Television News

Moore is the judge who refused to remove a colossal hunk of rock with the Ten Commandments on them, resulting in a fine from the very court he swore to serve.

Steve Gordon lays out the case for Moore in tongue-in-cheek fashion. They include national media exposure ("we can be sure that Alabama will be highlighted on a daily basis on programs like The Tonight Show, The Daily Show and Bullshit!. We'll also be helping the national economy, as sites like The Onion and Wonkette will have to hire additional writers to keep up with us.") and increasing religious diversity ("With respect to religion, Alabama is one of the least diverse places I've been.  The institution of the worship of idols made out of stone will go a long way to re-establish our primal pagan [and pre-Ten Commandments] values.")

More, including Moore's theocratic beliefs on the gays and the gambling, here.

by Mark Silva

As President Barack Obama prepares to depart Tuesday for a trip that will carry him from Saudi Arabia to France -- with an address to the Muslim world from Cairo in the middle of the journey -- he is starting to aim his megaphone at a global audience.

In an interview with the BBC on the eve of the trip, the president was asked about delivering his appeal for peace to the Muslim world from a city, Cairo, where many political prisoners are being held, and how he can reconcile the two.

"The message I hope to deliver is that democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion those are not simply principles of the West to be hoisted on these countries, but rather what I believe to be universal principles that they can embrace and affirm as part of their national identity,'' Obama said in an interview airing this evening.

"Now, the danger, I think, is when the United States or any country thinks that we can simply can impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture .. our job,'' Obama tells BBC interviewer Justin Webb.

"Absolutely we'll be encouraging ......and I think the thing that we can do most importantly is to serve as a role model, and that's why, for example, closing Guantanamo from my perspective -- as difficult as it is -- is important, because part of what we want to affirm to the world is that these are values that are important even when it's hard, maybe especially when it's hard -- and not just when it's easy."

Part of the interivew will be broadcast on BBC World News and BBC World Service radio at 9 pm United Kingdom time, and the full interview will air on Tuesday a 04:30 am UK time. The BBC Obama interview also will be shown online.

The president leaves Tuesday evening for Saudi Arabia, where he will hold private meetings with the king before traveling to Cairo for his public address on Thursday, and then on to Dresden, Germany, for a visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp, and finally to Paris for commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landing.

Crowley talks to a member of the group: