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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Tag Archives | foreign policy

The Sunday Early Bird Round-Up

By on 19 December 2010

Early bird gets the worm!

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I am not- methinks I may be getting the flu or something suspiciously like it. But this isn’t about me!



On this day in history, December 19th 1777, George Washington led his army to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.

Have some links

~RIP Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, 1993-2010. The Pentagon is warning that it will take time to make the changes- the POTUS and Pentagon have to certify that the changes won’t hurt the military’s combat capability (didn’t we do that already?) and then a waiting period is triggered. Stay tuned

~It’s not often that I agree with Dana Milbank but he does a good job calling out McCain’s bizarre behavior with respect to DADT. It would be one thing if McCain hadn’t totally flip-flopped on the issue, but given he has, his rage-filled self-righteousness has become tedious.

~The Democrats are now saying that the 9/11 first responders bill may finally pass this week. This is actually a rare case of the Democrats being on message with this and really pushing the issue front and center. Speaking of which, if Fox News’ Shep Smith keeps this up, he’s going to find himself on the wrong side of Rupert Murdoch.

~It’s time we call the U.S. Chamber of Congress what they are- unpatriotic.

~Someone in the Swedish police seems to have leaked the actual police report detailing the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

~Nick Kristoff gives us a humanitarian gift guide for the holidays.

~Justice Scalia takes another step towards eroding the confidence the public has in the Supreme Court. Apparently he has accepted an invitation from the Tea Party to give a Conservative Constitutional Seminar. Chief Justice John Roberts should tell Scalia to stay at home.

~Why is the FHFA refusing to do it’s part to help the housing crisis? Why isn’t it doing it’s job and allowing principal reductions and other mortgage modifications under Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as instructed? Congress dropped the ball when it didn’t take the opportunity to overhaul Fannie and Freddie, particularly given the hundred billion dollar bailout they received from the US taxpayer.

~The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, reiterated that the U.S. is “very ready” for confronting Iran, whatever that means. I can’t believe that any military leader actually believes that the US is in a position to make a preemptive strike against another country right now if it could lead to full-scale war. While talking tough about a military strike against Iran may make some people feel better, I hope those same people will advocate for a draft (w/o exemptions except in the most limited circumstances) and/or a war ta in the event that any military strike turns into a full-scale war/regime change operation. I think we’ve become a bit too insulated from the actual horrors of war. It’s easy to advocate for a war in a far-off place that other people will be called upon to fight, while those of us back here in the States are not called upon to sacrifice anything. Anything.

~John Bolton in 2012? Please.

~Lets be honest, the Beltway talking heads love this tax bill. They are heralding it as the opening for Obama to be the Comeback Kid! Of course, Obama can’t win in 2012 if his once-upon-a-time (in 2008) energized base decides they would rather stay home and eat cheetos than go and vote for a fence-sitter. Will DADT repeal be enough to keep the base happy for the next two years?

~I don’t usually agree with the WaPo’s Michael Gerson but I do this time- Obama’s annoyed arrogance was on full display during the roll-out of the tax compromise.

~Republican Senator Lindsay Graham took to the floor of the Senate to complain he was too tired to “think” about the new START treaty because it’s right before Christmas and he had a “week from hell” which consisted of him having to “stop some bad ideas” and do a lot of like, legislative stuff. Bwaaaaah. I’d like to take this opportunity to point out to Senator Graham that his START homework was assigned 8 months ago in April and he’s had more than enough time to read it and get his assignment done. 10 points from Slytherin! [for you Harry Potter fans]

~For some reason I can never get videos to embed in posts here but this video will put a smile on your face if you haven’t seen it already.

~A new study found that people who watch Fox News are more uninformed than people who get their news from other sources- like, say, actual news channels.

~Careful CNN, or your viewers may soon be able to challenge Fox for being the most uninformed.

~The WaPo hires another conservative blogger. What’s going on at the WaPo these days?

~The GOP kills the DREAM Act.

~The CIA station chief in Pakistan has been recalled back to the US after his covert identity was disclosed in a lawsuit filed by a Pakistani man after his family members were killed in a drone attack.

~During his speech in Cairo, President Obama called on the Palestinians to renounce violence because it was an unacceptable means of achieving their goals. Secretary Clinton, for her part, has called on governments to abide by international law and work to ensure that the rights of people engaged in non-violent protest, be upheld. The case of Abdallah Abu Rahmah is just such a case but the State Dept. and White House has refused to comment on his ongoing detention despite his being a Palestinian nonviolent protest movement leader. This video really is incredible. I don’t care where one stands on this issue, if we are serious about encouraging nonviolence, then we have to encourage it across-the-board, not just when it’s politically expedient or politically easy.

The End.

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It’s Sunday. It’s the News Round-Up

By on 12 December 2010

Good morning and welcome to Sunday.

On this day in history, December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

I’ve scoured the internets for news and links so you don’t have to! So here are some links to go with your morning coffee:

~As we all know, Obama pulled Bill Clinton out of his back pocket because, well, people like Bill Clinton. Lets be honest, it doesn’t make the GOP’s economic gift basket to the wealthy any more palatable but it does show what a master politician Bill Clinton is and I mean that in a good way. He has passion and it shows.

Reasonable people can disagree as to what a Clinton would have done in this situation (whether Bill or Hillary) but I can’t help but wonder if Obama’s people were aware of what a terrible visual (for Obama) it was to have a strong, dynamic, respected, passionate ex-POTUS (Bill Clinton) standing next to a weak, disliked, professorial current POTUS (Barack Obama). The difference in style couldn’t have been more striking. I noticed that Bill Clinton didn’t lash out at the progressive base but rather tried to reason with all sides. Under the circumstances, that’s good politics. The big problem for the Democrats will be that once this passes it will no longer be “The Bush Tax Cuts” but rather “The Obama Tax Cuts.” Cheers, Obama!

~Oh look, more back room deals which add lots of goodies to the economic gift basket in the hopes of making it more palpable to some Democrats. There are tax breaks/incentives for agribusiness, environmentalists, the ethanol industry and urban commuters. But what about free ponies? Isn’t this the sort of thing which causes so many average people to be critical of how the beltway does business? This sort of thing is part of the problem, not the solution.

~In a move that should surprise no one, Obama’s former OMB chief Peter Orszag is going to be joining Citigroup, because that’s how it’s done.

~Thank God for Elizabeth Warren. I’d love to know what she thinks of this economic tax deal. We know her latest views on the mega-bonuses Wall Street is dishing out. You know, because they’ve done such a bang up job righting the ship so-to-speak.

~The latest tragedy in the Madoff family saga is the apparent suicide of Bernie Madoff’s son Mark, who was found dead yesterday in his NY apartment.

~How is the US ever compete with China and other global economic powerhouses if we not only continue to offshore manufacturing, but provide economic incentives for corporations to do it? This article follows the Chinese money trail and details how the Democrats play a huge role in ensuring that manufacturing stays overseas, even with respect to so-called Green Products. The global demand for these products should be a clarion call to politicians and private industry who want to create American manufacturing jobs but no, we’re going to allow China to take over that market, thank you very much. Because that’s how it’s done. You can see more about the issue here and here.

~Turkey and Israel are working on improving ties, in part as a result of Turkey’s willingness to provide assistance to Israel during the devastating fire in the Carmel region in Israel. While relations are on the mend there are still some sticking points, particularly with respect to the fallout over the flotilla incident in May.

~If the DREAM Act passes, what will happen to the White people?

~Daniel Levy of the New America Foundation (and former Israeli negotiator at Taba and Oslo) has some interesting views on the current Mideast peace impasse. Levy tends to be a realist who has a lot of experience under his belt and he questions the wisdom of the administrations’ strategy thus far. Basically, like so many other foreign policy watchers, he believes the current formulation used by the US is a mistake in that it repeats many of the mistakes of previous administrations. That said, he thinks there is still hope. It’s a good piece and worth a read.

~Thomas Friedman, on the other hand, has a very different view of the Israeli-Palestinian situation. In sum, he’s fed up. I think most can certainly understand his frustration. While I agree with much of what he says I think he oversimplifies it- he says that the US should step back and if the Israelis and Palestinians insist on staying on this unsustainable course then they can “live with the consequences.” But when have there ever been consequences? The notion that the US would just sit back and say to both parties “you dug your own ditch, now lie down in it” is not supported by history.

~Oh, so now David Brooks is an Obama fan and thinks Obama has had a fantastic week. I think a more accurate description is that it’s been a great week for David Brooks given his likely tax bracket. Any week that is bad for liberals is a good week for him. When people like Brooks are lauding Obama for “returning to principles” you know we’re getting screwed.

~If the Brooks article wasn’t enough, then try to digest this Dana Milbank column that has Milbank delighting in Obama’s new tough stance with liberals this week. I guess it was a good week for Milbank too. Milbank is the perfect liberal foil of the MSM establishment. He rarely misses an opportunity to rail against progressive base of the Democratic party.

~What a shocker- new Nixon tapes reveal Richard Nixon was a paranoid, bigoted jerk.

~William Easterly lauds John Lennon for his anti-war activism, noting that Lennon was more often than not a thorn in the side of the politically powerful. By means of comparison he disses modern celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Bono for their propensity to sidle up to the powerful as part of their philanthropy.

~Cheer up. The 9 funniest SNL holiday skits ever!

~Contrary to some media assertions, going after Julian Assange of WikiLeaks will not be easy. Some people seem to have forgotten that the person who allegedly stole the data isn’t Assange, but Pfc. Manning.

~On Friday the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to an empty chair as Chinese political prisoner Liu Xiaobo was refused permission to accept the prize, as was his wife who is purportedly in Chinese custody. Unfortunately, China was able to threaten quite a few countries with diplomatic repercussions if they sent representatives to attend the ceremony. To his credit, Barack Obama admitted that Liu Xiaobo was far more deserving of the prize than he was. Speaking of which, I wonder how the Nobel Prize committee is feeling about their last year’s winner, Barack Obama, right about now?

~The big Afghanistan review is due any day now and guess what- are you sitting down? The military leaders and Secretary Gates see signs of improvement but they need more time. Of course they do.

~Two bombs went off in a shopping district in Sweden yesterday- one apparently was the result of a suicide bomber who killed himself and injured several people. A second bomb went off in a car but there doesn’t seem to be any injuries or fatalities in that attack, which is good. The Swedish police were notified of the pending attack 10 minutes prior and were told it was related to Sweden’s participation in the war in Afghanistan. It’s not clear if this attack was tied to a larger Muslim extremist group or not.

~A sad and poignant farewell to Elizabeth Edwards. Peace.

~A little noticed, but important piece of news regarding Haiti- Senator Pat Leahy has formally requested all aid to the country be suspended as well canceling the travel visas of top government officials. The country has been through so much but the Presidential elections seem to have been rife with abuse and violence has erupted in the streets.

~Speaking of Haiti, Sarah Palin just arrived with Evangelical leader Franklin Graham and naturally only Fox is allowed access to her. She is apparently also planning a trip to Israel and I can’t help but wonder if she will speak out against the POTUS and long-standing US policy in the region? Some Palin pals are saying these trips will help “boost” her foreign policy credentials. Uh, really? Yet another bar lowered beyond what I thought was possible. If that’s the new foreign policy experience standard then that makes pretty much anyone with a valid passport qualified to be POTUS. Cheers!

~Frank Rich has a great opinion piece in today’s NYT about the controversy over the David Wojnarowicz film “fire in my belly” at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The work was part of a larger exhibition of same-sex themes in art and it garnered controversy for a four minute film which included a depiction of Jesus covered with ants- allegory for the fear and suffering so many were experiencing during the initial years of the AIDS crisis. Naturally, some conservative religious groups protested, followed by influential members of the GOP and the artwork was censored at the request of the Smithsonian. Rich points out the symbolic importance, and irony, of the National Portrait Gallery’s act.

~I’ve given it some thought and I think it’s time to get the pitchforks.

~Obama is going to meet with about 20 corporate CEO’s on Wednesday in order to “continue building his relationship” with them because, you know, if there is one group in this country that has been victimized by the White House, it’s corporate CEOs.

The End.

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The Sunday News Round-Up: The Post-Democratic Edition

By on 05 December 2010

Good morning and welcome to Sunday!

On this day in history, December 5, 1933, Prohibition ended as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution.

Why is this the post-democratic edition? I don’t want to be overly-depressing, but but if Obama caves on tax cuts for the wealthy, his political goose is cooked. That the GOP has been able to pursue a shameless and hypocritical Screw The Middle Class economic policy without any principled, vociferous opposition from the White House, shows just how weakened this administration is. Sure, we’ve heard some protestations about this from Obama and Gibbs but it’s too little too late. Right now the Democrats have no message and no messenger. Obama and his circle of political advisers are guilty of gross negligence to a degree I haven’t before witnessed. What took place yesterday on the floor of the Senate is a disgrace. The problem is, this isn’t merely a result of the midterm elections. From the very beginning, Obama’s political strategy was naive, his messaging off and his “compromises” seen as nothing more than capitulations.

Ok, on that happy note, here are some links to go with your morning coffee/tea:

~It’s about time someone makes a real effort to reign in and change or even get rid of the filibuster.

~Jim DeMint and his GOP pals are now claiming that the military report on DADT demonstrates that the military doesn’t want DADT repealed. Of course, that’s not at all what it says and they know that.

~Complicating this debate about DADT is the testimony given to Congress by top Marine and Army Generals this past week, opining that DADT should not be repealed right now, irrespective of the report’s finding. They say that wartime is not a good time for this type of change. Given we seem to be in a state of perpetual war, this seems like another attempt to kick the can way down the road for the foreseeable future. The testimony was interesting because it seems rather unusual to have some members of the top military brass openly defy the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and President of the United States. Of course, I’m not an expert in these chain of command issues. Does anyone know if this is unusual? Would they do this on any other issue?

~It’s hard to believe if Julian Assange weren’t Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, that this European arrest warrant would even have been issued.

~Prime Minister Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas spoke via telephone about the deadly fires raging in the Carmel region of Israel. The PA has apparently offered the assistance of the Palestinian Civil Defense forces to aid in slowing the spread of the fire. So that’s positive given the current stalemate. President Obama also spoke with Netanyahu about the fires and equipment and resources from the U.S. should begin arriving today. The fires started on Thursday and have killed at least 42 people and forced the evacuation of thousands.

~Not only is Dick Morris unethical, he’s never really right about anything.

~Glenn Beck and history- after reading this story I think maybe Glenn Beck doesn’t realize that Octavian and Augustus are the same person? I don’t know. He just makes no sense. Or maybe Beck’s just an insufferable liar who knows that the people who watch his show could care less about whether Octavian and Augustus are the same person- they just want to hear scary conspiracy theories about George Soros, Barack Obama and the new Black Panther party.

~WikiLeaks cables would seem to indicate that the U.S. knew that all was not well in the run-up to the Iraqi elections in March. While some disagree, I still can’t totally escape the conclusion that Iran was the main winner in the Iraqi election. Rather ironic, huh? But I guess time will tell.

~The Washington Post has an interesting interview with Brazil’s first woman President (-elect), Dilma Rousseff. It’s interesting and worth a read, particularly given the current tensions in US-Brazil relations.

~Progressive Michael Lerner has an opinion-piece in the Washington Post urging progressives to offer up a primary challenge to Obama in 2012. Or at least threaten to. That would seem to imply that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is organized, has a message and has its act together and as a member of the progressive base, I just don’t see that. At all. Of course, Lerner seems to want to use this as a tactic geared towards moving Obama to the left as opposed to actually putting forth a viable progressive challenger to Obama (and by definition, the Democratic establishment) for 2012.

~Over at Foreign Policy, Dahlia Scheindlin looks at the Israeli referendum law that was recently passed by the Knesset. She argues that it doesn’t necessarily negatively impact the peace process or likelihood of achieving a two-state solution. She does, however, point out that quite a few Israeli lawmakers disagree.

~The federal deficit is bad, but the crisis facing states and municipalities is worse, much worse.

~Frank Rich has an opinion piece in today’s NYT that I think is spot-on. Obama is suffering from the political version of Stockholm Syndrome as he continually gives the GOP the sticks that they use to beat him over the head with. It’s a good read.

~Chas Freeman has a different take on the WikiLeaks debacle vis-a-vis the Arab States’ reaction to Iran’s purported nuclear ambitions.

~What the heck?

~Here are some photos from last night’s Kennedy Center Honors’ dinner.

~This NYT Magazine profile of JPMorgan Chase shows that the bankers are laughing all the way to the bank, all the while crying “but we’re the real victims here!”

~Joe Miller of Alaska keeps fighting for the Senate seat he’s not going to get.

~The fed wants to make it much harder for the average homeowner to prevent foreclosure and escape the terms of predatory loans. That’s a great time to do this, really.

~Here is a great profile of dogs being used to help combat veterans cope with PTSD.

~A rather ugly fight is taking place in the Texas House of Representatives. You see, the current Speaker of the House is Joe Straus and he happens to be Jewish. Why does that matter? Well, quite a few members of the Texas House want a Christian Conservative running the House, the operative word in that phrase being Christian. Oh, but that’s not anti-Semitism according to the anti-Straus crowd, no siree! It’s just, ummm, well, Christians have the “right” values. You can read this tortured logic directly from the Texas Observer.

~Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation: only property owners should vote. Is it me or are we witnessing some sort of backwards evolution? I guess that would be de-evolution?

~In Ecuador the volcano known as the Throat of Fire has erupted.

The End.

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The Sunday News Round-Up: Post-Thanksgiving Edition

By on 28 November 2010

I hope everyone had a nice long holiday weekend.

On this day in history, Nov. 28, 1520, Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.

Here are some links to go with your morning coffee/tea:

~Did anyone go shopping on Black Friday? Retailers are dancing around the cash registers and the preliminary numbers indicate it was a good turnout but the real numbers won’t be in until next Thursday. I stayed home and shopped via internet. I hate those crowds.

~Here’s another reason to hate Citigroup.

~This story about Fox Nation just writes itself. Unfortunately, Fox took down the original article and that is a travesty because the comments were priceless. Apparently the fake story was “recommended” on Facebook over 1,000 times.

~The debate over Park51 unleashed a torrent of Islamaphobia and one of the worst things that resulted from it was the elevation of the formerly-fringe right-wing hate blogger Pamela Geller into mainstream discourse and GOP politicians have started looking to her as a source of anti-Muslim rhetoric.

~The first baby Gentoo penguin born in Australia made it’s first public appearance for the cameras last week and it’s way cute.

~The USS George Washington is engaging in naval exercises with the South Koreans and China is quietly fuming. Of course, if China wanted to reign in its communist ally, it could do so quite easily, which speaks volumes. Over at Foreign Policy, Aidan Foster Carter pours cold water on all the diplopundits who are stepping up to the plate to plead with China to act responsible and reign in their erstwhile ally. Carter’s response? Ain’t gonna happen. China is merely calling for an emergency session of the Six Party Talks.

~The possible repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) has brought all the looney tunes out of the woodwork. Salon has an excellent commentary on a rather offensive article penned by retired Army and part-time county Magistrate (Tennessee) Joe Rehyansky. He spends a lot of time talking about gay guys wanting to look at naked guys in the shower (what is this heterosexual male obsession with showers?) and he throws around a lot of right-wing stereotypes that you probably thought had gone the way of the Dodo bird thanks to that thing we call Social Progress. Nope! I’m not even going to get into the part about lesbians and “corrective rape.”

~The cat known as “Prince Chunk,” who became famous in 2008 because, well, he was so fat (allegedly 44lbs) is now in cat heaven. Goodbye Prince Chunk, I already miss you. Although you are nowhere near as cute as my Scooter.

~Michael Steel is again being criticized for potential financial mismanagement- this time over preliminary spending on the 2012 National RNC Convention that is to be held in Tampa, Florida.

~Yediot has an interesting analysis of what may be going on between the U.S. and Israel regarding the alleged security deal in return for a settlement freeze. Israel is waiting for certain guarantees in writing, but apparently none has been forthcoming. The commentary is written by one of Yediot’s defense analysts. It’s a good read and it gets much more in-depth than anything I have seen in the US papers. H/T to Coteret for the translation.

~All the people who are now saying that we should have airline security similar to that in Israel probably haven’t ever been to Ben Gurion airport. Given the relatively small amount of air traffic that Israel sees daily in comparison to the US, the two situations are hardly comparable. There is no question at all that Israel’s airport security has had outstanding results but replicating it on such a large scale would be difficult if not impossible, assuming that we really wanted to go down that road. Imagine every passenger being pulled aside and interviewed anywhere from 10-20 minutes by multiple security personnel. Now multiply that by tens of thousands of people a day- in just one airport. And then of course there is the issue of the enormous costs associated with it.

~Senator Tom Carper adds his voice to the debate over the airport security issue here.

~Sarah Palin and Jonah Goldberg- great minds think (and write) alike! Wait, what’s that you say? Jonah Goldberg’s wife “helped” Sarah Palin with her book? I can’t help but wonder if Sarah Palin has even read this new book by Sarah Palin? Thank God for ghostwriters! Btw, when you have a ghostwriter, you no longer can classify yourself as “one of the common folk” because average people don’t have ghostwriters- they spend years writing their own book.

~Lil Demon! And then this little guy!

~One of the big lies of the midterm elections was that the Tea Party represented the average Jane and Joe and the outside-the-beltway interests. Of course, had the media done their job people would have known that many of the candidates were actually heavily influenced by inside-the-beltway cash, consultants and policies. The Democrats would do well to sit back, hold up a mirror and ask themselves why they are unable to compete with these groups and why they are unable to provide a unified message. Perhaps they don’t have a message anymore but this is politics and combating the spin and defining yourself (as opposed to letting your opponent do so) is half the game.

~The Pentagon’s report to Congress on progress in Afghanistan seems to indicate there hasn’t been a whole lot of progress.

~The State Dept. has sent a legal letter to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, again requesting him to cease and desist with the pending document dump of diplomatic cables.

~The FBI foiled a terror plot involving a Somali born teenager in Oregon as part of a six month sting operation.

~Modern day sex trafficking in our own back yard.

The End.

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Sunday News Round-Up

By on 21 November 2010

A Very Cute Bird

Good morning! I’m sorry I didn’t get this up earlier but apparently I angered the Gremlins that keep my computer working properly and they conspired to almost make this Sunday round-up never happen.


On this day in history, November 21, 1922, Rebecca Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.


Your Sunday Link Dump:

~Wall Street Behaving Badly: Criminal Edition.

~Afghan deadline, what Afghan deadline? Obama’s becoming more and more just like every other run-of-the-mill Washington hawk.

~While everyone is breathlessly claiming Iran is two years away from obtaining a fully functional nuclear weapon (something both the US and Israel have been saying for over a decade and each two years passes and…no nuclear weapon!), here’s a country which has a brand spankin’ new nuclear weapons facility that actually can develop nuclear weapons- now. Anyone want to venture a guess as to where this particular country got all their modern equipment? (*cough*China*cough*)

~The Pope grants a super-narrow exception to the Church’s prohibition on the use of condoms in preventing the spread of AIDS.

~Frank Rich on Palinmania.

~An interesting look at why the Marines from the bottom on up, are so resistant to overturning DADT.

~Are Michael Steele’s days numbered? Some big GOP guns want him out as RNC Chair.

~I don’t know whether Julian Assange is guilty of these rape/molestation charges but I can’t help but wonder if the U.S. has been leaning on Swedish prosecutors with regard to this international arrest warrant that has been issued. It’s very unusual for a warrant of this type to be issued this quickly in a case like this.

~You may have heard that there is a little debate brewing in the Beltway about how to cut spending, reduce everybody’s taxes and continue to spend obscene amounts of money on wars that seemingly never end. But here’s an article that makes clear that when it comes to Afghanistan, money is no object. In fact, moving the goal posts back to at least 2014 could end up costing taxpayers hundreds of billions more, not including some costs such as veteran benefits, etc. which could take the long-term costs into the trillions (in addition to what already has been spent). This at a time when we are being told that meaningful health reform is too expensive, cuts need to be made to Medicare and most of us will not be able to retire anywhere near the age of 65. And yet there is very little debate on this.

~Ben Bernake finally got a spine and called out China for its currency manipulation. Apparently appeasing the Chinese in all things hasn’t really done anything but embolden them. You would think President Obama would begin to notice this pattern- when you don’t stand up for certain key principles, other world leaders (and members of Congress) begin to think you are a pushover.

~The earmark debate is a thinly-veiled ruse foisted upon an overly-gullible public.

~Just as with everything else, the administration’s jaw-dropping “incentives” package to the Israelis have pretty much outraged everyone on all sides of the political spectrum. That’s quite a feat. When you have the former Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, blasting the administration (and Israel) for rewarding Israel for it’s intransigence, it’s a pretty good sign that the administration has drank a bit too much of the kool-aid. The latest twist in this saga is that the US originally said the three billion dollars in military hardware would go to Israel contingent upon signing a deal with the Palestinians. But Israel doesn’t like that. So now it appears they will get their three billion in fighter jets even if there is no deal, which makes no sense. Oh yeah, and Anthony Weiner, Barney Frank and others have called on the administration to release Jonathan Pollard. I kid you not.

Kryptos at CIA headquarters
~Artist Jim Sanborn is trying to help people crack the Kryptos puzzle contained in his sculpture on the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. You can see the photo on the right. He’s tired of waiting for people to figure it out, apparently. It sounds pretty cool. Unfortunately, I’m terrible at puzzles.

~The TSA has eased security restrictions for airline pilots of US carriers- not pat-downs and no body scanning- they just have to show two forms of ID. Honestly, I can’t help but think that anyone who has to travel frequently would do almost anything to get through the security line in a timely fashion no matter what it involved. I’d walk through naked if it meant not having to spend hours waiting.

~ohmygoddidyouhearSarahPalinhasanewbookout?

~Ok, now the GOP has control of the House so they are digging right in to help the US economy right? Right? Of course not- if the US economy improves they won’t have as good of a chance of winning in 2012. One of their top pet projects – birthright citizenship. I kid you not. I guess after that it will be the defunding of NPR. Then maybe military action against Iran? The possibilities are endless!

~An interesting column about how the advances in glbt rights have helped those of us who are adults living in bigger cities, but not the younger generation living outside large urban areas.

~Have you seen this campaign ad that Republican bigwigs from DC wouldn’t let Sharron Angle air? It’s the BEST!

~Bryan Fischer of the patriotic Christian group the American Family Association wants you to know that the Medal of Honor has become “feminized” because it never goes to people who cause mass slaughter, but rather to people who are just engaged in the stupid act of almost single-handedly saving their fellow soldiers’ lives while under attack by enemy forces. It’s time to give the Medal to some real men! Oh, and God loves lots and lots of blood and killing and wanton destruction. So says the Bible.

~Sarah Palin decries bear propaganda and wants us dunderheads in the lower 48 to know that when you come across one in the wild, you do not hug them.

~I’m sick of Sarah Palin and Grizzly Bear references. Ok, I said it.

~What does anti-defamation have to do with nuclear arms reduction? No idea.

~Best headline ever: Democrats in Congress Worried Obama Will Cave to GOP. Now that is a very rational fear.

~More Afghan election fraud, 2010 Parliamentary edition.

The End.

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Sunday News Round-Up

By on 14 November 2010

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Good morning!


On this day in history, November 14 1881, Charles J. Guiteau went on trial for assassinating President James A. Garfield. He was convicted and hanged. And so it goes.



Your Sunday link dump:

~Pro-democracy activist Aung San Sung Kyi was released from house arrest yesterday in Myanmar. While almost the whole world welcomed this long-overdue move, it is clear that the release was timed to ensure the pro-democracy movement wouldn’t get in the way of Myanmar’s recent sham elections. There is also the possibility that she could be re-arrested if the ruling junta feels threatened by the outpouring of support for her.

~To earmark or not to earmark, that is the question.

~This WaPo opinion piece by Patrick Caddell and Doug Schoen has generated lots of buzz on the internets. Irrespective of where one stands in regard to the Obama presidency, I find their logic to be tortured and inapplicable to any other situation in recent memory. I have been very disappointed in President Obama, but for the life of me I can’t get my mind around their argument. Imagine the same sort of advice being given to President Bill Clinton after his midterm defeat- “sir, if you want to unite the nation, quit!”

~Alvin Greene for President? Isn’t his 15 minutes of fame up yet?

~Nancy Pelosi seems to have averted a political knife-fight between Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn.

~When Barack Obama ran for the Presidency, didn’t he sort of make it sound like many of Bush’s terrorism policies were, well, a flagrant abuse of power and in some cases, undemocratic and even tyrannical? This isn’t really the sort of change many people had in mind. Oh, and the WH has apparently given up on closing Gitmo.

~It’s official, China owns all our stuff.

~Despite Joe Miller’s best efforts at getting as many write in ballots nixed from the final tally of votes in Alaska, Sen. Murkowski is maintaining her lead.

~Republican Rep. Eric Cantor promised a foreign leader that the GOP would serve as a “check” on the Obama administration’s foreign policy towards said foreign government. So, where’s the outrage? Oh, the foreign government is Israel? Never mind.

~I created a diary about this yesterday but I just wanted to highlight it because I just think it’s so strange. Cindy McCain totally flip-flopped on her opposition to DADT just days after the release of a really effective N0H8 anti-bullying ad. I get the feeling perhaps John McCain didn’t know she was going to do the ad? I don’t know, what do you think is going on?

~You know, if Sarah Palin runs for POTUS I can’t wait to see how she does it entirely through Facebook, Twitter and Fox.

~Speaking of which, Sarah Palin’s unfavorable numbers hit a new high. While there is no denying how popular she is with the Tea Party crowd, the same problem remains- she is not popular with independents and mainstream republicans. I don’t know how she could win the presidency with such a narrow base of support. Of course, I have been wrong before.

~Ok, you made it this far, good on ‘ya! Ever seen kite-surfing?

~Everything you need to know about how the media views democratic politics is summed up in this yawn of an opinion piece by Dana Milbank. Obviously, the only solution for Obama is to take on that annoying liberal base of his and tack to the right! It’s The Only Way!

~Hamid Karzai gave an interview to the Washington Post and I have a feeling the White House is abuzz this morning. It’s really worth a read. Basically, he’s on a collision course with Gen. Petreaus and the administration in terms of the direction of the war.

~Fox News host Mike Wallace is a man dammit and men don’t cry! And he knows how to satisfy a woman! So there!

~It’s official. Cats have a lot more class than dogs.

~The NY Times has obtained a report which the Justice Dept. has tried to prevent from becoming public- it outlines US complicity in preventing Nazi war criminals from being brought to justice if the US thought they could aid our intelligence or defense apparatus. It’s interesting that the Justice Dept. has been trying to block this- should we perhaps start calling it the Injustice Department?

~While no one can deny the wave of anger and disgust which resulted in the democrats’ “shellacking” in the midterms, there are some trends that just don’t make sense. For example, if you want to “throw the bums out” because of their insider status and Washington Ways, why then do you elect former Senator-turned-lobbyist Dan Coats to be one of the Senators of Indiana? Of course, FreedomWorks is also an inside job.

~Obama’s ten day trip to Asia was, well, underwhelming to say the least. More here.

~Steve Clemons over at the Washington Note has an interesting piece up about how Secretary Clinton, and by extension the administration, might benefit from bringing in some people who have differing views on how to move forward with respect to Mideast peace. There is a tendency in Washington to over-rely on the same people who hold the same views and that can be limiting. It may be time to think outside the box.

~Speaking of which, Netanyahu spilled the beans yesterday at his Cabinet meeting about what the US has offered Israel in return for a 90 day quasi-moratorium on settlement building in some areas (but not East Jerusalem). You can read about it here. The response of Netanyahu’s right wing coalition to what even the NYT and former Israeli Ambassadors have called “overly generous?” Everything the US has offered is not enough because they should be giving us all that stuff all the time anyway. Unbelievable. Netanyahu could still approve the deal but he could face the break down of his coalition. Or not.

~I’m fascinated by the MSM and White House spin on the formation of the Iraqi government, eight months after the election. While I guess something is better than nothing, it would appear that Iran may be the winner of the Iraqi elections. However, Foreign Policy’s Marc Lynch disagrees with that assessment. His article is here.

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Your Sunday News Round-Up

By on 17 October 2010

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a good autumn weekend.

On this day in history, October 17 1610, King Louis XIII of France, age 9, was crowned at Reims, five months after the assassination of his father, Henry IV.

Here are some links to go with your morning coffee or tea:

~More WikiLeaks whistleblowing, this time about the Iraq War. I have a feeling this could be a doozy. I wish WikiLeaks had been a bit more responsible about keeping names and information about some informants, confidential, but at the end of the day, given both Democrats and Republicans insist on maintaining shadow governments which operate with minimal oversight and under the auspice of “State Secrets,” we do need whistleblowers now more than ever. Sad, but true. Secretary Gates has said the leaks haven’t done much damage but at the same time they continue to claim they are a threat to national security.

~This is a fantastic idea, but it’s a little late in the game in terms of messaging. Ending the tax breaks that entice large corporations to send our jobs overseas should be considered a patriotic litmus test as far as I’m concerned- any yahoo can stick a flag pin on their lapel or a yellow ribbon on their gas-guzzling car but to me, patriotism should be, in part, about keeping our economy viable for the long-term. And for that to happen, we need to actually start manufacturing things again.

~So, who wants to touch this political-social-religious hot potato? Is there a media double-standard when it comes to news personalities making stupid comments that are offensive to large groups of people, particularly when it comes to religion? Over at Salon’s War Room, they are asking why Rick Sanchez was gone in 60 seconds while Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade can say outrageously offensive things about Muslims and still keep his job. Raw Story has more.

~Condi Rice is doing her best to whitewash the lies that led to the Iraq War. Sorry, Condi, it was more than poor execution. Glenn Greenwald makes some very good points about how we Americans live in a political culture that promotes zero accountability. Obama met with Ms. Rice to talk about foreign policy issues. And the circle is complete…

~Oh, and speaking of zero accountability, the NYT is reporting that Iraqi Sunnis who had originally worked with US troops have switched sides and joined Al Qaeda, dealing a significant blow to our efforts there.

~Apparently crime pays. At least if you are the former CEO of Countrywide. A $67 million fine sounds like a lot, until you realize he made about $140 million in 2007 alone.

~Tony Blair gets a literary award he’d probably pass on if he had his say. It’s for bad erotic fiction- in his memoir.

~Ethan Bronner is still trying to convince us that the whole Israeli settlement snafu is actually not so black and white because after all, the U.S. and Japan consider them legal. Except Japan really doesn’t and the U.S.’ policy towards settlements has been so politicized over the years that it’s difficult to make any sense of it. I had a conversation with Bronner about this about two weeks ago and he’s been called out by Phillip Weiss, among others, for harping on the “the US thinks the settlements are illegal” meme. This recent article of his seems to be an attempt to hit back at the people and groups who are constantly reminding him that settlement expansion is not only an obstacle to peace, but a violation of international law. I did some research and it turns out that Ronald Reagan in 1981 changed how we spoke about settlements and he unilaterally declared them no longer illegal. There was no legal basis for this change and as far as I can tell there was no formal process that was involved. In fact, it smacks of pure politics as it was during the time of the rise of the Evangelical Right (many of whom were Christian Zionists because of their belief about the role Israel played in”the Rapture”) and also the expanding influence of some pro-Israel groups like AIPAC. In other words, the change in how we referred to the settlements had nothing to do with a brand-spanking new legal interpretation or belief that the Geneva Conventions’ articles dealing with land expansion by an occupying power suddenly was no longer relevant, but rather it had everything to do with short term political expedience.

~The U.S. had been warned about about the terrorist links of one of the people involved in the terrorist attack in Mumbai, India. It appears that the US may have been hesitant to delve too deeply into the double life of David C. Headley because he was also a Pakistani informant for the U.S. DEA. The situation also may represent another stunning breakdown in communications between our different intelligence agencies. It’s all well and good to have us all take off our shoes at airport security but if the massive intelligence bureaucracy can’t communicate with each other when they have actionable intelligence, then what’s the point?

~The dems have come to the earth-shattering conclusion that voter turnout among African Americans is key. Like I said, earth-shattering. They may want to consider focusing on turnout with every other group that has traditionally been key to Democratic success in elections- women, gay folks, white people, the base, independents. Is it me or are the Democrats just looking for excuses for their inability to unite the party behind any person or message other than “vote for us because we’re not them?”

~These guys sort of defy gravity.

~The NYT has called out the Obama administration for using a totally disingenuous argument for appealing the injunction issued by the Federal court in California which found that DADT is unconstitutional. Essentially, the court ordered the military to stop enforcing DADT. The NYT points out that the arguments made by the administration are the same anti-gay, fear-mongering arguments made by the anti-gay right. The problem is that if and when the administration ever gets around to actually doing something about DADT, the GOP and conservative democrats will use the Obama administration’s own arguments against overturning the ban. Obama is trying to claim that the only way DADT can be stopped is via Congress. This is patently untrue. It is well within the rights of the federal courts to strike down laws deemed unconstitutional. It is becoming more clear every day that despite Obama’s lofty promises of ending this policy, he has absolutely no intention of doing so.

~A 50 seat gain for the GOP in the House? Obama and the Democrats have no one to blame but themselves.

~Quite a few people are perplexed about the disconnect between Obama’s stated foreign policy goals (prior to taking office) and how he has actually conducted his foreign policy. Reasonable people can disagree, but I think there is a strong argument that Obama set expectations way too high in certain parts of the world like South America and the Middle East, and it has actually made things worse. As soon as he gets the slightest pushback from any quarter, he immediately back-tracks and looks weak.

~Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is upset about the increasingly political tenor of the political speech know as The State of the Union. So, in protest, he’s not showing up this year. In other words, he’s playing politics.

~It’s official. Rupert Murdoch is not only a jerk to those with whom he disagrees politically, but apparently also to his own shareholders. Why on earth the mainstream media continues to pretend Fox News is a legitimate news organization, is beyond me.

~Can we please put to rest this notion that the Tea Party fanatics actually have legitimate political concerns when a) they were totally silent during the eight years when the GOP were spending like a bunch of drunken sailors; b) they did nothing constructive with health care or illegal immigration during that time, and c) they can’t seem to name one actual program they would cut? It’s all well and good to say taxes are evil, the government is intrusive and the national debt is too high but I haven’t heard a single one of them offer a realistic plan for anything. All they seem obsessed with is ensuring that all of us white people understand that it’s the people with dark skin who are causing all of our economic problems. That’s original.

~German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that multiculturalism in Germany has been a failure. Her comments are pointed, seem to be directed at the nation’s Muslims and could increase tensions.

~These politicians simply have to stop the verbal gay-bashing. It’s unacceptable irrespective of how one views the issue.

~If these guys are the next iteration of the national Democratic party, count me out.

~The Obama administration punts again on the issue of China’s manipulation of their currency. Got backbone?

The End.

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Your Sunday News Round-Up

By on 10 October 2010

Good morning, I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

On this day in history, October 10, 1967, the Outer Space Treaty, prohibiting the placing of weapons of mass destruction on the moon or elsewhere in space, went into effect.

Some links to go with your morning coffee:

~Iran admits espionage
at its nuclear facilities which probably means it’s much worse than they are letting on. And I guess that Stuxnet computer virus/worm did some real damage to their infrastructure including possibly their nuclear sites.

~Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife started a new right wing organization that keeps the source of its donations secret and some have said this could create the perception of impropriety with respect to Justice Thomas, as he likely knows who the large contributors are. The concern is more about businesses and organization contributions than individual ones with respect to conflicts of interest that might arise if one of the companies had a case before the Court. Given how Thomas has made his political views very apparent in various speeches, I am going to go out on a limb and assume he could care less about any perception of impropriety. Kind of like Scalia duck hunting with Cheney.

~Violent homophobia on the rise? This story of the torture of two gay gang members is horrific.

~~ China is very, very angry. The best part is China’s massive censorship crack-down immediately following the announcement that Liu Xiaobo deservedly won the Nobel Prize, simply proves the point the Nobel committee was trying to make- China is an oppressive, freedom-hating, rights-violating communist regime. I understand that China is our banker, but if we don’t speak out against human rights abuses with more consistency, then we will lose all credibility- we can’t just speak out against countries like Iran, Cuba and Venezuela because it’s politically expedient, and popular, to do so. A better test of our commitment to human rights is our willingness (or not) to speak out when countries with whom have strong diplomatic ties, violate international norms.

~ Could somebody please explain to me why top Obama officials, including Cabinet members, were so willing to talk crap about each other to Bob Woodward, knowing that he was going to write a controversial tell-all book, like he always does? For the life of me, I can’t understand it. Did they think he was their therapist? Or their confessor? What did they think would happen when the book was published and all the embarrassing stories come out. Not to mention the fact that many of them come across as a ship of fools with all the infighting and backstabbing. I just started reading the book, but I am pretty amazed at the information I am seeing, assuming it’s true. Over at Salon, they have an idea how Woodward does it.

~Remember John Edwards? The Feds do.

~Tea Party favorite in Ohio, Rich Iott, has a thing for dressing up in Nazi SS uniforms and taking part in reenactments. Color me shocked.

~The Arab League agreed to essentially give the US one more month to make the Israeli settlement problem disappear. A cynical observer might see this as a victory for Israel, as it can continue to build settlements all the while Dennis Ross works on new rewards for Israel in exchange for a 60 day extension on settlements. You can read about some of the alleged rewards here. You know it’s bad when even former US ambassadors to Israel can’t believe what Ross and Obama have offered in exchange for almost nothing.

~Linda Norgrove, a British aid worker in Afghanistan, was killed during a botched rescue attempt by NATO and Afghan forces.

~Pakistan is going to reopen a key border crossing into Afghanistan after a 10-day blockade which saw the targeted destruction of upwards of 150 fuel supply trucks by insurgent groups including the Pakistani Taliban.

~ Have you seen this viral video? It’s really cool.

~The Center for Constitutional Rights is demanding to know what the U.S. is planning to do about the killing [at point-blank range] of American citizen Furkhan Dogan at the hands of Israeli commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara, now that autopsy results have been made public via the recently released, and subsequently ignored, UN report. So far, the State Dept. has nothing to say about Dogan’s death and the U.S. media have helped ensure, through their silence, that the U.S. government can continue to remain silent.

~Ann Coulter is trying to become relevant now that the Tea Party Crazies have stolen her racist, homophobic, mean-spirited, thunder. Have you ever noticed that all these right wingers who make a career of claiming there is a vast left-wing media conspiracy, get endless promotion and attention from said media?

~In a galling display of corporate cronyism, the Washington Post and NY Times have casually swept aside claims that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is subverting our democracy by using foreign donations to channel money to the GOP. Lets not forget one important factor- the NYT and the Washington Post are corporate entities. ‘Nuff said.

~It’s a sad day for the Washington Post when they have Dinesh D’Souza spewing his misinformed, paranoid, racist nonsense on their opinion pages. Yeah, I get that it’s an “opinon” but at this point, do they have any standards at all when it comes to filling up editorial space? Oh, that’s right, Fred Hiatt is in charge of dumpster diving filling that space. Never mind.

~Now that the economy has been in the tanker for a while and midterms are coming up, both democrats and republicans are pointing fingers at each other in campaign ads, alleging that their opponents have supported the outsourcing of jobs to China. Nice try. Both parties have helped ensure our economic loss is China’s gain.

~ The NYT has an interesting editorial about the legality/potential for abuse of Obama’s targeted assassination program. They are a little late to the game, don’t you think? Also, am I really supposed to believe, as the NYT claims (based on government assurances) that only 10 civilians have been killed as “collateral damage” in drone attacks this year? I have a feeling both Afghanistan and Pakistan would beg to differ. One of the problems with top secret programs which vest expansive power to the Executive, is that, well, they are top secret. We are left to simply take the government’s word for it when it comes to potential abuses. Speaking of which, the editorial also casually claims that it doesn’t seem like Obama has abused his authority under this program as of yet. How exactly do they know that? Once again, the NYT is trying to play both sides- tough on terrorism while pretending to care about civil liberties.

~The Senate puts Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on notice that if Mideast peace negotiations fall apart, it’s all the Palestinians’ fault. It’s going to be hard for the administration to be a legitimate mediator when the U.S. Congress is carrying Bibi Netanyahu’s water. But of course, there is no excuse for Barack Obama not realizing this prior to initiating these negotiations.

~The government was repeatedly warned about the foreclosure crisis, but did little to avert or even curb it.

~Apparently if you are an Arab-American college student, that alone warrants the FBI putting a GPS tracking device on your car, then showing up at your home after you find it and post the photos on the internet. Then, it’s apparently ok for the FBI to act like a bunch of goons as though ordinary laws don’t apply to them. Because apparently after the PATRIOT Act, they don’t.

The End.

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Sunday News Round-Up: Brunch Edition

By on 29 August 2010

Athabasca Glacier, Canadian Rockies

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I just got back from the Canadian Rockies and have been without internet access and have been trying to catch up on all the news, so doing the round-up today was a good way to check out the most recent political and foreign policy news. Hopefully I will be able to direct you to some stuff that you may have missed.



If you will indulge me, the photo on the left is one I took the other day of the Athabasca Glacier by the Columbia Icefields in Canada. I have a thing for mountains and glaciers, which is why I went there.



On this day in history, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, ravaging NOLA and areas in Mississippi and Tennessee. Also on this day in history in 1957, the Senate approved a Civil Rights Act after South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond ended a filibuster that had lasted 24 hours.

Some links to go with your coffee and tea or whatever gets you up and going in the morning/afternoon:

~Five years after Katrina, many struggles remain.

~One of the striking things about U.S. foreign policy is that it often seems that we undermine our own stated goals of keeping the U.S. safe and protecting U.S. economic interests at home and abroad. Case in point- U.S. Admiral Eric Olson has said that our current prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have substantially undermined our ability to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists.

~Senator Diaper David Vitter won his primary yesterday, proving that when Republicans are involved, mind-numbing hypocrisy is no barrier to re-election.

~The State Dept. is respectfully requesting that U.S. citizens please refrain from traveling to North Korea because we are running out of former Presidents to go to the Paranoid Kingdom and haul them out of prison and bring them back to the states.

~I don’t know how to say this other than, Bank of America still sucks.

~Justice Sonia Sotomayor has said that the WikiLeaks case will likely end up on the Court’s docket and will require them to balance national security interests vs. free speech. But of course, if as the administration says, there was really not that much in the document dump that we didn’t already know, then national security really isn’t a compelling argument except with respect to the reckless naming of Afghan informants working with the U.S. Given the make up of the Court, this doesn’t bode well for WikiLeaks.

~The U.N. will soon release a report which alleges that the genocide in Rwanda never really stopped- instead, the balance of power shifted from Hutu to Tutsi and the reprisals and ongoing genocide crossed the borders into the Democratic Republic of Congo- this time with Hutus being the victims. This poses a serious problem for the U.S., which has been a staunch ally of the post-genocide Rwandan government despite clear signs along the way that President Paul Kagame was fast becoming dictatorial and brutal in his handling of Rwandan society after the genocide.

~The White House has reportedly given Jewish-American leaders a briefing on the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Apparently, Muslim-American leaders will not be briefed. According to those present, the White House appears intent on shooting itself in the foot by creating a framework by which final status issues will be resolved within a one year time frame- but here’s the kicker- the Jewish American leaders were told the implementation stage can take up to a decade. Assuming this report is accurate, lets all put our thinking caps on and try to figure out why the White House would want to reassure only *some* people that nothing will be implemented any time in the near future…

~So, the White House once again gambled, dragged their feet, only to later throw their support behind Meek in Florida once the polls improved. So, what kind of support can Kendrick Meek expect from the White House (ie. Rahm) and the DNC in the next few weeks? Will they go all out to beat Crist or do they figure Meek is a lost cause and that Crist will fit in nicely with the White House’s attempts to appeal to independents and conservatives?

~Americans for Prosperity Foundation is having its tax exempt status questioned because, well, it’s clearly a politically partisan group with ties to the Tea Party and working in tandem with its overtly partisan sister group, Americans for Prosperity.

~Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren is writing in Newsweek and making sure everyone knows that ahead of the direct negotiations in September, the problem is the Palestinians, not the Israelis. On a more optimistic note, Martin Indyk gives us four reasons why the direct negotiations might succeed.

~Oh, by the way, speaking of Newsweek, everyone knows that Jane Harman’s billionaire husband, Sydney Harmon, purchased the magazine for one dollar earlier this month, right? While he only paid a dollar he will assume all their financial liabilities, estimated at over 70 million. Here is some background on Sydney and how he seems to have benefited from having wife who was also the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

~Health insurers are casting their lot with Republicans by a huge margin this election cycle. And probably the next one too.

~Question- I’ve been on vacation for the last week and a half so I am a bit behind on the news, but are we at war with Yemen and no one told me?

~Congratulations, you’ve made it this far. Have you ever seen a baby sloth?

~Steve Clemons has an interesting guest commentary over on his blog ‘The Washington Note’ about the strange Alan Gross saga- Alan Gross is the USAID worker who went to Cuba to bring democracy-promotion technology to the Jewish community there. From the very beginning the whole story struck me as not quite right. Anyway, he’s still in prison in Cuba and it has reignited the debate about how best to deal with Cuba.

~I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Glenn Beck anti-government, “restoring our honor” rally or whatever it was in DC yesterday. Apparently, if you don’t agree with Glenn Beck you have no honor. And no God. Webmistress Taylor Marsh was there to witness the event, God bless her, so be sure to catch up on all of her updates and commentary on it.

A sign at the Beck rally- nope, nothing political here, move along

~Obama may be having his very own ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment right about now in Iraq.

~A new poll shows a sizable majority of Americans believe gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military. Hear that Obama?

~New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s administration has lost out on upwards of $400 million in federal education funds and naturally they are blaming it on Obama despite the fact that is was clearly their own fault. That said, given the GOP’s 2010 election theme is that federal government entitlements are evil, I would think Christie would be PROUD to not receive that dirty blood money anyway, right? Right?

~The owner of the company JetAngel is donating two decommissioned missiles to be used as visual aids by anti-Cordoba House protesters around Ground Zero. Because nothing says “we hate violent extremism” like an actual missile with anti-Muslim slogans written on it, pointed at a proposed Mosque site.

~Rescued baby owlets here.

~Wanna know what the eight most secretive companies are? Check them out here.

~Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller stated today (on Face the Nation) that Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional.

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Comments Move to ‘In the News’

By on 08 April 2009
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This has been in the works for a very long time and today’s the day we launch it. No doubt, this will take some getting used to, but it’s change that I think will add new depth and possibilities for debate and discussion.

“In the News” is now the place for comments and even diaries, short or long.

Commenting on my posts will no longer be available within the main column.

But you’ll have plenty of space to rant away, even start a rhetorical rumble over “In the News.” It’s your section.

One of the things I’m really hoping will happen is dissenters will show up. I’ve been getting a lot of email on the subject of some people feeling frozen out, so maybe with “In the News” moved to a more prominent role on this site that will change.

I also hope some diaries appear.

I also hope that if you like a post you’ll use “Digg” more often.

This site has undergone a lot of changes in the last six months, especially recently, with more to come. The switch to focusing on foreign policy more and more over these months has brought new readers in, just as it has chased away many others. There is no doubt we’ve seen a real switch in our traffic. However, the important posts and subjects I’m just beginning to cover since moving to D.C. will continue to remain the focus, no matter the shifts in readership, though I believe we’ll see expansion as the changes solidify and more readers interested in foreign policy analysis find that is my main beat. Regardless, it’s following my bliss, my passions, something to which I’ve always been completely committed.

Seriously, how many other blogs do you see cover a foreign policy conference call with two prominent Arab-Israelis talking about the new Netanyahu-Lieberman government? That’s not a subject for everyone, but it’s one of the many foreign policy topics I believe is important, which is the basis on which I judge what subjects to cover.

I value every single reader. I also value all of the commenters, whom I hope will jump over “In the News” and continue what they would have done here, even change the subject.

I’d also like to take a moment to thank those of you who support this important enterprise of mine, with some of you jumping in to donate, even some doing the subscription I suggested last year. Others of you made a verbal pledge to donate, but haven’t made good on it, which I hope you’ll consider doing in the near future. To those of you who hit my advertisers, thank you! Clicking on the ads helps, too. However, it only takes $5 a month to make a difference to a small business owner like myself, though more is very much appreciated. So to SusanC, Craig, EMarie, Susan, Jane Austin, Tony, Paige, Denise, Sylvia, Jan, Boohall, Shelia, Shana, Gwen, Eddie, and so many others, thank you. It’s expensive and difficult to be a soul proprietor, especially when you wade into foreign policy waters so often, though you can bet I’ll always offer the political analysis as well. Oh, and podcasts are on the way, promise.

One last note. One of the things you haven’t seen often here is harsh criticism of President Obama. Part of that is due to the reality that in covering foreign policy the change from Bush-Cheney to Obama-Biden (and Clinton) has brought a gust of crisp, fresh air into the world. As many blogs focus on the economy, their criticism of Obama has been met with a sharp slap of indignation from the Obama faithful that threatens to shut down dissent through flame wars. I’ve gotten a lot of emails on this subject recently. We all have a duty to openly debate and criticize our President when it’s warranted. Dissenters are just as passionately supportive of our President as anyone, but also feel a duty to expect more out of him, especially considering what was promised. People covering the economic crisis full time know all about change not exactly being delivered.

Anyway, thanks for showing up here when you do, commenting, but also to share news you see, which I hope will become a bigger part of this little spot in new media over in your section of TM.com.

Meanwhile, I’ll be working like mad, as always. If you want to talk, just drop me a line. Maybe I’ll start sharing some of what you send, you know, besides the hate mail I still receive. I read everything sent to me, even if I don’t always have time to write back.

Thanks for your support. I appreciate it more than I can say.

–comments are closed–

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Republicans At War Within

By on 26 February 2009
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Rush discovered, to his shock evidently, that he’s got a listener gender gap. The man who coined “feminazi” and “info-babe” didn’t have a clue. His rationalization was that if he came out and changed his pro life stance all would be fixed. To help he had a “women’s summit.” I listened to it. Think Progress has a partial transcript and audio:

But I want some of these women to start telling me what it is I must do to close the gender gap — or, if not what it is I must do to close the gender gap, what it is I’ve done that has caused the gender gap; assuming the gender gap is true and that the poll is true. […]

I own the men, and what must I do now to own women?

When he wasn’t desperately trying to suck up to women, Rush was squealing that Republicans shouldn’t go after Gov. Jindal, and those who do should never call him again.

Then you have Sean Hannity who became unhinged talking to Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired admiral, yesterday on his show, using the imaginary marsh mouse and high-speed rail from Vegas to Disneyland to do it. Sestak did all he could to keep from laughing in his face (over satellite feed). Today Sean tried to rescue Bobby Jindal with an interview that was one for the books. When not comparing Jindal’s treatment by the media to what Sarah Palin experienced, Hannity was begging and pleading his audience to not throw Jindal overboard.

Gov. Sanford went around the bend, but ended up implying that Rush is an idiot, when asked about Rush’s comments that he wants Obama to fail. Via Real Clear Politics:

I don’t want him to fail. Anybody who wants him to fail is an idiot, because it means we’re all in trouble.

The new RNC chair, Michael Steele, when asked by Neil Cavuto if he’d withhold funds from Senators Specter, Snowe or Collins because of their support for the stimulus, basically said everything is on the table, “baby.”

Jim Bunning is threatening to sue the RNC.

The pressure is just too much these days.

President Obama’s cool has caused the wingnuts to blow their collective gasket. They don’t know where to turn or what to do.

But please, oh, please; oh, please; oh, please. Let the Republicans follow Bill Kristol, who’s got ideas about how Republicans can become relevant again. Evidently, channeling Jindal’s pessimism that government can’t solve any problems at all is catching. Emphasis added:

Perhaps — if they can find reasons to obstruct and delay. They should do their best not to permit Obama to rush his agenda through this year. They can’t allow Obama to make of 2009 what Franklin Roosevelt made of 1933 or Johnson of 1965. Slow down the policy train. Insist on a real and lengthy debate. Conservatives can’t win politically right now. But they can raise doubts, they can point out other issues that we can’t ignore (especially in national security and foreign policy), they can pick other fights — and they can try in any way possible to break Obama’s momentum. Only if this happens will conservatives be able to get a hearing for their (compelling, in my view) arguments against big-government, liberal-nanny-state social engineering — and for their preferred alternatives.

Kristol wants to change the subject from the economy to foreign policy. From the economy to “the war on terror.” From the economy to, well, anything having to do with blowing crap up in other countries, which neocons like Kristol label “foreign policy.”

The Republicans are desperate, but they don’t know what to do. They sure don’t want the subject to stay on domestic, and their business clients want health care, but they can’t afford to give Obama that win, but they don’t dare stop it. They don’t do domestic. Hell, they don’t do foreign policy well either. Because they don’t solve problems. They create them. And they’ve created a big problem for themselves now, which with every effort they’re making worse. That’s what they do.

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Secretary Clinton in South Korea

By on 19 February 2009
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwviBEsDt_4

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in South Korea today. It is the 3rd stop on her four nation Asian tour. While en route to Seoul, South Korea, Secretary Clinton spoke extensively with reporters aboard her plane on the tense relationship between North and South Korea that has recently heated up given the “evidence that North Korea was gearing up for a launch of a long-range missile.” Clinton said she “will be receiving briefings in Seoul by the U.S. military and their South Korean counterparts on their assessment of the North’s recent actions.”

Clinton said today that “that a potential power struggle to succeed North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, had injected a troubling new element into negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.”

“If there is a succession, even if it’s a peaceful succession, that creates more uncertainty, and it may also encourage behaviors that are even more provocative, as a way to consolidate power within the society,” said Mrs. Clinton, on her first foreign trip as secretary of state.[...]

“This is an especially important time for South Korea, as they are confronting a lot of worries about what’s up in North Korea, what the succession could be, what it means for them,” Mrs. Clinton said.

“Our goal,” she added, “is try to come up with a strategy that is effective in influencing the behavior of the North Koreans, at a time when the whole leadership situation is somewhat unclear.”

Clinton also said that the U.S. is “eager to defuse tensions between North Korea and South Korea, though she acknowledged that would be difficult in the current tense atmosphere.”

DipNote has a Twitter feed running that includes Tweets about HRC’s Asia trip and there are a couple of new posts about her Jakarta visit yesterday.

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Secretary Clinton Signals Possible Policy Shift on Burma

By on 18 February 2009

hrc-jakarta On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the economic sanctions that have been imposed by the U.S. and “other Western governments had failed to pressure the repressive Burmese government,” thus pointing to a potential shift in U.S. policy on Burma.

At a news conference in Jakarta, Clinton “did not deny that easing sanctions was one of the ideas under consideration by the Obama administration as part of a major review.”

“We are looking at possible ideas that can be presented,” she told reporters and said that she had discussed the issue with Indonesia officials here.

“Clearly the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced the Burmese junta,” she said, adding that the route taken by Burma’s neighbors of “reaching out and trying to engage them has not influenced them either.”

Burma (aka Myanmar), is considered to be one of the “world’s most oppressive nations.” Secretary Clinton is reported to have been ”careful not to tip her hand on the direction of the policy review,” but she also spoke in using mild terms ”about the Burmese government, describing ‘the unfortunate path’ taken by Burma, leaving it ‘impervious to influence from anyone.’”

It remains to be seen if Clinton can help to “liberate Burma.” It is definitely time for some major shifts in Foreign Policy and I look for great things to come from Secretary Clinton. Check out the latest on DipNote, by the way, it’s a great little human interest piece about HRC’s visit to Jakarta.

UPDATE: Incase you missed Secretary Clinton’s interview on Tuesday with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell you can watch it here:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnh0hm7KwDM
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Kerry: A Race Against Time in Afghanistan

By on 10 February 2009

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, John Kerry has a must read OP/ED in today’s WaPo on Afghanistan. Taylor wrote here yesterday about some of the latest news on Afghanistan.  

Kerry has been passionately speaking out on Afghanistan for years now. In a speech in 2006, he “argued that more troops were needed” there and he still believes that.

In his OP/ED today, Kerry says, “We must renew our original mission — and President Obama has rightly pledged to recommit to Afghanistan as the center of our global counterinsurgency campaign, beginning with the deployment of as many as 30,000 additional troops.”

[...] But troops alone will not bring victory. Our military commitment must be matched with realistic goals, beginning with a comprehensive new bottom-up strategy acknowledging Afghanistan’s history of decentralized governance and recognizing the capabilities of our NATO and Afghan allies.

Last year was the deadliest since we arrived in Afghanistan in 2001. A senior U.S. commander warned recently that “it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

It is “equally important,” Kerry notes that we ”execute this commitment without raising the stakes and turning Afghanistan once again into a magnet for the world’s jihadists.”

Our NATO allies have to shoulder a bigger burden, and we should continue to seek more combat troops with fewer restrictions. Jawboning reluctant allies has its limits; we will need to persuade countries unwilling to take on expanded combat roles to contribute more toward other aspects of the mission, including development and police training.

Afghanistan is not Iraq, and we should not expect the same results from a troop increase as occurred in Iraq.

Go read the entire OP/ED. Kerry, in my opinion has always been ahead of the curve on the issue of Afghanistan. I am admittedly biased when it comes to Kerry’s opinions on the issues, having worked for his campaign in ’04, but I think readers here will agree Kerry is right on this:

We went to Afghanistan to deny sanctuary to al-Qaeda and to replace the Taliban rulers who harbored it with a legitimate government strong enough to avoid destabilizing a vital and volatile region. Our goal hasn’t changed. Achieving it requires a more robust commitment of coalition troops and reconstruction aid. It is not too late to turn the tide, but only a comprehensive strategy, sufficient resources and bipartisan resolve will lead to success in Afghanistan.

In related news, the White House announced today that ”a Middle East expert will conduct an interagency review of Afghanistan and Pakistan policy for the Obama administration.” Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer will lead the review and it is expected to be completed “before the NATO summit in early April.”

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