Month: November 2011

"If you want to turn this into Syria, we will turn it into Libya!" – a chant heard today at rallies in Tahrir.

BSyria, a protestor and blogger, explains how the regime manages to get crowds to come out in its favor despite such brutality:

[N]one of the regime tactics to force people out onto the street are fool proof. (I don’t think it is difficult for people to sneak out of rallies unnoticed.) However, Syria is still a country ruled by fear. In the early days of uprising, enthusiastic media declared that people are no longer afraid. That is not accurate. What has changed is people’s willingness to challenge this fear, but it is still there. I know of pro-democracy persons who joined pro-regime rallies to dispel suspicions that they are anti-regime. So, yes, the regime has supporters. But many of the people you see in a pro-regime rally are not there completely of their own accord.

Meanwhile, the opposition [NYT] is meeting with the British government while the latter sponsors a UN resolution condemning the crackdown, prompting an Assad minion to accuse Britain of waging "political and media and diplomatic war" on Syria. In more international pressure news, Erdogan himself – for the first time – called directly for Assad's resignation. Stephen Starr takes a look at the impacts of sanctions and domestic strikes on the Syrian economy. This video from Homs shows how much damage is being done to Syrian cities by Assad's crackdown:

This protest in Idlib seems almost carnival-like:

Finally, this video captures Samer Abel Mihsen's dying breaths after being shot by the army on the 19th:

Faces flashing before your eyes:

JT Eberhard reflects on his experience having sex with his friend, Christina, who's in a polyamorous relationship:

I sat down in the kitchen and Christina and Chris went about making dinner.  As nonchalant as a man ordering a cheeseburger he asked me how I was.  I’m a fan of honesty almost all the time, so I decided to come out with it. "I’m good.  I admit though, I’m a little uneasy about this.  I’ve never…um…y’know…been physical with a married person before."

And he smiled!  He actually smiled!  I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Surely this was a facade and the guy was going to punch me at any second for this whole scenario.  I think Christina was aware of what was going through my head because she pointed directly at me, looked at Chris, smiled, and said, "I’m going to have sex with this man." Again, Chris smiled, almost laughing.  "Cool" he said, and went right back to making chicken fried rice.

Chris Matthews wants the hear it:

Seth Masket pushes back:

Look, Matthews is obviously under no obligation to be one of Obama's foot soldiers, but I find this idea that Obama can't win without a compelling "narrative" really annoying. Obama could promise a mission to Mars or a cure for cancer or a new season of "The Wire," and I doubt it would make a lick of difference for his reelection prospects. Those would be fairly vague, if inspirational, promises about the future, when voters tend to be highly attuned to what is going on now and what has happened recently. Specifically, they will retain him in office if they are sufficiently satisfied with improvements in economic conditions, and if they're not, they won't, regardless of what he promises.

There is a platform of sorts, if you examine his September 2011 OMB report. What's lacking – and here is where I agree with Chris – is any version of tax reform. Getting rid of deductions, simplifying the code, raising revenue and reducing rates are all possible. If I were Obama, I'd get to Romney's right on this – and call for root-and-branch Reagan-style tax reform in his second term.

"If we simultaneously transform our capabilities and posture while enhancing our Guard and Reserve, our active duty army could be reduced to around 450,000 troops, from the approximately 565,000 we now have. Our Department of Defense civilian work force can also be cut by 5% to 7% of its current size," – Jon Huntsman.

Award definitions here.

On the fourth day of mass protests, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) offered to create a national unity government and hold elections by July, but the protestors appear to have rejected the deal, demanding the immediate resignation of SCAF head Mohamed Tantawi. Steven A. Cook thinks the SCAF has no one to blame but itself:

Over the past nine months, SCAF's attempt at governing has faltered at every conceivable step, alienating former allies and laying the ground for the current unrest. SCAF chairman Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi and his officers have never offered Egyptians a political horizon, never empowered civilian ministers, and favored fleeting tactical agreements with political groups over serious negotiations. That's how you get stunning ironies like the 26-year-old Asmaa Mahfouz — a prominent activist — dragged before a military tribunal for merely insulting Tantawi and the SCAF, while Mubarak regime stalwarts like former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, a man responsible for actually killing Egyptians, goes before civilian judges who are suspected of being sympathetic to him.

Brian Ulrich thinks we should get used to mass protests in Egypt, but Walter Russell Mead is skeptical they can bring down the SCAF. Shadi Hamid argues that, no matter what, next week's elections should take place as planned:

The polarization that would likely result is difficult to overstate. It is easy to imagine how such a situation could spiral wildly, and violently, out of control. If Islamists — particularly those, like the Salafis, who have entered the democratic process for the very first time — begin to lose faith in the democratic process, it may lead to a radicalization of the Islamist rank-and-file, setting the country back considerably. And once democratic processes are derailed, it can become rather difficult to recover, as in Algeria 1991, Jordan 1993, and Turkey mid-1990s.

Issandr El Amrani differs. So does Marc Lynch. Paul Pillar develops a possible American response to the turmoil. For general news updates, check out Mary Casey & Tom Kutsch, as well as Juan Cole. This photo purportedly documents murdered protestors stacked together in Tahrir:

And, in a sad symmetry that captures the motivation behind the protests, this man who lost his right eye to a Mubarak rubber bullet apparently just lost his left to one shot by Tantawi's troops:

A reader writes:

As a native of Syracuse and longtime fan of its basketball program, I've found it curious that after so much coverage of the scandal and cover-up at Penn State I haven't seen any coverage of the situation at Syracuse centered on its long-time assistant coach Bernie Fine. Two men, now 39 and 45, have accused Fine of inappropriate sexual contact dating back to the 1970s. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program has aired interviews with the two men (who are step-brothers) where not only do they make the accusations against Fine, but allege that Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim witnessed them spending the night in Fine's room and never reported it.

Jim Boeheim, for your readers who may not know, can fairly be called (if not the, then certainly a) Joe Paterno of college basketball. Boeheim is second among active basketball coaches in wins, won the national championship in 2003, was an assistant on the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal team and his program is currently ranked #5 in the country. Unlike Paterno, Boeheim has vociferously and repeatedly denied the accusations of the brothers (as has Fine), going so far as to call them liars.

When ESPN broke the story last Thursday night, they failed to mention that the younger man, Bobby Davis, had made similar accusations about Fine in 2002, to the Syracuse Post-Standard as well as ESPN. They also failed to disclose that Davis and Fine had been involved in a physical altercation more recently, resulting from Davis owing an unpaid loan of $5,000 to Fine. Both media outlets investigated Davis' story then, and concluded there was insufficient evidence and corroboration to publish the story.

In 2005, Davis approached the Syracuse Police, who told him the statute of limitations had expired. Davis then told the University, which launched an investigation, which like ESPN and the Post-Standards yielded no evidence or corroboration of wrong doing. It should be noted that Syracuse isn't Happy Valley; the Post-Standard has a somewhat strained relationship with Boeheim after it broke a story on players who were academically ineligible within the program in the late 1990s, and ESPN saw the same information in 2002 and declined to publish.

The only thing that has changed from '02-05 is that Davis' step-brother, Mike Lang, has come forward echoing the tales of abuse, to ESPN. ESPN was careful in 2002 with the Fine story, investigated and determined there was not enough to move forward with. In the wake of what happened at Penn State, the University placed Fine on administrative leave after the ESPN story broke and now the University, the Syracuse Police and the media have reopened their inquiries into the matter. Lang was interviewed by the Post-Standard in their previous investigation and denied the story. Lang has recently said he was inspired to come forward after what happened at Penn State.

Obviously this matter is not at the same stage as Penn State – we are at the beginning of an investigation rather than in the midst of a grand jury indictment – but it could offer a variety of interesting lessons. Fine has been as vocal in his denials as Sandusky was flimsy with his half-admissions of impropriety. Boeheim has stood by his assistant and denied outright the accusers version of events, where Paterno sat by and passed the buck, admitting he could have done more. The Syracuse administration had been aware of the Syracuse Police investigation in 2005, and now have pledged complete cooperation with authorities, while Penn States administration, it seems obvious, participated in a cover-up at worst and were uncooperative with the official investigation.

On the heels of Penn State, we need to be as vigorous as possible in rooting out those who would do harm to children, so I support the investigation into Fine. On the flip-side, following a case like Penn State there are those who would shamelessly try and capitalize on these allegations for either publicity or seeking some sort of financial settlement. There are some who suspect that Davis and Lang are trying to reap attention and reward, and some have criticized ESPN for airing the story with the thin evidence that exists, trying to get the scoop at the expense of journalistic ethics.

All we know now is that somebody is lying – either Bernie Fine is lying and did terrible things to Davis and Lang, and if history tells us anything, likely countless others. On the other hand, if Davis and Lang are lying, they will have ruined the career of a well-respected coach, and ESPN will have driven the get-away car. Right now all I can hope for is a thorough investigation to reveal the truth, and hope that the media handles it fairly and that the victims receive some measure of justice.

Marc Lynch checks in on Arab public opinion:

52% now say they are disappointed in the Obama administration, a majority but down from 65% last year. And 34% now have positive views of Obama himself, a 19 point gain from 2010. Arab disappointment in the administration is still mostly driven by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the survey. Only 5% named a failure to promote democracy as the main cause for their disappointment (though that's up from 1% the previous year), while 23% named its efforts on democracy and human rights as a positive.  

It's Israel's government that is preventing Obama from reaching his potential in reorienting US soft power. They may regret it if he wins re-election.

Danielle Crittenden did exactly that:

It felt like someone had thrown a lit match in there. I began hopping around and breathing in the rapid, short puffs I'd learned in birth classes, so long ago, before I realized I didn't need to breathe like that if I took the epidural. I could really use a frikkin epidural right now.

Her takeway:

[I]f there is any smidgen of effect, it's notional, and probably only psychological. Overall, vodka-in-a-tampon seems a very inefficient, not to mention unpleasant, way to get drunk. I suppose the positive is that there is no danger of a second round. And I can't even imagine trying to do this at a party. You'd be walking around all night looking like you'd wet your pants, with a pleading expression on your face that said: Does anyone have a fire hose? In fact, maybe this is the way to kill this urban legend once and for all: Parents, I encourage you to urge your teenage girls to experiment with vodka tampons.

But not ecstasy pills up your butthole. Or maybe I shouldn't have written that.