Month: March 2010

by Eric Martin Daniel Larison neatly disposes of the latest version of the neo-conservative argument that terrorists hate us for our freedoms/morality – the Sayyid Qutb edition. …[T]he decadence-as-cause-of-terrorism argument grossly exaggerates the importance of such cultural factors in explaining jihadist violence as a way of distracting us from remediable political grievances. In fact, attacks on … Read more

by Cheryl Rofer I’m hearing a certain amount of grousing that New START doesn’t take the numbers down enough. In one sense, that’s true. The United States and Russia will still have thousands of nuclear weapons, although once the reductions are in place, the numbers may go below ten thousand each, total, for the first … Read more

by Eric Martin There are some interesting, if extremely disturbing, developments stemming from the legal process surrounding alleged al-Qaeda operative, and Gitmo prisoner, Abu Zubaydah: Attorneys defending Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo prisoner designated as the first "high-value" detainee by the Bush administration, have finally gained access to three volumes of diaries he wrote while he was in the … Read more

by Cheryl Rofer Apparently that is what the administration is calling the new arms control treaty with Russia, and the acronym is appropriate. Arms control was badly neglected during the Bush administration, despite the negotiation of the Moscow Treaty, which brought the number of deployed strategic weapons down to 2,200 for each side. That treaty … Read more

by von Here begins the ramble. I don't have an opinion about this quite yet.  No, that's a lie.  I do have an opinion.  I think that it's a good thing.  Because a change, even if messy, sets the precedent that Iraq needs.  And because there are elements in the current Iraqi government that we and the … Read more

by Eric Martin Being a lazy blogger, I don't have time to give either of these two pieces the full treatment they deserve, but still, they are worthy of wider circulation, and so a little linkage.  No, not that kind of "linkage." First, Billmon – this time riffing on the nature of misinformation campaigns, with … Read more

by von The best way to get to/from the airport and downtown Minneapolis is the light rail. The YMCA in downtown Grand Rapids (MI) is better than the nearly all the health clubs in Manhattan. A good place to stay if you're in Manhattan is the W-The Court at 39th and Lexington.  In San Francisco, I'm partial … Read more

by Eric Martin My friends, we call this putting my country first in a patriotic bout of supporting the troops: Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, begged the Senate to allow him to go ahead and hear testimony from military commanders who had come from as far as South Korea to talk … Read more

by Eric Martin The individual mandate – the requirement that every adult individual has health insurance – is certainly the most controversial aspect of the current HCR legislation that is being finalized through reconciliation.  Republican leaders are attacking this provision as a fundamental violation of individual liberty, and have urged state attorneys general to join … Read more

by Eric Martin Where have all the cowboys gone? (via Sean Paul Kelly) For months, Wall Street banks and the troubled automakers feverishly protested that their top executives would flee if they were not lavishly rewarded for their talents. New data, however, suggests the departures were more of a trickle than a flood, Eric Dash … Read more

by von Rod Dreher wants to allow married Catholic Priests (h/t Andrew Sullivan):  …. I don't think there's any serious ground for believing that the Catholic sex abuse crisis was caused by celibacy (after all, married men can be child sex abusers too). But the older discipline of allowing married priests is a healthy one, it seems … Read more

by Eric Martin The GOP is deeply unserious about addressing health care issues.  Here is Senator John Cornyn on plans to repeal "parts" of the recently passed HCR legislation, while keeping other provisions: "There is non-controversial stuff here like the preexisting conditions exclusion and those sorts of things," the Texas Republican said. "Now we are not … Read more

by von Charles Mudede of The Stranger writes (some hyperlinks added): Dan [Savage] points out that Palin is calling for "a conservative third party." The healthcare reform bill, the stabilizing of the economy, and the brilliant maneuvering of the president (the GOP fell into a trap he beautifully set—he tried to reach out, and made … Read more

by Eric Martin Karoli at Crooks and Liars has compiled a list of HCR improvements that will take place in the next six months alone.   Imagine if the Obama administration were as aggressive in touting the benefits: Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents’ policy until their 27th birthday Children under age 19 may not … Read more

by Eric Martin Actually, it's not socialism when you do it like this.  This is the magic of the free market: As Lehman Brothers careened toward bankruptcy in 2008, the New York Federal Reserve Bank came to its rescue, sopping up junk loans that the investment bank couldn't sell in the market, according to a … Read more

by Robert R. Mackey All,First, sorry it has been a bit since I last posted. Work has been heavy, and my son is getting ready to start at George Mason this fall. Unlike his wastrel father (BA, Political Science), the boy is somewhat more motivated (Applied Computer Science, Simulations Design). So, I've been putting off … Read more

by von I still haven't much heart to fight over last night's health care bill.  But what am I supposed to do with hagiography like this? Now that it’s done, Barack Obama will go down in history as one of America’s finest presidents. It’s always possible of course that, like LBJ, he’ll get involved in some … Read more

by von I am not going to blog about the Health Care bill.  I told you my mind as we've traveled.  Other than remarking that I don't think that the Democrats' bill is particularly good, there is little point in rehashing old arguments.  And I have neither the heart nor the inclination to handicap.  At least not tonight. I … Read more

by Eric Martin Daddy shows off some fancy harness work (what he won't admit is that his wife had to tie it): This one looks like some kinder, gentler version of Alien (note the dark circles under my eyes – we know who to blame for that): And finally, something for a campaign leaflet, "Father … Read more

by Eric Martin Since at least the first term of the Bush administration, there has been a seemingly everpresent debate about the advisability of military strikes on Iran, to be used in an effort to: (a) cripple the Iranian nuclear energy program; (b) topple the regime; or (c) both. The debate has mostly centered around strategic concerns, with little regard … Read more

by von A followup on my last post regarding the most powerful lobby in Washington – the Department of Defense. Abe Foxman just put out a press release critizing Gen. Patraeus' recent testimony before Congress.  Neither Foxman's strategy nor the release itself makes a bit of sense. Patraeus noted that the US is perceived in the Muslim world as favoring Israel … Read more

by Eric Martin I believe these are properly described as "family values": Arizona on Thursday became the first state to eliminate its Children's Health Insurance Program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed an austere budget that will leave nearly 47,000 low-income children without coverage. The Arizona budget is a vivid reflection of how the fiscal crisis … Read more

by Eric Martin Any national-secuirty related bill sponsored by John McCain and Joe Lieberman should be assigned a presumption of doubt as a matter of course considering the sponsors and their respective track records.  Well, the Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010 doesn't exactly shatter any preconceptions.  As Marc Ambinder reports  (via K-Drum), … Read more

by Eric Martin I'm reprinting this from an e-mail from a very close friend, D, whose health has seen better days.  Some of you might recall that I took a trip to Toronto* in August to attend a wedding – it was D's wedding.  We've been very close friends ever since serendipity put us in … Read more

by Eric Martin Just think, in the rest of the industrialized world, citizens get their fully guaranteed, never rescinded health insurance from the "government" which is always the problem, never the solution.  We Americans, on the other hand, get our insurance from the private sector, which means it is, by definition, more efficient and a superior performing … Read more

by Eric Martin I'm not exactly sure why I took it upon myself to refute the periodic, triumphant claims that perpetual thorn-in-the-side-of-the-occupation Moqtada al-Sadr and his political movement were finished, and yet it became my sisyphisian chore – one that I've been busy with for the better part of 5 years (those would be 5 years of cyclical death and resurrection that would … Read more

by Eric Martin Yet another episode of quotable Daniel Larison: One of the most irritating memes in conservative commentary these days is the idea that Obama subverts allies and aids rivals. They have been pushing this one right from the beginning. This is a pretty blatant accusation of treachery and/or naivete, and it isn’t true. … Read more

by Eric Martin Norm Ornstein, from the conservative AEI think tank on the oh-so-precedented use of self-executing rules/deem and pass: Any veteran observer of Congress is used to the rampant hypocrisy over the use of parliamentary procedures that shifts totally from one side to the other as a majority moves to minority status, and vice … Read more

by Eric Martin Yeah, this seems kind of inappropriate for a member of the House of Representatives – even a Republican: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) urged a smaller-than-expected crowd of Tea Party protesters on Tuesday to launch a Velvet Revolution-style uprising against the federal government, saying the parallels are striking between America’s current government and Eastern … Read more

by von In fact, there are two colors in that flag.  And peace is between them.  Happy St. Patrick's Day.  (Apparently, things can get better … and sometimes do.  While I hoist a green beer in my orange tie, here's an open thread to talk about what's better by you.) 

by Eric Martin I admit that I waver between "what did you expect" cynicism and shocked discuss in reaction to news of the recent hire of Erick Erickson by CNN.  On the one hand, John Cole is right that CNN already has some pretty awful on-air talent (Stephen Hayes anyone? – not to mention CNN was Glenn Beck's home prior to Fox's … Read more

by Eric Martin I'm actually starting to like this guy: “I believe the time has come to consider a change to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” General David Petraeus told the Armed Services Committee today, in his most direct public comments about the policy. “I think it should be done in a thoughtful and deliberative matter that … Read more