++John Kerry will open the American embassy in Havana tomorrow. Relations will be officially normalized. Strange silence in Washington on this. No outcries and denunciations of the Neville Chamberlain Kerry or anything. Just crickets.
++My conservative former military colleagues are outraged that the three dozen admirals and generals endorsed the Iran deal. First it is because it is part of Obama's legacy which must be ripped up from the roots. Secondly, it is sort of about Iran but naah, it is about the "retreat from the Middle East".
++Former President Jimmah Carter with whom I had the pleasure to observe the first Panama Elections after the downfall of Noreiga has announced that he has liver cancer and that it has spread to other parts of his body. He is 90 and remains the only President in my lifetime (?) who never went to war. Prickly guy but has accomplished great things. His best book was the one about when he first ran for office and the second is his book about fishing.
++Redstate, which disinvited the Donald for his sexist statements about Megyn Kelly's who-ha,said that Hillary Clinton was a homely women who slept her way to the top. Classy. I'll even take The Donald on the Howard Stern Show talking about J-Lo's ass over Eric Ericsson. BY THE WAY, WHO IS J-LO,A QUESTION THIS BLOG HAS ASKED FROM THE BEGINNING?
++The Saudis are at it again. Remember how ISIS is led by the Israeli character actor Al-Baghdadi? The Saudi Gazette reprinted the allegation.
Showing posts with label Jimmy Carter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jimmy Carter. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Monday, November 24, 2014
Hagel Gone, More War On The Way
++President Obama will accept the resignation of Chuck Hagel today as the Administration looks beyond the days of the drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan to a "new phase" in the war against ISIS.
++The next two years will be Non-Stop War 24/7.
++Even Rand Paul is getting into the action. He is introducing a bill declaring war against Isis. He wants to get proper with the Deep State.
++I watched Jimmy Carter's talk at the JFK Memorial Library this weekend and was shocked when I realized except for the bungled Iran hostage rescue mission he never waged war as President. That is stunning and probably his most interesting legacy.
++Andrew Bacevich writes today about the five most common beliefs of the Washington Punditry that are absolutely false. You can read the piece at Tomsdisptach. com and it now has appeared on democraticunderground. Bacevich's point is that Egypt and Saudi Arabia are not our natural allies and have nothing in common with us. One is a brutal military dictatorship, the other the most repressive theocracy in the world. Point one above all the rest is that American forces in the Middle East do not bring stability but the contrary. The Persian Gulf just doesn't rate anymore in the national interest. With the new oil environment,there is not a lot of national interest in the Middle East. Also terrorism does not pose an existential threat to America. But we go on believing these things.
++The Jerusalem Post writes that Bibi is preparing to attack Iran now that the nuclear talks have been delayed until June 15,2015.
++Meanwhile Hamas has announced it has received more missiles from Iran.
++The UK is now going to pass tougher "anti-terrorism" laws.
++President Obama has order a strategic review to not only fight ISIS but also Assad. Good luck with that one.
++I'm with Charlie Rangel on this stuff. Tell us in detail the national interests in continuing war in the Middle East, institute a draft with an option to serve domestically on social programs,and tax the wealthy to pay for the war.
++The next two years will be Non-Stop War 24/7.
++Even Rand Paul is getting into the action. He is introducing a bill declaring war against Isis. He wants to get proper with the Deep State.
++I watched Jimmy Carter's talk at the JFK Memorial Library this weekend and was shocked when I realized except for the bungled Iran hostage rescue mission he never waged war as President. That is stunning and probably his most interesting legacy.
++Andrew Bacevich writes today about the five most common beliefs of the Washington Punditry that are absolutely false. You can read the piece at Tomsdisptach. com and it now has appeared on democraticunderground. Bacevich's point is that Egypt and Saudi Arabia are not our natural allies and have nothing in common with us. One is a brutal military dictatorship, the other the most repressive theocracy in the world. Point one above all the rest is that American forces in the Middle East do not bring stability but the contrary. The Persian Gulf just doesn't rate anymore in the national interest. With the new oil environment,there is not a lot of national interest in the Middle East. Also terrorism does not pose an existential threat to America. But we go on believing these things.
++The Jerusalem Post writes that Bibi is preparing to attack Iran now that the nuclear talks have been delayed until June 15,2015.
++Meanwhile Hamas has announced it has received more missiles from Iran.
++The UK is now going to pass tougher "anti-terrorism" laws.
++President Obama has order a strategic review to not only fight ISIS but also Assad. Good luck with that one.
++I'm with Charlie Rangel on this stuff. Tell us in detail the national interests in continuing war in the Middle East, institute a draft with an option to serve domestically on social programs,and tax the wealthy to pay for the war.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tin Ear in D.C.
First, the Los Angeles Lakers are the 2010 NBA champions, winning their 16th title. But, boy, they won ugly. Or to be charitable, they spotted the Celtics 3 1/2 quarters before showing up. There are reasons for cliches--it did come down to who wanted to win it the most.
Which brings us to our battered President. For weeks, there was a drumroll of criticism that the President had not called or met with BP CEO Tony Hayward. Then he meets with him and the criticism was that it only lasted 20 minutes. The net of the meeting was an escrow fund of $20 billion for the Gulf and another $144 million to compensate oil workers during the period of the moratorium. Clearly, this was the only piece of good news from the whole BP Gulf disaster.
Republicans at the urging of Karl Rove have been planting this idea since the beginning of the Obama administration that the President would be like Jimmy Carter or we'll make him into one. The Gulf disaster for Republican strategists would not be Obama's Katrina, since that reflected on George W, but rather the equivalent of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. The media would start the old Ted Koppel Day 300 and counting timeclock and Obama would be mired in the mess for the rest of his term.
Throughout the last 18 months, I have had doubts about whether the general public understood the commitment of the Republicans to destroy the Obama presidency. Most of the dirty work was done through filibusters and procedural maneuverings few people, except insiders, know or understand. Even progressives howl about why the Democrats with massive majorities can not pass the needed legislation. The net effect is to create the image of ineffective government and an inept administration. Therefore you should long for an authoritarian white father, who wouldn't believe in government but would wave the flag and invoke patriotism.
No Republican I have talked to or any of their public voices have admitted the country was or is in a Depression. The stimulus package was an unnecessary boondoggle of government spending and a vast extension of government's role in the economy. Financial reform is not the restoration of pre-1992 regulations but a government takeover of the economy and stifling of the private sector. Therefore, the mantra became "jobs" and the "deficit". Let's conveniently forget that by the end of this year, the Obama Administration will have created more jobs than the entire George W. Bush Administration.
If you didn't follow the extent of corporate funding of the congressional Republicans and the intent of their actions, you might think their case was plausible.
The President was said to lack emotion, backbone,courage and was too professorial and, according to former Reagan speechwriter Darkness at Noonan, out of touch with the American people.
There are gaffes, there a misstatements but then there are moments when the whole game is laid bare for all to see. Yesterday was one of them. D.C. lawyers had finally wakened up to the fact that they could litigate all their lives and never achieve the $20 billion escrow account for the victims of the Gulf disaster. Seasoned lawyers called it miraculous and noted that it was done without the necessary lawsuits. It was pointed out that the victims of the Valdez had to wait almost a generation of fighting the oil companies to get compensation and even that was severely cut down by the Supreme Court. In this case, the escrow account will be administered by the "special master" who handled all the claims for 9/11 victims, someone who was praised by both parties for his integrity and diligence.
If you are on the other side of the aisle, you might want to remain quiet or shift the subject. But the Heritage Foundation rolled out a position paper criticising the deal as an infringement on the rights of BP shareholders. The Republican Study Group, composed of 100 House members, wrote that the escrow account was a "shakedown" and a "slush fund". Haley Barbour, Governor of an effected state, worried about BP financial health. Michelle Bachman said that the account was Obama's ATM.
This is the type of rhetoric we have been used to for the duration of the administration. But what changed the situation was the nationally broadcast apology to BP's CEO Tony Hayward by Rep. Joe Barton of Texas for his treatment at the White House. Barton was simply repeating the Republican talking points. He was not talking as a single person. He went on to say that BP had been shaken down with Attorney General Eric Holder in the room. The key here is that the Justice Department is actively investigating bringing criminal charges against BP. The implication was that President Obama had intimidated a private corporation into ponying up the money.
The response both in the House and from the television audience was immediate. People were outraged not that Barton attacked President Obama but that he so clearly, as did other Republicans on the Committee, side with a foreign corporations over the people of the United States. John Boehner had to bring Barton into his office and threaten him with taking away his seat on the committee. Then out of Boehner's office came a press release ,ostensibly from Barton, retracting his apology to BP and saying his use of the word" shakedown" was miscontrued.
Then Republican mayhem ensued. Other congressmen did not get the memo and kept reiterating the same talking points; while congressmen from the Gulf States demanded Barton lose his seat. It also didn't help that BP's CEO Tony Hayward came across as lying through his teeth and simply did not generate any sympathetic feelings.
But the damage was done. The Republicans had been exposed as simply shills for the big corporations and nothing else. The plight of the citizens on the Gulf Coast clearly didn't matter. They would walk over their corpses for political gain. And what was startling to everyone was that it was so obvious and clear.
Within two hours, the Democratic fund-raising machine was up and running, exploiting the moment.
There was an interesting poll this morning that showed that 60% of Americans believe that President Obama cared for people like themselves.
This was brought home to me by a letter that was sent to Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish, which spoke about this woman's father who was a "marsh rat", who wanted to retire to a small cabin in the marshes and fish all day. This father was a real Arcadian, originally spoke French as his first language. Not an Obama supporter, he listened to the Oval Office speech. The woman wrote that when Obama pivoted on the "blessing of the fleet"section of his speech, her father cried and the President had his support from then on it.
Maybe like the Lakers, President Obama will have to win ugly.
Which brings us to our battered President. For weeks, there was a drumroll of criticism that the President had not called or met with BP CEO Tony Hayward. Then he meets with him and the criticism was that it only lasted 20 minutes. The net of the meeting was an escrow fund of $20 billion for the Gulf and another $144 million to compensate oil workers during the period of the moratorium. Clearly, this was the only piece of good news from the whole BP Gulf disaster.
Republicans at the urging of Karl Rove have been planting this idea since the beginning of the Obama administration that the President would be like Jimmy Carter or we'll make him into one. The Gulf disaster for Republican strategists would not be Obama's Katrina, since that reflected on George W, but rather the equivalent of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. The media would start the old Ted Koppel Day 300 and counting timeclock and Obama would be mired in the mess for the rest of his term.
Throughout the last 18 months, I have had doubts about whether the general public understood the commitment of the Republicans to destroy the Obama presidency. Most of the dirty work was done through filibusters and procedural maneuverings few people, except insiders, know or understand. Even progressives howl about why the Democrats with massive majorities can not pass the needed legislation. The net effect is to create the image of ineffective government and an inept administration. Therefore you should long for an authoritarian white father, who wouldn't believe in government but would wave the flag and invoke patriotism.
No Republican I have talked to or any of their public voices have admitted the country was or is in a Depression. The stimulus package was an unnecessary boondoggle of government spending and a vast extension of government's role in the economy. Financial reform is not the restoration of pre-1992 regulations but a government takeover of the economy and stifling of the private sector. Therefore, the mantra became "jobs" and the "deficit". Let's conveniently forget that by the end of this year, the Obama Administration will have created more jobs than the entire George W. Bush Administration.
If you didn't follow the extent of corporate funding of the congressional Republicans and the intent of their actions, you might think their case was plausible.
The President was said to lack emotion, backbone,courage and was too professorial and, according to former Reagan speechwriter Darkness at Noonan, out of touch with the American people.
There are gaffes, there a misstatements but then there are moments when the whole game is laid bare for all to see. Yesterday was one of them. D.C. lawyers had finally wakened up to the fact that they could litigate all their lives and never achieve the $20 billion escrow account for the victims of the Gulf disaster. Seasoned lawyers called it miraculous and noted that it was done without the necessary lawsuits. It was pointed out that the victims of the Valdez had to wait almost a generation of fighting the oil companies to get compensation and even that was severely cut down by the Supreme Court. In this case, the escrow account will be administered by the "special master" who handled all the claims for 9/11 victims, someone who was praised by both parties for his integrity and diligence.
If you are on the other side of the aisle, you might want to remain quiet or shift the subject. But the Heritage Foundation rolled out a position paper criticising the deal as an infringement on the rights of BP shareholders. The Republican Study Group, composed of 100 House members, wrote that the escrow account was a "shakedown" and a "slush fund". Haley Barbour, Governor of an effected state, worried about BP financial health. Michelle Bachman said that the account was Obama's ATM.
This is the type of rhetoric we have been used to for the duration of the administration. But what changed the situation was the nationally broadcast apology to BP's CEO Tony Hayward by Rep. Joe Barton of Texas for his treatment at the White House. Barton was simply repeating the Republican talking points. He was not talking as a single person. He went on to say that BP had been shaken down with Attorney General Eric Holder in the room. The key here is that the Justice Department is actively investigating bringing criminal charges against BP. The implication was that President Obama had intimidated a private corporation into ponying up the money.
The response both in the House and from the television audience was immediate. People were outraged not that Barton attacked President Obama but that he so clearly, as did other Republicans on the Committee, side with a foreign corporations over the people of the United States. John Boehner had to bring Barton into his office and threaten him with taking away his seat on the committee. Then out of Boehner's office came a press release ,ostensibly from Barton, retracting his apology to BP and saying his use of the word" shakedown" was miscontrued.
Then Republican mayhem ensued. Other congressmen did not get the memo and kept reiterating the same talking points; while congressmen from the Gulf States demanded Barton lose his seat. It also didn't help that BP's CEO Tony Hayward came across as lying through his teeth and simply did not generate any sympathetic feelings.
But the damage was done. The Republicans had been exposed as simply shills for the big corporations and nothing else. The plight of the citizens on the Gulf Coast clearly didn't matter. They would walk over their corpses for political gain. And what was startling to everyone was that it was so obvious and clear.
Within two hours, the Democratic fund-raising machine was up and running, exploiting the moment.
There was an interesting poll this morning that showed that 60% of Americans believe that President Obama cared for people like themselves.
This was brought home to me by a letter that was sent to Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish, which spoke about this woman's father who was a "marsh rat", who wanted to retire to a small cabin in the marshes and fish all day. This father was a real Arcadian, originally spoke French as his first language. Not an Obama supporter, he listened to the Oval Office speech. The woman wrote that when Obama pivoted on the "blessing of the fleet"section of his speech, her father cried and the President had his support from then on it.
Maybe like the Lakers, President Obama will have to win ugly.
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