Obama has just rescinded the rule that would have let Bush’s heirs continue to claim executive privilege over his papers:
The Executive Order on Presidential Records brings those principles [of openness and tranparency] to presidential records by giving the American people greater access to these historic documents. This order ends the practice of having others besides the President assert executive privilege for records after an administration ends. Now, only the President will have that power, limiting its potential for abuse. And the order also requires the Attorney General and the White House Counsel to review claims of executive privilege about covered records to make sure those claims are fully warranted by the Constitution.
The Pelosi Diversion
May 19, 2009, 9:31 PM
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, International, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Scandal, Terrorism | Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Democrats, Incompetence, Intelligence, Iraq, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Republicans, Speaker Pelosi, Torture
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, International, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Scandal, Terrorism | Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, Democrats, Incompetence, Intelligence, Iraq, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Republicans, Speaker Pelosi, Torture
So DC is consumed with trying to figure out what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew about torture and when.
Strange, since I thought that the people who committed crimes were more important than the people who heard about them.
Still, what led to this media-created firestorm? First, some Congressional Democrats–Pelosi included–discussed launching a truth commission to determine who was responsible for the authorization/implementation of torture.
Second, the CIA released several documents showing that Pelosi and other Congressional Democrats were briefed on “enhanced interrogation techniques” in 2002. There was no indication which techniques were described, nor was there indication of whether Congress was told those techniques were purely hypothetical or being implemented.
Nonetheless, Republicans jumped on the documents of proof that Speaker Pelosi knew about waterboarding in 2002 and was therefore somewhat culpable in the torture coverup. But that conclusion isn’t borne out by the evidence–it makes assumptions about what was in those briefings that aren’t grounded in reality.
The CIA alleged that Congress was told exactly what they were doing; Pelosi contradicted them and said the CIA was misleading the public, just like they had mislead Congress in 2002. Since there are no solid records of what the CIA told Congress–since these were classified intelligence briefings–we don’t know who is telling the truth.
Conservatives are taking the CIA’s side because it’s politically advantageous to them, but it’s not very sensible. It’s hardly as if the CIA is an objective, unbiased player in all this–doesn’t it serve the CIA’s interest to divert attention away from the implementation of torture and onto a political sideshow? I mean, if there was a comprehensive investigation into torture, wouldn’t it put the entire CIA under a microscope? They have a vested interest in clouding up the investigation with political posturing and conflict, since it saves them from having to confront–and be held responsible for–their role in torture.
Plus, the CIA is pulling together records of these briefings from whatever they have lying around from 2002. Remember, the CIA circa 2002 wasn’t a bastion of competence and credibility; that was about the same time they were gathering the faulty intelligence that led to the Iraq War. As much as John Boehner may cry about the poor maligned “intelligence professionals” I don’t think you can give them the benefit of the doubt.
This story is only a few days old and we’re already seeing evidence that the CIA’s recollection of events isn’t accurate. Take this, for instance:
Almost every briefing described in the document — including the September 2002 Pelosi briefing that’s directly at issue — refers to “EITs,” or enhanced interrogation techniques, as a subject that was discussed. But according to a former intelligence professional who has participated in such briefings, that term wasn’t used until at least 2006.
That’s not just an issue of semantics. The former intel professional said that by using the term in the recently compiled document, the CIA was being “disingenuous,” trying to make it appear that the use of such techniques was part of a “formal and mechanical program.” In fact, said the former intel pro, it wasn’t until 2006 that — amid growing concerns about the program among some in the Bush administration — the EIT program was formalized, and the “enhanced interrogation techniques” were properly defined and given a name.
And this:
Rep. David Obey has sent a letter to [CIA Director Leon] Panetta complaining that a staffer identified in the documents as being briefed was in fact denied access to the briefing.
And this:
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who chairs the oversight subcommittee of the House intelligence committee, told MSNBC’s Ed Schultz (h/t Democratic Underground):
On our subcommittee we are beginning an inquiry into a situation … initiated by the ranking minority member to look at a situation where the CIA did mislead the Congress … a documented issue of the CIA misleading the Congress.
A Schakowsky spokesman told TPMmuckraker that she was referring to the findings of a CIA inspector general report, portions of which were released last fall, which concluded that the agency had withheld crucial information from Congress and DOJ investigators who were probing whether CIA personnel committed crimes relating to the shooting of a missionary plane in Peru in 2001.
[Emphasis added]
And:
April 2002 (two briefings), September 2002: When Bob Graham first asked the CIA when they had briefed him on torture, they gave him a list of four dates, two in April 2002, and two in September 2002. However, when Graham reviewed his famously detailed notes, he discovered he had not attended any briefing on three of those dates (both April dates and one September date). The CIA conceded he was correct on the issue.
[...]
February 4, 2003: The CIA claims that, along with Pat Roberts and two staffers, it briefed John Rockefeller on EITs “in considerable detail” including “how the water board was used.” Rockefeller says, however, that he “was not present and was not later briefed individually by anyone in the intelligence community.”
And finally, from the CIA themselves:
As the agency has pointed out more than once, its list — compiled in response to congressional requests — reflects the records it has. These are notes, memos, and recollections, not transcripts and recordings.
[Emphasis mine]
In short, the CIA hasn’t proven themselves trustworthy in the past and they don’t appear to be very trustworthy on this particular issue.
Let me be clear: this entire issue is nothing more than a political witchhunt. The CIA is doing classic CYA, trying to keep their complicity in the torture debacle from becoming public. The GOP is piggybcking on the CIA’s CYA in order to attack Speaker Pelosi and Congressional Democrats.
They want to drive a wedge between Pelosi and the anti-torture left by trying to mixing Pelosi up into the Bush administration’s torture program, hoping she’ll be forced to justify at least some of it.
They want to throw enough dirt on Pelosi to keep her from launching a truth commission, in case she ends up implicated.
And most of all, they want a scalp. They want to destroy Pelosi’s career, make that the opening salvo in their much dreamed-of political comeback. All the GOP knows to do anymore is drum up a scandal and ride it to political success; it looks like they’re hoping like that particular chapter of their playbook still works.
Let’s not take our eye off the ball. The Bush administration authorized and implemented torture. They broke the law; they need to be held accountable. Whoever may have been told what when isn’t important; who actually justified torture and made it happen is. Don’t let the real criminals get away; don’t let them divert your attention onto trivial political distractions.
Freudian Slip
March 9, 2009, 8:06 PM
Filed under: 2010 Election, Conservatives, Corruption, Economics, Government, Health Care, International, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine | Tags: Congress, Democrats, Hypocrisy, Nancy Pelosi, Patrick McHenry, Politicking, Republicans
Filed under: 2010 Election, Conservatives, Corruption, Economics, Government, Health Care, International, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine | Tags: Congress, Democrats, Hypocrisy, Nancy Pelosi, Patrick McHenry, Politicking, Republicans
Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry lets slip the GOP’s real goal:
“We will lose on legislation. But we will win the message war every day, and every week, until November 2010…our goal is to bring down approval numbers for Pelosi and for House Democrats. That will take repetition. This is a marathon, not a sprint.”
That’s right–the Republican Party’s priority isn’t fixing the economic crisis. It’s not creating jobs or growing the economy. It’s not getting our troops safely out of Iraq or helping them to succeed in Afghanistan. It’s not reforming our health care system or ensuring that Social Security and Medicare remain strong. It’s not helping hard working families keep their homes or afford to send their kids to college.
No, the Republican Party’s #1 priority is hurting the Democrats’ approval ratings; their only goal is regaining political power.
This is why the GOP is–and should remain–in the minority. They’ve become so obsessed with politicking that they don’t remember what they were elected to do in the first place; they can’t look at anything outside of whether or not it’s politically advantageous to them. While the adults work to clean up the messes the Republicans made, all the Republicans can think about is how they can start making more messes.
Every Democrat in the country should have Rep. McHenry’s words memorized–the American people need to be constantly reminded of just how frivolous and unserious the Republican Party has become.
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Tech Revolution Facepalm
February 14, 2009, 10:19 AM
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Technology | Tags: Congress, Democrats, Epic Fail, Facepalm, Fail, International, National Security, Pete Hoekstra, Republicans, Twitter, Virginia, Virginia Lieutenant Governor, Virginia Senate
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Technology | Tags: Congress, Democrats, Epic Fail, Facepalm, Fail, International, National Security, Pete Hoekstra, Republicans, Twitter, Virginia, Virginia Lieutenant Governor, Virginia Senate
So it looks like the much-vaunted GOP tech revolution is off to a rocky start.
First, Rep. Pete Hoekstra violated national security by Twittering the details of a top-secret Congressional trip to Iraq, including a play-by-play of the group’s whereabouts and activities.
And then there was this. Background: Democrats took control of the Virginia Senate in 2007 with a 21-19 majority. Since VA’s Lieutenant Governor is Republican, a 20-20 split in the Senate would hand the chamber over to the Republicans.
Recently, a Senate Democrat made a deal to vote with the Republicans and give them control of the chamber. And, well…
Senator Ralph Northam [D] had agreed with Minority Leader Tommy Norment [R] to vote to give Republicans power sharing in the Virginia Senate today.
Before it was announced on the floor and finalized, [Republican Party of Virginia] Chairman Jeff Frederick [R] tweeted about it.
Majority Leader Dick Saslaw [D] adjourned before it could happen.
The Democrats got into a room and pounded into Northam what would happen if he did this.
Northam backed down. (Now everyone hates him, idiot).
JEFF FREDERICK COSTS REPUBLICANS CONTROL OF THE SENATE!
So the GOP’s fumbling with technology already cost them national security credentials and control over the Virginia state Senate. Perhaps it would be better if they didn’t learn those technologies all the cool kids are using these days…
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What To Do About Gitmo (UPDATED X2)
January 26, 2009, 12:24 PM
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, House, International, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Terrorism | Tags: Republicans, Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Al-Qaeda, Colorado, California, Stupidity, Afghanistan, Bill Ritter, Guantanamo Bay, 1993, Supermax, Prisons, San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, Ted Kaczynski, John Walker Lindh, Zacarias Moussaoui, Timothy McVeigh, Oklahoma City, Terry Nichols, Richard Reid, Eric Rudolph, Ramzi Yousef
Filed under: Conservatives, Government, House, International, Iraq, Progressives, Right-Wing Noise Machine, Terrorism | Tags: Republicans, Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Al-Qaeda, Colorado, California, Stupidity, Afghanistan, Bill Ritter, Guantanamo Bay, 1993, Supermax, Prisons, San Francisco, Alcatraz Island, Ted Kaczynski, John Walker Lindh, Zacarias Moussaoui, Timothy McVeigh, Oklahoma City, Terry Nichols, Richard Reid, Eric Rudolph, Ramzi Yousef
Now that Guantanamo Bay is closing, conservatives would have us believe that the detainees there represent the worst of the worst from Iraq and Afghanistan, even though no case against them has ever been presented and none of them have ever officially been found guilty of anything.
But now we’re learning that there aren’t even case files on many of the inmates at Guantanamo:
President Obama’s plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials — barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the detainees — discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them.
Instead, they found that information on individual prisoners is “scattered throughout the executive branch,” a senior administration official said.
[...]
Several former Bush administration officials agreed that the files are incomplete and that no single government entity was charged with pulling together all the facts and the range of options for each prisoner. They said that the CIA and other intelligence agencies were reluctant to share information, and that the Bush administration’s focus on detention and interrogation made preparation of viable prosecutions a far lower priority.
[...]
“All but about 60 who have been approved for release,” assuming countries can be found to accept them, “are either high-level al-Qaeda people responsible for 9/11 or bombings, or were high-level Taliban or al-Qaeda facilitators or money people,” said [a] former official who, like others, insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters about such matters. He acknowledged that he relied on Pentagon assurances that the files were comprehensive and in order rather than reading them himself.
[Emphasis mine]
(Yes, because we all know how credible the Pentagon’s analyses are.)
But there is a strong chance that the above-quoted official is right about how dangerous some of the men at Guantanamo are. Unfortunately, we don’t know whether they’re actually guilty of the crimes they’re alleged to have committed ; in fact, for many of them there aren’t even any comprehensive case files to review. With the closing of Guantanamo, though, cases will be built against those inmates who have done something wrong.
The question is, what do we do with those inmates after the criminal justice system has their say? Well, the GOP’s solution is–and I’m not kidding–”send them to Nancy Pelosi’s district!” Minority Leader Boehner actually suggested sending them to San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island, even though Alcatraz hasn’t been a functional prison in decades. So, while the adults are trying to figure out what to do with Guantanamo’s inmates, the Republicans are content to fling rubber bands from the back of the classroom (and they wonder why nobody votes for them anymore).
Here’s how you deal with the inmates from Guantanamo–first, find a place for those 60 inmates already cleared for release, as well as those found not guilty in a court of law. Fortunately, several European nations have already agreed to take inmates found not guilty and who therefore pose no security risk.
Second, we need to determine where we will imprison those detainees actually found guilty of engaging in terrorist activity. That also won’t be too difficult–Colorado Governor Bill Ritter is open to the idea of housing inmates at Florence, CO’s supermax prison.
Supermax prisons are built to house the worst of the worst, the inmates who pose the greatest threat to civilians and who are too dangerous to even be allowed to interact with other inmates. Some of the current residents of the Florence supermax are: Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, American Taliban John Walker Lindh, 20th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui, Oklahoma City bomber and Timothy McVeigh partner Terry Nichols, would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid, Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph and 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef.
In other words, the American justice system already has a place where extraordinarily dangerous mass murderers are kept. And conditions at the Florence supermax are not ideal:
They exist alone in soundproof cells as small as 7 feet by 12 feet, with a concrete-poured desk, bed and stool, a small shower and sink, and a TV that offers religious and anger-management programs.
They are locked down 23 hours a day.
Larry Homenick, a former U.S. marshal who has taken prisoners to Supermax, said that there was a small triangular recreation area, known as “the dog run,” where solitary Supermax prisoners could occasionally get a glimpse of sky.
[...]
Life there is harsh. Food is delivered through a slit in the cell door. Prisoners don’t leave their cells to see a lawyer, a doctor or a prison official; those visitors must go to the cell.
[...]
The federal Supermax prison in Colorado was opened in November 1994. Nobody has escaped.
Inmates at supermax facilities are there for incapacitation, not punishment; there is no pretense that any of the inmates held there will ever be released or returned to society. Heck, that’s the entire point.
In other words, it’s just like Guantanamo Bay, except there’s no torture and the inmates there have actually been found guilty of something. Make no mistake about it, those at Guantanamo who are found guilty deserve to be locked up for life, but we should make sure that those being imprisoned indefinitely have actually done something to deserve it, first. And the unseriousness of the Republican Party on this issue is simply astounding.
UPDATE: On further consideration, I have two more things to add.
First, why do Republicans have such a problem with Obama releasing inmates from Guantanamo? The Bush administration released hundreds of inmates from Gitmo over the years with hardly a protest at all from Republicans.
At it’s peak, Guantanamo held nearly 600 detainees; now there are only 245, meaning that President Obama will end up releasing far fewer detainees than President Bush ever did. So why is there an outcry against doing this now when there wasn’t one before?
Second, this entire Guantanamo mess was created by the Bush administration in the first place. They figured they would throw these guys in a hole and let some future administration deal with them. What did Republicans think would happen–that we’d keep those detainees there forever? That 50 years from now we’d have a few hundred grizzled terrorists under lock and key at a military prison in Cuba? Didn’t they stop and think that, at some point, something would have to be done with the inmates at Guantanamo?
The Bush administration created a system they knew was untenable in the long term. Instead of simply trying the detainees and incarcerating the guilty ones in a supermax prison (or a high security military prison like Ft. Leavenworthth), they chose to dump them in a hole somewhere without a trial and didn’t even bother compiling complete case files on them.
So now we have a few hundred detainees of dubious guilt being kept indefinitely in a military prison and we have to figure out what to do with them. If Republicans want to complain about Obama closing Gitmo, maybe they should be blaming the Bush administration for instituting this system in the first place and leaving us with 245 men with possible (but unproven) guilt who we have to now deal with. Had the Bush administration come up with a better solution years ago, President Obama wouldn’t have to worry about what to do about Gitmo.
UPDATE II: Someone’s walking back his claims:
According to the Jan. 25 account, Charles D. “Cully” Stimson, who served as deputy assistant defense secretary for detainee affairs in 2006-2007, “said he had persistent problems in attempts to assemble all information on individual cases.”
[...]
But in a brief interview to double-check his statement Monday afternoon, Stimson maintained, “I never said they were in disarray.”
“They were spread throughout the government – that’s true,” Stimson added. He said his aides could obtain the records via a computer data search or a specific request to the CIA or other agency.
“Not all information was in a single database. It was appropriately compartmented in appropriate places in the federal government,” he said.
[...]
“I may be that Obama’s officials,” Stimson said, “or at least some of some of them, don’t have any government experience.”
See, the files aren’t in disarray! The information just isn’t all in one place. In fact, it’s scattered across a variety of government agencies. And you have to go to each separately in order to get complete information on any detainee. And you have to have an intricate knowledge of the federal bureaucracy to figure the whole system out.
Stimson is currently employed by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which tells you everything you need to know about this correction. And it’s not much of a correction–saying that the information is spread across a variety of agencies and that you need to know the federal bureaucracy like the back of your hand to get it all means that, yes, the case files are in disarray. If they weren’t, all the information would be in one place easily accessible to top-ranking officials.
Nice try, though.
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FL-SEN: The Meek Shall Inherit The Senate (Maybe)
January 12, 2009, 7:29 PM
Filed under: 2010 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, House, Iraq, Progressives, Race, Senate | Tags: 2010, Alex Sink, Allen Boyd, Congress, Dan Gelber, Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, Democrats, FISA, Florida, Florida Chief Financial Officer, Henry Waxman, House Armed Services Committee, House Ways & Means Committee, John Dingell, Kendrick Meek, Mel Martinez, Republicans, Roland Burris
Filed under: 2010 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, House, Iraq, Progressives, Race, Senate | Tags: 2010, Alex Sink, Allen Boyd, Congress, Dan Gelber, Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, Democrats, FISA, Florida, Florida Chief Financial Officer, Henry Waxman, House Armed Services Committee, House Ways & Means Committee, John Dingell, Kendrick Meek, Mel Martinez, Republicans, Roland Burris
Florida Congressman Kentrick Meek (D) will run to succeed Republican Senator Mel Martinez (R):
Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who led the effort to put class-size limits in the state constitution, plans to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, sources close to Meek say.
Meek would be the first major candidate to jump into the 2010 race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Mel Martinez. He plans to make the announcement at his Miami home.
Meek, 42, is beginning his fourth term in Congress. He sits on the powerful Ways & Means Committee, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. He served on the Armed Services Committee his first three terms. He also has a close relationship with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House leaders.
[...]
Meek’s announcement will likely be quickly followed by other candidates. Democrats considering a run include state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd and state Sen. Dan Gelber. Gelber is likely to announce plans to run late next week.
[Emphasis added]
MyDD has more about Meek’s voting record:
Kendrick Meek’s voting record, according to Progressive Punch, puts him towards the middle of the House Democratic caucus, perhaps slightly to the right of center. Recently, Meek backed the more conservative John Dingell over the more progressive Henry Waxman in the battle over who would next chair the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, though that vote can in part be read as supportive of the seniority system rather than an ideological move. Looking at a couple more votes that garnered the attention of the netroots, Meek voted in favor of the 2007 Iraq War supplemental, putting him among a minority of House Democrats, but against FISA.
[Emphasis mine]
Meek isn’t as progressive as I would like, but he’s a fine enough Congressman and I’m sure he’d make a fine Senator.
Plus, since we don’t know who the candidates will be or what Florida’s political landscape will look like in 2010, it’s hard to judge who would be a better candidate than who. But there is definitely a pickup opportunity here, so I hope Florida Democrats play their cards right in the coming months.
And then there’s this:
If elected, Meek would be one of a small number of African-Americans in the Senate come 2011; upon his swearing-in, Roland Burris will be the only one in the 111th Congress.
Meek would also be the first African-American Senator from a Southern state since Reconstruction.
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BREAKING: No Senator Matthews
January 7, 2009, 8:24 PM
Filed under: 2010 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, Iraq, Media, Progressives, Senate | Tags: 2010, Arlen Specter, Chris Matthews, Congress, Democrats, Military, MSNBC, Patrick Murphy, Republicans
Filed under: 2010 Election, Breaking, Conservatives, Iraq, Media, Progressives, Senate | Tags: 2010, Arlen Specter, Chris Matthews, Congress, Democrats, Military, MSNBC, Patrick Murphy, Republicans
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews tell his staff he won’t be running for Senate in 2010.
No matter who ends up getting the Democratic nominaton, though, the race against Arlen Specter is going to be a top-tier contest. Personally, I’d love to see Rep. Patrick Murphy make a run for it–we could use an Iraq war veteran in the United States Senate.
Africa Starves
January 2, 2009, 9:19 AM
Filed under: Conservatives, Corruption, Economics, Government, International, Iraq | Tags: Africa, Darfur, Famine, Foreign Policy, George W. Bush, Iraq, Military, Republicans, Robert Mugabe, Rwanda, Save The Children, Starvation, Zimbabwe
Filed under: Conservatives, Corruption, Economics, Government, International, Iraq | Tags: Africa, Darfur, Famine, Foreign Policy, George W. Bush, Iraq, Military, Republicans, Robert Mugabe, Rwanda, Save The Children, Starvation, Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, the number of people in need of emergency food aid has jumped to 5.5 million. According to the UN, two-thirds of the country lives on one meal–or less–per day.
And all of this is because of acts of man, not acts of God:
The sophisticated agricultural sector that formed the backbone of the economy has been “stripped for parts”, the irrigation systems destroyed, machinery and storehouses dismantled, he adds. Even if power were to change hands today, farming would take “more than five years” to recover.
Agriculture needs “inputs”, he says, and it needs that at the right time. But the planning and know-how have been systematically dismantled. “This will be by far the worst harvest,” Brian says. This sector was the one that Mr Mugabe, when he was a guerrilla leader, was famously warned by Mozambique’s President Samora Machel not to destroy, otherwise “you will face ruin”.
He heeded that advice, until it was expedient after 2000 to cash in the commercial farms to shore up his political base. The farms, almost all white-owned, were seized and after much anti-colonial posturing the lion’s share of them was handed out to his cronies for them to treat as their playgrounds.
Since then farmland and food have been used as weapons to starve Mr Mugabe’s enemies and enrich his allies. The country is in ruins, but the ruling clique is still in power.
[...]
There are already signs that international donors are reluctant to commit funds without a change of political leadership. Save the Children warned this week that there is already a shortfall of 18,000 tonnes of food aid for January.
When talking about the corruption that has consumed the country since independence, Zimbabweans often fall back on the proverb that explains the endless greed of the regime: “You never finish eating the meat of an elephant”. But there are increasing signs that this elephant’s bones were picked clean in 2008. Each sector, from mining to manufacturing and flower farming, has been looted completely. With a cholera epidemic raging, the economy by default now using the dollar, analysts believe Zimbabwe may be hitting the bottom.
Yeah, Zimbabwe needs a change in leadership; Robert Mugabe needs to see the inside of a jail cell–or coffin–as soon as possible. But right now, the people of Zimbabwe need food; political machinations and negotiations should take a back seat to helping those in immediate need.
We ignored Rwanda. We were all talk and no action on Darfur. How many African tragedies will occur while the western world watches on? Imagine how much good we could have done if all the billions we spent in Iraq, all the billions we spent on bailouts and stimulus packages for our ruined economy, were spent instead on helping Africa. Imagine how much good the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers in Iraq could have done ending the genocide in Darfur or delivering food and medicine to the people of Zimbabwe.
George W. Bush’s record on AIDS in Africa is one of the few bright spots in a very dark Presidency, that can’t be denied. But the foreign policy blunders and economic mismanagement of the past eight years have hamstrung America’s ability to do good where the world needs it most. There was a time when America would be on the forefront of solving Zimbabwe’s crisis; I look forward to the time when we can provide that kind of moral leadership once again.
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Merry Christmas
December 25, 2008, 6:55 AM
Filed under: Economics, Government, Interesting, International, Iraq, Progressives | Tags: Barack Obama, Charity, Christmas, Foreign Policy, George Washington, History, Revolutionary War, Transition
Filed under: Economics, Government, Interesting, International, Iraq, Progressives | Tags: Barack Obama, Charity, Christmas, Foreign Policy, George Washington, History, Revolutionary War, Transition
And here’s a holiday address from the President-elect:
Good morning. This week, Americans are gathering with family and friends across the country to celebrate the blessings of Christmas and the holiday season.
As we celebrate this joyous time of year, our thoughts turn to the brave men and women who serve our country far from home. Their extraordinary and selfless sacrifice is an inspiration to us all, and part of the unbroken line of heroism that has made our freedom and prosperity possible for over two centuries.
Many troops are serving their second, third, or even fourth tour of duty. And we are reminded that they are more than dedicated Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guard – they are devoted fathers and mothers; husbands and wives; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.
This holiday season, their families celebrate with a joy that is muted knowing that a loved one is absent, and sometimes in danger. In towns and cities across America, there is an empty seat at the dinner table; in distant bases and on ships at sea, our servicemen and women can only wonder at the look on their child’s face as they open a gift back home.
Our troops and military families have won the respect and gratitude of their broader American family. Michelle and I have them in our prayers this Christmas, and we must all continue to offer them our full support in the weeks and months to come. .
These are also tough times for many Americans struggling in our sluggish economy. As we count the higher blessings of faith and family, we know that millions of Americans don’t have a job. Many more are struggling to pay the bills or stay in their homes. From students to seniors, the future seems uncertain.
That is why this season of giving should also be a time to renew a sense of common purpose and shared citizenship. Now, more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans – that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper. Now, we must all do our part to serve one another; to seek new ideas and new innovation; and to start a new chapter for our great country.
That is the spirit that will guide my Administration in the New Year. If the American people come together and put their shoulder to the wheel of history, then I know that we can put our people back to work and point our country in a new direction. That is how we will see ourselves through this time of crisis, and reach the promise of a brighter day.
After all, that’s what Americans have always done.
232 years ago, when America was newly born as a nation, George Washington and his Army faced impossible odds as they struggled to free themselves from the grip of an empire.
It was Christmas Day – December 25th, 1776 – that they fought through ice and cold to make an improbable crossing of the Delaware River. They caught the enemy off guard, won victories in Trenton and Princeton, and gave new momentum to the beleaguered Army and new hope to the cause of Independence.
Many ages have passed since that first American Christmas. We have crossed many rivers as a people. But the lessons that have carried us through are the same lessons that we celebrate every Christmas season – the same lessons that guide us to this very day: that hope endures, and that a new birth of peace is always possible.
Thank you, and have a wonderful New Year.
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The Lost Generation
December 24, 2008, 12:12 PM
Filed under: Faith, Government, International, Iraq, Terrorism | Tags: Egypt, Extremism, Foreign Policy, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamic Extremism, Jordan, Military, Pakistan, Radicalism, Saudi Arabia
Filed under: Faith, Government, International, Iraq, Terrorism | Tags: Egypt, Extremism, Foreign Policy, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamic Extremism, Jordan, Military, Pakistan, Radicalism, Saudi Arabia
Tell me again how we’re winning the war on terror:
Across the Middle East, young people like Mr. Fawaz, angry, alienated and deprived of opportunity, have accepted Islam as an agent of change and rebellion. It is their rock ’n’ roll, their long hair and love beads. Through Islam, they defy the status quo and challenge governments seen as corrupt and incompetent.
These young people — 60 percent of those in the region are under 25 — are propelling a worldwide Islamic revival, driven by a thirst for political change and social justice. That fervor has popularized a more conservative interpretation of the faith.
[...]
The long-term implications of this are likely to complicate American foreign policy calculations, making it more costly to continue supporting governments that do not let secular or moderate religious political movements take root.
Washington will also be likely to find it harder to maintain the policy of shunning leaders of groups like the Brotherhood in Egypt, or Hamas in Gaza, or Hezbollah in Lebanon, which command tremendous public sympathy.
[...]
Indeed, as Islamist movements have swelled, governments across the Middle East have chosen both to contain and to embrace them. Many governments have aggressively moved to roll back the few democratic practices that had started to take root in their societies, and to prevent Islamists from winning power through the voting booth. That risks driving the leaders and the followers of Islamic organizations toward extremism.
At the same time, many governments have tried to appease popular Islamist fervor. Jordan recently granted a Muslim Brotherhood-aligned newspaper the right to publish daily instead of weekly; held private talks with Hamas leaders; arrested a poet, saying he had insulted Islam by using verses of the Koran in love poems; and shut down restaurants that had served alcohol during Ramadan, though they had been licensed by the state to do so.
[Emphasis mine]
We could do a lot of good fostering democracy and moderation in the Middle East.
Unfortunately, right now our policies in the Middle East are self-defeating. Sometimes we’re fighting young Muslims (like in Iraq), other times we’re ignoring them completely (like in Iran) or we’re propping up the corrupt governments they’re fighting against (like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Egypt, among others). All of these undermine the credibility of the western world–and western values–and leave radical Islam as one of the only means of social reform.
Conservatives love to mock liberals for wanting to address the root causes of terrorism. Look, radicals who plot or try to carry out terrorist attacks should be captured and brought to justice, if not outright killed. But at some point, all of those radicals made a choice to follow radical Islam. They make a decision that radicalism was the only remedy to their problems.
If we eliminated the problems that drive people away from democracy and moderation and toward Islamic extremism, we would have to worry about far fewer terrorists down the road.
We need more than a strong military to defeat radical Islam. Not every problem is a nail, so we should have more tools than just a hammer. In light of the massive demographic shifts in the Middle East, we should be looking toward where these young Muslims are headed and what we can do to steer them in the right direction, lest we lose them to extremism forever.
Shinseki To VA; Carrion To HUD?
December 8, 2008, 4:56 PM
Filed under: Government, Iraq, Progressives, Senate | Tags: Adolfo Carrion, Barack Obama, Bronx, Congress, Defense Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, Donald Rumsfeld, Eric Shinseki, Housing and Urban Development, HUD Secretary, Iraq, New York City, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Transition
Filed under: Government, Iraq, Progressives, Senate | Tags: Adolfo Carrion, Barack Obama, Bronx, Congress, Defense Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, Donald Rumsfeld, Eric Shinseki, Housing and Urban Development, HUD Secretary, Iraq, New York City, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Transition
Over the weekend, the Obama transition team announced that Retired General Eric Shinseki has been tapped to be the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Gen. Shinseki was a nemesis of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and he was fired by Rumsfeld after telling Congress–c0ntrary to the Bush administration’s unrealistic estimates–that it would take several hundred thousand troops to secure Iraq.
In retrospect, Shinseki was right; had his advice been heeded, Iraq–and the United States–might have been significantly different today.
Meanwhile, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion told a gathering on Friday that he has been contacted by the transition team and will be tapped for a cabinet secretaryship; in all likelihood–considering his office and relevant experience–it’ll probably be for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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Election Day In Georgia (UPDATED)
December 2, 2008, 10:11 AM
Filed under: 2008 Election, Conservatives, Corruption, Government, Iraq, Media, Polls, Progressives, Senate | Tags: 2008, Congress, Georgia, Imperial Sugar, Jim Martin, Military, Saxby Chambliss, Veterans, Vietnam
Filed under: 2008 Election, Conservatives, Corruption, Government, Iraq, Media, Polls, Progressives, Senate | Tags: 2008, Congress, Georgia, Imperial Sugar, Jim Martin, Military, Saxby Chambliss, Veterans, Vietnam
Change we can believe in.
Today’s, Georgians will vote in the runoff election between Vietnam veteran & former state representative Jim Martin and incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss.
Jim Martin has devoted his life to helping the people of Georgia, while Saxby Chambliss has devoted his life to improving his golf game. Martin served his country bravely in Vietnam and spent years fighting for our veterans, while Saxby opposed the new GI bill and voted against health care for veterans 23 times:
Meanwhile, questions about Saxby Chambliss’ potential ethics violations–particularly regarding the Imperial Sugar tragedy–have cast a shadow over him and the office he holds.
Does Georgia want a Senator who focuses more on his golf game than serving the people of his state? Does Georgia want to keep a Senator who doesn’t support our veterans as much as they deserve? Does Georgia want a Senator with ethical problems that are going to dog him for years to come? Or does Georgia want to go in a new direction with Senator Jim Martin at the helm?
That question will be resolved tonight, after the polls close. As always, I’ll bring you updates as they come in.
UPDATE: Don’t just take my word for it; the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia’s largest newspaper, endorsed Jim Martin.
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BREAKING: Robert Gates Will Remain Defense Secretary
November 25, 2008, 5:00 PM
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Government, International, Iraq, Progressives | Tags: Barack Obama, Defense Secretary, Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, James Jones, National Intelligence Director, National Security Adviser, Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Susan Rice, Transition, U.N. Ambassador, United Nations
Filed under: Breaking, Conservatives, Government, International, Iraq, Progressives | Tags: Barack Obama, Defense Secretary, Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, James Jones, National Intelligence Director, National Security Adviser, Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Susan Rice, Transition, U.N. Ambassador, United Nations
ABC’s Political Radar reports:
Sources tell ABC News that Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be staying on in the top Pentagon job, for at least the first year of the Obama administration. “It is a done deal” a source close to the process tells ABC News.
[...]
The former Eagle Scout is expected to be rolled out immediately after the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend as part of a larger national security team expected to include Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, as Secretary of State; Marine Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.) as National Security Adviser; Admiral Dennis Blair (Ret.) as Director of National Intelligence; and Dr. Susan Rice as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
[Emphasis mine]
First, there are some new appointments in the above team: Retired General James Jones is confirmed as National Security Adviser and Retired Admiral Dennis Blair is named as Director of National Intelligence.
Second, I think keeping Gates on a purely-temporary basis isn’t a bad idea. Early in his administration, Obama is going to push withdrawal from Iraq and re-engagement with Afghanistan; he’s going to need someone at the Pentagon who can make that happen without alienating the military commanders on the ground.
Obama doesn’t have the time to build a good relationship with the military, so he has to have someone around who already has that; keeping Gates could very well be the quickest, most effective path toward an orderly, timely Iraq withdrawal.
Of course, once the Iraq withdrawal is underway I say Gates should be replaced as soon as possible, but I don’t mind waiting and seeing how this plays out.
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