10.10.2011 - 5:50 PM
The Examiner reports on a “Tea Party” protest against New York Congressman (and Giuliani-ally) Michael Grimm, which was prompted by Grimm’s endorsement of Mitt Romney today:
Members of the Tea Party are storming the Staten Island office of Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., on Monday to protest Grimm’s endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
10.10.2011 - 5:30 PM
The verdict of history is sometimes delayed but it cannot be forestalled forever. Though it is still a cardinal tenet of American liberalism that the invasion of Iraq was an unmitigated disaster, the truth about the sincerity of its planners as well as the long-term benefits of the war there cannot be ignored forever. It is in that light that Jackson Diehl’s column in today’s Washington Post must be viewed.
Diehl deserves credit for opening up a conversation about Iraq that puts the achievements as well as the shortcomings of the American effort in perspective. But, as he rightly points out, the context for evaluating the results are not the unrealistic expectations many held for that nation after the toppling of Saddam but rather a comparison to what is going in the rest of the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. While many in the West are blithely predicting the fall of the Assad clan in Syria, the truth is the best possible scenario for that country’s future would be what is currently happening in Iraq. But the creation of a working, albeit flawed democracy in Iraq would have been impossible with a U.S. military intervention.
10.10.2011 - 5:10 PM
The Associated Press published a story with this headline: “Obama’s jobs bill sales pitch disconnects rhetoric, reality.” The story begins this way: “In President Barack Obama’s sales pitch for his jobs bill, there are two versions of reality: The one in his speeches and the one actually unfolding in Washington.” It goes on to report a “disconnect between what Obama says about his jobs bill and what stands as the political reality.” And the story quotes John Sides, a political science professor at George Washington University, as saying Obama’s approach on the jobs bill is “more about campaigning than governing.”
None of this is news to the readers of CONTENTIONS, of course. The fact Obama is constantly making claims at odds with reality is well-known among the visitors of this web site. So is the president’s excessive partisanship. The AP report therefore isn’t revealing anything new. But what makes the story notable is we’ve now reached the point where even news outlets like the Associated Press can’t help but point out that the president, in order to make his case, needs to manufacture a narrative out of thin air, one that delinks himself from objective circumstances and reality itself.
10.10.2011 - 4:48 PM
The bloody suppression of an anti-government protest by Coptic Christians yesterday that left two dozen dead is more proof the fall of the Mubarak regime was not the harbinger of a more pluralistic or democratic Egypt.
Though anti-Christian violence is far from unusual in Egypt, the fact police appear to have joined Muslim mobs in attacking the Copts may be yet another sign of the increasing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists on the government’s decision-making process. Like the sack of Israel’s embassy last month by a mob that was allowed to run riot while the police looked on, this incident illustrates the further breakdown of what was already a dysfunctional society under the previous government. It also highlights the need for the United States to make it clear to the generals they are skating on thin ice when it comes to the continued flow of massive American aid they have come to depend on.
10.10.2011 - 4:15 PM
Like Jonathan, I think tomorrow night’s GOP debate presents Rick Perry with an opportunity to get back some of the ground he lost after the last debate. And while I would caution GOP candidates not to base their campaign strategies on week-to-week primary polling, in this case Perry should take a look at the latest Washington Post/Bloomberg poll.
On the question of who would best handle the economy, Mitt Romney leads with 22 percent, and Herman Cain follows on his heels at 20 percent. Perry is at 12 percent. Overall, Romney leads the pack at 24 percent, leading Cain by 8 points and Perry by 11. This suggests Perry may have missed his moment to hit Romney over health care and should concentrate more on refining his pitch on jobs and the economy. And while Romney now finds Cain gaining on him, the poll is exactly what the Romney camp wanted to see.
10.10.2011 - 3:52 PM
A lot of commentators believe the Occupy Wall Street Movement will be good for the Democratic Party, arguing it’s essentially the mirror image of the Tea Party. I think that comparison fails for all sorts of reasons, including this one: the Occupy Wall Street Movement is a sign of discontent with the political class during a period when the leader of the political class is a liberal Democratic president.
Obama can try all he wants to pretend he’s not been the president since January 2009. He can hope and pray his record will be stuffed down a collective memory hole. He can try to run as an outsider even though he’s been the ultimate insider for the last two-and-three-quarter years. But like so many other things Obama has attempted, this effort won’t work, either. The effects of the Occupy Wall Street Movement will be to add to the sense Americans are deeply discontent, to the point that people are now willing to take to the streets to signal their anxiety, anger, and unhappiness.
10.10.2011 - 2:43 PM
By 51 percent to 41 percent, Americans say Obama doesn’t deserve to be reelected in 2012, according to the IBD/TIPP poll out today. The numbers are slightly worse for Obama than they were September, when respondents opposed his reelection 50 percent to 44 percent.
In other words, voters don’t seem to be buying the class warfare strategy:
10.10.2011 - 1:36 PM
National Public Radio unveiled its new CEO last week, and as Politico noted, the choice reflected their belief what they need is not better policies but a savvier spokesman and public relations strategy. The publicly funded network thinks if only the American public and Congress is told about how essential their programming is to the nation, the taxpayer dollars will continue to flow.
They’re wrong. NPR’s problem has never been bad PR, though they have certainly gotten more than their share of negative publicity because of their demonstrable political bias. NPR is certain to lose its funding in the not too distant future simply because a majority of Americans rightly understand government subsidized broadcasting has no place in the United States, especially in the age of the Internet, satellite radio and the proliferation of choices listeners have nowadays.
10.10.2011 - 1:15 PM
Politico.com reports a rather stunning finding from a report issued by by two former Census Bureau officials. According to Gordon Green and John Coder, income for American families declined more in the years following the economic recession than it did during the official recession itself.
During the recession, which economists say lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, the median annual household income fell by 3.2 percent, from $55,309 to $53,518. But in the post-recession period from June 2009 to June 2011, the figure fell by 6.7 percent, from $53,518 in June 2009 to $49,909 in June 2011.
10.10.2011 - 12:51 PM
Last week, a self-described “new media activist” posted a Facebook event page for a Kol Nidre service at the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. The turnout the event generated, as well as the discussion it has so far provoked, are deeply troubling trends that all who care about the Jewish future would do well to take seriously.
During the years, those whose politics tend toward the right have had to accustom themselves to the unthinking sanctimony of leftists who rage against any semblance of an alliance of religion and right-wing politics (recent examples include Rick Perry’s summer prayer rally, Glenn Beck’s Washington, D.C., event, and the endless parsing of President Bush’s speech for secret evangelical codes), grandly invoking religious principles when it suits their politics. This has been the case for causes as far afield as immigration reform and environmentalism.
10.10.2011 - 12:19 PM
Tomorrow’s debate in New Hampshire represents Rick Perry’s best chance to start a comeback from a month that saw him fall from a double-digit lead in the polls to an also-ran. We’ll see whether some extra sleep and better preparation will result in a less disastrous performance than his previous tries.
But a number of more substantive issues are also causing Perry problems that are roadblocks to his attempt to recover the frontrunner status he lost to Mitt Romney in the last few weeks. Until Perry is able to deliver a solid punch to Romney on health care, adequately defend his stance on immigration or map out a coherent Tea Party-friendly stand on ethanol in Iowa, his hopes will continue to sink like a stone.
10.10.2011 - 11:53 AM
The Washington Post’s Jackson Diehl makes a crucial point about Iraq and the Arab Spring. If the American effort to demand“democracy at gunpoint” seemed impracticable perhaps that’s because we hadn’t yet seen what democracy by flashmob looks like. Compared to the stalled freedom movements in Egypt, Syria, and Yemen, Iraq’s flawed democracy seems rather miraculous.
Its vicious dictator and his family are gone, as is the rule by a sectarian minority that required perpetual repression. The quasi-civil war that raged five years ago is dormant, and Iraq’s multiple sects manage their differences through democratic votes and sometimes excruciating but workable negotiations. Though spectacular attacks still win headlines, fewer people have died violently this year in Iraq than in Mexico — or Syria.
10.10.2011 - 11:41 AM
The college students who make up a large part of the “Occupy Wall Street” protests have a straightforward solution to their jobs grievances: finish their degree. According to a Gallup poll out today, 89 percent of college graduates are either employed full-time or work part-time by choice:
While 64 percent of the U.S workforce is employed full time for an employer, as measured by Gallup from January to September 2011, this percentage ranges from a high of 73 percent among college graduates to a low of 29 percent among those aged 65 and older. An additional 7 percent work full time for themselves and 10 percent work part time and do not want full-time work, with those 65 and older by far the most likely to fit into these two categories.
It is hard to have a greater contrast of foreign policy philosophies than the one that pits Mitt Romney vs. Jon Huntsman.
On Friday, at the Citadel, Romney gave a full-throated defense of American power as a force for good in the world. He promised to restore President Obama’s cuts in the defense budget and to increase our shipbuilding; separately he also promised to increase the size of the army by 100,000 troops. On Afghanistan, Romney was a bit ambiguous, but he put the emphasis on mission accomplishment–not on drawdown: “The force level necessary to secure our gains and complete our mission successfully is a decision I will make free from politics.” HIs most-quoted lined was: “I will not surrender America’s role in the world. This is very simple: If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your president. You have that president today.”
10.10.2011 - 10:05 AM
After initially holding the “Occupy Wall Street” protests at arms length, top Democrats in Congress are now starting to embrace the activists, ABC News reports:
But a consensus is emerging among Democrats that the “Occupy” movement is worth tapping into, even helping along and joining with in some instances.
10.10.2011 - 9:45 AM
The firestorm Pastor Robert Jeffress ignited on Friday by attacking Mormonism and asserting that evangelical Christians ought not to vote for Mitt Romney created an interesting test for the Republican presidential field. They had a choice as to whether to repudiate religious prejudice or to dodge the question in a manner that might garner them some advantage with evangelicals who agree with Jeffress. The results of this pass/fail pop quiz on tolerance were mixed: Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich passed. Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry failed.
While there will be those who say it is unfair to judge candidates on an issue irrelevant to the important questions of the economy and foreign policy, sometimes one can learn more about a person by their reaction to such distractions than by their prepared remarks on big issues. It should also be pointed out, this was an easy test to pass. All you had to do was say the right thing and acknowledge attempts to inject religion into political debates are out of line.
10.10.2011 - 9:20 AM
Ed Husain from the Council on Foreign Relations says in The Atlantic Bashar al-Assad may be “our least worst option in Syria.” His argument is a familiar one. The devil we know beats the devil we don’t, and a post-Assad Syria is not only likely to remain hostile to the United States and to Israel, it will turn Islamist.
“On balance,” he argues, “Assad has been good news for Israel’s security and borders.” I hear this in Israel once in a while and it always leaves me scratching my head.
10.10.2011 - 9:03 AM
Just to add a little context to Obama’s fiery anti-Wall Street populism, the Daily Caller reminds us that his 2008 campaign took more cash from Wall Street than any other president during the past two decades:
In 2008, Wall Street’s largesse accounted for 20 percent of Obama’s total take, according to Reuters.
10.10.2011 - 8:54 AM
Peter Bergen, CNN’s terrorism analyst, has made a career out of espousing conventional wisdom. That’s what made his recent interpretation regarding treason charges for a Pakistani doctor who allegedly helped the CIA collect evidence about bin Laden so troubling. As CNN reported:
Some analysts, however, draw parallels between Pakistan’s possible decision to prosecute [Shakeel] Afridi for treason and an earlier U.S. decision to prosecute former U.S. Navy intelligence official Jonathan Pollard on the same charge. Pollard was caught spying for Israel — a close U.S. ally — in 1985. He was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment. “Pakistan has a pretty legitimate” case, said Peter Bergen, a national security expert and director of the New America Foundation, a non-partisan Washington think tank. “It doesn’t really matter how valid the goal is. That doesn’t change the fact that you’re spying for a foreign intelligence service.” Why, Bergen asked, “should Pakistan somehow not play by the same rules that a lot of countries play by?”
