Cleaning Up The Mess and Other Items

After listening to President Obama's speech on Iraq and having heard him in New Orleans a few days before, it is staggering the amount of destruction he has to clean up and ,at the same time, how he has to rhetorically thread the needle. I am still haunted by Gore Vidal's comment that "Barack Obama's problem is that he is too intelligent to lead people like Americans." He is going up against the perpetual myth of American indispensability and God-given destiny as the number 1 country on the planet. There simply is no room for reflecting on how we are now lagging behind almost every developed country in the world in every category that measures the quality of life. While every speech of the Administration incorporates some aspect of how we are developing the tools to continue to lead the world, our own parochialism blinds us to the reality that the world really is moving on without us and that today's America, while still the wealthiest country on the planet, is in tatters.

The two new "memes" of the Republicans are that the President is incompetent (unlike ,say, George W. Bush) and he is not gracious because he did not thank Bush enough for W's role in the surge. If you ever have had any contact with Barack Obama, he is the epitome of gracious and unfailingly polite, and a warm human being. As for competence, he could quit the Presidency right now and be considered one of the formidable President in history. Given the vitriol and hate aimed at him and his family, who could blame him from just saddling up and leaving after one term. There is precedent for this. James K. Polk listed everything he wanted to accomplish in office and when he completed the list he refused to run again ,even though he would have won.

The best news in the last few days is the lack of news coverage or punditry on the Middle East peace talks. What coverage exists is cynical, skeptical and claims the Administration just needs the photo opportunity to prove their commitment to a Middle East peace process. The remnants of the neo-conservatives simply don't believe in diplomacy of any kind on anything. So they are ignoring this right now. They figure their ally Bibi Netanyahu will scuttle the talks and further damage Obama. I think they are in for a surprise. Israel came to Washington with a full complement of able negotiators on every subject that needs to be completed.

While Israeli public opinion has been polarized for the past two years, there are wiser heads suggesting something must be done in the way of transitioning to a Palestinian state. The rest of the world still has an historical memory. For 20 years, both United States and Israel's public stance has been to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state. The current administration of Mahmoud Abbas has created security and administrative structures paid for and often manned by Americans and Europeans. There have been quiet moves since the Gaza Flotilla disaster on both sides to move to some new arrangement between Israelis and Palestinians.

Yesterday, President Obama gave a one-year timetable for this to be done. Serious talks begin today and will be mediated by Secretary of State Clinton. I expect we will see some basic agreements and then the parties will leave Washington and we will see a brief flurry of pontificating. And, since all Presidents since Jimmy Carter have failed, I'm betting on Obama to succeed. Call me crazy. I just like how there are no expectations this time and no one believes it can be done. There is that time when the warring parties blink and realize no one in the outside world cares anymore. And I also believe that Hamas will recognize Israel within one or two years.

And then to the Catfood Commission and the outrage over Alan Simpson's attacks on Social Security and Veterans' Benefits. If President Obama says he's going to strengthen social security and just tinker with it to lengthen its viability, I believe him. I checked out our national budget--we now spend 58% of the annual budget on defense, and only about 4-5% in debt servicing. The bulk of the rest goes to Medicare, leaving only about 20% to pay for everything else. If Alan Simpson is beginning to grumble over veterans benefits, no matter how curlish, I think we might see the Commission actually recommend further cuts in defense spending. Everyone has started gaming the politics of the Commission, producing like Ezra Klein conclusions that it predominantly shifts right. This may be true but by December I believe the Administration will produce a very viable strategy to reduce the national debt without the catastrophic human costs the Republicans advocate.

I still don't understand the news reports that "Democrats can't repeal Bush's tax-cuts". These tax cuts naturally expire so you must affirmatively pass them again. So let's say Evan Bayh, Nelson, Lincoln and a few Democrats are in favor of tax-cuts for the rich, they must get the Senate to pass them. Their may be a compromise to extend for two years. But all these must be paid for, according to the Pay-Go rules.

Elizabeth Warren has notified Harvard she is not returning to teach contract law this year. Hmmm. Katherine Van der Heuvel of the Nation tweeted again that her nomination will be made soon. It would spark some enthusiasm among progressive Democrats and normal human beings. The New York Post printed a piece that Wall Street is bracing itself for a Warren nomination.

Maybe President Obama could make the announcement at his Labor Day speech in front of the AFL-CIO familes in Milwaukee. It's interesting to actually see a President join the AFL-CIO to celebrate Labor Day. It's been quite a while.

In mid-term elections, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball column says that Republicans will take back the House and have a shot at the Senate. And if they come short in the Senate, then the Kingmakers will be Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman--Uggh. I'm still not there yet on either predictions. I saw for one nano-second Nate Silver's House analysis, which doesn't quite indicate the House is a done deal by any means. The blog however doesn't show it yet. nate does admit that Democratic fortunes have deteriorated in the last month--but then they always do in August.

If you want a horrifying read, Will Bunch has published The Backlash: Right-wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama (Harper, 2010). This is better than Markos Malitos' American Taliban because Will, an Obama supporter, actually travels through the country to interview the average Teabaggers and Glenn Beck fans and how the backlash against Obama began. And if you want to learn about which country, they want back, you can read it in this book. I had to put it down after the first 100 pages to gather strength to continue.

This is Richard Hofstader on steroids. And Bunch admits that with the network of right-wing radio stations, the internet and Fox News, the paranoid politics of today may become deadlier and more powerful than the past. He also points out that Glenn Beck is the perfect synthesis of the sickness of the media age. In this book, you're learn why Obama really didn't win the election, that the "Other" includes all urban areas, not just gays, Latinos and blacks, and that Tea Baggers are not against Big Government, just one presided over by a black Muslim Kenyan, who wants to enslave us all.

Parts of the book remind me of what Thomas Franks wrote about in What's The Matter With Kansas, where Kansas went from being an economic populist state to a right-wing conservative state. These people are actively working against policies that actually help them, many are on the border of unemployment, many have serious health issues who would benefit from health reform, and virtually none of them blame Bush and Cheney for anything. A good deal of those interviewed have self-acknowledged psychiatric and alcohol problems.and many became fundamentalist Christians after a decade of drugs and excess. A surprising number were radicals during Vietnam or Vietnam vets, who became right-wing Republicans or even Third Party members. Bunch says these people are about 25% of the voting population and believe the government is run by a bunch of elitists and rich people --true.

They truly believe the myth that the United States was created as a Christian nation and that we are literally the last hope of mankind. And they see the last election as the triumph of the Leftists, who hate America and will bring it down. And they really believe we should wage war endless against Muslims and torture them. The last thing these people are concerned about is the cost of militarising foreign policy. They positively love it.

For a devastating--if you can do that anymore--portrait of Sarah Palin, read this issue of Vanity Fair, where she tells people under her that she's so powerful she'll destroy them. A real classy dame.

The GOP strategy is to have semi-normal spokespeople accent "Jobs, Deficit and Healthcare", while allowing the Becks and Limbaughs to pile on about a Muslim President, etc. The ultimate goal is to totally de-legitmize Barack Obama and to divide Democrats from him. E.J. Dionne this morning had a piece that calls for Obama to build back his popularity to help Democrats. E.J. is being foolish here. Obama is doing better than others with such an economy and in this day of polarization it is very unlikely that even with winds at his back that he can get to 55% anytime soon.

And I found out why I like Republican Mike Castle, who was always nice to me when I ran IRI. He's the great-great-great-great (fill in the number) grandson of Ben Franklin. How cool is that? Even so Mike may be heading to defeat in Delaware against a teabagger lady. Then I would flip an automatic Republican gain to leaning Democrat.