Month: February 2011

A reader writes:

Are these dissents the best you've received?  Obama should be excused from taking leadership on fiscal responsibility because it is hard?

We can debate forever why we are where we are and who is to blame. That argument is raging in the comments section of Megan’s blog post.  Yes, it sucks that the President would like to implement many new programs and is frustrated because no money exists to do so.  But the bottom line is, we are where we are.   And in our system it is the President who must lead.  There is no higher pay grade.

Entitlements are growing faster than economic growth is raising tax revenues, and our military ambitions are greater than our real security needs.  We need to draw a line in the sand for entitlement spending and demand that our governmental officials actually solve the problems that drive that spending.  We need to recognize that other free countries need to participate in the security of the free world.  It begins with adult leadership in the Presidency.

Years ago I used to think that politics was about 50% policy and 50% “the game.”  Recently I concluded the mix had changed to 5% policy and 95% “the game.”  If your dissenters are right, it is now 100% about “the game.”  How sad.

Hisham of Global Voices sets the scene:

[Muammar al-Gaddafi] is the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders in the world. Hoping to emulate recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Libyan pro-democracy activist have been calling for protests against the 41-year-old autocratic rule of Gaddafi. They set February 17 as a “Day of Rage”, using social networking websites to convince millions to take to the streets and peacefully call for change. But it seems that Libyans are too eager to voice their rage and anger at their leader as many decided to demonstrate today.

Gaddafi is already fretting Facebook's impact. Amira Al Hussaini provides more background by translating blogger Mohammed Maree:

[The protesters] are the relatives of the martyrs slain in the Abu Slim prison massacre, who were joined by scores of other supporters. They are demonstrating against the arrest of the official spokesman on behalf of the families, who was arrested by the Libyan security forces, for no reason.

The Abu Slim prison massacre happened on June 29, 1996, when a security group close to the Libyan dictator's regime broke into the prison, and mowed down not less than 1,200 political prisoner, who had objected then to their inhumane conditions inside the prison. This bloody operation continued for three hours, and the victims were then buried in the prison's courtyard and in mass graves in Tripoli. This horrendeous crime was only revealed in 2008, when information was leaked to the families of the martyrs, and human rights defenders inside and outside Libya.

Today on the Dish, Andrew bore down hard on Obama for wimping out on the budget. Howard Gleckman joined the pile-on, Ezra Klein called it a spork for its ineffectiveness, and Annie Lowrey put the budget in a manageable perspective. Andrew nudged Paul Ryan to step up to the plate, the right debated entitlements, and Yglesias and E.G. argued Social Security for different generations. Andrew's eyes widened at Obama's delusions, but he wasn't breaking up with him yet.

Andrew remained optimistic but not delusional on Egypt, the Internet graded Obama's performance, and Obama just couldn't win with the right. Mohammed Ayoob feared military regimes, Wendell Steavenson reported the tenet of the revolution was holding, and Erik Voeten charted today's coups that lead to competitive elections. We took stock of yesterday's protests in Iran, where the government isn't beholden to American aid, and Persiankiwi tweeted again. Thomas Ruttig reminded us of Afghanistan's mini-Mubaraks, Joel Wing kept an eye on Iraqi protests, and Robert Mackey compiled the footage and accounts of Bahrain's protests.

Andrew demolished Gladwell's thesis on the Civil Rights Movement and social ties, and Kevin Drum countered David Carr on why Twitter didn't kill online news. Nate Silver compared Sarah Palin to Al Sharpton, and she spurred the voting Birthers on. The CPAC war raged on, fueled by a diminishing Limbaugh, and Julian Sanchez eviscerated the Heritage folks on the Patriot Act. Families defended their gay relatives, the internet needed display ads, and Watson would never make for great TV.

Malkin award here, sane conservatism watch here, creepy ad watch here, FOTD here and reaction to yesterday's here, quotes for the day here, here, and here, dissents of the day here and here, MHB here, a heartbreaking VFYW here, and VFYW contest winner #37 here.

–Z.P.

Eisenhower Army Medical Center / Fort Gordon / Augusta, Georgia / January 29, 2011 / 8.03 am

A reader writes:

Well I just sat here and had myself a quiet little weep for Major Matthew P. Burke while looking at his last view through his brother's eyes. My eyes are pouring for him.

That's the thing about that contest, Andrew. It's not just the pictures and the fun of guessing – it's the people. It's the comments. All those people from all over the world, all kinds of people, staring at the same picture and telling their own stories by what they write. It's charming, and often informative, and sometimes funny, and in this case deeply touching.

Peace to your reader. I'm so terribly sorry for his loss.

The winner of today's contest is a staff sargeant stationed at nearby Fort Stewart:

It's an awkward "win" to say the least. Every story I hear of the loss of a fellow soldier hurts more than the one before.  The photo is a hard reminder of just how dangerous it is to be an American soldier, even here in the US.  In my tens years in the Army, while it probably isn't the norm, I've personally lost more friends in training accidents than in Iraq or Afghanistan. We train hard; we train realistically; we take chances, and sometimes things don't end well.

Give my condolences, gratitude, and respect to the Burke family.

Below is a passage from Matt's eulogy, delivered on Saturday by his brother, Paul:

Let me close by sharing a final memory of Matt. I will never forget visiting Matt and Bonnie over the last Labor Day Weekend. Matt was so proud to show off the “awesome” Anna Ryan at every opportunity, and he also delighted in going out on the lake on his powerboat. Matt was literally the captain of his ship, and he projected the happiness and strength of a man at the peak of his powers.

Towards the end of a long day during which Matt had patiently—and ultimately successfully—taught me to cross the boat’s wake on a wakeboard, there was a peaceful moment when Matt jumped into the water to be with Bonnie. As the sun started to set, Matt floated next to her and looked upon Bonnie, his true love, with joy and wonder.

As I remember that moment now, I am profoundly grateful that my brother Matthew lived so well.

Yglesias calls for it:

I don’t think we should cut Social Security benefits. But if we are going to cut Social Security benefits, I think it doesn’t make sense to do what the Obama administration has done and make “No current beneficiaries should see their basic benefits reduced” one of the bargaining points.

E.G. at DiA sympathizes but expects "changes to Social Security benefits to be written to affect future beneficiaries only" and explains why.

"When we look back on this period a decade or two from now, I think we’ll identify this moment — the president’s decision about how to approach the budget battle of 2012 — as the last real opportunity we had for a gradual bipartisan course correction. That option now seems closed off, and it is up to Republicans to decide if the alternative is to march off the fiscal cliff in order to avoid political risks or to propose a gradual course correction to voters and make the case for why it is sensible, responsible, and essential. Neither of these options would be easy. But one of them would be both difficult and irresponsible, while the other would be difficult and right," – Yuval Levin.

Kindle the Shih Tzu getting groomed backstage during the 135th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York, February 14, 2011. By Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images.

Maybe Obama's "What Debt Crisis?" budget was all a ruse to get the GOP to get serious. In which case: advantage Obama:

"Our budget will lead where the President has failed, and it will include real entitlement reforms so that we can have a conversation with the American people about the challenges we face and the need to chart a new path to prosperity," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a joint statement with the rest of the GOP leadership team and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

The statement all but ensures that Republicans will opt to include reforms to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as part of their budget proposal, due in late March or early April.

Hitch chastises human rights groups for belatedly focusing on the Taliban’s human rights violations:

I can only too well remember attending some press conferences in Pakistan in the winter of 2001 and seeing the unbearably smug expressions on the faces of various human rights and “relief” spokesmen who were concerned lest the military operation against the Taliban should disrupt their relatively modest efforts. They failed or refused to see that the removal of the Taliban was a necessary precondition of any serious relief and reconstruction. It’s heartening to learn that, almost a decade later, they are at least open to the awareness that the Taliban is the worst offender. The next stage—may it come soon—will be the realization that the Taliban does not “violate” human rights, but entirely lacks the concept of their existence.

Sprung still believes in it. I just hope he's right.