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Saturday, May 21, 2011

News Nuggets 638

The beautiful new landmark in Seville, Spain: the Metropol Parasol.  From the New York Times.

A New Mideast Policy from the Editorial Board of the Washington Post
"PRESIDENT OBAMA on Thursday laid out a far-reaching and energetic new approach to the unfolding Arab revolution. The president unequivocally stated that “it will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy.”"

Putting America on Democracy's Side (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"In his Mideast speech, President Obama rejected Bush's blind allegiance to Israel and put himself squarely on the side of human rights."

Bibi’s White House Tantrum (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Netanyahu's rejection of Obama's Mideast speech underestimated the president's strength—and could hasten the Israeli leader's political demise. Plus, reactions from Israel, Palestinians, and the Arab League."

Obama's Middle East Speech: Historic Opportunity, Uncomfortable Truths (James Kitfield) from National Journal

"Perhaps it was inevitable that the “fall of the Berlin Wall” moment for the messy Middle East has created so many agonizing choices for America. Certainly in trying to get on the right side of the historic change sweeping through the region, President Obama in his speech on Thursday spoke uncomfortable truths to multiple audiences."

Barack Obama Seeks to Reassure Europe from Politico
"It’s a long-awaited embrace for a Europe that was eager to say goodbye to George W. Bush but deflated by Obama’s perceived snubs and real distractions — three military conflicts, a recession, the Arab uprisings and the need to build ties with Muslim countries and with emerging economies in Asia and Latin America."

Why Are Republicans Misreading Obama's Speech? (Jeffrey Goldberg) from the Atlantic
"Republicans are misreading Obama's speech for short-term political gain. But they're doing the cause they ostensibly support -- Israel -- a disservice in the process. Because President Obama's speech was enthusiastically pro-Israel."
Goldberg has further reaction HERE.
 
Tomasky has a two-fer!
Neocons at Play: Making Liberals Squirm (Michael Tomasky) from the Atlantic
"Conservatives love, more than practically anything, to watch liberals squirm. It satisfies them in some very deep emotional place. ... Liberals, by contrast, rarely talk this way about conservatives."

Venezuela Missile Base to Offer Iran Capacity to Strike 'Enemies' from Die Welt [of Germany in English]
"According to the secret agreement between the two countries, Venezuela has pledged to Iran that it will be able to strike its enemies from the joint missile base. … On the other hand, the joint missile base, to be built with Iranian know-how, will allow Venezuela to threaten neighboring countries like Columbia. ... In other words, Iran is attempting to boost its strategic threat with respect to the United States, similar to the strategy the Soviet Union followed in Cuba during the 1960s."
What a STUPID move by these two!  And in this analogy, WHO exactly is playing the role of the Soviet Union?  What you have here is two regional powers basically PLAY-ACTING as great global powers -- largely I suspect for domestic political reasons.  Both are MANY DECADES away from posing any military threat to the US -- and yet they are posing as if they are.  The risks are real however.  What will the impact be?  (1) It will push Venezuela's neighbors towards the US; and (2) it will put this air base on a US hit list if something breaks out between the US and Iran!  I cannot help but think these two are drastically underestimating the peril they have put themselves in. 

Court Filings Assert Iran Had Link to 9/11 Attacks from the New York Times

"Two defectors from Iran’s intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials had “foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks,” according to a court filing Thursday in a federal lawsuit in Manhattan that seeks damages for Iran’s “direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history.”"
The claims (at least at this stage) look pretty shaky.
 
Putting Eyes on China’s Carrier (David Axe) from The Diplomat
"To outfit its new aircraft carrier Shi Lang, due to enter service this year or next, the Chinese navy is going to need a balanced air wing mixing aircraft optimized for aerial combat, bombing, anti-submarine warfare, rescue, resupply and, finally, airborne radar early warning (AEW) and electronic warfare. The latter is one of the most sophisticated and difficult to master aerial missions—and one of the most important."

Five Reasons Dominique Strauss-Kahn Believes He Had “Consensual Sex” (Emma Gilbey Keller) from Vanity Fair
"As Dominique Strauss-Kahn steps down from his I.M.F. post to concentrate on his legal woes, we wonder if his defense team will use one of these five reasons as to why their client believes he had “consensual sex” with an employee of New York’s Sofitel Hotel at 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 14. Which is your choice?"

Decoding DSK from the Economist
"What his fall says about transatlantic differences in attitudes to sex, power and the law. ... European tolerance of cavorting politicians carries the risk of creating a culture of silence and immunity that too easily blurs the lines between a consensual affair, harassment and outright assault. Henry Kissinger may have thought that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. But power can also be a means of extorting sexual and other favours. If state and media conspire to keep quiet about the debauchery of politicians, might it not be easier to hide other misdeeds, such as corruption?"

DSK Déjà Vu (Katha Pollitt) from the Nation

"Sure, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is innocent until proven guilty. But can’t the French elite focus for two minutes on the crime of which he is accused?"

The Timeline of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's Weekend (Christopher Dickey) from the Daily Beast
"The prosecution’s case against the international banker will rely heavily on the chain of events last weekend. Here are exclusive details from inside the Sofitel hotel."

French Agape Over Treatment of Jailed IMF Chief (Elaine Ganley) from RealClearPolitics
"The trans-Atlantic gap separating the U.S. and French justice systems and moral codes is as wide as the ocean itself _ appalling a nation witnessing the unraveling fortunes of a favorite son, jailed IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn."
A VERY INTERESTING cross-cultural, cross-legal look at France and the US.  My take-away: if it happened in France, DSK would, due to the way the French view "sexual indiscretions", DSK would not have spent any time in jail and, due to his status, he probably wouldn't even be prosecuted for the alleged crime.

The Strauss-Kahn Conspiracy Firestorm (Tracy McNicoll) from the Daily Beast

"Did French President Nicolas Sarkozy set up Dominique Strauss-Kahn to sideline his top opponent? Is First Lady Carla Bruni pregnant just to boost his popularity? Tracy McNicoll reports from Paris."

Affairs of State (Joshua Keating) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The French public may claim to be above prying into the personal lives of their leaders, but Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest isn't the first time a politician's sex life has made headlines."

Make My Bed? But You Say the World’s Ending from New York Times
"Thousands of people around the country have spent the last few days taking to the streets and saying final goodbyes before Saturday, Judgment Day, when they expect to be absorbed into heaven in a process known as the rapture. Nonbelievers, they hold, will be left behind to perish along with the world over the next five months."

GOP Govs' Popularity Plummets (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"Less than a year after a cadre of Republican firebrands swept into statehouses from Ohio to Florida to Wisconsin, voters are turning on them. John Avlon on what this means for 2012."

Is the Biggest Threat to Speaker of the House John Boehner the ‘Young Guns’ in His Own Party? from the Washington Post
"While stressing his allegiance to Boehner, the 44-year-old Chaffetz sees an impatience in himself and his friends that separates them from older members. “We’re the generation that demands and wants things right now,” says Chaffetz, who is contemplating a 2012 primary challenge against Utah’s senior Republican senator, Orrin Hatch."

Trump's Tanked, Huckabee's History, Newt's Nuked: It's Time for Bachmannia! (John Nichols) from the Nation
"It's Bachmannia! At least in Michele Bachmann’s mind. With Mike Huckabee out of the running, with Newt Gingrich taking himself out of the running, with Mitt Romney running away from his own  ideas, with Tim Pawlenty running out of ideas, and with Sarah Palin running for the money, the mini-Palin from Minnesota is sending every possible signal that she is going to bid for the Republican presidential nomination."

Jon Huntsman in New Hampshire Spotlight from Politico
"Jon Huntsman’s first stop on the New Hampshire campaign trail Thursday was billed as a cozy meet-and-greet at a small-town restaurant. It ended up as a big media circus."
Joshua Green of the Atlantic has some related analysis of this event HERE.

FRENCH REVOLUTION NUGGET!!
France Stops Auction of Robespierre Letters from Radio France International

"The collection went on sale at a Sotheby's auction in Paris on Wednesday. The papers include rough drafts of speeches and letters that reveal the thoughts of the man who launched the reign of terror in France from 1792 to 1794 before falling victim to it."

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