UP-FRONT PRESIDENTIAL CHARACTER NUGGET!!
Bush Declines NYC Invite from Politico
"Former President George W. Bush has turned down President Barack Obama’s invitation to join him at ground zero on Thursday, citing his desire to avoid the media glare."
Since Clinton's time in office (if not earlier) Republicans and conservatives (remember Bob Dole) have gone on ad nauseum about presidential character and values. In my view, this small item speaks volumes in response to such blatherings when it comes to Barack Obama. This small, gracious gesture shows Obama to be an exceptionally BIG person in this area.
Democracy Strikes Back: A French View on America After Bin Laden (Dominique Moisi) from Le Figaro [of France in English]
Opinion: The killing of Osama bin Laden marks a unique melding of American hard and soft power, and a boost (with legs) for President Obama. ... America might have entered a relative phase of decline, and its staggering debt places the nation in an undoubtedly uncomfortable situation of dependence on China. But it nonetheless still remains the only great “multi-dimensional” power. Neither China, nor India, nor Russia, and even less so the European Union, have the capacity or the will to undertake an operation like the one that led to the death of Osama bin Laden."
This piece is fascinating on a number of levels both for what it says about the US and about France and the Europeans. It should also be noted that Le Figaro tends to represent the more conservative side of French politics -- not that that looks much like American conservatism. But it's worth keeping in mind nonetheless.
Exclusive: Raid Yields Trove of Data from Politico
"The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called “the mother lode of intelligence.” The special operations forces grabbed personal computers, thumb drives and electronic equipment during the lightning raid that killed bin Laden, officials told POLITICO."
Moment of Triumph: ‘We’ve IDed Geronimo’ (Michael Scherer) from Time Magazine
"The people who gathered Sunday in the Situation Room know all about high-pressure situations. But this was something else. For 40 minutes, the President and his senior aides could do nothing but watch the video screens and listen to the operation and ensuing firefight on the other side of the world."
Nitpicking point of the morning: why did the Ops people feel the need to pick on Geronimo?
Farewell to Geronimo (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"There is only one good thing about the fact that Osama bin Laden survived for nearly 10 years after the mass murder at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that he organized. And that is that he lived long enough to see so many young Arabs repudiate his ideology. He lived long enough to see Arabs from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen to Syria rise up peacefully to gain the dignity, justice and self-rule that Bin Laden claimed could be obtained only by murderous violence and a return to puritanical Islam. We did our part. We killed Bin Laden with a bullet. Now the Arab and Muslim people have a chance to do their part — kill Bin Ladenism with a ballot — that is, with real elections, with real constitutions, real political parties and real progressive politics."
Obama Bets the House: How the President Gambled his Presidency on a Gutsy Mission (David Corn) from Mother Jones Magazine
""It was a wonderful evening." He called the mission "a skillful and daring operation that carried considerable risk, but great gain." He was thinking of the special forces that carried out the strike. He could also have been referring to President Barack Obama."
CIA Chief Breaks Silence: Pakistan Would Have Jeopardized bin Laden Raid, ‘Impressive’ Intel Captured from Time Magazine
"Panetta wanted to get those aides’ opinions on the potential bin Laden mission, and he quickly found a lack of unanimity among his team. Some of the aides had been involved in the Carter Administration’s effort to go after the hostages held by the Iranians 30 years ago; others had been involved in the ill-fated “Black Hawk Down” raid against Somali warlords in 1993. “What if you go down and you’re in a firefight and the Pakistanis show up and start firing?” Panetta says some worried. “How do you fight your way out?”"
Obama 'Decapitates' the al-Qaeda Hydra (Liuis Bassets) from El Pais [of Spain in English]
"He who opposed the Iraq War has given the global war on terror its crowning achievement by decapitating the head of the Hydra - that of the defiant leader of mega-terror. What Bush didn't know how to do or couldn't achieve, has been accomplished by a Nobel Peace Prize winner as young as he is controversial."
Al-Qaeda’s Existential Crisis (Fawaz A. Gerge) from the Washington Post
"Indiscriminate targeting of civilians has turned Muslim opinion against al-Qaeda’s tactics and ideology. To most Muslims, al-Qaeda has brought ruin to the ummah, or Muslim global community. As a result, al-Qaeda attracts fewer skilled recruits and finds fewer havens."
Obama Gets Osama: Goodbye Vietnam (Howard Fineman) from the Huffington Post
"The humor was typical Obama: droll, deadpan, dismissive -- and more on target than anyone but the president could have known. Looking back on his comedy riff now, it's clear that it marks the start of a major pivot point in our politics. After nearly 50 years, the crippling "weak-on-defense" accusation -- a staple of Republican attacks going back to Richard Nixon -- may finally have reached the end of its useful life."
All Work and No Play for Obama (John Dickerson) from Slate
"In the timeline of the Bin Laden operation, we see just how closely the secret life of a president bumps against his public life. Though this operation was a special case, it puts in high relief an oft-forgotten truth about the presidency: The president is occupied by a lot more than the public can see."
Arab Response to bin Laden’s Death Muted from the Washington Post
“A decade ago, the Middle East might have responded to the killing of Osama bin Laden with fury at the United States. But with the region convulsed by mostly peaceful popular revolutions, the response to his death has been muted, another signal that the old Arab order is being swept away.”
The End of the Jihadist Dream (Ali Soufan) from the New York Times
“He not only was the embodiment of Al Qaeda’s ideology, but also was central to the group’s fund-raising and recruiting successes. Without him, Al Qaeda will find itself short on cash — and members.”
Defining Moment for Obama? from Politico
"The daring military operation that eliminated the radical Islamist behind the worst terror attack in U.S. history has provided Obama, so often snake-bitten by external events, with that rarest of opportunities: a chance to unite a divided country around an indisputable victory while redefining his complicated, contradictory first term as a success."
Osama bin Laden's Death Will Haunt Pakistan (Simon Tisdall) from the Guardian [of the UK]
"Bin Laden's discovery in a compound 35 miles from Islamabad is a dangerous embarrassment for Pakistan and the ISI."
As if to prove the headline, here’s some evidence from Pakistan’s favorite neighbor:
We Told You So: India is Cackling Over News of Osama Getting Whacked in Pakistan (Henry Foy) from Foreign Policy Magazine
“After years of finger-pointing, indignant accusations, and saber-rattling toward its nuclear-armed neighbor and arch-rival, India had the ultimate smoking gun: irrefutable evidence of bin Laden's sanctuary in Pakistan. The entire country's schadenfreude was irrepressible.”
Wow – practically an entire nation running a really huge racket on its neighbor!!
Osama bin Who? A Decade of Denials and Downplaying from Pakistani Leaders from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. special forces on Sunday in the resort town of Abbottabad, just two hours from the Pakistani capital. This ended a nearly decade-long manhunt for the 9/11 mastermind as well a decade of dubious denials from Pakistani leaders that he could possibly be in their country."
My gut feeling is that there has been a sea change in the last 72 hours regarding how average Americans view Pakistan's role in the 'war on terror.' Even as many Pakistanis are complaining about the US violating their sovereignty, I think public opinion in the US is turning (perhaps decisively) against Pakistan. The lurking question now seems to be "so -- who else are you hiding?"
The Lies They Tell Us (Mosharraf Zaidi) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Can the Pakistani government's web of deceit survive the death of Osama bin Laden?"
When Did We Start Chanting "U-S-A"? (Brian Palmer) from Slate
"Spectators at a Phillies-Mets baseball game broke into chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" as news of Osama Bin Laden's death made its way through the crowd on Sunday night. When did Americans start yelling the name of their country over and over again to express joy or patriotic pride?"
2012 GOP Race Gets Wake-up Call from Politico
"Donald Trump and birtherism won’t disappear. There will still be talk about the creeping threat of Sharia law. But the dramatic killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden by American commandos will immediately reorder a Republican presidential contest that until now had been colored by provocative voices and marginal issues."
The Politics Of Contempt (Christopher Caldwell) from Newsweek
"Trump is wrong that President Obama was born outside the United States. At some level his supporters may see that he is wrong. But they may also see his “birther” assertions as the mark of a laudable cynicism toward those in power. If so, then a terrible trap has been laid: the more absurd the untruth, the more politically trustworthy the one who peddles it."
Normally, I find Caldwell to be just another insufferable conservative pundit [he's an editor at the Weekly Standard] - but I think he's on to something here concerning the support Trump has received from the birther crowd.
A Patriot's Guide to Still Hating Obama for Killing Osama (Alex Pareene) from Salon
"Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaida and the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was recently killed by American commandos, which is, for Real American Patriots, a Good Thing. But Barack Obama is getting all the credit, which is, for said residents of the authentic portion of this glorious nation, decidedly a Bad Thing. How is a typically bloodthirsty right-winger supposed to revel in America's victory over an enemy while still detesting the socialist usurper in the White House who made this victory possible?"
BIZARRE RUSSIAN MONARCHY NUGGET!!
Tsar Harry! Russians Who Want British Prince to take Vacant Throne (Just Don't Mention the Romanovs) from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
“Poll: 39 per cent of Russians want to restore monarchy … Alexander Baunov - a diplomat-turned-journalist - thinks that William's 26-year-old brother should be crowned the first king of Russian since Tsar Nicholas II reigned in 1917 on the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution.”
It is interesting that they're not interested in the contemporary branch of the Romanovs -- who are very much alive, kicking, and holding the torch for their own restoration.
PET PHOTOGRAPHY NUGGET!!
A Cat's-Eye View of Life: Feline Snapper Takes Photography World by Storm from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
“Ever wonder what the cat gets up to when you let it out? Well, now you know, thanks to the amazing Cooper - the feline photographer. This moggy multimedia expert's exploits have been shedding light on the world of cats. Fitted with a timer-operated camera on his collar Cooper takes a picture every two minutes capturing everything from a cat's eye view”
This is pretty hilarious!!
CLASSIC MOVIE NUGGET!!
'Citizen Kane' at 70: The Legacy of the Film and Its Director from the Atlantic
“As the anniversary of the premiere approaches, a look at how the movie changed the industry—and what happened to Orson Welles in the years that followed.”
OUTER SPACE NUGGET!!
The 'Exotic' Super-Earth that's as Dense as Lead from The Week
"Astronomers are thrilled over a nearby world that could promise the most significant breakthrough yet in the study of planetary evolution
HOLLYWOOD NUGGET!!
Remembering My Father, Cary Grant (Malcolm Jones) from the Daily Beast
"In this week’s Newsweek, the movie star’s daughter’s new memoir, Good Stuff, reveals him to be a doting mensch at home."
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