A rather surprising thing happened on HBO's “Real Time” Friday evening. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, the daughter of the former Speaker of the House, scolded host Bill Maher for spending the first half of his show “dissing America” (video follows with transcript and commentary): BILL MAHER, HOST: But right now she is a filmmaker whose seventh documentary “Citizen USA: A 50 State Road” and its companion book debuts July 4th on HBO. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Raise your right hand and repeat after me. “I hereby declare my oath…” UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: I hereby declare my oath. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: For long, long time I wait for this day. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: This is greatest day of my life. UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: I love America. (END VIDEO CLIP) MAHER: Please welcome Alexandra Pelosi. ALEXANDRA PELOSI, FILMMAKER: Thank you. MAHER: How are you doing? You didn’t think you’d be following the President of the United States, did you? PELOSI: Well, I came to the show because after you spent the first half dissing America, I came to tell you how the American dream has people in every other country all over the world still wanting to come here to live here. Absolutely delicious. Brava! For a little background, here's what Pelosi's new documentary is about: Each year, nearly one million people from more than 150 countries become American citizens.
Continue reading …9 Out Of 10 Americans Don’t Expect Raises To Compensate For Rising Price Of Goods, Survey Says
June 25, 2011 No Comment
As the economic gloom settles in, American workers seem to be coming around to the conclusion that they may be facing a permanent midnight. A new survey from American Pulse, released in June, shows that 9 out of 10 American workers are not expecting salary increases next year to compensate for the rising cost of basic necessities like fuel and food. Faced with increasingly expensive purchases and stagnant salaries, 70 percent said they planned on changing their habits by buying only necessities going forward, according to the survey. Only 6.6 percent said they planned on changing nothing in their budgets. This is bad news, not just for the American worker, but for the economy as a whole: consumer spending accounts for roughly seventy percent of G.D.P.. If Americans are only spending on necessities, they won’t be driving economic growth. In the first three months of the year, consumer spending expanded at a rate of just 2.2 percent — much slower growth than anticipated. American Pulse’s results join a host of other recent findings that together paint a grim portrait of Americans’ expectations. Nearly half of America thinks the U.S. is nearing a second Great Depression, according to a CNN opinion research poll, while a new Gallup poll showed economic confidence plummeting in June. A third poll indicated that workers are more dissatisfied than they were before the recession — facing low prospects of advancement, nearly one in three of those surveyed said they they were seriously considering leaving their jobs. And with an unemployment rate above 9 percent, those sentiments could be here to stay, especially with corporate profits now 22 percent above their pre-recession level, according to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute. As economist Brad Delong notes in the Mother Jones’ story “All Work and No Pay: The Great Speedup”, corporate profits and rising wages for employees used to be more closely linked. Not long ago, “businesses would hold on to workers in downturns even when there wasn’t enough for them to do,” Delong says. “That era is over”
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I went to a dinner party at a friend’s home last weekend, and met her five-year-old daughter for the first time. Little Maya was all curly brown hair, doe-like dark eyes, and adorable in her shiny pink nightgown. I wanted to squeal, “Maya, you’re so cute! Look at you! Turn around and model that pretty ruffled gown, you gorgeous thing!” But I didn’t. I squelched myself. As I always bite my tongue when I meet little girls, restraining myself from my first impulse, which is to tell them how darn cute/ pretty/ beautiful/ well-dressed/ well-manicured/ well-coiffed they are. What’s wrong with that? It’s our culture’s standard talking-to-little-girls icebreaker, isn’t it? And why not give them a sincere complement to boost their self-esteem? Because they are so darling I just want to burst when I meet them, honestly. Hold that thought for just a moment. This week ABC news reported that nearly half of all three- to six-year-old girls worry about being fat. In my book, Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, I reveal that fifteen to eighteen percent of girls under twelve now wear mascara, eyeliner and lipstick regularly; eating disorders are up and self-esteem is down; and twenty-five percent of young American women would rather win America’s Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize. Even bright, successful college women say they’d rather be hot than smart. A Miami mom just died from cosmetic surgery, leaving behind two teenagers. This keeps happening, and it breaks my heart. Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything. It sets them up for dieting at age 5 and foundation at age 11 and boob jobs at 17 and Botox at 23. As our cultural imperative for girls to be hot 24/7 has become the new normal, American women have become increasingly unhappy. What’s missing? A life of meaning, a life of ideas and reading books and being valued for our thoughts and accomplishments. That’s why I force myself to talk to little girls as follows. “Maya,” I said, crouching down at her level, looking into her eyes, “very nice to meet you.” “Nice to meet you too,” she said, in that trained, polite, talking-to-adults good girl voice. “Hey, what are you reading?” I asked, a twinkle in my eyes. I love books. I’m nuts for them. I let that show. Her eyes got bigger, and the practiced, polite facial expression gave way to genuine excitement over this topic. She paused, though, a little shy of me, a stranger. “I LOVE books,” I said. “Do you?” Most kids do. “YES,” she said. “And I can read them all by myself now!” “Wow, amazing!” I said. And it is, for a five-year-old. You go on with your bad self, Maya. “What’s your favorite book?” I asked. “I’ll go get it! Can I read it to you?” Purplicious was Maya’s pick and a new one to me, as Maya snuggled next to me on the sofa and proudly read aloud every word, about our heroine who loves pink but is tormented by a group of girls at school who only wear black. Alas, it was about girls and what they wore, and how their wardrobe choices defined their identities. But after Maya closed the final page, I steered the conversation to the deeper issues in the book: mean girls and peer pressure and not going along with the group. I told her my favorite color in the world is green, because I love nature, and she was down with that. Not once did we discuss clothes or hair or bodies or who was pretty. It’s surprising how hard it is to stay away from those topics with little girls, but I’m stubborn. I told her that I’d just written a book, and that I hoped she’d write one too one day. She was fairly psyched about that idea. We were both sad when Maya had to go to bed, but I told her next time to choose another book and we’d read it and talk about it. Oops. That got her too amped up to sleep, and she came down from her bedroom a few times, all jazzed up. So, one tiny bit of opposition to a culture that sends all the wrong messages to our girls. One tiny nudge towards valuing female brains. One brief moment of intentional role modeling. Will my few minutes with Maya change our multibillion dollar beauty industry, reality shows that demean women, our celebrity-manic culture? No. But I did change Maya’s perspective for at least that evening. Try this the next time you meet a little girl. She may be surprised and unsure at first, because few ask her about her mind, but be patient and stick with it. Ask her what she’s reading. What does she like and dislike, and why? There are no wrong answers. You’re just generating an intelligent conversation that respects her brain. For older girls, ask her about current events issues: pollution, wars, school budgets slashed. What bothers her out there in the world? How would she fix it if she had a magic wand? You may get some intriguing answers. Tell her about your ideas and accomplishments and your favorite books. Model for her what a thinking woman says and does. And let me know the response you get at www.Twitter.com/lisabloom. Here’s to changing the world, one little girl at a time.
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Casey Anthony’s mother made another startling revelation on the witness stand Friday that the defense hoped strengthen their case: A ladder had been left leaning out of the pool on the day defense attorneys say her granddaughter drowned. For the second day in a row, the defense called Cindy Anthony, 52, to testify. Her daughter Casey faces multiple charges, including capital murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and misleading law enforcement in the death of her daughter, two-year-old Caylee. Defense attorney Jose Baez guided Cindy Anthony through her testimony, working hard to bolster the argument that Caylee had drowned and was not murdered as the prosecutors contend. Baez first mentioned the drowning during opening statements. “Caylee Anthony died on June 16, 2008, when she drowned in her family’s swimming pool,” Baez said at the start of the trial. Cindy Anthony later told jurors she discovered that the pool ladder had been left out when she returned home from work on June 16. “I thought it was strange … I called [my husband], George, at work to see if he had left the pool ladder up because I also noticed that the side gate was open,” Anthony testified. According to Baez, Casey Anthony and her father, George Anthony, were home alone on the day the alleged accident occurred. The attorney said that in the early hours of June 16, George noticed Caylee was missing and that he and his daughter began a frantic search — looking under beds and in the garage. Then George Anthony took the search outside, to the above ground pool, Baez said. “As Casey came around the corner [of the pool], she saw George Anthony holding Caylee in his arms,” the defense attorney told the jury. “She immediately grabbed Caylee and began to cry. Shortly thereafter, George began to yell at her: ‘Look what you’ve done. Your mother will never forgive you, and you will go to jail for child neglect for the rest of your frigging life.’” Casey Anthony later alleged that her daughter had been abducted by her babysitter. Multiple searches were conducted, and in December 2008, former Orange County meter reader Roy Kronk found Caylee’s remains near her family home. George Anthony has denied knowledge of Caylee’s death and testified that he did not dispose of his granddaughter’s body. In an effort to strengthen his theory, Baez showed Cindy Anthony several photos today of Caylee climbing a ladder into the above ground pool. Anthony said that when Caylee first started swimming in the pool, she would have to support her from behind as she climbed the ladder. However, when Caylee got older, she no longer needed help. “She could climb into the pool by herself,” Anthony testified, explaining that in 2008 they swam together “three to four times a week. “As she got older, she was a lot more anxious [to get in], because she was familiar with the pool,” she added. The defense also showed Cindy Anthony and the jury a photo of Caylee opening the sliding glass door that led to the backyard pool. “Could Caylee open the door?” Baez asked. Cindy Anthony replied, “Yes, she could do it herself.” During a brief cross-examination, state prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick questioned Anthony about Caylee’s clothes and the shorts that were found with her skeletal remains. “Those particular shorts. I hadn’t remembered Caylee wearing those shorts in some time,” Cindy Anthony testified. “Those weren’t shorts that I dressed Caylee in quite a bit. That wasn’t one of my favorite outfits [and] I don’t recall seeing Caylee in those shorts after 2007.” For the second day in a row, Cindy Anthony’s testimony has been important for the defense, which contests the prosecutor’s theory that Casey Anthony used chloroform to render Caylee unconscious and then put duct tape over her nose and mouth, suffocating her. On Thursday, Cindy Anthony said that she had conducted internet searches for “chloroform,” “chest injuries” and “head injuries.” Prosecutors have claimed that Casey Anthony had done the incriminating internet searches. When Cindy Anthony stepped down, her son Lee Anthony was called to the stand. Afterwards, court took a recess for lunch. SEE CASEY ANTHONY PERSONAL PHOTOS: Expanded Coverage: Trial Updates.
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UPDATE: SCROLL DOWN FOR RELIGION NEWS SERVICE EDITOR’S NOTE Religion News Service issued a follow-up to this story on Friday (June 24). By Michele Chabin Religion News Service JERUSALEM (RNS) Jews and Israelis, or passengers carrying any non-Islamic article of faith, will not be able to fly code-share flights from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia under Delta Air Line’s new partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines that is set to begin in 2012. Although Delta announced in January that the Saudi airline would join its SkyTeam network next year, the implications of the deal only came to light recently, according to people who have scrutinized the details. Saudi Arabia, which is governed by strict Islamic law, requires citizens of almost every country to obtain a visa. People who wish to enter the country must have a sponsor; women, who must be dressed according to Saudi standards of modesty, must be met at the Saudi airport by a man who will act as a chaperone. Saudi Arabia bans anyone with an Israeli stamp in their passport from entering the country, even in transit. Many Jews believe the kingdom has also withheld visas from travelers with Jewish-sounding names. Religious items such as Bibles that are not related to Islam may be confiscated at the airport. Colby M. May, senior counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal group founded by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, said his office is trying to determine if the agreement runs afoul of U.S. law. “The very idea that there is a common carrier airline service that would deny an American citizen in America access to their services because they are Jewish or have religious items such as a yarmulke, a cross or a priestly collar, is deeply disturbing,” May said. May said he is “trying to get answers” from Delta. “They have not responded in a way that answers the question,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll do so.” In a statement to Religion News Service on Thursday (June 23), Delta said it “does not discriminate, nor do we condone discrimination against any protected class of passenger in regards to age, race, nationality, religion, or gender.” The airline, which did not deny the new policy, insisted that it has no control over who may fly to Saudi Arabia. “Delta must also comply with all applicable laws in every country it serves,” adding that passengers are responsible for obtaining the necessary travel documents required for entry. “If a passenger travels without proper documents, the passenger may be denied entry into that country and our airline may be fined,” the statement said. The Jan. 10 agreement allows Saudi Arabian Airlines to become a member of SkyTeam in 2012 after “fulfilling all membership requirements,” according to a SkyTeam statement. The Saudi airline is SkyTeam’s first member from the Middle East. The policy has deeply angered U.S. Jewish groups, especially since Delta is an American carrier. “Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, should be strongly condemned for its despicable discrimination against Jews,” said Kenneth Bandler, a spokesman for the New York-based American Jewish Committee. “For an American company, our nation’s values should trump narrow business interests. Delta should be the first to reject Saudi airlines as a SkyTeam member.” Dan Diker, secretary general of the World Jewish Congress, said he hoped “Delta will not be complicit with what appears to be a demonstrably anti-Semitic and racist policy by Saudi Arabian Airlines.” Jack Jenkins contributed to this report. RELIGION NEWS SERVICE EDITOR’S NOTE: The RNS story on Delta Air Lines’ pending partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines that was distributed on June 23 contained incomplete information about Saudi visa policies and U.S. Jews’ ability to fly Delta flights to Saudi Arabia. The story was not fully edited according to RNS standards: -While Saudi Arabia does not issue visas to citizens carrying Israeli passports, Saudi officials say an Israeli stamp in a U.S. passport is not a barrier to entry, even for a stop in transit. -While Saudi Arabia does not allow non-Islamic religious articles within its borders, religious identity and a passenger’s religious articles are not barriers to flights on either Delta or Saudi Arabian Airlines flights. -Airline alliance programs typically allow passengers on one airline to book tickets on another, or redeem frequent flyer points on partner airlines. On Friday, Delta said such “code-sharing” agreements will not be part of its alliance with Saudi Arabian Airlines, nor will Delta passengers be able to redeem Delta frequent flyer miles on the Saudi airline. RNS takes very seriously its commitment to accuracy, balance and thorough reporting, and the June 23 story failed to meet those expectations. Steps are being taken to correct and improve our internal editing process. We regret that the story was transmitted with incomplete information, as well as any unintended implication that Delta would be adopting policies of the Saudi government.
Continue reading …Karl Rove Asks Juan Williams: How Can an Obscure Guy Who Did Diddly Squat in the Senate Become President?
June 25, 2011 No Comment
Karl Rove and Juan Williams had quite a lively debate Friday evening about politics, the economy, and who can beat Barack Obama in 2012. With Williams acting as substitute host on “The O'Reilly Factor,” guest Rove asked the question that has been plaguing conservatives for approaching three years – “How can an obscure United States senator from Illinois who had done diddly squat in the senate become the nominee of the Democratic Party and the President of the United States?” (video follows with transcript and commentary): JUAN WILLIAMS, SUBSTITUTE HOST: The question I had for you that I want to get back to is, beat Obamawith, what? Here is a full screen. And it's going to show you Obama matched up against Romney, against Pawlenty, against all of them, even generic Republican. Not one of them beat President Obama. (CROSSTALK) KARL ROVE: He is — he is the incumbent president of the United States. And he's 45 percent against a generic Republican in one poll, against Pawlenty who nobody in America knows who was only five percent of in the Republican primary he gets to 50 percent, against Romney, again — this is one poll where's it's 49 percent — 43 percent. But there are other polls where it's flipped; it's 48 percent, 46 percent Romney. And I repeat. He is the President. He ought to have a bigger lead right now than he does particularly against people who — whose name awareness is so much less than his. I mean, who knows Tim Pawlenty outside of the State of Minnesota. Not a whole a heck of a lot of people. WILLIAMS: It doesn't matter if none of them can beat him. (CROSSTALK) ROVE: Yes — it matters if you can't get above 50 percent. He can't get above 50 percent against — he can't get above 50 percent against people whom nobody knows. WILLIAMS: Ok. (CROSSTALK) ROVE: That's a — that — just trust me, Juan. If I was sitting here and saying a Republican president was getting 50 percent against no named Democrats, I would say — I would be worried if I was sitting there in the West Wing. WILLIAMS: Ok and let me just say to you I would be worried if I was setting on the Republican side and I said as you seem to be indicating oh, well look at Mitt Romney he is the closest of any of these Republicans, he can beat President Obama. Look at Mitt Romney. (CROSSTALK) ROVE: No I'm just saying — WILLIAMS: Hang on — ROVE: Hey, hey. You are just — Juan, with all due respect, you're distorting what I said. WILLIAMS: Right. ROVE: I was pointing out that in a public poll Mitt Romney is beating — (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: I don't know what kind of poll that is. ROVE: And you — and you — well, it's — I hate to say it. WILLIAMS: It's sure isn't “Wall Street Journal” and NBC. ROVE: It's “The Washington Post”/ABC. WILLIAMS: Yes that was — and that was a while back. But anyway — ROVE: No, no it's like two weeks ago, Juan. Please, keep your facts straight. (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: No that's two weeks ago it's a while back because NBC/Wall Street Journal poll is good. ROVE: That's 10 days ago. Juan, what's the difference between 10 days and two weeks. For the record, the ABC News/Washington Post poll which found Romney with a three point lead over Obama was published June 7. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finding Obama with a six point lead over Romney came out June 16. But who's counting? WILLIAMS: All right, but let just say, here is what would worry me if I was Karl Rove — are you backing Romney by the way. ROVE: No, I'm not. I'm not backing anybody. But here — here is my point. WILLIAMS: Ok. ROVE: It's early in the Republican primary process. We don't know who the nominee is going to be. WILLIAMS: Ok. ROVE: And I don't — and I don't — but the price is — (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: It's early — it's early for President Obama and he has the pulpit. The economy could get better. ROVE: It could. WILLIAMS: The economy could get better, gas prices have been going down. ROVE: You tell me, hey, 10 cents a gallon. WILLIAMS: 21 cents in the last two weeks. (CROSSTALK) ROVE: The price of gasoline is still twice what it was when he came in office. And Juan, are you going to sit there with a straight face and tell me — (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: Yes. ROVE: — that you think the economy next year is going to be going and blowing and we're going to have millions of people with jobs? Because, if you are, you are the only person in America who thinks that. (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: No. ROVE: The Federal Reserve this week dropped its forecast for growth and jobs next year. WILLIAMS: Correct. ROVE: This week the — the — the blue chip forecast dropped its estimates for growth this year. You know what the administration is thinking? That we're going to have growth next year of 4.5 percent. And the Federal Reserve is saying we're going to have three percent or less. (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: And here's what — let me tell you. (CROSSTALK) ROVE: So if you think the economy is going to be — all right, let's have a bet right now, Juan, who is going to be — who's going to be — you take the administration's estimate for economic growth and I will take Federal Reserve's. WILLIAMS: In fact, when you ask Americans is the economy getting better they're saying no, no. But then, you ask them about their personal finances and they are much more optimistic — (CROSSTALK) ROVE: 48 percent of Americans — 48 percent of Americans think that the economy is going to be in a great depression next year. WILLIAMS: No filibuster Dr. Rove, just hang on let me just — ROVE: No, I'm just — I'm just setting the record straight I know it's painful for you. WILLIAMS: No it's not for me, it's not — I'm just saying don't get overly optimistic. ROVE: I'm not. WILLIAMS: Because what you're doing is saying oh, you know, this guy can't win and he may surprise you. ROVE: Juan, I'm saying he is likely — I wish you would read my columns. I said he is likely to lose. (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: Yes that's what you're saying. ROVE: And I didn't say he will lose. I said he is likely to lose. In fact, let me read you. Let me read you — (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: Wait, wait. We only have 30 seconds, Karl — Karl — (CROSSTALK) ROVE”: “Objective circumstances like an anemic economy and bad decisions not only matter they become very nearly (INAUDIBLE).” WILLIAMS: Karl. ROVE: “Mr. Obama is now at the mercy of policies and events he set in motion. He can't — WILLIAMS: All right. But Karl — ROVE: He is not done yet but it will be tough to recover. (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: But Karl, how do you recover if you are Mitt Romney and you have health care. How do you recover if you're Tim Pawlenty and nobody knows you? How do you recover if you are Michele Bachmann and everybody thinks you extremist? (CROSSTALK) ROVE: Look, there is a presidential primary campaign and the cream tends to rise to the top. How can an obscure United States senator from Illinois who had done diddly squat in the senate become the nominee of the Democratic Party and the President of the United States by running a good campaign in the primary? By running a good campaign in the primary. WILLIAMS: Karl doesn't want me to talk. You know why he doesn't want me to talk? I love him, I respect him and I don't want you disappointed but I'm afraid you may be setting yourself up. Thanks so much for joining us. Well, I think it was more than just running a good campaign. Obama had more assistance from the media than likely any presidential candidate in the modern era. But who's counting?
Continue reading …Joe Klein’s 2012 Scenario: Pragmatic Democrat vs. ‘Dangerous, Inbred’ Right-Wing GOP
June 24, 2011 No Comment
Who on Earth would claim the next election matchup is Pragmatic Democrat vs. Radical End-of-All-Regulation Republican? Time’s Joe Klein would, in Time’s June 27 cover story on the GOP candidates. He ended the piece like this: Some presidential campaigns – 1960, 1980, 1992, 2008 – are exhilarating, suffused with hope and excitement. This is not likely to be one of those. It is likely to be an election that no one wins but someone loses. It will be a reversal of politics past: a pragmatic Democrat will be facing a Republican with all sorts of big ideas, promising an unregulated, laissez-faire American paradise. Obama will have to come up with a stronger argument than “It could have been worse,” but in tough times, the continuing presence of a government safety net is far more reassuring than the message that you're on your own. And in the end, all the Republican talk of repealing and defunding may prove too radical for an American public that is conservative in the traditional sense, and wary of sudden lurches to the left or right. Joe Klein is about as honest in this passage as he was when he spent months denying he was the “Anonymous” author of Primary Colors. If Americans don’t want “sudden lurches” to an ideological pole, what would Klein call the first two years of Obama? Its radical increase in spending and debt was hardly what America was promised by…well, Joe Klein four years ago , at a similar juncture in 2007. Obama was pragmatic, even conservative: “But Obama's is a determinedly conservative boldness. He is a lovely speaker, yet his tone is more conversational than oratorical. He offers little in the way of red-meat rhetoric to his audiences, some of whom are surprised, and disappointed, by his persistent judiciousness. He is solid on the essentials of most issues but daring on none
Continue reading …When America lost Clarence Clemons, it “lost an ideal.” In the pairing of “Southern Baptist black” with “Jersey Shore white,” Bruce Springsteen and Clemons gave life to “a cultural example of how the divides of race can come together over music,” writes Timothy Egan in the New York Times . The…
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Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist Colby King on Friday disgracefully called Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann “Barbie with fangs.” His fellow “Inside Washington” panelist Charles Krauthammer – obviously annoyed by this sexist display – replied, “It’s good to see how civil and non-ad hominem we are here in the Huntsman spirit” (video follows with transcript and commentary): COLBY KING, WASHINGTON POST: Well, what he’s, [Jon Huntsman] can’t out anti-Obama with the other Republican field. They have that. He’s got Gingrich there, he’s got Michele Bachmann, they’re going to do the number on Obama. So he has to distinguish himself. But, when you get right down to it, he, and, and, and, and Mitt Romney are the, are the two Ken dolls in the, in the, in the Republican race. You got Michele Bachmann who is Barbie with fangs. [Laughter] I mean, it’s, the, the, the field itself is just sort of a, like a caricature. There’s no substance. CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It’s good to see how civil and non-ad hominem we are here in the Huntsman spirit as I understand it. KING: I love them all. How thoroughly disgraceful. King should be ashamed of himself and be asked to immediately apologize for making such a statement about a sitting member of Congress. When is this sexist bashing of conservative female political officials by America's press going to stop?
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enlarge The surest way of causing mass pouting in the Washington Post’s editorial room is by threatening to take away their shiny war toy. Yes, the same people who scold Americans every day for being unwilling to sacrifice our Social Security and Medicare are now demanding that we gladly sacrifice military lives in three separate conflicts for an indeterminate amount of time. Me personally, I wish the Afghan withdrawal was occurring more quickly. I mean, the main reasons we supposedly went into that country in the first place — to oust the Taliban, disrupt al-Qaeda and to capture or kill Osama bin Laden — have all been accomplished. No amount of blood or treasure is going to transform Afghanistan into a happysmileysuperfuntime place, so what the hell else are we supposed to do there? But still! I’ll take whatever positive developments I can get in these dark times. Except the dirtbag vultures at the WaPo op-ed board want to take this small sliver of good news away from us. Let’s start with the truly sociopathic Charles Lane : In September 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered the civilians of Confederate Atlanta to evacuate so that his army could burn the city. Atlanta’s mayor pleaded for mercy; Sherman refused. “We must have peace, not only at Atlanta, but in all America,” Sherman explained. “To secure this, we must stop the war that now desolates our once happy and favored country.” In Sherman’s view, sparing Atlanta, with all its resources, might indeed be humane in the short run — but would enable the rebels to prolong the war. And that was clearly the greater evil. Atlanta must burn. “War is cruelty,” the general memorably lamented, “and you cannot refine it.” President Obama’s policy on Afghanistan — up to and including last night’s beginning-of-the-end speech — could use a dose of Sherman’s tragic wisdom. Right off the bat we’ve got someone who recommends basing foreign policy on the actions of a general most famous for burning entire cities to the ground. I mean, look, I’ve known guys who think like this in the past. They were the kids who loved torturing frogs and who loved throwing firecrackers into birds’ nests. Most of them, however, wound up in jail. A lucky few of them wound up writing op-eds for the Washington Post. Next up on our “Give War Another Twelve Chances” tour of duty is Richard Cohen . Cohen isn’t against drawing down troops in the region per se, but he is saddened by the fact that the withdrawal means that foreigners will no longer respect America’s formerly-invincible freedom schlong: The American Century just ended. This was the phrase coined by Henry Luce, which so aptly described America as the modern-day colossus, more powerful than any nation had ever been. Wednesday night, President Obama said that power had reached its limit. He was bringing 10,000 troops home from Afghanistan. The war was not finished, but we are. “America, it is time to focus on nation building at home,” the president said. There it was, the theme of the speech. We had done what we could in Afghanistan, and there was, of course, more to do. But the purse was empty and the nation was tired — this is me, not Obama, talking, but he said much the same thing. “We must be as pragmatic as we are passionate; as strategic as we are resolute,” Obama said. In other words, we are going to pick our fights more carefully, and when we do, we can use the new weaponry of drones and the units of SEALs and such. No need for massive armies anymore. From the president’s mouth to God’s ear, I would add. I have heard this speech before. I heard echoes of Richard Nixon explaining “Vietnamization.” Gonna turn the war over to our stolid allies. We put them on their feet. We trained them. We supplied them. We schooled them at our elite military academies. They looked splendid in their uniforms. But when the U.S. pulled out, South Vietnam collapsed. It will happen again in Afghanistan. You know, look, dude. We have to listen to you and your buddies wail and moan all year long about America’s dire fiscal situation. You demand that politicians make “brave” cuts to spending programs that will hurt the poor, the elderly and the disabled. But you also insist that we fight three wars at maximum power at the same time. You guys can either have your Balanced Budget Pony or you can have your Freedom Bombs. But you can’t have both unless you figure out a way to make the poor, elderly and disabled into explosives that can be launched at our enemies (not that I should be giving you fellas any ideas or nothing). Next up, we have the crazed neocon Jennifer Rubin : Obama’s recounting of the past 10 years in the war against Islamic terror (not that he calls it that) is all negative — losses, casualties, domestic programs we have foregone. That should not be minimized. But should we risk all that we have gained for a re-election campaign? He choose not to point out the accomplishments of the decade: We have eliminated Saddam Hussein, liberated tens of millions of Muslims, made huge progress in Afghanistan. Oh, no, nevermind. The prospect that Afghanistan will come undone as Obama scrambles to keep his “promise” to bring home troops is not one that keeps him up nights, it would seem. There comes a point when you have to ask neocons, ” JESUS CHRIST, HOW MUCH WAR WILL IT TAKE TO MAKE YOU GUYS HAPPY??!!?!!!? ” We’ve been in Afghanistan for almost ten years now. Ten years! We’ve been in Iraq for more than eight. And Obama’s grand new illegal adventure in Libya, it seems, is just getting heated up. We’ve been in a state of constant, perpetual war with some Hitler or another for as long as I can remember. Hundreds of thousands of people have died because of these wars. They have not magically transformed the Middle East into Freedom Land. Don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, with our country facing multiple domestic challenges we might try to fight a wee bit fewer wars in the future? OK, so we’ve also got Jackson Diehl , Marc Thiessen , Robert Kagan and many other sad human beings whose lives are so empty that they can’t feel joy unless America is at war with multiple countries at the same time. As I said before, I’m not at all surprised that such people exist but I am a little surprised that they’re all employed by a formerly-prestigious news organization when they should really be hermetic shut-ins who drive cabs at night and then come home to play Call of Duty all day.
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