++The Times of Israel writes that pressure will resume on Israel but it may not be that bad.
++The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the occasional Washington Post op-ed felt the election was awful and Bibi cynical.
++Tehran Tom Cotton was the first Republican who said that Bibi's no Palestinian state was practical. John McCain said that he preferred a two-state solution but isn't bothered that Bibi changed his mind.
++An Israeli writes Josh Marshall about what is Likud thinking that Israel will survive while there are boycotts against it and its leaders can only fly to the United States because they are wanted by the ICC. Do they really think the Palestinians will abandon their hope for statehood and accept their meager fate? What is the Likud excuse--that they want to avoid an Islamic terrorist state next door? Then why wait ten or twenty years? For what?
++Almost at the same time as Michael Tomasky's column tab the DailyBeast, Jonathan Chait in New York magazine wrote a piece about Bibi moving far right and embracing the fate of a garrison state that appeals only to right-wing Republicans.
++Ed Kilgore thinks Bibi acted like George Wallace while J.Goldberg at the Atlantic bemoans his embrace of Lee Attwater dog whistles against the Israeli Arabs.
++Should Bibi be seen as a radical factional leader leading a small state? Another writer questions.
++John Kerry called to congratulate Bibi but didn't talk about anything. President Obama's spokesman said that Obama would call him after his created his coalition but the President was bothered by his any-Arab language.
++The interesting question is that both the White House and the State Department have openly questioned the need to change policy on the peace negotiations. The question is when and if to use our vetoes at the United Nations when the issue of Palestine arises. But avoiding the veto,President Obama throws the ball back at Bibi in a way that makes it impossible for him to govern.
++Thomas Friedman writes that the day of a Palestinian state is rapidly fading. Historically, he doesn't buy Bibi's line but thinks from a practical point of view it is not possible.
++I am seeing the scenario rapidly developing where Israel faces the resistance by the international community that South Africa had to deal with. I can see the pro-apartheid forces lining up right now. The Christian Right,the GOP,and the business community. The situation will take years to play out in the United States but in Europe the momentum is already there. I expect Palestine to be recognized by several European states this year after Sweden's initiative. I also expect Palestine to bring war crimes accusations against Israel for Gaza and the United Nations Human Rights Council to step up pressure on Israel.
++I also expect to see the taboo about speaking or writing about the Israeli Lobby to fall rather quickly. I also expect that some people in the Beltway will press to have AIPAC register as a "foreign agent".
++William Brennen, writing for the Atlantic Council,suggested that President Obama appeared weak and vacillating on the Bibi Iran speech and that if he had spoken up and slammed Bibi's interference in our domestic affairs things would have been different. I humbly disagree because President Obama knows that he is detested in Israel and the results in the election would have been the same. It was clear that President Obama wanted a different result but as the LA Times said, we don't tell people in other countries whom to vote for--But now that it's done we can make ourselves be heard.
++Does Bibi's election really affect President Obama's remaining days? I doubt it. He doesn't have to answer the phone calls. And what is it that we have to do on the agenda with Israel--just the Palestinian talks. While Bibi thinks he should have the final say on the Iranian nuclear talks,his election probably diminishes his influence considerable, except among the GOP.
Showing posts with label Thomas Friedman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Friedman. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The World Is No Longer Afraid of US
++That's the Economist's blast at President Obama's foreign policy. Interesting idea that you want the world to be afraid of the United States.
++This week has seen an orgy of attacks of President Obama's foreign policy from the Amazon Post (a name picked up by the Obama Administration's in last night's White House Correspondent's dinner) and the New York Times this Sunday.
++Interesting, Thomas Friedman, a big apologist for the Iraq War, came to the defense of Obama and admitted Iraq didn't turn out so well. Friedman's point was that we are in a situation of failed states and that the United States doesn't have the resources to put them together again. In other areas,we lack the leverage to get countries to move in our direction.
++Charles Krauthammer, who believes the latest Benghazi e-mails are worse than Nixon's tapes, won conservative's hearts and minds by his op-ed on the fickle nature of Obama's foreign policy.
++Maureen Dowd began the week attacking President Obama for not hitting home-runs by only singles, which indicates a lack of leadership. By today, she has found her champion, Hillary Clinton, and said that Obama's Presidency is used up.
++Frank Bruni in todays Times wonders where the optimism in America has gone and worries that his children will not have the same standard of living as he does. He did rightly point out that Americans have answered the Right Direction--Wrong Direction in polls for the last ten years in the negative so all the fault in not Obama.
++The Amazon Post ran an editorial on Iraq blaming President Obama for not getting the Force Agreement, which would allow the United States to remain and mitigate the current civil war. No one pointed out that both W and Obama didn't get the Force Agreement because the Iraqis would not agree to immunity for American forces, which makes sense because of their past behavior.
++I have not read an editorial anywhere about how Congress weakens American foreign policy. President Obama and John Kerry promise immediate aid to the Ukraine and so what do congressional Republicans do--filibuster it. The House Republicans have cut off aid to UNESCO and the OAS, an institution which has been a reliable ally in promoting democratic values. The Senate has not provided the IMF "fix" that the Administration has promised for several years.
++Now imagine you are living overseas and you see a Congress that closes down the government of a major world power as a tantrum against that country's citizens receiving health care. Imagine you see congressional leaders publicly argue that this major power can willfully default on its debt as a policy option without any repercussions for the world economy. You would have to conclude that country is not "exceptional" as they claim but exceptionally stupid.
++Also imagine you are Chinese, Japanese, or European. And you come to the United States and take the train. Or fly into our airports. You would have to laugh that this destination is a major country. Yet Congress first would not even entertain the Infrastructure Bill of the President nor the idea of John Kerry's to create an infrastructure bank with the private sector.
++You are a German company with an auto plant in the United States. Your company's model is to have worker councils to mitigate labor disputes and to ensure efficient production. The state you have a plant in campaigns against your employees having a labor union. You have to think that state is insane,
++And let's look at the President's critics. None of them have ever seen a war they didn't like. Whether it's the Washington Post or the New York Times. Only when the establishment tired of Vietnam did they go against that war. While millions took to the streets against Iraq, both papers defended it. They have not been against a war since the late 1980s when the United States embarked on an uninterrupted period of permanent war.
++Has President Obama made foreign policy mistakes? Sure. But even Thomas Friedman's lukewarm defense of the President misses the point on Libya. For a few billion dollars and only 4 killed in Bengazi,the United States managed to secure and destroy Qaddafhi's nuclear program that W missed. With regard to Krauthammer's complaint about Obama on Syria,Congress had the right to vote to go to war and didn't. Through diplomacy,Syria has eliminated about 86% of its chemical weapons. The advocates for war in Syria wanted the President to go it alone but refused to take responsibility.
++I have received all week e-mails from my conservative friends, who studiously avoided the jobs report or the Obamacare success, to focus on the issue of accountability.
++Why wasn't Paul Wolfowitz held accountable for his estimates of the cost of the Iraq War? He was promoted to the World Bank. Where has been the accountability for America practising torture for the first time since the Spanish-American war? Where has been the accountability of the violation of America's doctrine of not waging a war of choice?
++For my Republican and conservative friends, what's your foreign policy, since the last one lies in tatters. Where are your geopolitical thinkers? While President Obama went to the Pacific, what foreign policy ideas do you bring on that region? What are your foreign policy ideas on Africa? And to both Republicans and Democrats what is your foreign policy on Latin America?
++The United States has not had a geostrategic policy since the late 1980s. Consider this--we still hear from Zbig and occasionally Henry Kissinger. They are the last geopolitical thinkers left. Where in the new generation? Remember George Kennen was young when he had his greatest influence.The fact of the matter is that there are none and all the gibberish we read are the fragments of burned out ideologies.
++This week has seen an orgy of attacks of President Obama's foreign policy from the Amazon Post (a name picked up by the Obama Administration's in last night's White House Correspondent's dinner) and the New York Times this Sunday.
++Interesting, Thomas Friedman, a big apologist for the Iraq War, came to the defense of Obama and admitted Iraq didn't turn out so well. Friedman's point was that we are in a situation of failed states and that the United States doesn't have the resources to put them together again. In other areas,we lack the leverage to get countries to move in our direction.
++Charles Krauthammer, who believes the latest Benghazi e-mails are worse than Nixon's tapes, won conservative's hearts and minds by his op-ed on the fickle nature of Obama's foreign policy.
++Maureen Dowd began the week attacking President Obama for not hitting home-runs by only singles, which indicates a lack of leadership. By today, she has found her champion, Hillary Clinton, and said that Obama's Presidency is used up.
++Frank Bruni in todays Times wonders where the optimism in America has gone and worries that his children will not have the same standard of living as he does. He did rightly point out that Americans have answered the Right Direction--Wrong Direction in polls for the last ten years in the negative so all the fault in not Obama.
++The Amazon Post ran an editorial on Iraq blaming President Obama for not getting the Force Agreement, which would allow the United States to remain and mitigate the current civil war. No one pointed out that both W and Obama didn't get the Force Agreement because the Iraqis would not agree to immunity for American forces, which makes sense because of their past behavior.
++I have not read an editorial anywhere about how Congress weakens American foreign policy. President Obama and John Kerry promise immediate aid to the Ukraine and so what do congressional Republicans do--filibuster it. The House Republicans have cut off aid to UNESCO and the OAS, an institution which has been a reliable ally in promoting democratic values. The Senate has not provided the IMF "fix" that the Administration has promised for several years.
++Now imagine you are living overseas and you see a Congress that closes down the government of a major world power as a tantrum against that country's citizens receiving health care. Imagine you see congressional leaders publicly argue that this major power can willfully default on its debt as a policy option without any repercussions for the world economy. You would have to conclude that country is not "exceptional" as they claim but exceptionally stupid.
++Also imagine you are Chinese, Japanese, or European. And you come to the United States and take the train. Or fly into our airports. You would have to laugh that this destination is a major country. Yet Congress first would not even entertain the Infrastructure Bill of the President nor the idea of John Kerry's to create an infrastructure bank with the private sector.
++You are a German company with an auto plant in the United States. Your company's model is to have worker councils to mitigate labor disputes and to ensure efficient production. The state you have a plant in campaigns against your employees having a labor union. You have to think that state is insane,
++And let's look at the President's critics. None of them have ever seen a war they didn't like. Whether it's the Washington Post or the New York Times. Only when the establishment tired of Vietnam did they go against that war. While millions took to the streets against Iraq, both papers defended it. They have not been against a war since the late 1980s when the United States embarked on an uninterrupted period of permanent war.
++Has President Obama made foreign policy mistakes? Sure. But even Thomas Friedman's lukewarm defense of the President misses the point on Libya. For a few billion dollars and only 4 killed in Bengazi,the United States managed to secure and destroy Qaddafhi's nuclear program that W missed. With regard to Krauthammer's complaint about Obama on Syria,Congress had the right to vote to go to war and didn't. Through diplomacy,Syria has eliminated about 86% of its chemical weapons. The advocates for war in Syria wanted the President to go it alone but refused to take responsibility.
++I have received all week e-mails from my conservative friends, who studiously avoided the jobs report or the Obamacare success, to focus on the issue of accountability.
++Why wasn't Paul Wolfowitz held accountable for his estimates of the cost of the Iraq War? He was promoted to the World Bank. Where has been the accountability for America practising torture for the first time since the Spanish-American war? Where has been the accountability of the violation of America's doctrine of not waging a war of choice?
++For my Republican and conservative friends, what's your foreign policy, since the last one lies in tatters. Where are your geopolitical thinkers? While President Obama went to the Pacific, what foreign policy ideas do you bring on that region? What are your foreign policy ideas on Africa? And to both Republicans and Democrats what is your foreign policy on Latin America?
++The United States has not had a geostrategic policy since the late 1980s. Consider this--we still hear from Zbig and occasionally Henry Kissinger. They are the last geopolitical thinkers left. Where in the new generation? Remember George Kennen was young when he had his greatest influence.The fact of the matter is that there are none and all the gibberish we read are the fragments of burned out ideologies.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Sunday News Roundup
++Jason Linkins provides all you need to know about the Sunday talk shows. He talks about his boss on McLaughlin Report probably being stoned and craving pizza. This week, some black people got to appear instead of the ancient, old white men to discuss the meaning of Nelson Mandela.
++Over 3.7 million have visited the Obamacare website and now the talk shows are asking whether enough young people will enroll.
++The week saw a slight uptick in the progressive agenda. Minimum wage fights are breaking out in local areas. Elizabeth Warren fought back against the "Third Way" crowd, pointing to their funding from banks. The Holy Writ of austerity by cutting Medicare and Social Security was damaged this week as more Democrats are arguing for an enlargement in Social Security. This is a seachange in the national debate.
++Chuck Hagel is in Kabul to secure the ever-elusive security pact with Afghanistan.
++John Kerry brought to Israel the details of secuity arrangments for an Israeli-Palestianian deal.
++President Obama appeared at the Saban Institute here in Washington,D.C. to argue that an Iranian deal is about 50-50 and maybe less.
++John Kerry appeared later at the same forum and was more hopeful than President Obama.
++Bibi Netanyahu said if Iran is nuclear, there will be no Palestinian peace deal. His coalition partners are urging him to get serious.
++The Ukraine has the largest protests since 2004.
++Meanwhile in the Party of No Ideas, Rand Paul says that extending long-term unemployment benefits would be unfair to those workers,the Tea Party gang wants to block another budget deal,one-third of the delegates to the Virginia Republican Party convention believe Medicare is unconstitutional. The John Birch Society met yesterday at Mount Vernon to discuss how subversive the Right can become.
++Rand Paul offered ingenious solutions to Detroit. He wants the city to become like Saipan and attract foreign investors who would have a tax holiday. Meanwhile Christie's valued the Detroit Art Institute's art collection as worth about $1 billion--peanuts for the total debt of the city. Be assured the wealthy will get it for their private collections.
++Naomi Klein slams Nelson Mandela for adopting a neo-liberal capitalist model for South Africa as if in his two-terms he could preserve the peace and confiscate all the industries.
++Rand Paul won't say he is running for President. Elizabeth Warren said she is definitely not. Bernie Sanders said he might if no progressive runs for the Democratic nomination.
++The Times laments the state of South Africa, even though black South Africans feel better. This seems to be the new meme for the post-Mandela mourning. The man was great but didn't do enough. Maybe Romney will beat him next time.
++The relatively good economic news this week brought crickets from my conservative friends. They tell me "Wait until February." They still believe in hyperinflation and that there will be another crash.
++Thomas Friedman of the NY Times this morning won another Friedman Unit--a term a blogger coined for every inanity he writes. Friedman claims the bad educational scores of our country indicates there is too much power among Teachers' Labor Unions and too many entitlement programs. Maybe he can join Rand Paul in re-creating Saipan in Detroit.
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