News Nuggets 285

A manatee with fish in Florida - from National Geographic

Marines Converge on Taliban Holdouts in Marjah from the Associated Press

"Marines and Afghan units converged Sunday on a dangerous western quarter of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, with NATO forces facing "determined resistance" as their assault on the southern town entered its second week."

War Game Shows How Attacking Iran Could Backfire from the McClatchy News Service

"With diplomacy failing and precious intelligence just received about two new secret Iranian nuclear facilities, Israel launches a pre-emptive strike against Tehran's nuclear complex. The strike is successful, wiping out six of Iran's key sites and setting back its suspected quest for a bomb by years. But what happens next isn't pretty."

In many ways, there is no story here. The military brass have known this since Bush's time. It was the same brass that blew the lid to Seymour Hirsh of the New Yorker when Cheney and his minions decided that they wanted to bomb Iran back in '07. I hope this story gets a lot of attention in the wider public.

In a similar vein, see also Don't Scramble the Jets: Why Iran's Dictators Can Be Deterred (Fareed Zakaria) from Newsweek

A Solid Partner (Michael O'Hanlon) from The National Interest

"Even though the Marja campaign is proceeding in fits and starts right now, as is expected in such battles, the overall news from Afghanistan has been very encouraging this week. Despite some setbacks, the mission in Marja has been relatively successful to date, with only modest numbers of casualties to American and Afghan troopers, as well as Afghan civilians by the standards of such combat. And we are hearing very encouraging news about Pakistan’s increased willingness to go after elements of the Afghan Taliban within in its own territory."

Why China, and Others, Stubbornly Defend Rogue Nations (Editorial) from Die Welt [of Germany in English]

Interesting global politics piece here.

"China, Russia and many others see themselves in a defensive struggle against democracy. And in that struggle, every state that remains in the authoritarian camp becomes an important ally."

The Bankruptcy Boys (Paul Krugman) from the New York Times

Even though Mr. Krugman is on my shit list right now [for his myopic views on politics -- economics he's great], his harpooning of the GOP this morning is too good to pass up. I think he's actually identified a historically significant ideological shift that occurred in Republican fiscal policy back in the eighties, one that has had disastrous consequences!

"Rather than proposing unpopular spending cuts, Republicans would push through popular tax cuts, with the deliberate intention of worsening the government’s fiscal position. Spending cuts could then be sold as a necessity rather than a choice, the only way to eliminate an unsustainable budget deficit. ... So the beast is starving, as planned. It should be time, then, for conservatives to explain which parts of the beast they want to cut."

Climate Changes Are a Proven Fact (Op-Ed) from the Boston Globe

One of the most unnerving aspects of the climate change debate is the unwillingness of REAL climate scientists to engage the issue politically -- which is largely where their critics are coming from. Climate scientists are losing the public debate even as the scientific debate is all but settled. They will continue to lose the debate so long as they remain so much on the sidelines as anti-environmental pundits, ideologues and well-paid scientific commentators continue to run with a policy-crippling narrative that is, as of today anyway, winning.

"We have never before dealt with a problem that threatens not us, but our distant descendants. The philosophical, scientific, and political issues are unquestionably tough. We might begin by mustering the courage to confront the problem of climate change in an honest and open way."

Michelle Speaks Frankly About Race from Politico

"In tackling the problem of childhood obesity, first lady Michelle Obama is doing something that her husband rarely does — talking about an issue bluntly in terms of race and helping urban America. "

Gay Hate Wrapped in a Republican Embrace (Andrew Sullivan) from the Times [of London]

"Since I left the UK a quarter of a century ago as a supporter of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, the gulf between American and British conservatism on this question has never been this wide."

Republicans Voting Against Stimulus Then Asked Obama for Money from the Bloomberg News Service

"More than 100 congressional Republicans and several Democrats who, after voting against the stimulus bill, wrote Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood seeking money from $1.5 billion the plan set aside for local road, bridge, rail and transit grants."

Read that: "MORE THAN 100..."

The Barrier to Republican Success in 2010: Republicans (David Corn) from Politics Daily

"The out-of-power party, also known as the Republicans, need not do much to capitalize on this powerful dynamic. It can thrive without offering well-honed counter-policies or specific solutions for the problems ailing the nation. It just has to make sure it doesn't come across as the party of wing-nuts and scammers. That seems to be a challenge for the GOP."

Tea Party USA: It's Still the Economy, Stupid (John Cassidy) from the New Yorker

"In the wake of yesterday’s fascinating report in the Times about sixty-something Tea Party activists bracing for a violent counter-revolution, several people have asked me why Americans are so angry. ... the real danger to any democracy comes when military conflict or economic dislocation swells the ranks of the permanently alienated with legions of people who are temporarily disadvantaged or angry. And that, I think, is what is happening now."

The GOP's 'Small Government' Tea Party Fraud (Glenn Greenwald) from Salon

"The Right is petrified that this fraud will be exposed and is thus bending over backwards to sustain the myth. ... The last eight years of Republican rule was characterized by nothing other than endlessly expanded government power, even as they insisted -- both before they were empowered and again now -- that they are the standard-bearers of government restraint."

The Republican Sprint Away from Sanity (William Galston) from the New Republic

"Put simply, the forces within the conservative movement who oppose any and all tax increases mobilized against legislation that might have produced the long-sought grand bargain—significant entitlement reform coupled with additional revenues."