt werden müsste.

Der russische Staatschef forderte eine schnelle Rückkehr der UNO-Waffeninspektoren. Zugleich schlug er vor, die Arbeit der unabhängigen Inspektoren von UNO-Blauhelmen abzusichern.

Gesprächsbereitschaft deutete Putin bei einer Entschuldung des Iraks an, doch müsse diese Frage im Pariser Klub der staatlichen Gläubiger gelöst werden. Die gestürzte irakische Führung von Saddam Hussein schuldet Russland etwa acht Milliarden US-Dollar.

Blair bekräftigte, dass er wie geplant Ende Mai zu dem 300-jährigen Stadtjubiläum von St. Petersburg kommen werde. Dort werden die Befürworter des Irak-Krieges, Bush und Blair, genauso erwartet wie die Kriegsgegner mit dem deutschen Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder und dem französischen Staatschef Jacques Chirac. (sda)

ms: das dürfte dann nach dem Zürcher Sechseläuten wirklich ein heisser Sommer werden....

zur gleichen Zeit für unsere Deutschen Freunde auf Yahoo news... scheint der Polit Kachelmann die heisse Zeit oder den Sommer schon schneller herbeizureden....

Dienstag 29. April 2003, 19:10 Uhr Putin geht auf Konfrontationskurs zu USA Moskau (AP) Der russische Präsident Wladimir Putin hat sich am Dienstag vom britischen Premierminister Tony Blair nicht von seinem Konfrontationskurs zu den USA abbringen lassen: Vor der von den USA geforderten Aufhebung der UN-Sanktionen gegen Irak müsse der Beweis über die Verschrottung der irakischen Massenvernichtungswaffen her, forderte Putin nach einem zweistündigen Gespräch mit Blair in Moskau. Zudem könne der nachhaltige Wiederaufbau Iraks nur mit einer starken Rolle der UN gelingen.

ms: Welches Schweinderl hättens denn gern? Was soll man nun davon wieder halten? Immer mehr verkommen die news zu einer Sache des Standpunktes und der Zielsetzungen. Die Wahrheit bleibt dabei als erstes auf der Strecke.......Entweder dem Tages-Anzeiger Jurnalisten wurde Honig um den Mund geschmiert oder der Yahoo Schreiberling gehört zur Zunft der Neo-Konservativen Amerikaner.

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WHO to guarantee Thai meat exports

Yuwadee Tunyasiri

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will announce Thailand as ``a Sars zero-transmission country'' at the Asean Sars summit today.

The meeting is likely to work out standard anti-Sars measures for the region.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said in Phetchaburi yesterday that after today's meeting, Mr Thaksin would declare Thailand ``a Sars zero-transmission country''.

She said national leaders and the region's top health officials would join the meeting that was expected to put in place a set of common measures to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

``We have to prove that we are serious in handling the issue and everything was being done transparently and there was no hidden agenda. Better control mechanisms would not only halt the spread of the disease, but would also create confidence among countries outside the region and help revive trade, investment and tourism,'' Mrs Sudarat said.

She noted that information exchanges were essential as the disease had started showing strange development patterns.

Doctors have noticed that most of the elderly patients do not develop a high fever but become lethargic and feel drowsy before being gripped by Sars. Young patients on the other hand are hit by diarrhoea before developing Sars, she said.

All participants from Singapore, Hong Kong and China to the meeting will be screened for Sars.

But the prime ministers and ministers from these countries will be examined in advance and will not have to face virus checks again at Don Muang airport. Others will not be spared. But no one would be required to wear protective masks at the airport or at today's meeting.

Mrs Sudarat has also asked the World Health Organisation to guarantee through certification that fresh food exports from Thailand were Sars-free.

A wrong impression was created in Singapore after the island state closed its wholesale and retail food markets for sterilisation. The markets are among the destinations where fresh meat from Thailand is available. Some importing countries had panicked to the point that they had started demanding Sars-free certificates for Thai fresh food imports from the Public Health Ministry, she said.

The WHO will issue a statement to back the Thai claim on its website, Mrs Sudarat said.

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