Fascinating debate. Less moments of true hilarity. All of the candidates agreed that any of them would be better at Foreign Policy than President Obama. President Obama is in Asia solidifying new trade deals and trying to coax China into a better trading position. Since that is part of the world most rapidly developing, it got little mention from the Republicans tonight.
The CBS on-line feeds were absolutely terrible and parts of the last moments were incomprehensible from a technical point of view.
A few observations since I didn't take notes:
Rick Perry probably got himself back into the game by speaking entire sentences and not totally screwing up. The others seemed to go along with his view that all countries should start at zero to see whether they "qualify" for foreign aid. He said in the debate that includes Israel, although he hedged by saying he thought Israel would have a chance to get significant assistance. Strangely even Romney seemed to agree with his.
My overall impression is that with the exception of Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul all the candidates believe that America's foreign policy is solely a matter of military doctrine and military options. Take, for instance, the last debate where Romney led the pack in saying that Europe was on its own in terms of its financial crisis. There is no Africa, no South America, no South Asia and China is seen, particularly by Romney, as a military threat. "We will have to confront it one of these days." He wants to appeal to their youth. I guess for a revolution.
Michelle Bachmann actually got more air time this debate even though she has flatlined in the polls and joining Frothy Mix Santorum near the bottom. The reason China is developing so fast, according to Bachmann, is there are unencumbered by the burdens of social security, Medicare and unemployment insurance. In other words, if we didn't have a social welfare net then we would be chugging right along. Wingbat that she is, she reflects the dominant Republican view that China is already a stronger superpower than we are. A reminder--the Chinese hold only 1% of our Treasury bonds. From the press and the Republicans, you would think they hold our entire national debt.
Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman were against torture, feeling it was un-American. Herman Cain said he was against torture but felt that "enhanced interrogation" wasn't torture. It's sad that the GOP is still trying to resurrect this issue.
Michelle Bachmann claims that the situation in Iran will ignite a world nuclear war. I'm sure Russia and China will stay out and it will be contained to the region if it ever happens. Except for Ron Paul who warned that all this talk about Iran was similar to Iraq and that was a dreadful mistake, the other candidates felt macho enough to suggest war like Rick Santorum,Romney only less hesitant, and Newt was positively giddy about the prospects of killing more Iranian scientists,with plausible denialbility. Newt was amusing because as he blasted Obama he basically stated all the actions he would take and all of them are what Obama is doing now. Romney warned that "If Obama is re-elected, Iran would have nuclear weapons." Rick Santorum urged that we collaborate with Israel on an operation like their strike against the Syrian nuclear facilities. He said that Iran was the most important issue of our time. Herman Cain urged that we back Iranian dissidents, one of the few sane things he has said all campaign.
Mitt Romney thought withdrawing from Iraq was a mistake--even though that was agreed upon by President Bush. Romney also didn't understand in his foreign aid statement that we have a 10-year agreement with Israel so starting at "zero" is not an option.
Strange though it sounded, Herman Cain's rant about the Arab Spring actually represents unspoken Republican opinion. He went on how President Obama basically let it happen and now it has taken a wrong turn and we may never be allies with Egypt again because the revolution there was the product of the Moslem Brotherhood and Obama was asking the Salih of Yemen to step down even though he is our ally against Al Qaeda. Republicans still mourn the loss of Mubarak in Egypt, who was 84, cancer-ridden and who stole $40 billion from the country. But they can't say it like they can't say that toppling Gaddafi was a mistake. So it makes sense they want to support the dictator in Yemen because they have not adjusted to the changing world.
On Afghanistan, Jon Huntsman reiterated that he wanted all troops home and mantained that once we obliterated Al Qaeda and prevented the Taliban from returning to power we have accomplished our mission. Romney and Bachmann opposed President Obama's withdrawal of the surge troops and Bachmann raised the old GOP objection that Obama didn't send enough to Afghanistan in the first place.
Everyone seemed to screw up on Pakistan, which is a complex situation. Romney said that our friends in Pakistan and the U.S. have an agreement to use drones against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. We have no such agreement, which has led Hillary Clinton to intervene to circumscribe their use, which has draw great reactions from the Pakistanis. Herman Cain wants the country to declare whether they are our friends or not. And poor Santorum had to say that the situation is actually more complex than that.
Yesterday, Herman Cain said if he didn't become President, he would like to be Secretary of Defense. Asked as President how he would deal with the generals and could he overrule them he said he would hire a talented team of advisers and evaluate the options and then get the generals' input. Both Cain and Romney have the same commander-in-chief problem. They don't seem to understand that being President is not like being CEO of a company. You get the impression from Romney he would basically let the generals have their way while he and his corporate advisers would tend to the economy.
On Veteran's Day. Romney had announced that he would offer vouchercare for the Veterans, privatize their medical care which is now handled by the Tricare program. Paul Krugman had an excellent op-ed this morning on the voucherization of healthcare proposed by the Republicans. The idea, according to Krugman, is Republicans want all government programs that work to be privatized so that the private sector can benefit. Veterans' care has been examined and actually been shown to be an excellent model for the country. The head of the VFW rapidly responded to Romney suggestion saying that every election cycle this comes up and the veterans oppose it. But the tin ears of someone running for President using Veterans' Day, not to speak about the sacrifices of our armed men and women but basically destroying the medical care they already get by giving them coupons is astounding.
Newt tried to look less pompous and arrogant tonight. If you want an excellent portrait of Newt and what conservatives really think of him read Jack Abramoff's Capital Punishment, where he recounts his meeting with Newt and how Republicans rose up against him as Speaker of the House. Casino Jack's book is surprisingly good and an excellent inside view of the development of today's conservative movement.
So as predicted, the debate concluded that Obama was bad and would make things worse. In previous post, I elaborated on ThinkProgress' recitations of Obama's foreign policy achievements.
I'm sure all the pundits will say that Romney won the debate. But I thought he was actually clueless about the challenges America faces in the world today. The American people have moved on from Iraq and Afghanistan and do not see the Arab Spring as a great threat. The Iranian issue is still before us and it will be the one issue that the GOP will use against Obama as well as the strange notion that Obama isn't defending Israel. Or as Michelle Bachmann said, "Obama defends Occupy Wall Street but won't defend Israel". But the world of the candidates seems to me terribly small and shrunken and out of line for what we have to deal with tomorrow.
There is no turning back. You can't re-invade Iraq. You can't restore authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, although tghat may happen organically. And you can't go picking fights with China since both countries know we are bound together right now. And it is an horrendous thing to cut foreign aid ,especially like the House has been doing lately. Foreign aid is a force multiplier to use military jargon and is a cost-effective way to project a positive image of America in the world. Contrary to long-term popular opinion it causes only a microscopic portion of our national debt.
I didn't see any Commander-in-Chief tonight.
One of the best tweets tonight was someone saying that the Democratic operative who convinced the Republicans to hold all these debates was a genius.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
What If Everything Turns Out Alright?
We have been conditioned to think that the economy will be sluggish, that unemployment will remain high and that things economic will remain bad. But what if we are all wrong?
Unemployment claims hit another two month low at 390,000. Usually below 400,000 means that hiring will accelerate.
Our exports are up 1.4% and reached an all-time high of $180.4 billion.
Our GDP has returned to its high before the recession.
Consumer confidence has reached its highest level in five months at 76.6% and even though most Americans still say the economy is bad a large % now believe it won't get worse.
Even with the drag of public sector layoffs, 2011 will be the strongest year for job creation since 2006 and some believe it will top the level of Clinton's last year in office.
The U.S. is importing less oil and not because of the slowdown of the economy but because we are now 72% energy and fuel self-sufficient.
American businesses have made more profit during the Obama years than all eight of George W. Bush's combined.
The Senate almost unanimously approved a bill to encourage the hiring of returning veterans.
A Senate subcommittee unanimously approved an infrastructure spending bill after the full Senate had filibustered President Obama's infrastructure bill.
If you have a 501-C Plan, which I don't, you should have seen its worth increase by nearly 40% since 2008.
30-year fixed mortgages are now at their lowest rates at 3.3%.
Almost all the banks have retreated on their plans to increase debit card fees.
American manufacturing has shown its greatest rebound since the early 1990s.
American auto sales continue to increase and consumers now believe America makes the best cars.
Europe seems to have escaped the collapse of the Eurozone for now with the new bailout packages for Greece and the new reform packages approved by the Italian parliament. Alas, Sylvio Berlusconi has promised to resign.
Lord knows, what President Obama will bring back from the Asian summit but it might be a slight increase in the value of the Chinese yuan.
The trauma of the economic collapse of 2008 is still being felt throughout the country. Psychologically, I find that no one believes anyone anymore about the economy. No one trusts a stock broker and no one trusts a banker. No one trusts an economist. And no one trusts the Fed. Everything now is seen as a bubble. Any improvement we believe will be wiped away tomorrow with some flimflam game.
Chris Hayes appearing on the Rachel Maddow Show actually captured the essence of current Republican belief in this town. Any attempt to help the economy by government interrupts the ideal natural state of the market. So helping those whose homes are underwater or those who are unemployed negatively alters the nature state of the market, which will correct all things. I think he captures that ideology quite well. There is a certain free market nihilism that has taken hold of the Republicans.
But what if the Republican attempt to sabotage the economy fails. What if the $2 trillion being held by American corporations can't stand pent up any more? And what if businesses simply can hold off expanding? I see this as a real possibility.
This would be win-win. Republicans can claim a victory for the markets. The Democrats can claim a victory for their efforts to stimulate the economy. And we can all go back to fighting about real issues. The old economy will be restored.
The next question is what will the new 21st century economy look like. Will it be fairer? Will we make the necessary investments to be on the cutting edge of science and technology? Will we inch back to having a sense of the public good and the social contract?
Maybe this has all been a bump in the road. And it's really blue skies ahead. Hmmm.
Unemployment claims hit another two month low at 390,000. Usually below 400,000 means that hiring will accelerate.
Our exports are up 1.4% and reached an all-time high of $180.4 billion.
Our GDP has returned to its high before the recession.
Consumer confidence has reached its highest level in five months at 76.6% and even though most Americans still say the economy is bad a large % now believe it won't get worse.
Even with the drag of public sector layoffs, 2011 will be the strongest year for job creation since 2006 and some believe it will top the level of Clinton's last year in office.
The U.S. is importing less oil and not because of the slowdown of the economy but because we are now 72% energy and fuel self-sufficient.
American businesses have made more profit during the Obama years than all eight of George W. Bush's combined.
The Senate almost unanimously approved a bill to encourage the hiring of returning veterans.
A Senate subcommittee unanimously approved an infrastructure spending bill after the full Senate had filibustered President Obama's infrastructure bill.
If you have a 501-C Plan, which I don't, you should have seen its worth increase by nearly 40% since 2008.
30-year fixed mortgages are now at their lowest rates at 3.3%.
Almost all the banks have retreated on their plans to increase debit card fees.
American manufacturing has shown its greatest rebound since the early 1990s.
American auto sales continue to increase and consumers now believe America makes the best cars.
Europe seems to have escaped the collapse of the Eurozone for now with the new bailout packages for Greece and the new reform packages approved by the Italian parliament. Alas, Sylvio Berlusconi has promised to resign.
Lord knows, what President Obama will bring back from the Asian summit but it might be a slight increase in the value of the Chinese yuan.
The trauma of the economic collapse of 2008 is still being felt throughout the country. Psychologically, I find that no one believes anyone anymore about the economy. No one trusts a stock broker and no one trusts a banker. No one trusts an economist. And no one trusts the Fed. Everything now is seen as a bubble. Any improvement we believe will be wiped away tomorrow with some flimflam game.
Chris Hayes appearing on the Rachel Maddow Show actually captured the essence of current Republican belief in this town. Any attempt to help the economy by government interrupts the ideal natural state of the market. So helping those whose homes are underwater or those who are unemployed negatively alters the nature state of the market, which will correct all things. I think he captures that ideology quite well. There is a certain free market nihilism that has taken hold of the Republicans.
But what if the Republican attempt to sabotage the economy fails. What if the $2 trillion being held by American corporations can't stand pent up any more? And what if businesses simply can hold off expanding? I see this as a real possibility.
This would be win-win. Republicans can claim a victory for the markets. The Democrats can claim a victory for their efforts to stimulate the economy. And we can all go back to fighting about real issues. The old economy will be restored.
The next question is what will the new 21st century economy look like. Will it be fairer? Will we make the necessary investments to be on the cutting edge of science and technology? Will we inch back to having a sense of the public good and the social contract?
Maybe this has all been a bump in the road. And it's really blue skies ahead. Hmmm.
Next Up--Saturday's Prime-Time Foreign Policy Debate
The latest poll has Herman Cain still in the lead with 18% of the vote, Mitt Romney with 15% and Newt Gingrich and his lovely bride Callista just behind with 15%. Rick Perry has tanked. So we now have a serial groper, a serial flip-flopper and a serial adulterer as the leading Repubican candidates. Tomorrow they debate about who can really be commander-in-chief.
Mitt Romney set the stage with his Wall Street Journal op-ed declaring that Obama had shredded all his credibility for his lack of a forceful policy on Iran and has engaged in a policy that is shamefully amoral. Mitt, who is surrounded by the remnants of the 1990s organization "The Next American Future", openly advocates war with Iran.
Now step back a moment. First, a political candidate only days after the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear weapons program launches a personal attack on the United States almost mirroring the same rhetoric as the leaders of the Iranian regime. Secondly, he jumps the shark by immediately going to a military option. Policy 101 demands that the military option is always the last option. All others must be exhausted first. Unfortunately, those options are being exhausted and we may indeed have some military action with Iran. By why is the default mode for Republicans over the last 12 years been war.
On Veterans Day, we should understand that veterans can take immense pride in their service, their accomplishments and the relationships they have and had with their brothers and sisters in arms. But it is the rare veteran who looks fondly back on war itself. Growing up, my father would tell humorous stories of being stationed in North Africa and Italy during World War II but was very reluctant to actually talk about the fighting. Very late in his life he talked about how horrible it was and the gratuitous violence against civilians. None of his friends ever talked about the Pacific Theater where they fought, several of them valiantly, because it was hellish and several suffered from maladies the rest of their lives. And those were Vets of the Good War. Recent Iraq veterans I have met complain of constant health problems that were generated by the dust and heat over in Baghdad and they are the healthy ones.
So, before we beat our chest and pretend to be macho men it is useful to be a bit humble and understand that war is a recognition of political failure and its consequences are truly horrible.
In my opinion, President Obama has actually enhanced national security and made the country and the world a safer place. In little over two and a half years in office, he has a sigificant number of foreign policy achievements which are little remarked on because our entire natinal debate is on the economy. Some of these achievements are criticized by his own supporters but few are praised by the Republicans.
To that end www.thinkprogress.org published today a list of Obama's Foreign Policy Successes just so people won't forget when they hear the shopworn lines in tomorrow's debate. Even Think Progress misses a few and omits a couple that have met opposition by progressives.
1. I think we have to give credit to the Obama Administration for taking out the Somali pirates with the Navy Seals and rescuing the American ship held hostage. This set the stage for his other successes against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
2. Killing Osama Bin Laden and his campaign against Al Qaeda. He promised during his 2008 campaign he would get the man behind the 9/11 plot and he did. Immediately after taking office, he ordered then CIA director Leon Panetta to " redouble" efforts to track al-Qaeda's leader down. About two and a half years later, he ordered the raid against bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, killing him and recovering a treasure trove of intelligence on the terror network. During President Obama's time in office, Al Qaeda has suffered its great losses since the U.S. evicted them from Afghanistan in 2001.
3. A subset of this has been the disruption of several terrorist plots against the United States--the underwear bomber, the Times Square bomber, the anniversary 9/11 plot to blow up the New York subways, and the latest Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States.
4. The Obama Administration killed senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar Al Awlaki in Yemen , along with other leaders of the Arabian peninsula's branch of the group.
5. Through intense diplomacy, the Obama Administration facilitated the creation of South Sudan as an independent country.
6. He supported the Democratic Transition in Egypt by consistently calling on Egyptian authorities to respect the rights of the demonstrators against the Mubarak regime and helped negotiate a non-violent end to his decades old rule. The administration also worked with its Egyptian counterparts to set out the steps for an orderly transiton of power and praised the military for its restraint. At the same time, the Obama administration got the Egyptian authorities to commit themselves to all regional and international obligations and treaties, with a special emphasis on their peace treaties with Israel. This November and January we will see parliamentary elections and later in the Spring presidential elections.
7. Widely criticized for his actions on Libya, the Obama Administration pulled together an international coalition to approve and successfully executive a no-fly zone over Libya to protect Libyan citizens and the anti-Qaddafi rebels. It took seven months, only $1 billion and the coalition forces helped the rebels overthrow the Qaddafi regime on October 20.
8.Early in his presidency , President Obama promised that the United States armed forces would end combat missions by late summer 2010. It happened on August 31,2010. Following Iraq's refusal to support an extension of immunity for U.S. military personnel, President Obama promised that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of this year.
9. Little commented on has been President Obama's efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He held the first ever global conference on the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the United States and achieved several bilateral commitments of countries to have the United States obtain their enriched uranium and plutonium. The administration has been active on this and , for example, received custody of all of Kazakhstan's plutonium. The centerpiece of this effort was the New Strategic Arms Reduction treaty (START) with Russia , which halved the number of Russian and American nuclear missile launchers. The Obama administration also adopted a new defense doctrine declaring that the U.S. will not use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons aggainst non-nuclear states that are party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
10. Contrary to his Republican critics, the Obama administration worked to tighten and enforce sanctions against Iran and got the UN Security Council to pass another round of multilateral sanctions on June 9,2010. The President also signed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA). The Obama administration has also continued the covert actions to sabotage the nuclear program, which did slow down the program. The efforts by the Obama Administration have isolated Tehran internationally. With his relations with Moscow and Beijing he persuaded both Russia and China not to veto further sanctions on Iran. The Administration also quietly provided assistance to the Green Revolution.
11. I know it is heresy to say it--President Obama actually strengthened U.S.-Israel ties. In an interview in August, Israeli Defense Minister ehud Barak said, "I can hardly remember a better period of support, American support and cooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around the world than we have right now. Another official said that coordination was now "better than under President Bush." While there remains tension over the settlement issue, U.S. military aid to Israel has increased markedly and the coordination regarding Iran has actually increased markedly. President Obama approved the transfer of a missile defense system to Israel and also our bunker buster bombs, something the George W. Bush administration refused to do for fears the plans would end up in the hands of the Chinese.
12. While not in the Think Progress report, I would include the three Fair Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. In particular, Republican critics of President Obama's trip to South Korea and their declaration that he had failed is contradicted by his successful negotiation of the trade agreement, which has been suppported by the major American unions.
13. I don't know whether I agree with Think Progress that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell falls within the foreign policy achievements. But the cost of enforcing it and the cloud it put over the gay and lesbian service people is ended and ended rather peacefully.
14. I would include the rapid response by USAID to the Haitian earthquake as an achievement even though massive problems still exist there. But it was precisely the type of actions Americans are known for.
These are not minor. If he packed up his bag tomorrow, this would be quite a record.
At the debate tomorrow, you will hear that President Obama doesn't believe in American exceptionalism, he leads from behind, we basically don't need allies, except Israel, which Obama threw under the bus, and that Obama has made the country less safe. Our great troops nailed bin Laden while Obama was playing golf so he would have plasuible denial if the operation failed. The New Start Treaty prevents the United States from building an anti-missle defense system. He threw Muburak under the bus. He is cowardly about Iran. And he is not tough enough on China. And depending on the candidate the French and Italians defeated Gaddafi and now Al Qaeda will take over in Libya and Tunisia.
Theodore Roosevelt said "Walk softly and carry a big stick." Today's Republicans have some distorted view of the Alpha Male or some psychosexual issue making them act like bullies, war mongerers and just nasty folks. I've told my remaining Republican friends, who work on security and foreign policy issues, if one of these candidates, including Willard, get elected, just turn off the lights. The world will not listen to us anymore.
Almost all the Republican candidates with the exception of Jon Huntsman, are unilateralists or isolationists, which I argue in a previous post come from the same source. They and their Republican House colleagues are against foreign aid and any notion of soft power. They do not believe in multilateral organizations as witnessed by their defunding the Organization of American States, Unesco and threats against the U.N. Willard Romney actually suggested that he would make foreign assistance contingent on a country's support of our foreign policy--since, of course, they don't have their own national interests. But then again Romney also said that China should take the lead in humanitarian aid, which would weaken America's standing in the world.
The audience to watch tomorrow are the foreigners. Reactions from abroad on the debates should be fascinating as most of the world stands appalled at the noise coming from the Republicans. And who will the audience boo tomorrow?
Can the Republicans actually make their accusations against Obama stick? An old foreign policy hand wants said to me that everyone in the United States who knew anything about foreign policy couold fit into a small--he stressed small-football stadium. So yes, they can. They have been outfront criticizing the President at every step of the way. When you can't not credit the man with getting archvillain number 1--Bin laden-- then everything is game.
Mitt Romney set the stage with his Wall Street Journal op-ed declaring that Obama had shredded all his credibility for his lack of a forceful policy on Iran and has engaged in a policy that is shamefully amoral. Mitt, who is surrounded by the remnants of the 1990s organization "The Next American Future", openly advocates war with Iran.
Now step back a moment. First, a political candidate only days after the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear weapons program launches a personal attack on the United States almost mirroring the same rhetoric as the leaders of the Iranian regime. Secondly, he jumps the shark by immediately going to a military option. Policy 101 demands that the military option is always the last option. All others must be exhausted first. Unfortunately, those options are being exhausted and we may indeed have some military action with Iran. By why is the default mode for Republicans over the last 12 years been war.
On Veterans Day, we should understand that veterans can take immense pride in their service, their accomplishments and the relationships they have and had with their brothers and sisters in arms. But it is the rare veteran who looks fondly back on war itself. Growing up, my father would tell humorous stories of being stationed in North Africa and Italy during World War II but was very reluctant to actually talk about the fighting. Very late in his life he talked about how horrible it was and the gratuitous violence against civilians. None of his friends ever talked about the Pacific Theater where they fought, several of them valiantly, because it was hellish and several suffered from maladies the rest of their lives. And those were Vets of the Good War. Recent Iraq veterans I have met complain of constant health problems that were generated by the dust and heat over in Baghdad and they are the healthy ones.
So, before we beat our chest and pretend to be macho men it is useful to be a bit humble and understand that war is a recognition of political failure and its consequences are truly horrible.
In my opinion, President Obama has actually enhanced national security and made the country and the world a safer place. In little over two and a half years in office, he has a sigificant number of foreign policy achievements which are little remarked on because our entire natinal debate is on the economy. Some of these achievements are criticized by his own supporters but few are praised by the Republicans.
To that end www.thinkprogress.org published today a list of Obama's Foreign Policy Successes just so people won't forget when they hear the shopworn lines in tomorrow's debate. Even Think Progress misses a few and omits a couple that have met opposition by progressives.
1. I think we have to give credit to the Obama Administration for taking out the Somali pirates with the Navy Seals and rescuing the American ship held hostage. This set the stage for his other successes against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
2. Killing Osama Bin Laden and his campaign against Al Qaeda. He promised during his 2008 campaign he would get the man behind the 9/11 plot and he did. Immediately after taking office, he ordered then CIA director Leon Panetta to " redouble" efforts to track al-Qaeda's leader down. About two and a half years later, he ordered the raid against bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, killing him and recovering a treasure trove of intelligence on the terror network. During President Obama's time in office, Al Qaeda has suffered its great losses since the U.S. evicted them from Afghanistan in 2001.
3. A subset of this has been the disruption of several terrorist plots against the United States--the underwear bomber, the Times Square bomber, the anniversary 9/11 plot to blow up the New York subways, and the latest Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States.
4. The Obama Administration killed senior Al Qaeda leader Anwar Al Awlaki in Yemen , along with other leaders of the Arabian peninsula's branch of the group.
5. Through intense diplomacy, the Obama Administration facilitated the creation of South Sudan as an independent country.
6. He supported the Democratic Transition in Egypt by consistently calling on Egyptian authorities to respect the rights of the demonstrators against the Mubarak regime and helped negotiate a non-violent end to his decades old rule. The administration also worked with its Egyptian counterparts to set out the steps for an orderly transiton of power and praised the military for its restraint. At the same time, the Obama administration got the Egyptian authorities to commit themselves to all regional and international obligations and treaties, with a special emphasis on their peace treaties with Israel. This November and January we will see parliamentary elections and later in the Spring presidential elections.
7. Widely criticized for his actions on Libya, the Obama Administration pulled together an international coalition to approve and successfully executive a no-fly zone over Libya to protect Libyan citizens and the anti-Qaddafi rebels. It took seven months, only $1 billion and the coalition forces helped the rebels overthrow the Qaddafi regime on October 20.
8.Early in his presidency , President Obama promised that the United States armed forces would end combat missions by late summer 2010. It happened on August 31,2010. Following Iraq's refusal to support an extension of immunity for U.S. military personnel, President Obama promised that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of this year.
9. Little commented on has been President Obama's efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He held the first ever global conference on the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the United States and achieved several bilateral commitments of countries to have the United States obtain their enriched uranium and plutonium. The administration has been active on this and , for example, received custody of all of Kazakhstan's plutonium. The centerpiece of this effort was the New Strategic Arms Reduction treaty (START) with Russia , which halved the number of Russian and American nuclear missile launchers. The Obama administration also adopted a new defense doctrine declaring that the U.S. will not use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons aggainst non-nuclear states that are party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
10. Contrary to his Republican critics, the Obama administration worked to tighten and enforce sanctions against Iran and got the UN Security Council to pass another round of multilateral sanctions on June 9,2010. The President also signed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA). The Obama administration has also continued the covert actions to sabotage the nuclear program, which did slow down the program. The efforts by the Obama Administration have isolated Tehran internationally. With his relations with Moscow and Beijing he persuaded both Russia and China not to veto further sanctions on Iran. The Administration also quietly provided assistance to the Green Revolution.
11. I know it is heresy to say it--President Obama actually strengthened U.S.-Israel ties. In an interview in August, Israeli Defense Minister ehud Barak said, "I can hardly remember a better period of support, American support and cooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around the world than we have right now. Another official said that coordination was now "better than under President Bush." While there remains tension over the settlement issue, U.S. military aid to Israel has increased markedly and the coordination regarding Iran has actually increased markedly. President Obama approved the transfer of a missile defense system to Israel and also our bunker buster bombs, something the George W. Bush administration refused to do for fears the plans would end up in the hands of the Chinese.
12. While not in the Think Progress report, I would include the three Fair Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. In particular, Republican critics of President Obama's trip to South Korea and their declaration that he had failed is contradicted by his successful negotiation of the trade agreement, which has been suppported by the major American unions.
13. I don't know whether I agree with Think Progress that the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell falls within the foreign policy achievements. But the cost of enforcing it and the cloud it put over the gay and lesbian service people is ended and ended rather peacefully.
14. I would include the rapid response by USAID to the Haitian earthquake as an achievement even though massive problems still exist there. But it was precisely the type of actions Americans are known for.
These are not minor. If he packed up his bag tomorrow, this would be quite a record.
At the debate tomorrow, you will hear that President Obama doesn't believe in American exceptionalism, he leads from behind, we basically don't need allies, except Israel, which Obama threw under the bus, and that Obama has made the country less safe. Our great troops nailed bin Laden while Obama was playing golf so he would have plasuible denial if the operation failed. The New Start Treaty prevents the United States from building an anti-missle defense system. He threw Muburak under the bus. He is cowardly about Iran. And he is not tough enough on China. And depending on the candidate the French and Italians defeated Gaddafi and now Al Qaeda will take over in Libya and Tunisia.
Theodore Roosevelt said "Walk softly and carry a big stick." Today's Republicans have some distorted view of the Alpha Male or some psychosexual issue making them act like bullies, war mongerers and just nasty folks. I've told my remaining Republican friends, who work on security and foreign policy issues, if one of these candidates, including Willard, get elected, just turn off the lights. The world will not listen to us anymore.
Almost all the Republican candidates with the exception of Jon Huntsman, are unilateralists or isolationists, which I argue in a previous post come from the same source. They and their Republican House colleagues are against foreign aid and any notion of soft power. They do not believe in multilateral organizations as witnessed by their defunding the Organization of American States, Unesco and threats against the U.N. Willard Romney actually suggested that he would make foreign assistance contingent on a country's support of our foreign policy--since, of course, they don't have their own national interests. But then again Romney also said that China should take the lead in humanitarian aid, which would weaken America's standing in the world.
The audience to watch tomorrow are the foreigners. Reactions from abroad on the debates should be fascinating as most of the world stands appalled at the noise coming from the Republicans. And who will the audience boo tomorrow?
Can the Republicans actually make their accusations against Obama stick? An old foreign policy hand wants said to me that everyone in the United States who knew anything about foreign policy couold fit into a small--he stressed small-football stadium. So yes, they can. They have been outfront criticizing the President at every step of the way. When you can't not credit the man with getting archvillain number 1--Bin laden-- then everything is game.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
NUMBER 9..NUMBER 9...NUMBER 9....
OK, I got suckered into watching another Republican car wreck. The best part of the debate last night were the live tweeter feeds on various websites, who registered increasing horror as one candidate after another blundered and blustered.
A few things I learned from the debate. Obama is BAD. According to Mitt Romney, he's so bad that he hates profits. Even though almost all large corporations have made profits in Obama short time in office than during the whole Bush reign. DODD-FRANKS must be repealed because we have to get regulators off the backs of banks. The reason it's bad is because Chris Dodd backed the Sandinistas and Barney Frank is gay. If you work 30 hours a week and go to colege, you can pay for it. I also learned that our revenue situation would be OK if everyone just paid the equivalent of two Happy Meals in taxes.
The winner of the debate was Admiral Stockdale, the late Vice Presidential candidate for Ross Perot. Remember his great moment of profound philosophical insight, "Why, Why am I here?" The Reason was that Rick Perry's brain freeze reminded us of that gallant man. But it didn't do anything for Rick Perry, who is beginning to look like a bumbling version of John Connelly, the man who spent millions to become President but ended up with 1 delegate in the Republican Convention in 1976.
What I really didn't know was that Newt Gingrich received $300,000 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, another guarantee boo-word for Republicans. Newt claimed he wasn't a lobbyist but hired as "an historian".
Rick Santorum managed to slip in two subjects he is a lobbyist for.
After the debate, Rick Perry's leading donor asked that he quit the race. For his part, Rick just said,"I'm glad I was wearing my boots because I really stepped in it."
Have the Koch Brothers made their deal with Romney? Judson Phillips, the Koch Bro. hack of Americans for Prosperity, said that Herman Cain should quit.
Mr. 9-9-9 said that for every one woman who accused him of harassing her there were thousands more who said he didn't. So at that ratio, we should expect platoons of further revelations.
It took 39 minutes before Cain got to say 9-9-9 and by the end the audience was laughing at him , not for him when he said it.
The audience managed to convey the essence of this year's Republican base--they booed the moderator for even mentioning the sexual harassment accusations against Cain. So we've had cheering of executions, booing of gay soldiers, jeering of Mexicans and now booing of women who claimed they were sexually harrassed. How to make friends.
Even Dana Perino tweeted her dismay when Herman Cain mentioned Princess Nancy, when referring to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Cain's campaign that night doubled down on Princess Nancy, while this morning Herman Cain said he regretted the incident. But Nancy Pelosi is a guaranteed money-maker for Republicans. Obama, Dodd-Franks,Pelosi--those are the dog whistles.
It seemed surprising that in Michigan that Mitt and the other candidates doubled down on opposing the bailout of the auto industry, when the state only survives because Obama made that decision. The audience applauded them. The reason is that the audience was from relatively well-off Rochester, where unemployment in negligble and yearly earnings average over six figures and everyone's white.
We have progressed from the days when the GOP candidates thought we were going to become Greece. Now we're going to be Italy. Mitt emphasized that Europe was on its own and that the US should not have a TARP bailout for Europe. When we get into the general election, I hope the utter incoherence of his position makes the replay tape.
Willard looked pale and tired, showing his age. Yes, if this were a contest, Mitt, sort of won,but he is amazing because not only does he flip-flop but he is a consummate liar when he does. Because he can speak in complete sentences, people like Mark Helperin gave him an A for last night. But almost everything he said about the economy and his ideas was utter gibberish. It didn't even make sense if you were a corporate executive or very wealthy.
If Republicans have abandoned any belief in scientific or intellectual elites, why do they hold dearly to so called corporate elites, who don't have any idea about what's going on either? Even among the corporate elite, Romney is mediocre and while he will preserve the wealth of the very rich he is totally clueless about the economy. I find this surprising--actually. Any Harvard Business grad should be able to wing it. He simply does not have the experience in developing an economy. His whole business was a Wrecking Crew to pick over the remains of bankrupt businesses. So the model for making his wealth is just the reverse of anyone who actually built their wealth.
Romney got off a great laugh line when he said he was a model of steadiness and constancy and then couldn't remember how many years he has been married. I felt they should cue in Joni Mitchell's "O, Canada"-"constant as a northern star, you say."
The Romney camp is gloating this morning that Perry blew his brains out on national television. But when the dust settles, I think people will realize how very weak a candidate Romney is and how totally insubstantial his ideas are.
If you are an average American, there was not alot red meat for you in the debates. All the candidates would not help students in debt, those whose homes are underwater, those who have lost their jobs and even small businessmen and women. And I'm only talking about white folks. There is literally nothing the GOP is offering to minorities or women. If you are a thinking wealthy person, you had to be dismayed.
What struck me last night since the debate was slightly off and wobbly throughout was that here are people who are the very types of people they despise. Michelle Bachmann receives a government salary, government pension and health care and her private business receives government subsidies. Newt Gingrich has a government pension, health care and a private parking place at the House and has been a lobbyist. Rick Perry's own family could not have made it without farm supports from the government. Mitt Romney inherited the first part of his wealth, believing everyone is born on third base, and earned his considerable wealth destroying businesses. It almost makes you sympathetic to Herman Cain.
Romney proposed something utterly crazy that no one caught. He wants to make government salaries the same as in the private sector. This would be the biggest pay hike in public worker history. He has the ratio of earnings just the opposite and has for years.
There were few attacks on anyone. They are competing for 1 nomination, not second and third prize. Jon Huntsman got in a lame slam at Romney's war on China and Rick Santorum swatted at Mitt for Romneycare. Otherwise, people were just trying to survive it. Rick Perry, who was absent again for most of the debate, managed to knock himself out in the 15th round.
I can't believe CBS is going to broadcast another debate this week. This time on Foreign Policy. Of course, all of them will say that President Obama dissed Bibi Netanyahu in the open mike conservation with Sarkozy, whose the man who called Bibi a liar. So the GOP will support an Israel-first policy, which is ruinous for both our countries, and will again urge the re-invasion of Iraq.
I can see why people get hooked on Reality Television. I've gotten e-mails from conservatives who literally hooted and hollared about the debate and the digs of the candidates to each other. The problem is that those people on stage are not competing for American Idol, but the presidency of the tatttered republic.
A few things I learned from the debate. Obama is BAD. According to Mitt Romney, he's so bad that he hates profits. Even though almost all large corporations have made profits in Obama short time in office than during the whole Bush reign. DODD-FRANKS must be repealed because we have to get regulators off the backs of banks. The reason it's bad is because Chris Dodd backed the Sandinistas and Barney Frank is gay. If you work 30 hours a week and go to colege, you can pay for it. I also learned that our revenue situation would be OK if everyone just paid the equivalent of two Happy Meals in taxes.
The winner of the debate was Admiral Stockdale, the late Vice Presidential candidate for Ross Perot. Remember his great moment of profound philosophical insight, "Why, Why am I here?" The Reason was that Rick Perry's brain freeze reminded us of that gallant man. But it didn't do anything for Rick Perry, who is beginning to look like a bumbling version of John Connelly, the man who spent millions to become President but ended up with 1 delegate in the Republican Convention in 1976.
What I really didn't know was that Newt Gingrich received $300,000 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, another guarantee boo-word for Republicans. Newt claimed he wasn't a lobbyist but hired as "an historian".
Rick Santorum managed to slip in two subjects he is a lobbyist for.
After the debate, Rick Perry's leading donor asked that he quit the race. For his part, Rick just said,"I'm glad I was wearing my boots because I really stepped in it."
Have the Koch Brothers made their deal with Romney? Judson Phillips, the Koch Bro. hack of Americans for Prosperity, said that Herman Cain should quit.
Mr. 9-9-9 said that for every one woman who accused him of harassing her there were thousands more who said he didn't. So at that ratio, we should expect platoons of further revelations.
It took 39 minutes before Cain got to say 9-9-9 and by the end the audience was laughing at him , not for him when he said it.
The audience managed to convey the essence of this year's Republican base--they booed the moderator for even mentioning the sexual harassment accusations against Cain. So we've had cheering of executions, booing of gay soldiers, jeering of Mexicans and now booing of women who claimed they were sexually harrassed. How to make friends.
Even Dana Perino tweeted her dismay when Herman Cain mentioned Princess Nancy, when referring to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Cain's campaign that night doubled down on Princess Nancy, while this morning Herman Cain said he regretted the incident. But Nancy Pelosi is a guaranteed money-maker for Republicans. Obama, Dodd-Franks,Pelosi--those are the dog whistles.
It seemed surprising that in Michigan that Mitt and the other candidates doubled down on opposing the bailout of the auto industry, when the state only survives because Obama made that decision. The audience applauded them. The reason is that the audience was from relatively well-off Rochester, where unemployment in negligble and yearly earnings average over six figures and everyone's white.
We have progressed from the days when the GOP candidates thought we were going to become Greece. Now we're going to be Italy. Mitt emphasized that Europe was on its own and that the US should not have a TARP bailout for Europe. When we get into the general election, I hope the utter incoherence of his position makes the replay tape.
Willard looked pale and tired, showing his age. Yes, if this were a contest, Mitt, sort of won,but he is amazing because not only does he flip-flop but he is a consummate liar when he does. Because he can speak in complete sentences, people like Mark Helperin gave him an A for last night. But almost everything he said about the economy and his ideas was utter gibberish. It didn't even make sense if you were a corporate executive or very wealthy.
If Republicans have abandoned any belief in scientific or intellectual elites, why do they hold dearly to so called corporate elites, who don't have any idea about what's going on either? Even among the corporate elite, Romney is mediocre and while he will preserve the wealth of the very rich he is totally clueless about the economy. I find this surprising--actually. Any Harvard Business grad should be able to wing it. He simply does not have the experience in developing an economy. His whole business was a Wrecking Crew to pick over the remains of bankrupt businesses. So the model for making his wealth is just the reverse of anyone who actually built their wealth.
Romney got off a great laugh line when he said he was a model of steadiness and constancy and then couldn't remember how many years he has been married. I felt they should cue in Joni Mitchell's "O, Canada"-"constant as a northern star, you say."
The Romney camp is gloating this morning that Perry blew his brains out on national television. But when the dust settles, I think people will realize how very weak a candidate Romney is and how totally insubstantial his ideas are.
If you are an average American, there was not alot red meat for you in the debates. All the candidates would not help students in debt, those whose homes are underwater, those who have lost their jobs and even small businessmen and women. And I'm only talking about white folks. There is literally nothing the GOP is offering to minorities or women. If you are a thinking wealthy person, you had to be dismayed.
What struck me last night since the debate was slightly off and wobbly throughout was that here are people who are the very types of people they despise. Michelle Bachmann receives a government salary, government pension and health care and her private business receives government subsidies. Newt Gingrich has a government pension, health care and a private parking place at the House and has been a lobbyist. Rick Perry's own family could not have made it without farm supports from the government. Mitt Romney inherited the first part of his wealth, believing everyone is born on third base, and earned his considerable wealth destroying businesses. It almost makes you sympathetic to Herman Cain.
Romney proposed something utterly crazy that no one caught. He wants to make government salaries the same as in the private sector. This would be the biggest pay hike in public worker history. He has the ratio of earnings just the opposite and has for years.
There were few attacks on anyone. They are competing for 1 nomination, not second and third prize. Jon Huntsman got in a lame slam at Romney's war on China and Rick Santorum swatted at Mitt for Romneycare. Otherwise, people were just trying to survive it. Rick Perry, who was absent again for most of the debate, managed to knock himself out in the 15th round.
I can't believe CBS is going to broadcast another debate this week. This time on Foreign Policy. Of course, all of them will say that President Obama dissed Bibi Netanyahu in the open mike conservation with Sarkozy, whose the man who called Bibi a liar. So the GOP will support an Israel-first policy, which is ruinous for both our countries, and will again urge the re-invasion of Iraq.
I can see why people get hooked on Reality Television. I've gotten e-mails from conservatives who literally hooted and hollared about the debate and the digs of the candidates to each other. The problem is that those people on stage are not competing for American Idol, but the presidency of the tatttered republic.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Has Herman Cain Touched You?
You are on your own tonight. I don't know how the GOP contenders can top themselves. I'll be reading Umberto Eco's new novel instead.
Willard Romney had a tough night last night. Ohio's anti-union bill, which he supported after he didn't, went down to defeat with 62% voting against it. This was a case where when Mitt flip-flopped he chose the wrong side. Also, Mississippi rejected the Personhood amendment, which would have granted a fetus the full rights of a human being. Romney told Mike Huckabee on Fox News he would support such an amendment to the Constitution. He also supported the Mississippi initiative. Earlier today, he backed away from this position. By late afternoon, he said the Personhood issue was a matter for each state.
Herman Cain continues his superb record on women's rights. His campaign website described one of his accusers as an "ugly b***ch". Last night he blamed a Democratic Machine for a smear campaign against him, saying there was a conspiracy in this country against a businessman becoming President. He suggested that if these accusations had not come he would be well on his way to the White House. Herman's wife cancelled another Fox News interview. Today, the Cain capaign changed its tune and said that it was Rick Perry--again--who was conducting this smear campaign.
Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum seems to be a magnet for all kinds of strange ideas on sex. It turns out Santorum was a big and very public backer of the Penn State coach indicted for child molestation.
Newt Gingrich actually had a good idea. He called for the breakup of the major banks and the restoring Glass-Seagall,which had prevented the speculation by banks in derivatives. He also said that the reason the economy melted down was the wave of de-regulation in the 1990s. Newt is trying to channel Occupy Wall Street with old conservatism. It might push him up in the polls.
Ian Rankin's new novel is out with Matthew Fox as the lead character. Not Rebus but still a well-told tale that gets better as it proceeds. A wonderful look back at the 1980s in Scotland and the radicalism of the Scottish Nationalist Movement at the time.
Democrats basically came out better last night and it seems that the GOP pushed the envelope too hard in going after unions, pro-choice and voter registration. Maine defeated the notion to close down their pioneering same-day voting process. The victory in Ohio was a tribute to sustained organization. One cautionary note: Ohio also passed a law prohibiting the state from forcing citizens to buy health insurance. Here was a slap against Obama's individual mandate in the health reform bill. However, a new poll shows Obama beating Romney in Ohio by 9%.
So, it's off tonight. Have fun with the debate. Will the moderator ask Romney there in Michigan why he wanted the auto industry to go bankrupt?
Willard Romney had a tough night last night. Ohio's anti-union bill, which he supported after he didn't, went down to defeat with 62% voting against it. This was a case where when Mitt flip-flopped he chose the wrong side. Also, Mississippi rejected the Personhood amendment, which would have granted a fetus the full rights of a human being. Romney told Mike Huckabee on Fox News he would support such an amendment to the Constitution. He also supported the Mississippi initiative. Earlier today, he backed away from this position. By late afternoon, he said the Personhood issue was a matter for each state.
Herman Cain continues his superb record on women's rights. His campaign website described one of his accusers as an "ugly b***ch". Last night he blamed a Democratic Machine for a smear campaign against him, saying there was a conspiracy in this country against a businessman becoming President. He suggested that if these accusations had not come he would be well on his way to the White House. Herman's wife cancelled another Fox News interview. Today, the Cain capaign changed its tune and said that it was Rick Perry--again--who was conducting this smear campaign.
Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum seems to be a magnet for all kinds of strange ideas on sex. It turns out Santorum was a big and very public backer of the Penn State coach indicted for child molestation.
Newt Gingrich actually had a good idea. He called for the breakup of the major banks and the restoring Glass-Seagall,which had prevented the speculation by banks in derivatives. He also said that the reason the economy melted down was the wave of de-regulation in the 1990s. Newt is trying to channel Occupy Wall Street with old conservatism. It might push him up in the polls.
Ian Rankin's new novel is out with Matthew Fox as the lead character. Not Rebus but still a well-told tale that gets better as it proceeds. A wonderful look back at the 1980s in Scotland and the radicalism of the Scottish Nationalist Movement at the time.
Democrats basically came out better last night and it seems that the GOP pushed the envelope too hard in going after unions, pro-choice and voter registration. Maine defeated the notion to close down their pioneering same-day voting process. The victory in Ohio was a tribute to sustained organization. One cautionary note: Ohio also passed a law prohibiting the state from forcing citizens to buy health insurance. Here was a slap against Obama's individual mandate in the health reform bill. However, a new poll shows Obama beating Romney in Ohio by 9%.
So, it's off tonight. Have fun with the debate. Will the moderator ask Romney there in Michigan why he wanted the auto industry to go bankrupt?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Cain Victimized
Some campaign advice to anyone running for office: Don't have your lawyer open up a press conference and hover nearby waiting to cover for your missteps. And don't have your lawyer express confidence in you.
Here was a man running his mouth so fast he thought he could get away with it and escape the oncoming policemen. Rick Perry surfaced just at the right moment to suggest this was Herman Cain's "turn in the barrel", referring to the old practice of glory-hole blow jobs.
Herman Cain got off alot of doozies. He claimed that he didn't recognize Sharon Bialek's name at all and denied that anything ever took place. (" He didn't have sex with that woman."
What he did suggest was that the Democratic Machine and not Rick Perry brought forth the accuser, who was a "troubled woman". He claimed that his campaign was being attacked by a conspiracy but there was no evidence of any wrong doing on his part. (Except for some cancelled checks from the settlements.) No one can quite figure out why the Democratic machine would care about Herman Cain.
He was a righteous and aggreived victim of this plot. The media basically treated this all as theater and threw softball questions at him. Asked whether he might remember more details later, he answered," I do not know the science of how the mind works."
It seems his problems won't go away. Karen Kraushaar, one of the two women who settled the sexual harassment claims against Herman Cain,finally broke her silence by calling the New York Times. She was upset that her name had leaked into some press reports and said she decided to speak out now that her identity was publicaly known. She had previously allowed her lawyer to challenge Mr. Cain's denial that he had done anything wrong.
Her statement to the New York Times came less than an hour before Mr. Cain was supposed to have his news conference. While she talked about how one feels when sexually harassed, she did not know yet how much of the story she wanted to tell.
But she was warming to "the idea of a joint press conference where all of the women would be together with our attornetys and all of this evidence would be considered together." "These allegations can be considered together as a body of evidence."
Mitt Romney said he found all these allegations "deeply disturbing."
Here was a man running his mouth so fast he thought he could get away with it and escape the oncoming policemen. Rick Perry surfaced just at the right moment to suggest this was Herman Cain's "turn in the barrel", referring to the old practice of glory-hole blow jobs.
Herman Cain got off alot of doozies. He claimed that he didn't recognize Sharon Bialek's name at all and denied that anything ever took place. (" He didn't have sex with that woman."
What he did suggest was that the Democratic Machine and not Rick Perry brought forth the accuser, who was a "troubled woman". He claimed that his campaign was being attacked by a conspiracy but there was no evidence of any wrong doing on his part. (Except for some cancelled checks from the settlements.) No one can quite figure out why the Democratic machine would care about Herman Cain.
He was a righteous and aggreived victim of this plot. The media basically treated this all as theater and threw softball questions at him. Asked whether he might remember more details later, he answered," I do not know the science of how the mind works."
It seems his problems won't go away. Karen Kraushaar, one of the two women who settled the sexual harassment claims against Herman Cain,finally broke her silence by calling the New York Times. She was upset that her name had leaked into some press reports and said she decided to speak out now that her identity was publicaly known. She had previously allowed her lawyer to challenge Mr. Cain's denial that he had done anything wrong.
Her statement to the New York Times came less than an hour before Mr. Cain was supposed to have his news conference. While she talked about how one feels when sexually harassed, she did not know yet how much of the story she wanted to tell.
But she was warming to "the idea of a joint press conference where all of the women would be together with our attornetys and all of this evidence would be considered together." "These allegations can be considered together as a body of evidence."
Mitt Romney said he found all these allegations "deeply disturbing."
Late Afternoon at the Last Manatee Cafe
++ So we left Herman Cain before he unleashed his assault on Sharon Bialek. The main gripe seems to be that she has been sued for financial reasons. Now let's not get too picky here. If being sued for financial reasons is a black mark, then Cain should look at himself. In 2004 alone, five federal cases were brought against a company Cain ran. Finally, these suits were combined into class action suit, which he lost to the tune of 10.5 million.
++A Murdoch publication outed the former journalist and government spokesperson who had settled a claim with the National Restaurant Association. She didn't ask to be revealed and she hasn't made any statement. Her name is Karen Kraushaar,a life-long Republican who currently works at the Inspector's General Office of the Treasury. She refused to even speak to the on-line paper. But her sister-in-law felt that Mr. Cain's reactions to all these allegations spoke volumes about his character. Amen.
++Speaking of characters, the right-wing radios are going full blast into paranoia over these accusations. Michael Savage, always a classy guy, called Sharon Bialek a B. But it was Rush Limbaughm, who seems to be having a nervous breakdown over women in general. Today he ranted on about feminism and PC behavior and how he was mocked when he opened car doors for women he tried to date in his youth. Really guys, go see a shrink. Keep this stuff at home.
++Ron Paul got into another attack on a woman. Paul accused Elizabeth Warren, my Queen of the Rodeo, of being a "socialist" because of her identification with the Occupy Wall Street movement and her remarks about the wealthy. Not to be outdone, the RNC charged that Elizabeth Warren was a hypocrite because she was indeed wealthy in her own right. So naturally the wealthy should protect their own and not care about anyone else. Attacks on Elizabeth Warren have been mounting over the past month. But voters in Massachusetts have taken a shine to this sponky campaigner. Posts from bloggers in Mass. relate stories of her campaign and how she sticks around to meet everyone and introduce herself. Some, including myself, didn't believe she would be a good retail campaigner but she has been superb so far.
++During the Cain meltdown, some one should have kept quiet--Willard "The Mitt" Romney. Romney was obviously born with a silver foot in his mouth because awkward is not the word for it. Romney attacked federal workers yesterday and said that he would make sure they didn't earn more than "those of us" in the private sector. First, private sector employees earn more than federal workers according to every reliable study. Second, whose "us". Willard's last known net wealth is estimated at $250 million--that is before the Obama stock market boom. Romney all his life has earned more than any federal workers including the President of the United States. But he knows this because the same day he referred to federal workers as servants. I guess they are like his lawn service people.
++The DNC has released an ad attacking Romney for wanting the auto industry to go bankrupt. I always felt this was his mmost vulnerable point in the Midwest--his out in front , nationally televised comments that the only solution for the car industry, which his father played a major roll in, was for the car companies to go bankrupt.
++Jon Huntsman, probably the best Romney hunter since Steve Benen of Washington Monthly, claimed on Sunday television that Romney couldn't beat President Obama because his constant flip-flopping on issues raised the larger issue of trust. Romney can not be trusted because he doesn't believe anything.
++Romney has pulled even with undecided among Republicans. Steve Benen did a wonderful piece in the Washingtonmonthly.com that showed that all these polls show that republicans really truly do not like Mitt Romney and don't even want to settle for him. The latest NBC poll has President Obama beating him by 6 points.
++The RNC says that not only is Romney lucky but he's smart the way he is running his campaign. But observers not that Romney has not sat down for an extensive interview with a journalist in over 600 days and that he has benefited--marginally--from the relentless pounding of President Obama. I'm not so sure. The dirty ways of Romney doing business are percolating on the web and will break out during the campaign.
++Yesterday, for example, Thinkprogress.org published 99 reasons not to like Romney. One of the glaring points was how he established off-shore bank account for businesses he aided through Bain Capital to avoid income taxes. All legal, sure, but the Boston Globe has gone further in detailing this aspect of his Bain business. Would it disqualify someone for governor, no? For President, I think it might.
++Meanwhile strange things are appearing on the economic horizon. Employers now have posted more job openings than at any time in 3 years. Warren Buffett is now investing more than he has in 15 years. His aide said that "Warren smells something big." A Democratic blogger posted a short comment that the economy will really take off shortly and he hopes President Obama will win in 2012 so people will finally give him credit when we enter a high growth period. Considering the gridlock here in Washington, maybe some in the economy figure they might as well get started, can't wait around forever.
++Speaking of Warren Buffett, Mitt Romney pays even a lower tax rate than the billionaire. Over all these years, even during his last run for President, Mitt Romney has not released his tax forms. Don't you think it's time? What's he going to go the whole general election campaign withholding how much he is worth?
++President Obama received some good news when the United States Court of Appeals in D.C. ruled in favor of his Affordable Care Act and blocked the challenge by Pat Robertson against it. Judge Silberman commented at great length about the individual mandate and how the plaintiffs arguments about its novelty didn't pass muster. Silberman, a Reagan appointee, went on at great length about the commerce clause in the Constitution and emphasized that the Court must start with an assumption that Congress is acting constitutionally when it passes laws.
++Last night I had the pleasure of listening to Judge John Stevens, the recently retired Supreme Court justice. Judge Stevens didn't frontally address the healthcare debate but suggested and has on other occasions that the Supreme Court will--by and large--affirm its constitionality. On other issues, one got a sense of his opinion of the more conservative judges. He clearly only has disdain for Justice Thomas but he shocked the liberal audience by defending Alito, who he said would suprise people, and even Anthony Scalia, whom he chastised the audience for feeling he, Stevens, might be a greater champion of individual rights than Nino. Stevens also told the audience that there is nothing like the confrontation between the President and the Court as existed during FDR. He warned his audience not to believe this.
++A Murdoch publication outed the former journalist and government spokesperson who had settled a claim with the National Restaurant Association. She didn't ask to be revealed and she hasn't made any statement. Her name is Karen Kraushaar,a life-long Republican who currently works at the Inspector's General Office of the Treasury. She refused to even speak to the on-line paper. But her sister-in-law felt that Mr. Cain's reactions to all these allegations spoke volumes about his character. Amen.
++Speaking of characters, the right-wing radios are going full blast into paranoia over these accusations. Michael Savage, always a classy guy, called Sharon Bialek a B. But it was Rush Limbaughm, who seems to be having a nervous breakdown over women in general. Today he ranted on about feminism and PC behavior and how he was mocked when he opened car doors for women he tried to date in his youth. Really guys, go see a shrink. Keep this stuff at home.
++Ron Paul got into another attack on a woman. Paul accused Elizabeth Warren, my Queen of the Rodeo, of being a "socialist" because of her identification with the Occupy Wall Street movement and her remarks about the wealthy. Not to be outdone, the RNC charged that Elizabeth Warren was a hypocrite because she was indeed wealthy in her own right. So naturally the wealthy should protect their own and not care about anyone else. Attacks on Elizabeth Warren have been mounting over the past month. But voters in Massachusetts have taken a shine to this sponky campaigner. Posts from bloggers in Mass. relate stories of her campaign and how she sticks around to meet everyone and introduce herself. Some, including myself, didn't believe she would be a good retail campaigner but she has been superb so far.
++During the Cain meltdown, some one should have kept quiet--Willard "The Mitt" Romney. Romney was obviously born with a silver foot in his mouth because awkward is not the word for it. Romney attacked federal workers yesterday and said that he would make sure they didn't earn more than "those of us" in the private sector. First, private sector employees earn more than federal workers according to every reliable study. Second, whose "us". Willard's last known net wealth is estimated at $250 million--that is before the Obama stock market boom. Romney all his life has earned more than any federal workers including the President of the United States. But he knows this because the same day he referred to federal workers as servants. I guess they are like his lawn service people.
++The DNC has released an ad attacking Romney for wanting the auto industry to go bankrupt. I always felt this was his mmost vulnerable point in the Midwest--his out in front , nationally televised comments that the only solution for the car industry, which his father played a major roll in, was for the car companies to go bankrupt.
++Jon Huntsman, probably the best Romney hunter since Steve Benen of Washington Monthly, claimed on Sunday television that Romney couldn't beat President Obama because his constant flip-flopping on issues raised the larger issue of trust. Romney can not be trusted because he doesn't believe anything.
++Romney has pulled even with undecided among Republicans. Steve Benen did a wonderful piece in the Washingtonmonthly.com that showed that all these polls show that republicans really truly do not like Mitt Romney and don't even want to settle for him. The latest NBC poll has President Obama beating him by 6 points.
++The RNC says that not only is Romney lucky but he's smart the way he is running his campaign. But observers not that Romney has not sat down for an extensive interview with a journalist in over 600 days and that he has benefited--marginally--from the relentless pounding of President Obama. I'm not so sure. The dirty ways of Romney doing business are percolating on the web and will break out during the campaign.
++Yesterday, for example, Thinkprogress.org published 99 reasons not to like Romney. One of the glaring points was how he established off-shore bank account for businesses he aided through Bain Capital to avoid income taxes. All legal, sure, but the Boston Globe has gone further in detailing this aspect of his Bain business. Would it disqualify someone for governor, no? For President, I think it might.
++Meanwhile strange things are appearing on the economic horizon. Employers now have posted more job openings than at any time in 3 years. Warren Buffett is now investing more than he has in 15 years. His aide said that "Warren smells something big." A Democratic blogger posted a short comment that the economy will really take off shortly and he hopes President Obama will win in 2012 so people will finally give him credit when we enter a high growth period. Considering the gridlock here in Washington, maybe some in the economy figure they might as well get started, can't wait around forever.
++Speaking of Warren Buffett, Mitt Romney pays even a lower tax rate than the billionaire. Over all these years, even during his last run for President, Mitt Romney has not released his tax forms. Don't you think it's time? What's he going to go the whole general election campaign withholding how much he is worth?
++President Obama received some good news when the United States Court of Appeals in D.C. ruled in favor of his Affordable Care Act and blocked the challenge by Pat Robertson against it. Judge Silberman commented at great length about the individual mandate and how the plaintiffs arguments about its novelty didn't pass muster. Silberman, a Reagan appointee, went on at great length about the commerce clause in the Constitution and emphasized that the Court must start with an assumption that Congress is acting constitutionally when it passes laws.
++Last night I had the pleasure of listening to Judge John Stevens, the recently retired Supreme Court justice. Judge Stevens didn't frontally address the healthcare debate but suggested and has on other occasions that the Supreme Court will--by and large--affirm its constitionality. On other issues, one got a sense of his opinion of the more conservative judges. He clearly only has disdain for Justice Thomas but he shocked the liberal audience by defending Alito, who he said would suprise people, and even Anthony Scalia, whom he chastised the audience for feeling he, Stevens, might be a greater champion of individual rights than Nino. Stevens also told the audience that there is nothing like the confrontation between the President and the Court as existed during FDR. He warned his audience not to believe this.
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