Medals of Distinktion

...courtesy of the Economist (Dec 16 issue):

Mr Bush bestowed the presidential medal of freedom, America's highest civilian honour, on three men closely associated with the Iraq war: George Tenet, responsible for the intelligence beforehand; Tommy Franks, who led the invasion but was responsible for security afterwards; and Paul Bremer, who was in charge of the occupation and disbanded the Iraqi army.

News from Saudi Arabia...

...courtesy of the Economist (Dec 9 issue):

When the government was short of cash, the royals appeared to consider liberal reforms, which many Saudi journalists and businesspeople were demanding. But now that their money worries have lifted, and their worries about security have grown more acute, they have gone back to their old reactionary habits.

In March, a group of reformists were jailed for calling for a constitutional monarchy. Three are still awaiting trial. In September, the government issued an edict banning all state employees, which means most working Saudis, including academics, from publicly questioning state policy. In October it announced that long-promised elections for 178 town councils, now due in February, would be for only half of their seats, with women entirely excluded. Few people have bothered to register to vote, prompting one columnist to lament that Saudis show less interest in polls than in the stock index.

On message

All the issues Democrats like to run on—education, the environment, the deficit, energy independence—would be vastly more powerful if united under a single theme. Clean up your mess. Take care of your children. Pay your debts. Stand on your own two feet. It all comes down to responsibility.
- Slate's William Saletan

Corruption without delay

Slate on the Republicans' slide into sleaze.

All in the Family

Any time a group has "family" in its name, you know they're not happy.

- Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, 11.17.04

Former CIA agent awed by bin Laden

Michael Scheuer, former CIA analyst and author of Imperial Hubris, on "Meet the Press" yesterday:

MR. RUSSERT: Do you think Osama is still fully in control of al-Qaeda?

MR. SCHEUER: I think it's wishful thinking to think that he isn't, sir. The one example is the tremendous sophistication and spontaneity of his media machine. There has to be some command and control there. And to imagine that it doesn't--that he's unable to do it is just absolutely incorrect. He's really a remarkable man, a great man in many ways, without the connotation positive or negative. He's changed the course of history. You just have to try to take your fourth-graders' class to the White House visitors' center...

MR. RUSSERT: When you say "great man," people cringe.

MR. SCHEUER: Yes, sir. Absolutely they cringe, but a great man is someone--a great individual is someone who changes the course of history. And certainly in the last five or six years, America has changed dramatically in the way we behave, in the way we travel. Certainly he's bleeding us to death in terms of money. Look at the budget deficit now. Much of that goes against Osama bin Laden.

MR. RUSSERT: You see him as a very formidable enemy.

MR. SCHEUER: Tremendously formidable enemy, sir, an admirable man. If he was on our side, he would be dining at the White House. He would be a freedom fighter, a resistance fighter. It's--and again, that's not to praise him, but it is to say that until we take the measure of the man and the power of his words, we're very much going to be on the short end of the stick.

If nothing else, I guess Mr. Scheuer demonstrates the power of bin Laden's persuasion.

Did you know?

Bush signed legislation today raising the government's debt limit by $800 billion. Good thing we have a limit, huh? Imagine how we might be spending if we didn't have constraints.