Time to Deal in Afghanistan (Fareed Zakaria) from the Washington Post
Zakaria is RIGHT on-the-money here.
"The focus must shift from nation building to dealmaking. The central problem in Afghanistan is that the Pashtuns, who make up 45 percent of the population and almost 100 percent of the Taliban, do not feel empowered. We need to start talking to them, whether they are nominally Taliban or not."
US-Iran Talks Start October 1 from the Nation
"The hawks, neoconservatives, and Israeli hardliners are squealing, but the US and Iran are set to talk. The talks will begin October 1, among Iran and the P5 + 1, the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany."
The 9/11 Anniversary: An Opportunity to Reconsider Mistaken Policies (editorial) from Dar Al-Hayat [of Saudi Arabia in English]
"What started with the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and is still effective today remains the following: that Arabs first and last – and not Muslims in general – are the ones who have paid, are paying and will pay the highest price for 9/11. Thus it is time for the Arab popular base to carefully think about whether they want future generations to pay the price for this terrorist act, one committed by Arabs and carried forward by violent extremists in the name of revenge from America, or whether they will stand in the face of those who use the Arabs, making their future generations hostage to fabricated slogans when they are in fact the de facto allies of the enemies of the Arabs."
Tearing Yemen Apart (Simon Tisdall) from the [Manchester] Guardian
Another Middle-Eastern country going to hell in a hand-basket.
"Renewed fighting in northern Yemen between government and rebel forces is feeding fears that a Middle Eastern proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran is spreading to the ungoverned spaces of the southern Arabian peninsula. But western analysts are staring boggle-eyed at quite a different spectre: the prospect that the biggest beneficiaries of Yemeni weakness will be the fanatical jihadis of al-Qaida."
The Bloody Legacy of Cheney's Failures (Editorial) from Der Spiegel [of Germany in English]
"After 9/11, Dick Cheney took the reins in America. The 'war on terror' was his idea, and it led to real wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- and to the torture he approved and defends. While Cheney is writing a memoir to influence how people see his role, the rest of the world would just prefer to get on with cleaning up his mess -- with him out of the picture."
Politics and the Age Gap from the New York Times
I have been observing this phenomenon for a while now. Sad.
"As the population ages and the nation faces intense battles over rapidly rising health care and retirement costs, American politics seems increasingly divided along generational lines. ... As distasteful as the notion of intergenerational conflict may seem, the fight over health care ... suggests that something is going on. Older Americans are more likely to oppose Mr. Obama’s initiative than any other age group."
As Right Jabs Continue, White House Debates a Counterpunching Strategy from the Washington Post
I find this faintly disturbing that it has taken them this long to "debate" a strategy. They should have had this down pat months ago. I'm skeptical that the "above the fray" strategy has been effective in the short run -- and the health care legislation is ALL short run now.
"Facing a near-daily barrage of attacks from conservative opponents, White House officials are engaged in an internal debate over how hard to hit back, even as they have grown increasingly aggressive in countering allegations they deem to be absurd."
Lies (Hendrick Hertzberg) from the New Yorker
"This sort of lunatic paranoia—touched with populism, nativism, racism, and anti-intellectualism—has long been a feature of the fringe, especially during times of economic bewilderment. What is different now is the evolution of a new political organism, with paranoia as its animating principle. The town-meeting shouters may be the organism’s hands and feet, but its heart—also, Heaven help us, its brain—is a “conservative” media alliance built around talk radio and cable television, especially Fox News."
Reform Opposition is High But Easing from the Washington Post
"President Obama continues to face significant public resistance to his drive to initiate far-reaching changes to the country's health-care system, with widespread skepticism about central tenets of his plan, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. But ... opposition to the effort has eased somewhat, and there appears to be potential for further softening among critics ... The gap in passion, which had shown greater intensity among opponents of the plan, has also begun to close, with supporters increasingly energized and more now seeing reform as possible without people being forced to give up their current coverage."
Dissent of the Day (Andrew Sullivan) from the Atlantic
"Obama isn't ideal. I'd like a carbon tax rather than cap and trade, drastic 1986-style tax reform, and an end to the government subsidizing employer-based insurance plans. ... But unlike so many of these tea-partiers, I also realize that in real politics, you have to construct a solid coalition for all this and make arguments for it consistently (as Reagan did for decades) and have some credibility. But the GOP has been doing he opposite."
Tea'd Off from the New Republic: Scenes from the Great American Scream from the New Republic
"On Saturday, September 12, America threw a gigantic temper tantrum in Washington D.C. Organizers called it the “largest gathering of fiscal conservatives in history,” and they’re probably right. ... Their complaint? Hard to say, really. ... But for most, there was both an incredible specificity to their protestations--all those czars, and ACORN, and Obama’s missing birth certificate--and a fuzzy vagueness."
Me Talk Presidential One Day (Matt Latimer) from GQ Magazine
An amazing inside look at the Bush White House from one of Bush's speech writers. Bush comes off as an astonishing, arrogant dolt. Check out this long-form expose.
"Matt Latimer worked as one of Dubya’s speechwriters during the president’s final twenty-two months in office. He was there to help sell the surge to a skeptical public. He was there as we pretended that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. And he was there to see a president who failed to grasp his own $700 billion bailout package—even as he was pitching it to the American public on live TV. A disillusioned insider reveals for the first time just how messy things got"
Some from GOP Fear Party Being Carried to the Extreme (David Frum) from the Los Angeles Times
Only "some"?!
"The Republican establishment hopes cooler heads will prevail over strongly anti-Obama parts of the conservative base."
TOO-CREEPY-FOR-WORDS NUGGET!!
The 'Ghost Fleet' of the Recession from the [London] Daily Mail
"The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination."
ENVIRONMENT NUGGET!!
EPA Halts Mountain Top Removal Projects from McClatchy News Service
"The EPA's action was an abrupt shift from the last big batch of surface mining permits that it's considered during the Obama administration. In May, the agency said it had no concerns with 42 of 48 permits, and blocked six."
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