The same cannot be said for Mr. Jindal. The reviews from last night should make Democrats sing. That other noise you hear is the wailing of wounded right wingers. From CNN: [...] Delivered against a backdrop of dismal economic news and with polls showing overwhelming majorities of Americans believing the country is on the wrong [...]
Archive | February, 2009
Residual Forces in Iraq
An announcement about withdrawal from Iraq is coming, according to Vice President Biden as early as Friday. Predictably, some are already finding fault between a 16 and 19 month withdrawal, which I find silly, frankly. A serious withdrawal is planned that fully measures up to candidate Obama’s promise. Then there is the issue of residual [...]
Jindal’s Spectacular Flame Out
“Oh God,” muttered Chris Matthews, before Gov. Jindal had begun. If you’re going to enter like a wanna be president the least you can do is have a clue what has come before you show up. Michael Gerson should be hiding after tonight: Some have compared Jindal to Obama, but the new president has always [...]
The Speech: ‘It’s not about helping banks – it’s about helping people.’
–updated live blogging– Having seen the full speech, I particularly liked the “no one messes with Joe,” referring to veep Biden. One section struck me: I understand that on any given day, Wall Street may be more comforted by an approach that gives banks bailouts with no strings attached, and that holds nobody accountable for [...]
AP: Out of Iraq by August 2010
The official announcement, according to this AP story, won’t come for at least a day. The withdrawal plan — an announcement could come as early as this week — calls for leaving a large contingent of troops behind, between 30,000 and 50,000 troops, to advise and train Iraqi security forces and to protect U.S. interests. [...]
Political Promises
Robert Reich is half right. President Obama pledging to half the deficit might be smart politics, the trouble is that it’s an unbelievable whopper to float. Frankly, I don’t think anyone is buying it. So why say it? Halving the budget deficit by 2012 is a nice goal but it has little to do with [...]
SOFA for the ‘Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’?
–updated– Who said Afghanistan can’t get more backwards (or maybe this is a good thing)? Pakistan is proving it can with the new peace deal implementing Sharia in the Swat region. Fareed Zakaria spoke with Imran Khan, famous cricket player turned Pakistani politician, on GPS this past Sunday. Khan hailed the “peace deal” as the [...]
$900 Million for Gaza
–updated and corrected– That’s almost a billion, with a “b”, as in a billion dollars in aid for the Palestinians hit hard by the Gaza war, which will not go through Hamas. That means the intention is also to bolster the Palestinian Authority. Juan Cole has more: Moreover, the US has increasing competition for influence [...]
Morning Chatter
Well, “Morning Joe” was something. It’s freezing here, so I imagine it wasn’t much fun out in the cold. At least they ended inside with “Gibby,” whose story about his son being into the presidents was fun. If you’re following me on Twitter, you already know that Dennis Ross got the nod for “Special Advisor [...]
Bully Pulpit Performance
I doubt anyone has ever seen anything like it. President Obama beginning by calling on his former adversary John McCain, asking him and the rest of his audience what they had to say about the “financial responsibility summit.” One by one they stood as Obama fielded their questions and comments, his political glibness on parade [...]
Summit, Double Speak, and Social Security
If Gov. Jindal is the Republican hope, we have nothing to worry about. Seeing him on “Meet the Press” yesterday, his circular stimulus rhetoric bit him at every answer. His explanation for not taking the federal money was ludicrous, proved by both Governors Crist and Schwarzenegger. But now that President Obama’s “financial responsibility summit” has [...]
For Secretary Clinton, Transparency and Candor Brings Criticism
Secretary Clinton’s first overseas tour has gotten a lot of attention and deservedly so. In catching up with Clinton, because of being on the road moving from west coast to east, one of my favorite moments was when Clinton made a refueling stop that took some in the traveling press by surprise. We made a [...]
Glenn Beck Says ‘Relax’ While Pushing Panic Button
Fox News channel bringing Glenn Beck on board is just one instance of the diminishing returns on that network. Relying on apocalyptic predictions of doom, Beck enlists Robert Baer who is glad to play along. Using Netanyahu’s ascension in Israel, world wide war on every level threatens us, especially since, as Beck sees it, America [...]
Broadway Meets Oscar
–updated– One of the most remarkable films the season is “Revolutionary Road,” which is directed with ferocity and honesty, delving into the reality of what happens to a soul sold out. Too dark for such a dark year, perhaps, but no director is finer than Sam Mendes. Except if you’re talking about Clint Eastwood, who [...]
Road Notes
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dzK6O4GcGw Another flat tire. Burned out bearing. …and a wrong turn to get us into the middle of D.C. with our big truck and trailer in tow, so that as we were trying to right missing our turn after a long, long, very long day, my husband heard the voice over the cop’s radio saying [...]
TM Must Reads
“If we can prove that a biological attack originated in a country that attacked us, then all bets are off.” – Sect. Hillary Clinton Women can do it, too.
The interview with Obama by George Stephanopoulos wasn’t nearly as contentious as the interview with the Edwardses. No Republican talking points from Stephanopoulos yesterday, like when he accused Edwards of abandoning the troops with this beauty: “Do you think the Democrats should be saddled with the idea of completely cutting off funding for the troops?” Or this one: “You know, a lot of Democrats still in the Senate think that your position here is cynical political theater.
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