Eric Martin

by Eric Martin Apologies for the light posting this week.  Here's an open thread to play around with in the meantime.  And if you need something to kick off the conversation, I suggest either of these two pieces: 1. My boss (one of them at least) Robert Wright's eloquent piece on what it means to … Read more

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

by Eric Martin Mark Benjamin at Salon has a very disturbing piece that recounts details of the Bush administration's infamous use of the waterboarding technique for torturing certain detainees accused of belonging to al-Qaeda: Self-proclaimed waterboarding fan Dick Cheney called it a no-brainer in a 2006 radio interview: Terror suspects should get a "a dunk … Read more

by Eric Martin Megan McCardle seems a bit confused about what the Democrats are proposing to achieve in terms of modifying the current health care legislation via the reconciliation process: I have at best a passing interest in the "legitimacy" of the reconciliation process, but James Joyner pretty much dismantles the current liberal talking point that Republicans use … Read more

by Eric Martin While I'm no stranger to multi-tasking (day job, new daddy, Obsidian Wings contributor, senior editor of what is likely the best foreign policy website EVAR!!, etc.), I'd say the buck…or something…would stop here (would that I have such similar, um, interests): …37-year-old [Megan] Barnes catapulted to instant fame for an alleged multi-tasking mash-up that earned … Read more

by Eric Martin …as a lazy* blogger’s way to highlight some topics** and offer a forum for flaming each other in the comments section. 1. Why don’t sex scandals involving Republicans matter to the media/result in resignations?  I’d add Mark Sanford to Matt’s list of teflon Republicans.  And John Ensign’s misdeeds are worse than any of them. 2.  Representative … Read more

by Eric Martin Gregg Carlstrom offered the following theories regarding the motivations behind the recent spate of arrests of Taliban figures by Pakistani security forces : On the Taliban arrests, there are two major theories about Pakistan's motives. One says Pakistan rounded up "moderate" Taliban leaders, those who favored reconciliation talks, so they would be replaced by … Read more

by Eric Martin Rush Limbaugh's travel plans appear to have hit a snag: Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh — who has been one of health care reform’s most vociferous opponents — warned his loyal troop of “ditto heads” that if health care passes, he’ll leave the country for Costa Rica. “I’ll just tell you this,” Limbaugh said … Read more

by Eric Martin Peter Beinart is worried that if U.S. troops leave Iraq, the civil war will reignite and and all the hard work on the part of our selfless liberators will be for naught.  His piece is all over the map (both literally and figuratively) and is as muddled a crie d coeur for the soon-to-be-abandoned Iraq as you'll … Read more

by Eric Martin The residents of Iraq took to the polls Sunday for another parliamentary election.  While the results in terms of voter preference won't be known for several days, the turnout (in the 60% range) was solid, if not overwhelming (turnout was lower than the mid-70% seen during the last parliamentary elections in 2005, but up from … Read more

by Eric Martin Sarah Palin during a speech before a Canadian audience: PALIN: We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada. And I think now, isn’t that ironic? Haha.  Irony!  Apparently, that whole socialism thing didn't look so bad after all – even for someone with access to the Best Health … Read more

by Eric Martin If you live in the Swissvale-8 burrough in Alleghany County, please vote for Dave Anderson for precinct captain for the Democratic Committee.  I've had the pleasure of meeting both David and his brother for a pint (well, several pints if you must) of Guinness on a recent trip he made to the rotten … Read more

by Eric Martin Eric's life improved significantly with the purchase of a portable chair suitable for kids his age (plenty of back support).  It gives him a sense of involvement and parity with others in the room.  But it may be going to his head.  The typical pattern ensues.  Joy:  Then a world weariness and … Read more