Month: June 2011

Getting Out Of Afghanistan

Joe Klein senses that faster withdrawal has become much more likely:

I wouldn’t be surprised if President Obama announced a major withdrawal process that will begin with the departure of a few troops this summer (and the transition of mostly peaceful cities like Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif to Afghan government control), then begin in earnest by the end of the year, with forces down to about 50,000 a year from now and the 25,000 stabilization force by the end of 2012. The Afghan National Army ain’t the 101st Airborne, but it is strong enough, with continuing US support, to prevent a Taliban takeover of the country. That, plus the continuing covert campaign by drones and special operators, should be more than enough to protect US national interests in one of the world’s most remote places.

If Obama has three trends in place as he faces re-election – declining unemployment, no troops in Iraq and an ongoing, maybe accelerating withdrawal from Afghanistan – he's in good shape.

The Issue Of Lying

Thanks for all the emails on Weiner. Reading them and thinking this through some more overnight, I think I was too brusque in dealing with the fact that he lied. We are all human, and I'm with Dan Savage on the core issue of "same old horniness, brand new box." But lying so consciously to his constituents over an embarrassment and lying to his wife does begin to trouble me in the light of a new day. Yes, he copped to his lies. And he has been humiliated enough. But still … if we do not try to hold elected officials to telling the truth, what basic civic standards are we prepared to defend?

This morning there's another troubling dimension. One if his sexting companions was Ginger Lee, who became embroiled once the "scandal" broke. Weiner directed her to lie:

On June 1, he emailed her:  "The key is to have a short, thought out statement that tackles the top line questions and then refer people back to it.  Have a couple of iterations of: 'This is silly.  Like so many others, I follow Rep. Weiner on Twitter.  I don't know him and have never met him. He briefly followed me and sent me a dm saying thank you for the follow.  That's it.'" 

Weiner suggested a nice touch — some good ol' Southern charm: "And then maybe insert some y'alls in there."

On June 2, Weiner sent Lee a proposed statement she could give to the press:  "I have nothing to do with the situation involving Rep Weiner.  I follow his twitter feed.  And for a brief time he followed me.  Much has been made of the fact that I have posted about my admiration for Rep Weiner and his politics.  All I can say about that is that I'm a fan of his.  Rep. Weiner sent me one short direct message thanking me for following him.  I have never met Rep. Weiner and he has never sent me anything innappopriate [sic] …"

Am I going to get on my high horse and say he should quit his job because he lied? No. But the public trust is gone – which is essential for a man in elected office. I think sexting is a function of hormones and fallibility; I think lying and instructing others to lie afterward is a function of bad character. Yes, the cover-up convicts him in a way the non-crime never did.

The Puritan Press

Tumblr_lme0zzdkin1qg4lyzo1_500

Dan Savage live-slogged the Weiner press conference:

[H]ere's the inevitable "professional help" question: Is he going to seek professional help. Because horniness is an illness. …

A reporter asks if Weiner was drinking or using drugs—if he has a problem—because the only way a man could get caught up in online flirting/sexting relationships is if he had a drinking problem. This desire to pathologize behavior that isn't sick—that is, indeed, very common—is completely pathological. Wiener does not have a problem. He has a computer. The whole world has Wiener's problem: same old horniness, brand new box.

Another reporter points out that the woman were young—some as young as 21. So now Weiner's a pedophile. For flirting with adults.

A reader points out something I missed about the guy who shouted, "Were you fully erect?":

I'm guessing you're not a Stern fan, otherwise you might have picked out Bejny Bronk (a writer and sometimes on-air schtick purveyor for The Howard Stern Show) as the shouter of the last question. While I agree that the media's treatment of this incident has been silly, to say the least, you can't really call Benjy part of the press. He's actually known for being disruptive at such events and using it for fodder to goof on the media.

I guess I didn't find his question entirely out of context given the rest of the presser. Footage of his antics here. Screenshot via Newsweek's tumblr.

Abortion And Assisted Suicide

Will Saletan makes the connection:

I always thought Kevorkian was basically right about assisted suicide. I figured that if my parents ever wanted to end their lives, I'd find the pills and help them. … Assisted suicide, it turns out, is a lot like abortion. No government can stop it—I would have risked jail to get the pills if necessary—and efforts to enforce its prohibition only make it less careful and humane. But, like the right to abortion, it can be abused. People want to die for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it’s agony. Sometimes it’s boredom. Sometimes it’s fear. Maybe your mother needs a lethal prescription. Maybe she needs antidepressants. Maybe you just need to hold her hand.

Douthat complicates the analogy.

Sending Signals To The Base

Jonathan Bernstein watches the GOP presidential hopefuls attempt to out-pander each other:

[C]andidates are going to try to try to distinguish themselves on the basis of who expresses resentment the best, or who can show the greatest contempt for Barack Obama, or who is least afraid of what Tea Parties see as stifling liberal orthodoxy. That’s … the best way to understand Rick Santorum’s bizarre choice to campaign on George W. Bush’s rejected Social Security plan. It’s not that Santorum thinks that Republican primary voters really want to get rid of Social Security; it’s that he believes what they want is a candidate willing to be as radical as they think of themselves as being.