As a liberal who supported Pres. Obama’s Afghanistan plan when he first began it, I simply do not understand how anyone can support it today, at least not when judging what’s in U.S. interests. From their New York Times op-ed today: Nineteen months ago the president announced the surge strategy in hopes of stabilizing Afghanistan [...]
Archive | Russia RSS feed for this section
LA Times Report: 10,000 Force Drawdown in Afghanistan this Year
**UPDATED** President Obama plans to announce a troop reduction in Afghanistan that Pentagon and other administration officials say is expected to bring home about 10,000 personnel by the end of the year. – Obama expected to announce major Afghan drawdown Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Zbigniew Brzezinski has [...]
The Japan Syndrome
**UPDATED** IWAKI, Japan AP (Mar 12, 10:42 PM EST) — A partial meltdown was likely under way at a second nuclear reactor, a top Japanese official said Sunday, as authorities frantically tried to prevent a similar threat from nearby unit following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Some 170,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the [...]
WikiLeaks Further Proves 2010 Middle East Story Is Sad
President Obama will not be thwarted on the START Treaty by Republicans, regardless of Sen. Lindsay Graham’s caterwauling. Today’s Republicans bear no resemblance of their hero Ronald Reagan, as Sarah Palin’s recent Iran op-ed proves. Reagan was a leader on nuclear zero, but today would be run out of his own party. Playing politics with [...]
The Difference a President Makes
If John McCain had been elected president instead of Barack Obama, the repeal of DADT would have been headed for veto at his desk. With Pres. Obama, however, it will be signed. It’s things like this that make even the most annoyed voter understand why they voted for Obama, especially the people who don’t pay [...]
Can the Warmongering Torture Crowd be ‘Christians’?
A White House review of President Obama’s year-old Afghan war strategy concluded that it is “showing progress” against al-Qaeda and in Afghanistan and Pakistan but that “the challenge remains to make our gains durable and sustainable,” according to a summary document released early Thursday. – Washington Post In the week that the latest Afghanistan war [...]
Wikileaks Diplo Docu Dump
Italy’s Foreign Minister Frattini called the Wikileaks release the “Sept. 11 of world diplomacy.” Republicans are jumping on the leak, as expected, because transparency scares the bejeezus out of the Right. Rep. Pete Hoekstra using hyperbole to say what allies might ask, “‘Can the United States be trusted? Can the United States keep a secret?’” [...]
Too Late, But Maybe Obama Will Hear Them Now
That dynamic, coupled with the GOP’s post-midterm swagger, emboldened leaders to insist that the president reschedule Thursday’s much-anticipated meeting until after Thanksgiving to accommodate their schedule, not his. The first post-election meeting between Obama and congressional leaders, billed by Obama as the fundamental first step in the post-election reconciliation process, will now take place Nov. [...]
Not These Guys Again
The fat cats at the big corporations are drooling at the prospect of “Speaker Boehner,” and why not? The industries giving the most to Boehner: insurance companies, drug manufacturers and Wall Street firms, all of which now face new regulations adopted by the Democratic-controlled Congress. The political action committees and employees of insurance firms, for [...]
Spy Novel Plot Under Our Noses
I’d like to introduce you to “Richard Murphy,” “Cynthia Murphy,” “Donald Howard Heathfield,” “Tracey Lee Ann Foley,” “Michael Zottoli,” Patricia Mills,” “Juan Lazaro,” and “Vicky Pelaez.” One alleged Canadian citizen is still at large, “Christopher R. Metsos.” They’re all on the hot seat for felony violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, and [...]
Obama Administration Reacts to Iran ‘Fuel Swap’ Deal
“Of course they are not thrilled,” Leslie Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Pentagon official, said of the administration. “They thought [the Brazilian-Turkish diplomatic effort with Tehran] was going to fail and didn’t stop it, or couldn’t stop it. It looks like it undercut their diplomacy. – President Obama’s [...]
They Came from Around the World
It was just an ordinary Wednesday night for many people in Washington, D.C., but not for the young women chosen by the U.S. Embassy in their home country to be part of Fortune Magazine and the U.S. State Depts. Most Powerful Women mentor program. A very windy, chilly day in D.C. turned into an evening [...]
Obama Takes On Palin – Sarah Responds at SRLC
“In foreign policy now we’ve got the makings of the Obama doctrine, which is coddling enemies and alienating allies.” – Sarah Palin He just couldn’t help himself. George Stephanopoulos knew he’d bite. Never mind she doesn’t hold an official title. She isn’t running for office. She isn’t even in Barack Obama’s playing field. Yet Sarah [...]
Obama and Medvedev Sign Treaty to Cut Nuclear Reserves by a Third
This is a live Twitter feed. 10:30:37 AM: Power outage edition. Coming to you via BlackBerry. 10:42:33 AM: @markknoller RT Picture of Obama-Medvedev after signing. http://twitpic.com/1e25tt 10:42:33 AM: 10:49:28 AM: Headline news: @politicalticker RT Palin hails Michael Steele as independent outsider http://bit.ly/9YLIbV 10:53:21 AM: Text of new START treaty via @markknoller http://bit.ly/b7zQKx 10:57:42 AM: For [...]
Russian Terrorism Delivered by 2 Female Suicide Bombers
–updated– Senior lawyers in the Obama administration are deeply divided over some of the counterterrorism powers they inherited from former President George W. Bush, according to interviews and a review of legal briefs. The rift has been most pronounced between top lawyers in the State Department and the Pentagon, though it has also involved conflicts [...]
TM Must Reads
IN AN amazing interview with the Guardian on Sunday titled, appropriately, “Michael Douglas on Liberace, Cannes, cancer and cunnilingus,” the movie star does the biggest public service message for HPV and sexually transmitted diseases that’s been done in a generation. The Internet exploded with shock at what was taken as a revelation. It’s like thinking giving head to a man infected with HIV won’t leave its mark, too, though that’s more commonly talked about.
But your individual circumstances and mine should not hide the fact that there is an ideal and optimal family arrangement whether we in our own lives can meet it. – Erick Erickson, in “The Truth May Hurt, But Is Not Mean” AFTER BEING blasted for his patriarchal grunt, Erick Erickson now gets very defensive. How can you tell?
Ms Garraway, 46, is fronting a campaign to encourage young women to think about fertility and giving birth much younger than “her generation”. As part of the campaign, Ms Garraway spent a day being transformed into a heavily pregnant 70 year-old by Adrian Rigby, a prosthetic make-up artist, to “shock and provoke debate about how old is too old to have a baby”. [UK Telegraph] LOOKING at relationships, I find it telling that casual writers on the subject give marriage advice that hinges on bringing back the feminine mystique years and suggesting marrying younger would solve the problems that only better and smarter choices can conquer.
“Having mom as primary bread winner is bad for kids and bad for marriage.” – Erick Erickson IT HAS become a conservative chant lately, the latest from Erick Erickson. “War on men” from Suzanne Venker, Megan McArdle saying women should marry younger, they’re all attempting to resurrect Freud’s biology is destiny.
THE 21st century world offers ways to tweak your appearance, or alter it altogether, with women finally able to combat directly the comparison that’s always been around. Men look distinguished as they age, while women look old, unattractive, or to use Rush Limbaugh’s favorite comment, who wants to look at a woman with wrinkles? The 2012 plastic surgery statistics are out and the American Society of Plastic Surgery tells the story.
The real question about Hillary is this: When people take a new look at her in the coming years, will they see the past or the future — Mrs. Clinton or Madam President? – Maureen Dowd IT’S A classic front page from Huffington Post, coupled with a post by Jason Linkins, which details what’s been going on.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy “Here’s what nobody is telling you: Find a husband on campus before you graduate. Yes, I went there.
“Norma Rae is a survivor and for the first time in her life she’s got a chance to become something more… a winner.” – Promo for “Norma Rae” CRITICS like Anne-Marie Slaughter, but especially Maureen I-Love-My-Pearls Dowd, and others [most of whom didn't read the book or do their homework] who are blaming Sheryl Sandberg for being a billionaire Ivy League graduate, while accusing her of letting corporations and government off the hook, are missing a major point.
Great sex doesn’t always just happen. Sometimes, it takes a little planning, especially if — like many Americans — you’ve been in a bit of a sex rut. Do some prep work by turning your bedroom into a love nest: Make the bed (with new, or at least clean, sheets), tidy up, light a candle or two, and queue up a sexy playlist on your iPod.
“You Don’t Own Me” PSA -Official from You Don't Own Me on Vimeo. WHO DOESN’T know the song “You Don’t Own Me,” sung by Leslie Gore? The movie First Wives Club helped to reignite the relevancy of the song.
“Last night I interviewed Jill Stein the presidential candidate for the Green Party on this show. And I confess right now, I should have asked her to just get out of the race.” – Jennifer Granholm, “The War Room” [Current TV] THE ARGUMENT Jennifer Granholm makes above is a tactic that no longer fits the times.
“With that drum magazine, he could have gotten off 50, 60 rounds, even if it was semiautomatic, within one minute,” Chief Oates said. [New York Times] IN THE GAPING MAW of our leadership vacuum stands Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates, whose resolve, vulnerability and humility inside the vortex of a man made hell revealed what nobody in Congress or either political party has shown in decades. Leadership without regard to anything but his own duty to the people, which included the cops in the eye of volcanic carnage.
*updated below* So much for keep calm and carry on, what Joe Scarborough proclaims to be his motto. It was the weirdest one-on-one back and forth with a high profile talking head imaginable. It makes high school look mature.
**UPDATED** Would we be any worse off with Stephen Colbert as president? I doubt it. Politifact has watched the video “(repeatedly!
Despite rising public concern about the federal budget deficit, Americans favor keeping Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are rather than taking steps to reduce the budget deficit (by 60% vs. 32%). – Public Wants Changes in Entitlements, Not Changes in Benefits This is starting early, so it’s time to revisit the facts.
“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.
Recent Comments