DAYLEE PICTURE: The Meridiani Plains of Mars as seen from the rover. From the Huffington Post.
Not Just About Us (Thomas L. Friedman) from the New York Times
"As the headlines from the Arab world get worse and worse, there is talk of the “power vacuum” in the region. Getting overlooked is the “values vacuum.” "
To Boldly Lead From Behind? How Star Trek's Prime Directive explains Obama's Foreign Policy (Aaron David Miller) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"I'd wager that the president must have loved the show and watched the reruns, because he modeled his key foreign policy doctrine after one of the most important themes of the series: the Prime Directive."
Why U.S. Troop Deaths in Iraq Were Worth It (Mark Thompson) from Time Magazine
"“Tell me again,” he asked, “why did my friends die in Iraq?” On Tuesday, General Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff — who spent five years commanding troops in Iraq — was asked to answer that question during a talk at the National Press Club. Highlights of his answer:"
Highlights ...? It is interesting to see that the further we get from the worst years of the iraq War, the harder this man's question becomes to answer with any conviction whatsoever! Odierno's response here is so abstract and so disconnected from any real threat that it dissolves into incoherence. For real, can someone translate what he has said into something that genuinely justifies the death of one soldier, never mind the death of 4,000+ American lives?! Odierno was pressed on his answer: Couldn’t they have had that civil war without American help? “That’s a policy decision,” the nation’s top enlisted commando said. “The military doesn’t decide to go to war—everybody that lives in this town decides when we go to war.”" Translation: when military leaders and neo-hawks push for war and tell the president what a "slam dunk" it is, blame civilian leaders if they actually took us seriously. I actually think the military brass more generally learned from the Iraq experience and have been MUCH more circumspect about advocating war (Bush got huge pushback when he was considering war in Iran). Probably due to his own deep complicity in Iraq, Odierno can't bring himself to the same place. I think this story relates directly to Gates's assessment of Obama's leadership in Afghanistan: we told Obama a surge would win the war for the US -- it didn't work because Obama just didn't believe them enough.
Bob Woodward Attacks President Obama For Being Right (Jason Sattler) from National Memo
Sattler is spot-on with the minor tempest surrounding Gates's book. Like most defense hawks and war enthusiasts (although Gates is no where near the worst offender in this regard), like McCain, Graham, Lieberman et al., somehow resoluteness can make up for misplaced assumptions, cultural ignorance, and bad decision-making.
"“For [Obama], it’s all about getting out,” he quotes from Gates’ memoir. That’s an opinion now shared by about 6 out of 10 Americans, which leads to Gates’ conclusion about President Obama. In the final chapter of his book, the man who has served every president since Reagan except Bill Clinton gives his verdict on the president’s strategy in Afghanistan: “I believe Obama was right in each of these decisions.”"
WH Tries to Contain the Damage (Jeremy Herb, Kristina Wong and Justin Sink) from The Hill
"He argued that Obama had intentionally assembled a “team of rivals” — invoking the title of a book on President Abraham Lincoln’s Cabinet — and that “robust” debates and occasional frustrations were a natural byproduct. “When you pick a team of rivals, you do so because you expect competing points of view,” Carney said."
Despite What the Critics say, Obamacare is Working (Harold Meyerson) from the Washington Post
"Despite the treasured right-wing talking points, it’s increasingly clear that Obamacare is a success. Moreover, in places where Obamacare is not succeeding, it’s also clear that the right wing is to blame. Well, it’s clear to any who look at the state-by-state numbers of the newly insured. A whole lot of Americans will have to look, however, for the program’s success to redound to Democrats’ advantage."
The Right’s Latest Freakout — and Why They’re Crying “Communism” (Brian Buetler) from Salon
"The extraordinary but ultimately failed efforts Republicans undertook in 2011 and 2012 to win back Congress and the White House ... are best thought of as rearguard actions to prevent Obamacare from ever taking effect. To keep America from becoming Europe. Obama’s reelection was Game Over. GOP leaders understood this, even if rank-and-file Republicans and millions of Republican voters remain in denial about it."
The High Bar for Obamacare Success Stories from Politico
The text of the article itself reflects the "high bar," one tied to Politico's own disconnect from the program's successes.
"For all the problems with the health care rollout and the disruptions the Affordable Care Act has caused, from canceled plans to “sticker shock” from people who are disappointed with their choices, there are also people who are getting exactly what they’re supposed to get: better prices and more stable coverage of their pre-existing conditions."
"... there are people..."?! Yes, millions of them! What the author doesn't discuss is the LOW BAR for stories critical of Obamacare. One person has this complaint ... another has this experience ... and the stories don't get fact checked.
On the other hand...
Great News for Obamacare: Americans are Bored with It (Sarah Kliff) from the Washington Post
"... ultimately, this is what success looks like for Obamacare, if and when that happens. There will be no ticker-tape parades, front-page stories or skyrocketing poll numbers. It will be people using insurance and the press focusing on other things."
Marco Rubio Announces Anti-Poverty Agenda (Alex Rogers) from Time Magazine
"The Republican Senator's plan involves centralizing anti-poverty funding and replacing the earned income credit On the fiftieth anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, in the second floor Capitol room named after him, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), presented the
conservative rebuttal—and laid the groundwork for his own presidential campaign. He went big."
Whoever is advising Rubio, they need to be fired. Here Rubio goes again. You would think he would have learned something from his "leadership" on immigration reform from last year. The core of the GOP is only interested in cutting anti-poverty programs if not eliminating them outright. They don't care about the poor. A telling episode from the 1990s: some may remember then Texas-Senator Phil Graham; he was a big wheel in GOP policy-making circles (he was once an economics professor). Around the time of the 1996 election, he was confronted at some conservative confab with a Republican policy wonk who had a set of anti-poverty proposals for consideration. Graham cut the person off and said simply: "Poverty is not a Republican issue." Period. End of story. This is even more true now than it has been in recent history. Rubio might as well be trying to feed starving piranhas on canned string beans. They'll pass on the beans and feast instead on the hand trying to give it to them. Good luck, Marco. You'll need it.
Bill Pascrell on Bridge Flap: ‘Worst is Yet to Come’ from Politico
"“I think the worst is yet to come,” said New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell, who represents the town that was turned into a parking lot last year when some of the bridge’s lanes were abruptly closed for four days. “I don’t think we’ve seen all of it at all."
Christie’s Waterloo: The George Washington Bridge Fiasco is a Deeply Damning Window on the Governor's Administration from the Editorial Board of the New York Daily News
The lede: "In the best possible light, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie built a top staff of lying thugs who threatened lives and safety to serve his political ends. If not, Christie is a lying thug himself."
A bad indicator here: the Daily News is the kind of paper that usually favors and allies with personalities like Christie. The lede here doesn't get more damning. Said another way: if Christie is losing the likes of the Daily News, he's in DEEP trouble!
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