Eric Martin

by Eric Martin Is there any doubt that Summers and Geithner have been disastrously incompetent in terms of managing the economic downturn?  Not that Rahm helped much. I can only hope that Simon Johnson is right, and that Geithner's opposition to Elizabeth Warren will prove his undoing.  Obama needs a financial team overhaul, or at … Read more

by Eric Martin Having previously railed about the excessive deference shown by politicians toward local police forces, and the obsession with appearing "tough on crime," New York Governor Paterson deserves credit for these two initiatives: Today he will be signing a bill prohibiting the NYPD from storing the personal information–names, addresses, social security numbers–of individuals … Read more

by Eric Martin Kevin Drum performs a neat and tidy evisceration of previously popular GOP misinformation regarding the supposed impact the estate tax would have on family farms, and the prospect of family farmers would be forced to sell their farms by the "onerous" burden of the estate tax.  The short answer: the estate tax wouldn't actually force any such sales, … Read more

by Eric Martin So I pumped around six posts, chosen from a range of many years, into this "who do you write like" machine thingy and each time, without fail, the answer was: David Foster Wallace.  Although I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've never read his work, on the upside, you can't credibly accuse me … Read more

by Eric Martin Matt Yglesias reacts to news about the Obama administration's growing concern with the radicalized insurgency in Somalia – the result of a process of radicalization that was the predicted outcome of the Bush administration's decision to back Ethiopia's invasion of its longtime rival in the name of "helping" Somalia and, ironically, combatting radicalization: At … Read more

by Eric Martin There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.” – Warren Buffet It always seemed to me that "trickle up" makes more sense than "trickle down" as a general economic model for this country (in a general sense, with the particulars up for debate and … Read more

by Eric Martin I believe the term of art to describe Dean Baker's treatment of a recent David Brooks offering on economic policy is "evisceration": David Brooks has decided to jump into the debate over stimulus with both feet. In a column in which he warns against arrogance he tells readers that additional stimulus would: "risk … Read more

by Eric Martin George Steinbrenner passed away today at age 80.  Guess he was waiting for Bob Sheppard to go on ahead first so that he could get a proper introduction at the pearly gates. Say what you will about Steinbrenner, as a Yankee fan, you knew the guy was going to spend his money to … Read more

by Cheryl Rofer It’s not easy being a Republican these days. Ask Mitt Romney. Ask Dick Lugar. The New START treaty is a particular challenge. It revives and renews the arms control relationship between the United States and Russia, which flourished under Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. But it is a treaty, and Republican common … Read more

by Eric Martin This, folks, is pure awesome: A description from Lance Mannion: On Saturday, April 24th, the Opera Company of Philadelphia teamed up with the Reading Terminal Market Italian Festival for a large-scale "Flash Opera" event! Over 30 members of the Opera Company of Philadelphia Chorus and principal cast members of LA TRAVIATA performed … Read more

by Eric Martin Why, it's almost as if they're trying to stoke irrational fears of the "other" for political gain: Last year gave us death panels and granny killings, but compared with the nonsense justifying the immigration crackdown, the health-care debate was an evening at the Oxford Union Society. Two months ago, the Arizona Republic … Read more

by Eric Martin Matt Duss provides some useful background information on Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, whose death over the weekend, and subsequent tweet regarding his passing from 20 year CNN veteran Octavia Nasr, has created something of a controversey: On Sunday, the influential Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah passed away in Lebanon. A source of … Read more

by Eric Martin Some good news (in a qaulified sense) for a change from Joel Wing regarding the Obama administration's fealty to the SOFA-related Iraq timetable, as first agreed to by the Bush administration: U.S. forces are scheduled to draw down to 50,000 by September 1, 2010 following President Obama’s withdrawal plan. It’s hardly been noticed, but U.S. … Read more

by Eric Martin DougJ at Balloon Juice flags this bit of speculation from MJ Rosenberg (subesequently edited slightly): I guess the reports that Jeff Goldberg is about to publish a neocon magnum opus calling for bombing Iran are true. DougJ : I wonder if very liberal New Yorker magazine will publish another Goldberg piece like this … Read more

by Eric Martin A couple of recent pieces on Afghanistan have caught my eye, and the ideas expressed therein are worth discussing further considering the wider implications.  First, George Packer relies on the fact that the Obama administration is pursuing its preferred strategy in Afghanistan as evidence that it is the only feasible strategy that could be … Read more

by Jacob Davies The White House this morning: In a month where one might easily be confused by the official jobs numbers… I am not confused. I know how to read. Christina Romer this morning: Today’s employment report shows continued signs of gradual labor market recovery. No, today's employment report shows continued signs of gradual … Read more

by Eric Martin I apologize to Jim Henley in advance for excerpting so much of this post, but it is simply too good to apply the pruning shears liberally enough to bring my use to within acceptable norms of blog excerpting.  To provide some context, Henley is riffing off Gene Callahan's response to a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed that warns of the potential negative … Read more

by Eric Martin Will Bunch is highly quotable in discussing the recent report that shows just how thoroughly "toilet trained" the media has been in its on again, off again – contingent – willingness to acknowledge that waterboarding is torture: On the one hand, waterboarding is torture. On the other hand…. I'm sorry — there … Read more

by Eric Martin This David Leonhard piece (via Matt Y) on the global trend in austerity measures implemented despite the deep recession and severe unemployment crisis is quite appropos of recent conversations on this Site.  As such, here is an extended excerpt: The world’s rich countries are now conducting a dangerous experiment. They are repeating an … Read more

by Eric Martin John Boenher, master strategist or stealth peacenik?  You decide.  Here, he predicts a strong showing and touts his Party’s burgeoning prospects: House Minority Leader John Boehner, the Ohio Republican with his eye on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s gavel, said the tide is turning the GOP’s way. “The American people have written off the … Read more

by Eric Martin Andrew Bacevich makes an extremely important point about some of the costs associated with perpetuating long term war(s), and how such a military posture erodes democratic institutions  Long wars are antithetical to democracy. Protracted conflict introduces toxins that inexorably corrode the values of popular government. Not least among those values is a code of military conduct … Read more

by Eric Martin I hadn't heard about Floribert Chebeya Bahizire until I read about his murder in the New York Times, but perhaps his death will serve to bring more scrutiny to the absolutely horrific conditions in the Congo, and further his courageous and tireless work to protect people from the abuses of rapacious domestic … Read more

by Jacob Davies (Eric Martin: Frequent commenter, and occasional blogger in his own right, Jacob Davies, has agreed to pitch in on the front page in order to provide a fresh perspective, and needed relief for (and from) yours truly.  Below is Jacob's first of what we hope are many contributions) I'm sure many of you have already read Krugman's column yesterday. Whether … Read more

by Eric Martin Andrew Sullivan is highly quotable in response to David Brooks' gripes about the Rolling Stone story that played a part in the sacking of General McChrystal: David Brooks writes the following sentence today: The most interesting part of my job is that I get to observe powerful people at close quarters. Like … Read more

by Eric Martin William Dalrymple has written a rather insightful article on our current predicament in Afghanistan, leavened with a historical recounting of Britain’s own 19th century experience with conflict in that part of the world. This is a pretty fair summation of the score: The reality of our present Afghan entanglement is that we took … Read more

by Eric Martin Obama administration counterterrorism official John Brennan provides some interesting answers to questions from Eli Lake regarding the parameters of the Obama administration's declared authority to assassinate U.S. citizens abroad: If a person is a U.S. citizen, and he is on the battlefield in Afghanistan or Iraq trying to attack our troops, he will face the … Read more

by Eric Martin Shadi Hamid offers a partial defense of General McChrystal, prasing, in particular, McChrystal's emphasis on population-centric counterinsurgency doctrine, and the restrained rules of engagement that go along therewith: …If we're going to fight a war, we should probably fight it under someone who's sensitive to the loss of innocent life. Not just … Read more

by Eric Martin In a somewhat brazen fashion, General McChrystal and some of his top aides have taken to the pages of Rolling Stone to air out political differences with some top administration officials, and the story, is rightly, generating quite a bit of controversey.  In the Rolling Stone piece, McChrystal and his team level some harsh (and pointed) criticisms at Vice President Biden, National … Read more

by Eric Martin Paul Krugman provides a concise take-down of the "ZOMG! Social Security is going bankrupt!!!" canard, and indirectly makes the argument that maybe Social Security/the federal government would be a little more solvent if the establishment media had spent less time snickering about the fact that Al Gore said "lockbox" several times, and more time … Read more

by Eric Martin Joe Klein reports on what is becoming an increasingly popular form of pre-emptive scapegoating for what will be the inevitable failure to achieve the more grandiose objectives in Afghanistan (via Michael Cohen):  There are increasing grumblings about the timetable set by Obama, which would begin troop withdrawals in July 2011. "It's like fighting with both … Read more

by Eric Martin Because, really, is there a more important holiday? I recently took a day off of work to take E-Money to his swim class.  Or as I like to call it…  Pre-Olympic training/my retirement fund.  What?  There's nothing wrong with him earning his keep for a change.  Happy Father's Day to all you … Read more

by Eric Martin Marc Lynch has an extremely insightful post about the impact of US foreign policy on the Middle East and its various ruling regimes: "So the Arab core grows hollow," laments former Bush administration Middle East adviser Elliott Abrams in the Weekly Standard today. Most of the essay is an unexceptional restatement of … Read more

by Eric Martin There are a couple of recent items on Afghanistan worth checking out.  First, Anthony Cordesman penned a pessimistic report about our chances at achieving some sort of victory in Afghanistan (at least as measured against the unrealistic criteria for success that we have been operating under).  It's worth a read.  Speaking of … Read more

by Eric Marin Quotable Henley, regarding the Gulf spill, which he calls America's Chernobyl: There can’t be three foreigners not in the employ of Rupert Murdoch who, today, can read about the “American model of democratic capitalism” without sniggering. This is a country whose elites can cry real tears about the pensions of Britons while … Read more

by Eric Martin For ther record, this is my nomination for best U2 song ever.  I went to see them three times during the Joshua Tree tour – at all three New York venues (at Brendan Byrne – the Meadowlands – Madison Square Garden and the Nassau Coliseum).  They didn't play this song once.  But … Read more