The Striking Arab Openness to Intervention (Shibley Telhami) from the National Interest
"The Arab public seems to prefer Washington to Qaddafi. How long can that last?"
Two Qaddafi Sons Are Said to Offer Plan to Push Father Out from the New York Times
"At least two sons of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi are proposing a resolution to the Libyan conflict that would entail pushing their father aside to make way for a transition to a constitutional democracy under the direction of his son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a diplomat and a Libyan official briefed on the plan said Sunday."
Gadhafi Finds that Money Can't Buy Friends in Africa from the McClatchy News service
"For decades, Col. Moammar Gadhafi splashed his oil wealth around sub-Saharan Africa with pompous abandon, building cellphone networks and luxury hotels, cozying up to kings and guerrillas, hosting peace summits and loudly proclaiming his dream to lead a "United States of Africa." Now, just when Gadhafi could use a few friends, his African beneficiaries haven't exactly rushed to his side."
Yup -- ready cash makes for ready friends. A clear sign that cash is pretty tight in Tripoli right now.
Syria Goes to War (Bilal Y. Saab) from the National Interest
"Syria is crumbling. Assad is grasping onto power. America's option: get on board the US policy train like your father—or leave."
Iran and Saudi Arabia: Proxy War in the Middle East (Omer Taspinar) from Today's Zamen [of Turkey in English]
"The battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia explains why the West has turned a blind eye to the brutal crackdown on the Shiite opposition in Bahrain. ... As a result, a double standard has emerged in the way the West approaches the crackdown of pro-democracy forces in the Middle East."
THIS is going to be the defining feature of the Gulf region for the coming decades, not the Israelie-Palestinian peace process [whatever that means these days].
After the Uprising (Dexter Filkins) from the New Yorker
"Can protesters find a path between dictatorship and anarchy?"
A long-form analysis from one of the leading reporters on the middle east scene.
It’s 1989, but We are the Russians (Gideon Rachman) from the Financial Times [of London]
"For the western world, the “Arab spring” threatens to be a classic case of good news and bad news. The good news is that this is the Arab 1989. The bad news is that we are the Soviet Union. An exaggeration? Certainly. But there is enough truth in the analogy to explain why both the US and the European Union are uneasy about revolutions that – on one level – promote core western values, such as democracy and individual rights."
Rachman is largely on the money here -- and don't hold your breath waiting for any cable talking head to say this.
Religion Does Its Worst (Roger Cohen) from the New York Times
"There’s no discussion with a bigot like this: You can’t be argued out of something you haven’t been argued into in the first place. Jones is not alone in this Islamophobic campaign in the United States, which is what is most disturbing. But before I get to that, let’s talk about the murderous Afghan mob and its enablers."
The Muslim World's Coming European Revolution (Philip Jenkins) from RealClearReligion
"The revolution I'm referring to certainly affects all those countries, profoundly, but its effects promise to outlast any change of regime, or even any new constitutions. Barely noticed by the West, many Muslim societies are experiencing a demographic transformation that is going to make them look far more European: more stable, more open to women's rights and above all, more secular. That change underlies all the current political upsurges."
A Japanese Firefighter Talks Surviving the Nuclear Reactors (Lennox Samuels) from the Daily Beast
"Ken'ichi Kunisawa and his fellow firefighters braved boiling nuclear reactors for more than 13 hours. He talks to Lennox Samuels about radiation fears and why this wasn't a kamikaze mission."
Jimmy Carter and Fukushima from the Economist [of London]
"The fear and danger is beyond comprehension for most people, and in particular the political leaders who must order men in to danger. But interestingly, it is not unfamiliar to former American president Jimmy Carter. Nearly half a century ago, as a young naval officer, he led a 23-man team to dismantle a reactor that, like Fukushima, had partially melted down..."
Medvedev and Putin: The Breach Over Libya (Alexander Ryklin) from Yezhednevniy Zhurnal [of Russia in English]
"Vladimir Putin, in trying the Libyan narrative on for size, doesn't rule out that events in Russia might evolve in a similar way. What if the global community wants to fix something to about our democracy with the help of Tomahawk missiles? So he began quoting Qaddafi word-for-word and talking about 'crusades.'… Does the seat warmer [Medvedev] still lack leadership ambition, and does he want to think about a second term? It turns out that he does very much want that."
Anyone could see this coming -- acting like the king invariably makes you want to be the king. I can't help but see Putin winning in any contest between them.
Foreclosure Crisis: Fed-up Judges Crack Down on Disorder in the Courts from the Palm Beach Post
"Angry and exasperated by faulty foreclosure documents, judges throughout Florida are hitting back by increasingly dismissing cases and boldly accusing lawyers of "fraud upon the court.""
'Crash Tax' And Other Fees Target Out-Of-Towners from the Associated Press via Huffington Post
"Out-of-towners would be wise to drive carefully when passing through Fraser, a suburb about 15 miles northeast of Detroit. The city this year began charging non-residents who cause wrecks for the public safety and emergency response time involved in the accident. The fee is one of many revenue-raising ideas being considered by cities nationwide dealing with budget problems."
This is happening in more and more cash-strapped districts in the US -- this is a bit unusual in that they somehow exempt local residents. They don't want to take the political heat. This sounds unconstitutional.
On the Budget, Obama has Republicans Cornered (Michael Gerson) from the Washington Post
"If there were any doubts about the political skills of the new White House team under Chief of Staff William Daley, they have now been satisfied. Obama now has Republicans cornered in budget negotiations. By accepting $33 billion in cuts for the remainder of 2011, Obama has taken the middle ground and exploited a major division within the Republican coalition. The administration has transformed a weak record into a strong political position."
Indeed Obama does -- but I think Gerson's cynically negative take on it misses the larger picture: the GOP rode to victory with the Tea Party banner -- and now they have to pay the piper. This is all typical Obama political jujitsu, using his opponent's weight against them.
House Dividing: The Tea Party is Revolting—Over the Budget—which Might Make John Boehner’s Reign Shorter than he Planned (John Heilemann) from New York Magazine
"Whatever your feelings about public officials with perma-tans and the propensity to weep openly at the slightest provocation, surely, for the sake of bi-partisan comity, we can all agree on at least one thing: At this moment, it must kinda blow to be John Boehner."
The G.O.P.’s Empty Stage (Ross Douthat) from the New York Times
"No doubt the list of candidates will lengthen. But Republicans shouldn’t feel too confident about the “impressive” part. When it comes to challenging Barack Obama for the presidency, the Party of Lincoln looks increasingly like a party of Mario Cuomos. Its biggest names and brightest lights are mainly competing to offer excuses for why they won’t be running in 2012."
In WI, Campaign to Recall Wirch Says it has Enough Signatures from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"The head of the campaign to recall Sen. Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) says the group has gathered enough signatures to force a recall election."
By my count, that's #2. Four more to go. Are the WI GOP going to be able to have ANY Democrats in a recall election? No evidence of that yet.
Labor Leader Declares Unlikely Victory In Indiana from TalkingPointsMemo
"Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, has declared the five week shutdown of the Indiana legislature -- led by Democrats upset with Republican-led right-to-work laws and Gov. Mitch Daniels' (R) agenda -- to be an unqualified success. Trumka told TPM at a roundtable with reporters that despite the hardships he said were faced by union workers, labor supporters and Democrats in general in Indiana, progressive-leaning politicians in the Hoosier state were able to pull off the upset win."
Boy -- I hadn't realized that the situation in Indiana was going this way. Interesting. The whole way this has unfolded suggests that the GOP in Indiana was MUCH more savvy than their WI counterparts -- at least in terms of keeping the whole issue local and "under wraps."
Warning Signs Among the GOP (Charlie Cook) from the National Journal
"It’s not inconceivable that Republicans might start seeing things go against them in the court of public opinion, starting with the current spending debate."
Dems Plot House 2012 Comeback from Politico
"As part of the effort to win back the House majority, Democrats are eyeing dozens of districts that have tell-tale political signs of Republican incumbents who might be ripe for takedown. While more than a few of them constitute an exercise in wishful thinking, among the targets is a special subset of seats that, at the moment at least, seems especially promising for 2012 — the so-called Kerry-Obama districts."
Jon Huntsman: The Rock-and-Roll Years from Politico
"Jonny Huntsman didn’t quite make it through his senior year of high school, and the cause was pretty plain to his classmates. One recalled the long-haired, diffident Salt Lake City high schooler sitting next to him in history class “hitting his desk as if it were a piano.”"
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