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.

Drunk on Ethanol

A must-read article about the tax $s being wasted on ethanol subsidies, and the environmental impacts, courtesy of Audubon.

Noah's Lark

Timothy Noah goes out of his way to find something nice to say about Bush. Ironically, the Bush quotes in the article stood out to me, as an atheist, during that press conference as well. I too am very used to the most open-minded people generously allowing me to worship the higher power of my choice... though I choose to worship none.

Will and Quinn in Newsweek

Couple of Newsweek columns worth a read:

George Will on the challenge ahead for (any) President.

Jane Bryant Quinn on America's "Kindness Deficit" when it comes to health care.

Reaching out

Quotes from Bush's 11/4 press conference:

"I will reach out to those who share our goals."

"I will reach out to others and explain why I make the decisions I make."

Moral values trump war as election issue

More evidence that John Kerry and the Democratic party did not get out the vote. NBC News asked voters exiting polling places what issue was most important to them:

22% Moral values
20% Economy
19% Terrorism
15% Iraq
08% Health care
05% Taxes

Another way to look at these numbers:

34% Terrorism and Iraq
25% Economy and Taxes
22% Moral Values
08% Health care

It's too bad that more people don't grasp the relationship between health care, economic issues, war, and morality. But at this time, the definition of morals seems limited to abortion and gays.

Falwell's crusade

Jerry Falwell speaking of Iraq on CNN's Late Edition, Oct. 24:

""If it takes 10 years, let's blow them all away in the name of the Lord."

Dread

I don't know what to dread more. Four years of the world hating our leader, an even less accountable Bush, a massive swing to the right in the Supreme Court, a Republican-dominated legislature and executive branch that will drive us further away from our Constitutional rights and further into debt... I cannot begin to understand how Bush can get the majority vote; I feel like a stranger in my own country.

"Diary of a Political Tourist"

I never saw "Journey with George," but Alexandra Pelosi's "Diary of a Political Tourist" is a very entertaining look at the Democratic primary. Bush's down-home charisma is on display, as is Kerry's stiffness. WOW this guy is just not funny, no matter how hard he tries...

Troop withdrawal doesn't meet the global test

The Bush administration has agreed to phase the withdrawal of troops from South Korea over 3 years, after objections from South Korea to the original plan.

Maybe they need freedom too...

From the Economist: "Georgia's separatist Abkhazia region is to hold new elections, after a controversial vote on October 3rd saw the main pro-Moscow candidate come second. Voters are expected to get it right next time round."

UN Elects to Ignore Genocide

Although Kofi Annan acknowledged that the Sudanese government has ignored a Security Council resolution ordering it to curb the janjaweed militia, the UN declines to impose sanctions (subscription required).

Deficit? What deficit?

The most distressing aspect of the 2nd Presidential debate was the fact that neither candidate answered the question about the deficit (and Gibson allowed himself to be walked over, as throughout the debate).

When questioned by Russert on MTP, Edwards noted Bush's fiscal irresponsibility, and named parties who had called their plan for deficit reduction better than Bush's. Specific proposals quoted:

• roll back tax cuts for people earning more than $200,000/yr
• cut "corporate welfare" (heh) and close "corporate loopholes"
• "get rid of some beauracracies"
• impose pay-as-you-go rules
• roll back some expenditure plans if necessary
  

You can read the Kerry plan for yourself at http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/budget.pdf

Economist Election Summary

The Economist has a terrific summary of the candidates' positions on the most important issues of the election. Start at the intro and follow the Related Links from there.

Edwards on MTP

Tim Russert held John Edwards' feet to the fire on Meet the Press this weekend.

Edwards was challenged over his assertion on CNN in Feb 2002 that Iraq was "the most serious and imminent threat to our country." After a week of asserting that Iraq was a distraction, Edwards was left to return to the uncomfortable position of yeah, but we didn't want Bush to do it THAT way...

Russert also noted Edwards' promise during his presidential campaign to "vote for what's necessary to support the troops," and his vote against the $87b supplemental 3 weeks later. Edwards was ready for that, though, responding that Bush didn't have a plan, and that it included a no-bid contract for Halliburton which he did not support.

Together with his performance in the VP debate, I am questioning my earlier belief that he would have been a better candidate than Kerry. It's hard to say, though, what an Edwards candidacy would have looked like since Edwards is having to fit himself into Kerry's contorted positions.

Battle of the bulge

Though I generally disdain conspiracy theories, the Bush administration has proven itself worthy of suspicion on more than one occasion.

I've seen the video footage, and it's fairly compelling... a square box on Bush's back, and what looks like a wire running up from it... was Bush wired during the first debate?

Hamdi release

From the Economist:

An agreement was struck with Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American citizen held without trial as an “enemy combatant” since 2001, that allows him to leave the United States if he gives up his citizenship, renounces terrorism and promises not to sue the government.

So, this "enemy combatant," such a threat that he had to be detained in solitary confinement on a military brig for years and denied his constitutional rights to counsel or trial, will soon be released on the conditions that he promises to behave, and that he not hold the U.S. Government accountable for his treatment.

Hamdi was to be flown to Saudi Arabia, where he is to stay for at least five years. Unfortunately, it seems that the U.S. Government neglected to discuss this with Saudi Arabia, so Hamdi remains, for now, in a brig off the coast of South Carolina.

It is worth noting that the break in the case seemed to come with the Supreme Court's ruling in June that Hamdi had a right to counsel.

Is the concept of enemy combatants defensible? Perhaps... But if it is abused as it seems to have been in this case (do you believe we'd be letting a true threat go?), the risks will clearly outweigh any benefits.

Edwards whiffs

In Slate, Fred Kaplan offers a good synopsis of John Edwards' failure to take it to the house with some Cheney's comments in the debate... One that he didn't mention is that when Cheney kept noting the number of Iraqis lost in the "coalition," Edwards had, and wasted, a perfect opportunity to note how poorly trained the new Iraqi police and troops are.

The Global Test

The Bush team is making hay with the phrase "global test," implying that Kerry would give the world veto power over his foreign policy decisions. Placed in context, that is the opposite of what Kerry said:

LEHRER: What is your position on the whole concept of preemptive war?

KERRY: The president always has the right, and always has had the right, for preemptive strike. That was a great doctrine throughout the Cold War. And it was always one of the things we argued about with respect to arms control.

No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America.

But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.

Debate reactions

It's interesting that people seem to think that Kerry overwhelmingly won the foreign policy debate. Yes, Bush smirked, and repeatedly reiterated his talking points... is this anything new? Yes, Kerry finally managed to be more plainspoken, but did he say anything groundbreaking? I suppose it's true that most people don't pay much attention until October....

I have been particularly interested in the press's take on the debate, because I think a lot of people wait to see what others think (somewhat the way Kerry's primary win started in Iowa).

I'm surprised that more hasn't been made of Bush's early slip-up: "Of course we're after Saddam Hussei... I mean bin Laden..." You would think it would garner a mention given Kerry's contention that Bush was unduly obsessed with Iraq when he should have been chasing Al-Qaeda.

Why did it take so long for Kerry to answer the flip-flop allegations with the obvious point that, ideally, change is an inevitable result of experience? Alternatively, he could have noted the administration's numerous "flip-flops" on Iraq tactics. Or how about the flip-flops on the rationale for tax cuts?

Kerry still hasn't responded to questions about his medals with a simple: "Forget the damn medals... I volunteered to go to war while you used connections to get into the Guard... NEXT!" The issue seems behind him for now, but the damage done by his team's poor response to the swift boat ads is extensive, and it didn't need to be.

If the debate is any indication, Kerry's new campaign staff seems to be an improvement. The debate was the best I've seen him -- though that standard is admittedly low....