++The Center for Public Integrity has released a report that documents 935 wrong statements issued or said about the Iraq War by the George W. Bush Administration.
++David Corn is at it again at Mother Jones about the CIA claiming that the W Administration lied repeatedly about Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Mike Morell, former CIA acting director, said that the most flamboyant statements by the Bush Administration bare no resemblance to the intelligence that was on hand. Like the connection with Al Qaeda, terrorism or even WMDs.
++But the neoconservatives led by Eliot Cohen,Bill Kristol and Ms. Pletka at AEI claim all this is "Gotcha" journalism and what we should be focusing on now is what to do with the present situation in Iraq.
++It seems to me that hundreds of thousands of lives lost,more American lives than in 9/11,trillions of dollars spent is worth debating.
++Bill Kristol says that the real issue is that we won by 2008 and Obama threw it all away. Say what? He says criticism now of the Iraq War is political correctness.
++Peter Beinert would like to remind us that Israel had nothing to do with it. He quite rightly reminds us that Ariel Sharon briefed George W. Bush and told him he would be destabilizing the whole Middle East if he invaded Iraq. And he did.
++Just remember--Saddam Hussein offered to leave Iraq if he could keep $1 billion for himself.
Showing posts with label Bill Kristol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Kristol. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Monday, April 28, 2014
Rand Paul Romps In Maine
++During the 2012 presidential primary,one of the disputes in the GOP was over the allocation of Maine delegates because of the strong showing of Ron Paul. So it's no coincidence that Rand Paul won the Maine Republican straw poll this year.
++The results are intriguing:
Rand Paul--176 votes
Ted Cruz -- 98
Scott Walker-70
Ben Carson-- 62
Chris Christie-60
Jeb Bush -----57
Paul Ryan---- 37
++Bob Schaeffer reports that Mitt "Willard" Romney will run again if Jeb Bush doesn't.
++State Island Republican Michael Grimm was indicted today for fraud--mostly stemming from his restaurant business.
++Ron Christie woke up today to discover racism in America and urged President Obama to take the lead in fighting it.
++Eugene Robinson writes an op-ed in the Washington Post on racism and be sure to read the comment section where racism lives.
++That didn't take long. Bill Kristol's group urged President to fire John Kerry for his remarks about Israel becoming an apartheid society.
++The results are intriguing:
Rand Paul--176 votes
Ted Cruz -- 98
Scott Walker-70
Ben Carson-- 62
Chris Christie-60
Jeb Bush -----57
Paul Ryan---- 37
++Bob Schaeffer reports that Mitt "Willard" Romney will run again if Jeb Bush doesn't.
++State Island Republican Michael Grimm was indicted today for fraud--mostly stemming from his restaurant business.
++Ron Christie woke up today to discover racism in America and urged President Obama to take the lead in fighting it.
++Eugene Robinson writes an op-ed in the Washington Post on racism and be sure to read the comment section where racism lives.
++That didn't take long. Bill Kristol's group urged President to fire John Kerry for his remarks about Israel becoming an apartheid society.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
The Obama Derangement Syndrome
++World Nut Daily conducted their poll of the most "evil" man in the last 100 years. The Results are in:
Barack Obama--50%
Adolf Hitler--23%
Stalin --12%
Mao -- 6%
Idi Amin -- 1%
++Los Angeles had a severe earthquake yesterday. Fox News blamed it on Obama.
++Ralph Peters, who must be off his meds, said that Putin played "Games of Thrones", while Obama was "Downton Abbey".
++Franklin Graham said that Putin had a higher moral ground than President Obama because of his stance against gays.
++Willard Romney writes in the Wall Street Journal that Obama's timing was off and his leaderless foreign policy created the Crimean mess.
++Bill Kristol, war hero,writes in the Weekly Standard that he is tied of the war fatigue and that Americans stand ready to be rallied again.
++Morning Joe says that because the country believes we are going in the wrong direction, this is a winner message for Republicans. I hate to tell everyone this. The American people have polled that we are going in a wrong direction for the last decade.
++Robert Parry is worried that neo-cons have come alive again with the Ukraine/Crimea crisis. But they never went away because they are part of the nomenklatura. They did not pay for any of their mistakes and now with the controversy over the Torture Report it is clear they will not pay for their crimes.
++It is very bizarre to see pundits who know nothing about warfare to argue for a stronger response to Putin's actions. Maybe President Obama should advocate thermonuclear war and then let John McCain talk him down.
Barack Obama--50%
Adolf Hitler--23%
Stalin --12%
Mao -- 6%
Idi Amin -- 1%
++Los Angeles had a severe earthquake yesterday. Fox News blamed it on Obama.
++Ralph Peters, who must be off his meds, said that Putin played "Games of Thrones", while Obama was "Downton Abbey".
++Franklin Graham said that Putin had a higher moral ground than President Obama because of his stance against gays.
++Willard Romney writes in the Wall Street Journal that Obama's timing was off and his leaderless foreign policy created the Crimean mess.
++Bill Kristol, war hero,writes in the Weekly Standard that he is tied of the war fatigue and that Americans stand ready to be rallied again.
++Morning Joe says that because the country believes we are going in the wrong direction, this is a winner message for Republicans. I hate to tell everyone this. The American people have polled that we are going in a wrong direction for the last decade.
++Robert Parry is worried that neo-cons have come alive again with the Ukraine/Crimea crisis. But they never went away because they are part of the nomenklatura. They did not pay for any of their mistakes and now with the controversy over the Torture Report it is clear they will not pay for their crimes.
++It is very bizarre to see pundits who know nothing about warfare to argue for a stronger response to Putin's actions. Maybe President Obama should advocate thermonuclear war and then let John McCain talk him down.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Today In The Strange
++ Odd Fact--The GOP has only won presidential elections since 1928 if Richard Nixon or a Bush was on the ticket.
++A NYTimes poll shows that a plurality of Republicans do not want Chris Christie to run for President. 41% no--31% yes. Jeb Bush and Rand Paul are tied at 40% yes. Among Democrats 80% want Hillary Clinton to run.
++Maine's Le Page, Pennsylvania's Corbett and Florida's Scott are the most endangered governors this year.
++Chris Matthews says that Democrats might lose up to 10 seats in the Senate this year.
++The Issa investigations into the IRS have cost $14 million.
++Rush Limbaugh says that liberals who protest against the Arizona Law are only interested in protecting the rights of Muslims or those who practice Muslimism.
++Louie Gohlmert, the leader of American conservatism, says that the Arizona law is needed in the fight against the "religion of secularism".
++Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has an idea to cut health care costs. He suggests passing a law to allow Emergency Rooms from turning away the ill.
++The House GOP proposes to tweek Obamacare. The CBO says it will throw 1 million off employer plans and add 500,000 to the uninsured and cost the USG $85 billion.
++The House GOP tax reform bill is dead before arrival as Mitch McConnell says the GOP doesn't have time this year for tax reform. He is banking on the GOP taking over the Senate.
++Ohio has restricted early voting ,particularly in areas of the state where African Americans turn out.
++In answering my own question of yesterday about how corporations could be religious. The Arizona Law, in fact, declares that corporations, endowments,and other entities can discriminate because of religious beliefs. So I guess like Hobby Land just declare you are religious.
++Attorney-General Eric Holder told State Attorney-Generals they needn't bother defending bans on same sex marriage. Today, we know why. A Federal judge just overturned Texas' ban on same sex marriage.
++From the sublime to the ridiculous,Bill Kristol says the problems in Syria and the Ukraine are because the United States is in retreat. Andrew Sullivan at The Dish has a response to this. I would just add to Andrew's fine response that when you have 57% of your discretionary budget allocated to defense and you have 800 overseas bases-compared to Russia's 1, and involved in over 100 "hot" conflict areas,this can not be seen as a retreat.
++I guess the GOP wants to get on the scoreboard with the Iran sanctions bill sponsored by AIPAC. Even AIPAC backed away,saying now is not the time. Some of us remember how the GOP has a mischievous history of sabotaging negotiations--Nixon sabotaged LBJ's Vietnam Peace Plan and Reagan undercut Carter's negotiations with Iran over the hostages. So why stop now?
++A NYTimes poll shows that a plurality of Republicans do not want Chris Christie to run for President. 41% no--31% yes. Jeb Bush and Rand Paul are tied at 40% yes. Among Democrats 80% want Hillary Clinton to run.
++Maine's Le Page, Pennsylvania's Corbett and Florida's Scott are the most endangered governors this year.
++Chris Matthews says that Democrats might lose up to 10 seats in the Senate this year.
++The Issa investigations into the IRS have cost $14 million.
++Rush Limbaugh says that liberals who protest against the Arizona Law are only interested in protecting the rights of Muslims or those who practice Muslimism.
++Louie Gohlmert, the leader of American conservatism, says that the Arizona law is needed in the fight against the "religion of secularism".
++Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has an idea to cut health care costs. He suggests passing a law to allow Emergency Rooms from turning away the ill.
++The House GOP proposes to tweek Obamacare. The CBO says it will throw 1 million off employer plans and add 500,000 to the uninsured and cost the USG $85 billion.
++The House GOP tax reform bill is dead before arrival as Mitch McConnell says the GOP doesn't have time this year for tax reform. He is banking on the GOP taking over the Senate.
++Ohio has restricted early voting ,particularly in areas of the state where African Americans turn out.
++In answering my own question of yesterday about how corporations could be religious. The Arizona Law, in fact, declares that corporations, endowments,and other entities can discriminate because of religious beliefs. So I guess like Hobby Land just declare you are religious.
++Attorney-General Eric Holder told State Attorney-Generals they needn't bother defending bans on same sex marriage. Today, we know why. A Federal judge just overturned Texas' ban on same sex marriage.
++From the sublime to the ridiculous,Bill Kristol says the problems in Syria and the Ukraine are because the United States is in retreat. Andrew Sullivan at The Dish has a response to this. I would just add to Andrew's fine response that when you have 57% of your discretionary budget allocated to defense and you have 800 overseas bases-compared to Russia's 1, and involved in over 100 "hot" conflict areas,this can not be seen as a retreat.
++I guess the GOP wants to get on the scoreboard with the Iran sanctions bill sponsored by AIPAC. Even AIPAC backed away,saying now is not the time. Some of us remember how the GOP has a mischievous history of sabotaging negotiations--Nixon sabotaged LBJ's Vietnam Peace Plan and Reagan undercut Carter's negotiations with Iran over the hostages. So why stop now?
Friday, January 3, 2014
Progressive Year, Heh?
++It only took two days for wingnuts to start their engines again.
++The "Patriot" Facebook page printed a photo of lynching President Obama and called for the deed to be celebrated as a national holiday.
++Michael Scheuer, former CIA agent and writer on Bin Laden and FOX analyst,called for the assassination of both President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron because they are tyrants. David Frum did a piece on Scheuer meltdown at the Daily Beast, where he analyzed the uncomfortable fact the man is also an anti-semite.
++Human Events declared Darryl Issa, Conservative of the Year, because of his advocacy of the rule of law.
++Papa Yuppie Duck declared President Obama is over his head and got his political views from his father and leftists like Bill Ayers. Yuppie Duck is now selling guns for your family.
++The former head of East Germany's Stasi said he is envious of the NSA because in his day he could only wiretap 40 phones at the same time.
++FOX News declared that 2013 was the year when marriage died.
++Ralph Reed in a fund-raising event at Tyson's Corner said the Religious Right will be raring to go for 2014 but he urged candidates to try and mute their anti-abortion position because you don't want the fate of the Cooch.
++11 Republican State Attorney-Generals charged that President Obama acted illegally when he changed some deadlines for Obamacare.
++Bryan Fisher of the American Family Association said those who believe in evolution are disqualified from public service.
++Mayor Tom Hayden of Flower Mount, Texas has declared 2014 "The Year of the Bible".
++Bill Kristol in the Weekly Standard predicted Israel will attack Iran this year and we would if we acted like a superpower should.
++Ricky Cantor has decided the new way to attack Obamacare is by focusing on the security of its information.
++Charles Krauthammer wants to send Obamacare into a death spiral by eliminating two clauses of the ACA bill that protected health insurance companies. Like the conservative mantra, he is against bail-outs.
++Rev Joyner says he is afraid of speaking out against President Obama because you will be arrested,especially because you are Christian.
++The "Patriot" Facebook page printed a photo of lynching President Obama and called for the deed to be celebrated as a national holiday.
++Michael Scheuer, former CIA agent and writer on Bin Laden and FOX analyst,called for the assassination of both President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron because they are tyrants. David Frum did a piece on Scheuer meltdown at the Daily Beast, where he analyzed the uncomfortable fact the man is also an anti-semite.
++Human Events declared Darryl Issa, Conservative of the Year, because of his advocacy of the rule of law.
++Papa Yuppie Duck declared President Obama is over his head and got his political views from his father and leftists like Bill Ayers. Yuppie Duck is now selling guns for your family.
++The former head of East Germany's Stasi said he is envious of the NSA because in his day he could only wiretap 40 phones at the same time.
++FOX News declared that 2013 was the year when marriage died.
++Ralph Reed in a fund-raising event at Tyson's Corner said the Religious Right will be raring to go for 2014 but he urged candidates to try and mute their anti-abortion position because you don't want the fate of the Cooch.
++11 Republican State Attorney-Generals charged that President Obama acted illegally when he changed some deadlines for Obamacare.
++Bryan Fisher of the American Family Association said those who believe in evolution are disqualified from public service.
++Mayor Tom Hayden of Flower Mount, Texas has declared 2014 "The Year of the Bible".
++Bill Kristol in the Weekly Standard predicted Israel will attack Iran this year and we would if we acted like a superpower should.
++Ricky Cantor has decided the new way to attack Obamacare is by focusing on the security of its information.
++Charles Krauthammer wants to send Obamacare into a death spiral by eliminating two clauses of the ACA bill that protected health insurance companies. Like the conservative mantra, he is against bail-outs.
++Rev Joyner says he is afraid of speaking out against President Obama because you will be arrested,especially because you are Christian.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Deeper into the Summer Doldrums
++Spent four glorious days in upstate New York where thanks to Nelson Rockefeller,Hugh Carey,Mario Cuomo, and Andrew there exists a modern infrastructure. Who knew there was an Irish Catskills? The Mike Quinn Irish Cultural Center? Remember Mike Quill, the old corrupt union leader. All I could think about was when can I move to the North again.
++So how is the Republican rebranding going? Rand Paul is up to his eyeballs in a controversy that his spokesman and co-author of his book is The Southern Avenger, a man who toasts John Wilkes Booth on his birthday, thinks Lincoln is a monster, and that writes that the South should have won the war. Mike Huckabee traipsed down to Texas to speak for the anti-abortion bill, calling abortion slavery. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum followed the day after but he admitted he was confused. Louie Gohmart moved to strike all the Democrats' complaints about the House Farm Bill lacking foodstamps from the record. Rick Lowry and Bill Kristol wrote in the National Review that the House must kill the immigration bill. Mitch McConnell was raising funds off his remark that if Harry Reid eliminated the filibuster he would have "He Killed the Senate on his tombstone". Marco Rubio will not say the term "Obamacare". The House will repeal Obamacare again next week--38 or 39th time if you are counting. The North Carolina legislature voted an anti-abortion law as part of its motorcycle safety law. The net effect it would close 15 out of 16 abortion clinics in the state. Ted Nugent wants to run for President in 2016. Rick Perry already is with his visit to Israel next month. The Alaskan chairman of the state GOP says he has never met Sarah Palin or heard anything from her about her desire to run for Senate. Reince Preibus says he is totally down on the Cooch campaign for government, despite stories that the governor and the Cooch are corrupt as hell.There is still no House budget after 100 days.
++Now if you are banking on winning with a greater percentage of the white vote, why would you go out of your way to insult 51% of the white vote--the women? And if you are banking on winning back lower-middle class white voters, why are you cutting off all food stamps for the first time in 50 years when the bulk of those using them are no longer minorities?And why would you schedule a vote in the House to privatize Medicare, especially when your core constituency is the elderly?
++Pundits point to demographics as the problem with the GOP. But why would you go out of your way to starve your base and kill them off? A new report released by the Department of Health shows "death by zip code". If you are a male living in Marin County, California, you leave to 85, 81 in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and 67 in Franklin County , West Virginia. If you live in a blue state, you will live at least ten years longer than the male in a Red State. And if your base of support is in the Red States, your base dies off 10-15 years earlier and minorities overwhelm them earlier. Red States have lower levels of education, lower levels of health, lower levels of income and higher percentage of children out of wedlock. This goes for whites as well as minorities. So why then do you campaign against healthcare, women's reproductive rights,and economic progress?
++While the Simpson-Bowles Catfood Commission recommended curtailing Social Security and Medicare and gutting the social welfare net because of the deficit, the United States just posted its largest budget surplus in its history. Will someone apologize to Paul Krugman who saw this all along?
++Quinnipiac has a poll that dispels the myth that President Obama is just not a good politician and can't get anything done. 51% believe gridlock is caused by GOP obstructionism, and only 35% believe it is because Obama can't persuade Congress to come together.
++On Immigration, no matter how you cut it, the majority of Americans and a large plurality of Republicans believe there should be a road to citizenship or at least immigrants should have the right to stay here. Only 28% of the overall sample and Republicans believe immigrants should leave the country. Watch this space because immigration is eventually going to get done--probably late in the year.
++ENDA, the bill to end discrimination against gays in the workplace, passed out of committee 15 to 7, with two Republicans. It is close to a majority in the Senate.
++The rash of anti-Obamacare ads are not really aimed at the healthcare bill per se but the expansion of Medicaid in Republican states. The scare tactics in the ad with the young mother are just that--none of the claims are true but the deeper goal is aimed at depriving the very poor of healthcare.
++Democrats are giddy over the Looney-Tune quality of the Republican positions now. But dreams of taking the House are far-fetched because the gerrymandered districts show Republicans in districts with only about 15% total minorities. So there exists no incentive for the House Republicans to do anything--at all about anything.
++Louie Gohmart has introduced at the behest of Focus on Your Family, Not Mine, a bill sponsoring proselytizing by evangelical Christians in the military. He claims Obama is biased against Christians.
++The Republican Attorney-General of Pennsylvania will not defend the state's anti-gay marriage law.
++The fight over filibuster reform is getting dire because the GOP does not want to fill spaces on legally constituted bodies like the National Labor Relations Board. The net effect when 3 conservative judges ruled Obama's recess appointments unconstitutional is that no labor law in the country can be enforced. This is also true for the EPA,and the Consumer Protection Agency, two other bodies the GOP hate. So the issue becomes can one political party in the minority actually gut the government because they don't like the legally created bodies? In the case of the 2nd Circuit Court, Senator Grassley accuses Obama of wanting to "stack"the court when all he is doing is filling the vacancies. Unless Mitch McConnell gives on this issue, watch for a showdown soon. It is basic politics that the winning Presidential candidate gets to nominate the persons of his or her choice as long as they are qualified.
++In mulling over current GOP strategy, I don't see how the GOP deals with Hillary Clinton, except to dredge up old Clinton scandals that no one remembers and in fact if they do, consider her a victim. She is a woman, who was the First Lady of a Slave State--Arkansas. So how does that work if you are depending on the white South?
++So how is the Republican rebranding going? Rand Paul is up to his eyeballs in a controversy that his spokesman and co-author of his book is The Southern Avenger, a man who toasts John Wilkes Booth on his birthday, thinks Lincoln is a monster, and that writes that the South should have won the war. Mike Huckabee traipsed down to Texas to speak for the anti-abortion bill, calling abortion slavery. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum followed the day after but he admitted he was confused. Louie Gohmart moved to strike all the Democrats' complaints about the House Farm Bill lacking foodstamps from the record. Rick Lowry and Bill Kristol wrote in the National Review that the House must kill the immigration bill. Mitch McConnell was raising funds off his remark that if Harry Reid eliminated the filibuster he would have "He Killed the Senate on his tombstone". Marco Rubio will not say the term "Obamacare". The House will repeal Obamacare again next week--38 or 39th time if you are counting. The North Carolina legislature voted an anti-abortion law as part of its motorcycle safety law. The net effect it would close 15 out of 16 abortion clinics in the state. Ted Nugent wants to run for President in 2016. Rick Perry already is with his visit to Israel next month. The Alaskan chairman of the state GOP says he has never met Sarah Palin or heard anything from her about her desire to run for Senate. Reince Preibus says he is totally down on the Cooch campaign for government, despite stories that the governor and the Cooch are corrupt as hell.There is still no House budget after 100 days.
++Now if you are banking on winning with a greater percentage of the white vote, why would you go out of your way to insult 51% of the white vote--the women? And if you are banking on winning back lower-middle class white voters, why are you cutting off all food stamps for the first time in 50 years when the bulk of those using them are no longer minorities?And why would you schedule a vote in the House to privatize Medicare, especially when your core constituency is the elderly?
++Pundits point to demographics as the problem with the GOP. But why would you go out of your way to starve your base and kill them off? A new report released by the Department of Health shows "death by zip code". If you are a male living in Marin County, California, you leave to 85, 81 in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia and 67 in Franklin County , West Virginia. If you live in a blue state, you will live at least ten years longer than the male in a Red State. And if your base of support is in the Red States, your base dies off 10-15 years earlier and minorities overwhelm them earlier. Red States have lower levels of education, lower levels of health, lower levels of income and higher percentage of children out of wedlock. This goes for whites as well as minorities. So why then do you campaign against healthcare, women's reproductive rights,and economic progress?
++While the Simpson-Bowles Catfood Commission recommended curtailing Social Security and Medicare and gutting the social welfare net because of the deficit, the United States just posted its largest budget surplus in its history. Will someone apologize to Paul Krugman who saw this all along?
++Quinnipiac has a poll that dispels the myth that President Obama is just not a good politician and can't get anything done. 51% believe gridlock is caused by GOP obstructionism, and only 35% believe it is because Obama can't persuade Congress to come together.
++On Immigration, no matter how you cut it, the majority of Americans and a large plurality of Republicans believe there should be a road to citizenship or at least immigrants should have the right to stay here. Only 28% of the overall sample and Republicans believe immigrants should leave the country. Watch this space because immigration is eventually going to get done--probably late in the year.
++ENDA, the bill to end discrimination against gays in the workplace, passed out of committee 15 to 7, with two Republicans. It is close to a majority in the Senate.
++The rash of anti-Obamacare ads are not really aimed at the healthcare bill per se but the expansion of Medicaid in Republican states. The scare tactics in the ad with the young mother are just that--none of the claims are true but the deeper goal is aimed at depriving the very poor of healthcare.
++Democrats are giddy over the Looney-Tune quality of the Republican positions now. But dreams of taking the House are far-fetched because the gerrymandered districts show Republicans in districts with only about 15% total minorities. So there exists no incentive for the House Republicans to do anything--at all about anything.
++Louie Gohmart has introduced at the behest of Focus on Your Family, Not Mine, a bill sponsoring proselytizing by evangelical Christians in the military. He claims Obama is biased against Christians.
++The Republican Attorney-General of Pennsylvania will not defend the state's anti-gay marriage law.
++The fight over filibuster reform is getting dire because the GOP does not want to fill spaces on legally constituted bodies like the National Labor Relations Board. The net effect when 3 conservative judges ruled Obama's recess appointments unconstitutional is that no labor law in the country can be enforced. This is also true for the EPA,and the Consumer Protection Agency, two other bodies the GOP hate. So the issue becomes can one political party in the minority actually gut the government because they don't like the legally created bodies? In the case of the 2nd Circuit Court, Senator Grassley accuses Obama of wanting to "stack"the court when all he is doing is filling the vacancies. Unless Mitch McConnell gives on this issue, watch for a showdown soon. It is basic politics that the winning Presidential candidate gets to nominate the persons of his or her choice as long as they are qualified.
++In mulling over current GOP strategy, I don't see how the GOP deals with Hillary Clinton, except to dredge up old Clinton scandals that no one remembers and in fact if they do, consider her a victim. She is a woman, who was the First Lady of a Slave State--Arkansas. So how does that work if you are depending on the white South?
Saturday, September 1, 2012
The Dead Cat Bounce
++If you haven't, watch the episodes of John Stewart and Stephen Colbert on "The Old Man and the Chair" as the Clint Eastwood frolics continue. One wag said that Eastwood was going to the DNC and debate an empty suit.
++Willard Romney was greeted by a women who had lost her home to Hurricane Isaac and she asked him for help and he said--read this slowly--"Go home and call 211." A woman who had her house destroyed is told to go "home" and place a phone call. Oh, forget it.
++Bill Kristol expressed dismay that Romney never expressed any support for the men and women serving overseas. Huffington Post printed a story that Romney was the first Republican nominee who had not mentioned war since 1952. So what is the Right's response--send me a Daily Caller piece that soldiers were silent during President Obama's speech at Fort Bliss. I guess they must have been mesmerized because you can catch the ecstatic response to Obama afterward on any website. The military swarmed him.
++We are in day three of the post-Romney speech news cycle. This morning the Washington Post decided to give page 1 to an analysis of how the Eastwood speech happened and so did the New York Times. The Post also write about how the "insular President breaks out of his bubble by campaigning around the country"--short for he doesn't invite us to the White House for dinner.
++Clint Eastwood has a new movie out on the 21st--think his appearance had anything to do with its promotion? But he has sucked the air out of the room.
++Stephen Schmidt, McCain's old campaign manager, said that Republicans were looking for a "bounce" out of the convention that showed Romney with a lead above the margin of error. That would assure Republicans that Romney had a chance.
++Reuters/Ipsos has Obama ahead 44-43. Romney in the previous days picked up 3 its but seems to be giving back. Gallup has Obama 47-46. Rasmussen has Romney up by 3. In short,the dead cat bounce. We should know by Monday but then any bounce should get wiped out by the DNC next week. Even Nate Silver, since my midnight post, has Obama inching up some more.
++Sam Wang at Princeton is modelling a Black Swan event--something so unpredictable that it would change all calculations. His event is the possibility that Bibi Netanyahu will attack Iran and how that might change the dynamics of the race. When you have time to do that, you really must think the next month is pretty set.
++Anyone catch Obama in Des Moines, Iowa. Huge crowd. He said you could have watched the RNC on a black-and-white television for all its old ideas. Obama is to build his way through rallies to Charlotte, North Carolina.
++Did anyone get the fact that George Romney, Mitt's father, was a war refugee in his speech. Was that a throwback like trying to imply that Mitt was Dondi's son?
++The Mormons came out today and explained that Coke and Pepsi were OK to drink.
++Willard Romney was greeted by a women who had lost her home to Hurricane Isaac and she asked him for help and he said--read this slowly--"Go home and call 211." A woman who had her house destroyed is told to go "home" and place a phone call. Oh, forget it.
++Bill Kristol expressed dismay that Romney never expressed any support for the men and women serving overseas. Huffington Post printed a story that Romney was the first Republican nominee who had not mentioned war since 1952. So what is the Right's response--send me a Daily Caller piece that soldiers were silent during President Obama's speech at Fort Bliss. I guess they must have been mesmerized because you can catch the ecstatic response to Obama afterward on any website. The military swarmed him.
++We are in day three of the post-Romney speech news cycle. This morning the Washington Post decided to give page 1 to an analysis of how the Eastwood speech happened and so did the New York Times. The Post also write about how the "insular President breaks out of his bubble by campaigning around the country"--short for he doesn't invite us to the White House for dinner.
++Clint Eastwood has a new movie out on the 21st--think his appearance had anything to do with its promotion? But he has sucked the air out of the room.
++Stephen Schmidt, McCain's old campaign manager, said that Republicans were looking for a "bounce" out of the convention that showed Romney with a lead above the margin of error. That would assure Republicans that Romney had a chance.
++Reuters/Ipsos has Obama ahead 44-43. Romney in the previous days picked up 3 its but seems to be giving back. Gallup has Obama 47-46. Rasmussen has Romney up by 3. In short,the dead cat bounce. We should know by Monday but then any bounce should get wiped out by the DNC next week. Even Nate Silver, since my midnight post, has Obama inching up some more.
++Sam Wang at Princeton is modelling a Black Swan event--something so unpredictable that it would change all calculations. His event is the possibility that Bibi Netanyahu will attack Iran and how that might change the dynamics of the race. When you have time to do that, you really must think the next month is pretty set.
++Anyone catch Obama in Des Moines, Iowa. Huge crowd. He said you could have watched the RNC on a black-and-white television for all its old ideas. Obama is to build his way through rallies to Charlotte, North Carolina.
++Did anyone get the fact that George Romney, Mitt's father, was a war refugee in his speech. Was that a throwback like trying to imply that Mitt was Dondi's son?
++The Mormons came out today and explained that Coke and Pepsi were OK to drink.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
More Musings on Libya
(Mysteriously my old dashboard for this blog surfaced so hopefully I can make this more readable.)
Rachel Maddow did a good piece last night on how Obama is trying to change the narrative on our interventions. She reminded us that since Reagan every President has addressed the nation from the Oval Office to announce the commencement of military actions. If you like the authoritarian male declaring America is about to save the world again ,then you might not like having the leader of the G-8 and G-20,French President Sarkozy announce when bombing begins.
Ann Applebaum wrote a good column about why President Obama should keep a low profile on the Libyan intervention because frequent and loud denunciations of Mu'ammar Qaddafi would raise expectations which we are unlikely to meet.
The usual suspects on the right are denouncing President Obama's actions. John Bolton says that we should have acted unilaterally. Mitt Romney backs the action but disagrees with President Obama's attitude because we're exceptional or something like that. I can't understand what Mitt says anymore because he seems to be imitating a hologram with programmed answers. Karl Rove topped them all by saying W would have been tougher with Qaddafi and acted quicker. Since W didn't act quickly on anything, that's unlikely. But Karl didn't tell his Fox audience that W granted a presidential amnesty to Qaddafi for his role in the Lockerbie terrorist bombing of an airliner, one of the worst terrorist acts until 9/11. He even sent Condi over to Libya to strike up the new alliance against terrorism. So I wouldn't believe Karl.
Steve Clemons, who is still skeptical, pointed out on Rachel Maddow that this is all President Obama's initiative. He was aided by Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and Samantha Powers but he directed the whole process. Obama faced with Qaddafi's refusal to back off turned on a dime and went to a military option. He also pointed out that the diplomatic alliance was put together in a record three days compared to the year or two years to achieve the same results for the humanitarian interventions of the Clinton years.
In fact, the Libyan intervention, even with the military strikes, might be seen as an example more of soft power than military power. The object of diplomacy is to persuade people to your own view as if it is in their best interests also. The shaky support of the Arab League is an example of this. Algeria, Syria and Yemen didn't sign on. Algeria because it is neighbor to Libya and is not sure how this will all come out. Syria because they have their own extensive opposition now. And Yemen because it is close to a civil war or coup itself. The fact that a UN Security Council Resolution of this magnitude got passed so fast is actually good news for America's standing in the world. We probably didn't have to bribe as many people or the bribes weren't that costly.
Richard Engel indirectly raised the some of the problems on the ground. Yes, we saved a massacre from happening in Benghazi. But the rebels on the ground do not comprehend what a No Fly Zone actually means. They tend to think we'll take care of all obstacles to their success. But the rebels are not professional soldiers. They started as a non-violent uprising and only resorted to military actions when Qaddafi unleashed his military. They have no training,they come from a variety of professions, and they lack any military strategic sense. Engel pointed out that the defectors from Qaddafi's army are no help because they are settling into the backlines. Even the defecting officers are going AWOL, even saying they are going on vacation and taking a few days off. Today, there is more news that Qaddafi's forces are gunning anyone that moves in areas they control.
As for all the nonsense that Obama didn't properly notify Congress or have the constitutional right to engage in this action, it's sad to point out that the last time Congress declared war was for WWII. All the talk about impeachment would have to apply retroactively to every President since FDR. The list of American military interventions around the world since then is endless. The noise in Washington about this is humorous since the Senate passed a resolution urging the creation of a No Fly Zone three weeks ago. Now Dennis Kucinich, who believes Obama can be impeached, is working on a law that no funds should be spent on the Libyan intervention. All of this would interesting and call for honest debate. But we have let the President of the United States do this for almost 70 years because Congress and the American People like it that way.
Our problem as a nation is that there are no effective checks on our military power. Neither party wants to make the President or the military accountable. Without a draft, we no longer have the type of stake in our interventions that we used to. And as to costs,neither party wants to restrict our military spending even though it is bankrupting us. When you read the blizzard of comments--wise and foolish--on the Libyan intervention,it is sobering to know that none of them matter. Public opinion doesn't matter. You could be debating Obama's bracket choices and it has the same value. We are the spectators. In the most extreme cases like the Iraq War, millions of Americans demonstrated,numbers that dwarfed the teaparty gatherings, and yet as Dick Cheney said, "So What?" Our military interventions are not influenced by the American citizenry anymore. In the words of W, you might as well go shopping.
So now it comes down to whether President Obama does war right. Bill Kristol wrote the other day that we don't invade Muslim countries, we liberate them. And that may be the difference here. I don't have the inclination to unpack that nonsense. But we should be somewhat assured that President Obama's body language shows he has an inherent reluctance to immediately go to the military option and that in deeds he wants others to share the sacrifice. His critics lament his nuance and the sophistication of his approach to problems. I view these as strengths. That he should deliberate on something is a positive trait, not a negative. We've run off to war many times without asking questions only to find years of nightmares and arguments that we can't stop or it will weaken our position in the world.
A leftwing blogger said that we could blame almost all current problems we have on the past administration but now Obama has created one of his own. Yes, but I have a confidence in him that we will not make a commitment for a decade to pacifying Libya in the name of democracy.
Rachel Maddow did a good piece last night on how Obama is trying to change the narrative on our interventions. She reminded us that since Reagan every President has addressed the nation from the Oval Office to announce the commencement of military actions. If you like the authoritarian male declaring America is about to save the world again ,then you might not like having the leader of the G-8 and G-20,French President Sarkozy announce when bombing begins.
Ann Applebaum wrote a good column about why President Obama should keep a low profile on the Libyan intervention because frequent and loud denunciations of Mu'ammar Qaddafi would raise expectations which we are unlikely to meet.
The usual suspects on the right are denouncing President Obama's actions. John Bolton says that we should have acted unilaterally. Mitt Romney backs the action but disagrees with President Obama's attitude because we're exceptional or something like that. I can't understand what Mitt says anymore because he seems to be imitating a hologram with programmed answers. Karl Rove topped them all by saying W would have been tougher with Qaddafi and acted quicker. Since W didn't act quickly on anything, that's unlikely. But Karl didn't tell his Fox audience that W granted a presidential amnesty to Qaddafi for his role in the Lockerbie terrorist bombing of an airliner, one of the worst terrorist acts until 9/11. He even sent Condi over to Libya to strike up the new alliance against terrorism. So I wouldn't believe Karl.
Steve Clemons, who is still skeptical, pointed out on Rachel Maddow that this is all President Obama's initiative. He was aided by Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice and Samantha Powers but he directed the whole process. Obama faced with Qaddafi's refusal to back off turned on a dime and went to a military option. He also pointed out that the diplomatic alliance was put together in a record three days compared to the year or two years to achieve the same results for the humanitarian interventions of the Clinton years.
In fact, the Libyan intervention, even with the military strikes, might be seen as an example more of soft power than military power. The object of diplomacy is to persuade people to your own view as if it is in their best interests also. The shaky support of the Arab League is an example of this. Algeria, Syria and Yemen didn't sign on. Algeria because it is neighbor to Libya and is not sure how this will all come out. Syria because they have their own extensive opposition now. And Yemen because it is close to a civil war or coup itself. The fact that a UN Security Council Resolution of this magnitude got passed so fast is actually good news for America's standing in the world. We probably didn't have to bribe as many people or the bribes weren't that costly.
Richard Engel indirectly raised the some of the problems on the ground. Yes, we saved a massacre from happening in Benghazi. But the rebels on the ground do not comprehend what a No Fly Zone actually means. They tend to think we'll take care of all obstacles to their success. But the rebels are not professional soldiers. They started as a non-violent uprising and only resorted to military actions when Qaddafi unleashed his military. They have no training,they come from a variety of professions, and they lack any military strategic sense. Engel pointed out that the defectors from Qaddafi's army are no help because they are settling into the backlines. Even the defecting officers are going AWOL, even saying they are going on vacation and taking a few days off. Today, there is more news that Qaddafi's forces are gunning anyone that moves in areas they control.
As for all the nonsense that Obama didn't properly notify Congress or have the constitutional right to engage in this action, it's sad to point out that the last time Congress declared war was for WWII. All the talk about impeachment would have to apply retroactively to every President since FDR. The list of American military interventions around the world since then is endless. The noise in Washington about this is humorous since the Senate passed a resolution urging the creation of a No Fly Zone three weeks ago. Now Dennis Kucinich, who believes Obama can be impeached, is working on a law that no funds should be spent on the Libyan intervention. All of this would interesting and call for honest debate. But we have let the President of the United States do this for almost 70 years because Congress and the American People like it that way.
Our problem as a nation is that there are no effective checks on our military power. Neither party wants to make the President or the military accountable. Without a draft, we no longer have the type of stake in our interventions that we used to. And as to costs,neither party wants to restrict our military spending even though it is bankrupting us. When you read the blizzard of comments--wise and foolish--on the Libyan intervention,it is sobering to know that none of them matter. Public opinion doesn't matter. You could be debating Obama's bracket choices and it has the same value. We are the spectators. In the most extreme cases like the Iraq War, millions of Americans demonstrated,numbers that dwarfed the teaparty gatherings, and yet as Dick Cheney said, "So What?" Our military interventions are not influenced by the American citizenry anymore. In the words of W, you might as well go shopping.
So now it comes down to whether President Obama does war right. Bill Kristol wrote the other day that we don't invade Muslim countries, we liberate them. And that may be the difference here. I don't have the inclination to unpack that nonsense. But we should be somewhat assured that President Obama's body language shows he has an inherent reluctance to immediately go to the military option and that in deeds he wants others to share the sacrifice. His critics lament his nuance and the sophistication of his approach to problems. I view these as strengths. That he should deliberate on something is a positive trait, not a negative. We've run off to war many times without asking questions only to find years of nightmares and arguments that we can't stop or it will weaken our position in the world.
A leftwing blogger said that we could blame almost all current problems we have on the past administration but now Obama has created one of his own. Yes, but I have a confidence in him that we will not make a commitment for a decade to pacifying Libya in the name of democracy.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
No One ever expects the Spanish Inquisition, not even Glenn Beck
Morning--Glenn Beck tells his listeners to confront priests and pastors about the "social gospel" since this is a code word Communism and Nazism. Then they should leave the church. Early afternoon, news of this is posted on Huffington Post. By late afternoon the Office of the Inquisition arrives in the form of Jesuit James Martin, the cultural editor of America magazine. Martin blasts Beck in an op-ed on Huffington Post titled "Glenn Beck tells Jesus-Drop Dead". Martin then lectures Catholics that Beck is asking them to leave the Mother Church and he recites a litany of papal encyclicals starting with Pope Leo in the mid-19th century that articulate the social gospel and its centrality to Catholic teaching. And for non-Catholic Christians he recalls the teachings of Jesus about helping the poor, the sick and the disadvantaged. I would take this as a less than coded message to Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly to stay away from Beck for the sake of their eternal well-being. You don't want to make Jesuits your enemy and their appearance on such matters indicates Mr. Beck has caught the attention of the Cathoic Church. Next I expect the appearance of Max Von Sydow as the Exorcist. Don't think the Catholic Church is going to drop this now that they have officially taken a shot at Glenn Beck. This may be entertainment for Beck but this is serious stuff to the church hierarchy.
The last public appearance of a Jesuit in writing was the editor of America writing in the Washington Post defending Nortre Dame giving Barack Obama an honorary doctorate, pointing out that the Catholic Church recognizes that Obama's social and economic policies were closely aligned with the Vatican's teachings and that there was room to have a dialogue about abortion. You'll remember the fuss of people like Alan Keyes with his SpongeBob Square Pants stroller with a doll, which was supposed to represent a dead fetus.
Good news, Rush Limbaugh has declared he will be moving out of the country if the healthcare bill passes. He has put his departure date at 5 years--contract obligations and all. He will be moving to Costa Rica, which has universal healthcare. Rush previously benefited from Hawaii's universal health care system. This seems to be a conservative trait lately. Sarah Palin telling Canadians her family used to cross the border for health care. Too bad we can't have it here.
If you want to get a sense of why and how the Bush Administration sent me around the bend, just watch the Liz Cheney-Bill Kristol cartoon show for Keep America Scared. Yesterday,Bill Kristol brushed off criticism of the Al Qaeda 7--now 9--ad saying that only "establishment lawyers will object. After all lawyers don't liked to be criticized." By afternoon, people like Ted Olson and Ken Starr not only gave out little sound-bites but produced a letter signed by dozens of lawyers and Bush Administration officials blasting the attacks on the DOJ lawyers. When Ken Starr appears and is allowed to appear on the Keith Olberman show, you know something serious has happened. Starr pointed out that the lawyers defending the detainees were serving the justice system and that in future terrorist cases there will be the need for a vigorous defense. After all he said the Department of Justice was not called the Department of Law Enforcement for nothing. And, of course, he mentioned John Adams defense of British soldiers accused of committing massacres in Boston. Starr also pointed out that the American military called some of these people up on weekends to ask for their help.
By the time this all winds down, I am sure we will surpass Joe McCarthy's numbers of those accused of having "jihadist" leanings in the Justice Department. But the more I watch this I recall the genuine incompetence of the Bush people. A war presidency, where the only one in the loop with war experience was Don Rumsfeld. Colin Powell was kept out of the loop even though he had been the head of the Joint Chief of Staff. Dick Cheney, who had been pushed aside during decision-making times during the Gulf War, assumed pivotal control. Virtually all the lawyers involved knew nothing about war, terrorism, national security law and I would argue the constitution itself. The top leaders only appointed ideologues beneath them and not people with any competence. So you get the lunacy of a Monica Goodling at DOJ. All the military lawyers, FBI interrogators and permanent CIA personnel were cast aside for the whole debate on torture. Amateur psychologists were hired to develop the torture program with absolutely no empirical proof that these techniques would produce any actionable intelligence, while plunging the country into a period of committing war crimes. As we learned yesterday Liz Cheney acted to deflect State Department personnel from developing a broad coalition government in Iraq.
Dick Cheney used to say, "We're a Superpower so we make our own reality." Well, you have to know how to manage that reality. Hiring a freelance journalist at the Pentagon to review the case against Saddam Hussein and linking him to Al Qaeda and 9/11. That reality didn't last too long. Dissolving the entire Iraq army because Paul Wolfowitz said they were all Nazis, that was brilliant. I generally don't like the State Department but I don't consider it the enemy. I think they have recovered somewhat from the days of Alger Hiss. But remember you had Marc Thiessen, former aide to Jesse Helms, as presidential speechwriter and Helms called State "the Kremlin on the Potomac". Marc , who also has no experience in war, terrorism, law or democracy, is now the expert on how torture saved the country. Believe me, if there is a next time it will be worse.
Bill Kristol is the father of big government conservatism as readers of the Weekly Standard, which called for a coalition of social conservatives, economic conservatives and neo-conservatives molding public policy to their ideological ends. Bill has not an ounce of political sense when it comes to domestic politics as witnessed by his embrace of Sarah Palin and his calls for war against Iran. Ideology first, last and foremost. If conservatives want power as we have witnessed for the past ten years, they will also need to develop competence because policy isn't just about diktats from the nomenklatura.
I expect to see some new assaults on neoconservatives by traditional conservatives. Bob Tyrrell, the editor-in-chief of the American Spectator, is about to publish his book on the future of conservative entitled After The Hangover. He is supposed to call for the return of Goldwater-Reagan principles and jettisoning the neoconservatives. Personally, I believe their day is done and over with. Bob was always puzzled by the behavior of the Bush White House. Privately, he thought it could be attributed to W being a recovering alcoholic. That's a warm endorsement.
In recent months we have seen conservatives throw the following under the bus--lawyers, scientists and teachers. Next will be doctors if the AMA again supportsObama's plan to reform Healthcare. It's a dangerous war against expertise.
The last public appearance of a Jesuit in writing was the editor of America writing in the Washington Post defending Nortre Dame giving Barack Obama an honorary doctorate, pointing out that the Catholic Church recognizes that Obama's social and economic policies were closely aligned with the Vatican's teachings and that there was room to have a dialogue about abortion. You'll remember the fuss of people like Alan Keyes with his SpongeBob Square Pants stroller with a doll, which was supposed to represent a dead fetus.
Good news, Rush Limbaugh has declared he will be moving out of the country if the healthcare bill passes. He has put his departure date at 5 years--contract obligations and all. He will be moving to Costa Rica, which has universal healthcare. Rush previously benefited from Hawaii's universal health care system. This seems to be a conservative trait lately. Sarah Palin telling Canadians her family used to cross the border for health care. Too bad we can't have it here.
If you want to get a sense of why and how the Bush Administration sent me around the bend, just watch the Liz Cheney-Bill Kristol cartoon show for Keep America Scared. Yesterday,Bill Kristol brushed off criticism of the Al Qaeda 7--now 9--ad saying that only "establishment lawyers will object. After all lawyers don't liked to be criticized." By afternoon, people like Ted Olson and Ken Starr not only gave out little sound-bites but produced a letter signed by dozens of lawyers and Bush Administration officials blasting the attacks on the DOJ lawyers. When Ken Starr appears and is allowed to appear on the Keith Olberman show, you know something serious has happened. Starr pointed out that the lawyers defending the detainees were serving the justice system and that in future terrorist cases there will be the need for a vigorous defense. After all he said the Department of Justice was not called the Department of Law Enforcement for nothing. And, of course, he mentioned John Adams defense of British soldiers accused of committing massacres in Boston. Starr also pointed out that the American military called some of these people up on weekends to ask for their help.
By the time this all winds down, I am sure we will surpass Joe McCarthy's numbers of those accused of having "jihadist" leanings in the Justice Department. But the more I watch this I recall the genuine incompetence of the Bush people. A war presidency, where the only one in the loop with war experience was Don Rumsfeld. Colin Powell was kept out of the loop even though he had been the head of the Joint Chief of Staff. Dick Cheney, who had been pushed aside during decision-making times during the Gulf War, assumed pivotal control. Virtually all the lawyers involved knew nothing about war, terrorism, national security law and I would argue the constitution itself. The top leaders only appointed ideologues beneath them and not people with any competence. So you get the lunacy of a Monica Goodling at DOJ. All the military lawyers, FBI interrogators and permanent CIA personnel were cast aside for the whole debate on torture. Amateur psychologists were hired to develop the torture program with absolutely no empirical proof that these techniques would produce any actionable intelligence, while plunging the country into a period of committing war crimes. As we learned yesterday Liz Cheney acted to deflect State Department personnel from developing a broad coalition government in Iraq.
Dick Cheney used to say, "We're a Superpower so we make our own reality." Well, you have to know how to manage that reality. Hiring a freelance journalist at the Pentagon to review the case against Saddam Hussein and linking him to Al Qaeda and 9/11. That reality didn't last too long. Dissolving the entire Iraq army because Paul Wolfowitz said they were all Nazis, that was brilliant. I generally don't like the State Department but I don't consider it the enemy. I think they have recovered somewhat from the days of Alger Hiss. But remember you had Marc Thiessen, former aide to Jesse Helms, as presidential speechwriter and Helms called State "the Kremlin on the Potomac". Marc , who also has no experience in war, terrorism, law or democracy, is now the expert on how torture saved the country. Believe me, if there is a next time it will be worse.
Bill Kristol is the father of big government conservatism as readers of the Weekly Standard, which called for a coalition of social conservatives, economic conservatives and neo-conservatives molding public policy to their ideological ends. Bill has not an ounce of political sense when it comes to domestic politics as witnessed by his embrace of Sarah Palin and his calls for war against Iran. Ideology first, last and foremost. If conservatives want power as we have witnessed for the past ten years, they will also need to develop competence because policy isn't just about diktats from the nomenklatura.
I expect to see some new assaults on neoconservatives by traditional conservatives. Bob Tyrrell, the editor-in-chief of the American Spectator, is about to publish his book on the future of conservative entitled After The Hangover. He is supposed to call for the return of Goldwater-Reagan principles and jettisoning the neoconservatives. Personally, I believe their day is done and over with. Bob was always puzzled by the behavior of the Bush White House. Privately, he thought it could be attributed to W being a recovering alcoholic. That's a warm endorsement.
In recent months we have seen conservatives throw the following under the bus--lawyers, scientists and teachers. Next will be doctors if the AMA again supportsObama's plan to reform Healthcare. It's a dangerous war against expertise.
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