Tunisia Shows Democracy Can Spread Without America (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"The Bush team believed American power was crucial to the spread of democracy worldwide. Tunisia proves them wrong. Peter Beinart on the real engine of change in the Arab world—and the waning of U.S. clout in the Middle East."
I, for one, never bought the Bush line about "promoting democracy" in the first place. It has been far more common for the US to stand in the way of democratic movements around the world than to support them. Tunisia is a case in point. To the extent that the US is doing anything there right now, it is giving solace and quiet support to the old regime and its adherents. And yet, if one REALLY supports democracy, what's needed is a full-throated condemnation of the old guard and unambiguous support for groups pushing for reform. But then … I don't think democracy has ever been the point. Stability and status quo has always been the point.
For the Arab World, the Revolution Will be Televised, on Al Jazeera from the Los Angeles Times
"Al Jazeera's rapid-paced, visceral coverage of the Tunisian upheaval has riveted viewers across the Middle East. Many see it as a big voice in a landscape of burgeoning Arab dissent. But governments accuse it of bias."
Iran’s Nuclear Setbacks: A Key for U.S. Diplomacy (Analysis) from the United States Institute of Peace
"Iran’s nuclear program is suffering mounting setbacks, which in turn will provide more time for diplomacy and reduce the imminence of military strikes. The problems fall into three broad categories :…"
The Myth of Post-American Globalization' (Terence Corcoran) from the Financial Post [of Canada]
"There’s also much exaggeration, misconception, deception and misrepresentation. China is undeniably gaining by economic measures, and it is certainly making political and military moves that seem deliberately antagonistic. But it would be a huge mistake to blow China’s rise from the Communist swamp out of proportion to its actual achievements."
While I have no problem if people are moving beyond the "globalization" happy talk of Bill Clinton and Thomas Friedman (two folks whose views I share in many other policy arenas), the hyperventilating "Rising China" rhetoric (as I've said here many times) also needs some cold water thrown on it due to the excessive fear-mongering that seems to be accompanying it from neo-con types both here and in China.
Rising French Nationalism Portends Shift for Sarkozy (Robert Zaretsky) from the Houston Chronicle
"France hosted the sequel to the Battle of Tours last weekend. The sequel, though, was not a re-enactment along the lines of our annual Battle of Gettysburg. Instead, for the participants, it was a real battle against the same foe, Islam."
After Tunisia, ‘Electrified’ Arab World Sets Sights on Brewing Revolt in Egypt from RawStory
"In a sign that an "electrified" Arab world has been inspired by the events in Tunisia to rise up against their governments, opposition leaders in Egypt have called for an open revolt in the country on January 25."
The Next Tunisias: Five Arab States Ripe for Revolution from Foreign Policy Magazine
The list: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, and Jordan and the reasons each is in trouble."
Vatican Warned Irish Bishops Not to Report Abuse from the Associated Press
"A 1997 letter from the Vatican warned Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report all suspected child-abuse cases to police — a disclosure that victims' groups described as "the smoking gun" needed to show that the church enforced a worldwide culture of covering up crimes by pedophile priests."
The Church is going to pay a heavy price for NOT GETTING OUT IN FRONT of this issue years ago.
The White House Looks for Work (Peter Baker) from the Sunday New York Times Magazine
"Obama's economic team "never embraced the no-drama-Obama ethos." … "Over the last two months, I interviewed nearly all of the team's main figures, past and present, and when we talked about their relations with one another, it was like picking through the wreckage of a messy divorce. With Geithner as its anchor, a new economic team is being built around Bill Clinton-era figures like William Daley, Gene Sperling and Jack Lew, a group assembled to joust with Republicans instead of one another.""
This could explain a lot concerning why the economic plan and its messaging went so badly.
Obama's Bump (Andrew Sullivan) from the Atlantic
"It seems real enough now after several impressive weeks from the president, as the Tea Party suffers a big jump in unfavorable ratings to Palin levels. From Obama's tax cut deal to repealing DADT to ratifying START and the South Korea free trade agreement followed by his flawless performance in the wake of the Tucson shootings ... Americans are warming to him."
Experts Doubt GOP Claim that Health Care Law's a 'Job Killer from the McClatchy News Service
"Despite what Republicans say, the 2010 health care law isn't necessarily a job killer. Republicans have titled their effort to overturn the law the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act," and that's their favorite talking point against it. The House of Representatives will start debate on repeal Tuesday and probably vote Wednesday. Saying that the law is a job killer doesn't necessarily make it one, however, and independent experts say that such a conclusion is at least premature, if not unfounded."
Where Are the Brains Going (Richard Florida) from the Atlantic
"Before the crisis, Frey notes, young college grads had been strongly attracted to Sunbelt bubble metros like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and California's Inland Empire (the Riverside metro), where housing was cheap, credit readily available, and local economies were booming around real estate and services. Those trends have been almost completely reversed. In the wake of the crisis, young adults are flowing towards larger cities, college towns, knowledge-based and creative economy metros, and even some older Rustbelt metros are beginning to increase their ability to retain and attract them."
Without Aid, Detroit May Close Half of its Schools from the Detroit News
"Class sizes also would swell under proposal filed with the state."
New Washington Post/ABC Poll: Americans View Tea Party Less Favorably Than Russia, Socialism from Firedoglake
"52 percent of Americans now hold unfavorable views of the tea party, a new high. Nearly three-quarters of Democrats – including as many moderate and conservative as liberal members of the party – have negative views of the political movement, as do half of all independents."
GOP Contenders Slow Out of the Gate from The Hill
"A resurgence in President Obama’s popularity could force Republican presidential hopefuls to move up their 2012 announcement dates. Already, most of the GOP contenders are lagging behind the 2008 cycle, for which all of the candidates had announced their intention to run by the end of January 2007."
Yeah, they're waiting for a dopey ex-governor to tip her hand. None of them (understandably in my view) want to go head to head with her for the nomination. Romney is the only one who is really committed at this point -- even if he hasn't announced.
Joe Lieberman's Retiring from the Senate (Howard Kurtz) from the Daily Beast
"The Connecticut senator will announce his retirement Wednesday. In the end, Howard Kurtz writes, the Democrat-turned-independent never really healed from 2004, 2006, and 2008, though he briefly became a hero of the left by championing the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell."
Good riddance.
The Making (and Unmaking) of Joe Lieberman (Steve Kornacki) from Salon
"If you know how it started, it was almost inevitable that Lieberman's Senate career would end this way."
As someone with long-time ties to the nutmeg state, I've never forgotten how Lieberman got to be senator and the more worthy figure he defeated: Lowell Weicker.
MEDIA SATIRE NUGGET!!
Why Britain Needs its Own Jon Stewart (Helen Lewis-Hasteley) from the New Statesman [of the UK]
"Channel 4 is cutting down on The Daily Show - and it's a crying shame."
OBITUARY NUGGET!!
R. Sargent Shriver's Generous Life of Public Service from the Washington Post
""When our deeds match our ideals, we will be living life as it ought to be lived," R. Sargent Shriver was fond of saying. He wasn't talking about himself, but he might have been - it's an apt description of an admirable life, which came to an end on Tuesday."
INDIAN [we're talking the sub-continent here] HISTORY NUGGET!!
Gandhi's Invisible Hands (Ian Desai) from the Wilson Quarterly
"Behind the rise of Mahatma Gandhi was a little-recognized team of followers he carefully recruited including his secretary, Mahadev Desai, pictured at his desk in 1940."
BASEBALL HISTORY NUGGET!!
Polo Grounds, and its Former Tenants, Emerge from the Shadows from the New York Times
"The Polo Grounds, the horseshoe-shaped home of the New York Giants in Harlem, had anomalies of its own, as well as a rich sporting legacy that culminated in Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard Round the World, perhaps the most famous home run in baseball history. Yet in recollections of classic 20th-century stadiums, it is often an afterthought."
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